The American Marketing Association defines consumer behavior as “the study of how customers, both individual and organizations, satisfy their needs and wants by choosing, purchasing, using and disposing of goods, ideas and services.” Therefore, understanding consumer behavior is critical to marketing strategies and decision-making processes. There are many consumer behavior patterns, including complex buying behavior, dissonance-reducing buying behavior, habitual buying behavior and variety-seeking behavior.
By understanding what drives consumer behavior, marketing professionals can use data on how consumers feel, think and decide to determine how they promote their services and products. This can assist marketers in predicting how consumers will act and enable companies to identify new opportunities.
An online Master of Business Administration (MBA) in Marketing degree from Lamar University offers students a unique advantage to master business and marketing best practices by gaining knowledge to apply them in real-world situations. This online degree program benefits business professionals who want to move into top-level management positions while navigating the digital advertising world.
Ways Marketing Professionals Use Consumer Behavior Information
Examining demographic information — such as customer education level, age and annual income — can help predict purchasing behavior. To ensure steady profits and growth, a business needs to meet consumer demands. Adapting to current trends, using digital platforms, acknowledging consumer desires and demands and experimenting with ways to personalize the customer experience can encourage engagement with potential customers. Understanding buying behavior and what provokes customers to buy a specific product or service is vital to marketers and advertisers.
Below are some types of consumer behavior information that marketing professionals rely on to predict buying behavior.
- Complex buying behavior. An example of this would be when consumers purchase an expensive, rarely-bought product, such as a house or a car.
- Dissonance reducing buying behavior. To avoid the potential discomfort of buying new items, consumers will stick with the same brand or product instead of trying something different.
- Habitual buying behavior. This buying behavior involves buying frequently used items like toilet paper, dish soap or coffee.
- Variety-seeking buying behavior. Variety-seeking buying behavior is when a consumer is looking to try a new flavor, scent or variety of a product they use often.
By understanding the different types of consumer behavior, we can also recognize the individual factors that affect why and how people purchase what they do. Appreciating personal, social, psychological and cultural reasons for product buying behavior can help a brand market itself successfully and drive growth structure. When a company identifies what types of products or services are needed, it can decide how to present its product in a way that influences consumers the most.
Some factors that influence buying behavior are marketing campaigns and ways they persuade customers, personal preference, recommendations from relatives and friends, available funds and economic conditions. A positive and optimistic economic environment makes someone feel more confident in an expensive purchase.
About Lamar University’s Online MBA in Marketing Degree Program
Students who earn their online MBA from Lamar University gain valuable MBA credentials and benefit from management, advanced marketing and analytical skills that are useful in any business environment. With program classes like Digital Marketing, Marketing Research and Consumer Behavior, students will learn to examine marketing strategies enhanced by an evolving digital marketplace, understand the benefits of customer relationship and management systems and improve analytical techniques related to marketing research.
Learn more about Lamar University’s online Master of Business Administration in Marketing program.
