Factors affect shopping behaviour

Every day we make a lot of buying decisions. We buy food, clothing, household items, etc. From small value items to very large valuables, from direct stores to online stores. So, why do we buy those things?

Shopping is strongly influenced by cultural, social, personal and psychological traits6 .

CULTURAL FACTORS

Cultural factors have a profound effect on consumer behavior.

CULTURE

Culture is the most fundamental cause for one’s will and behavior. Human behavior is formed primarily through learning. Growing up in a society, a child learns basic values, perceptions, needs and behaviors from his or her family as well as from other important organizations. Each group or society has its own culture, and its cultural influences on buying behavior which can vary widely between countries..

SUB-CULTURE

Each culture includes many smaller subcultures - groups of people who share common values based on common life experiences and circumstances. Subculture includes nationality, religion, race and geography. Many subcultures make up important market segments and marketers often design products and marketing programs that fit their needs. For example: Hispanic Americans consumers - This is considered a potential target of many brands. The population of this group is expected to grow 163% from 2010 to 2050. Purchases in 2010 are $ 1.5 trillion. This consumer group tends to have strong family orientation and shopping because of the family; Children have a voice for which brand they want to buy. More importantly, these are the first generation immigrants to the United States, very loyal to brands. They support brands and sellers showing special interest to them.

SOCIAL CLASSES

Almost every society has a social hierarchy. Social classes are relatively stable and orderly parts of society. Members in each class share similar values, interests, and behaviors. The social class is not determined by a particular element but by a combination of occupation, income, education, property, and other variables. The different social classes have very different preferences for products and brands of clothing, furniture, leisure activities, vehicles...

Our shopping behavior is also influenced by social factors such as smaller groups, families, social roles and social status.

GROUPS AND SOCIAL NETWORKS

A person’s behavior is influenced by many small groups. When a group brings people into new behaviors and lifestyles, influences their attitudes and their self-awareness, puts pressure on adaptation. All of this can affect the person’s choice of product and brand. It tends to be the strongest when the products comes with the people that we respect, admire.

Impact of word of mouth

Words and suggestions from friends, trusted colleagues, and other consumers tend to be more reliable than the information that comes from advertising. Most of the word-of-mouth effects occur naturally: we start talking about a brand or using it, or feel good about it in one way or another. Word-of-mouth campaigns help boost 13% sales of products in telecommunications, personal care, television programs and consumer goods7 .

Social networks

With the development of technology, people have more choices as well as more references before buying an item. According to Deloitte’s Digital Democracy survey, 84% of consumers use social networking sites and more than 90% of them are in the Gen Z8 and Millennials9,10. Cũng theo khảo sát này, 36% người tiêu dùng quyết định mua hàng dựa theo gợi ý từ gia đình và bạn bè; 18% theo các quảng cáo trên TV và 17% theo góp ý từ các bình luận trên mạng xã hội.

FAMILY

An individual tends to discuss with his/her family members before buying a product or service. Family members can support an individual’s decision to purchase a particular product, prevent us from buying it, or suggest some other options. All family members perform different roles during the purchase of any tangible or intangible product. Functions include the initiator, influencer, decision maker, buyer, and user.

7 Return On Word Of Mouth (WOMMA, 2014) 8 Those who were born in 2002 - 1997 9 Those who were born in 1996 - 1983 10 Digital Democracy Survey, Eleventh Edition (Deloitte, 2017)

AGE AND STAGE OF LIFE

Shopping habits of people change over time. Dining flavors, fashion trends, furniture choices, leisure and entertainment hobbies are strongly influenced by age. Shopping is also shaped by the stage in the family’s life - stages that a family can experience as we grow older. Life stage changes are often result of demographic factors and life changing events: marriage, childbirth, buying new house, divorce, children’s education, income change, retirement... For example, ages 18 to 30 with self-sustaining people without family support, the best way to contact them is via phone or tablet and they usually have the tendency of spending on high end gadgets. People in their 40s and 60s often have big children, with enough income to support themselves and their families, preferring to go on vacation and own a car. However, by spending a long time working and understanding the value of money, they will spend wisely and look for goods in places that both has quality but are worth the money.11 Acxiom12 states that “Consumers have to undergo many changes throughout their lives. As the stage of their life cycle changes, the behavior and priority of the different products will also change accordingly “.

CAREER

A person’s career will affect the product he or she buys. The products we buy will serve our profession as well as assert our role in society. For example, doctors will have different shopping needs comparing to teachers, police, salesmen.... People who work on manual job mostly buy simple clothes for work, while senior staff love luxury suits.

ECONOMIC CONDITION

Each person’s income will affect his/her ability to buy products. Income determines purchasing power of an individual and therefore, the higher the individual’s income, the greater the need for products..

LIFESTYLE

Although they may have the same background, social class and status, each person has a different lifestyle. The lifestyle of an individual is the pattern of behavior that represents his or her physiology. It involves the measurement of AIO (Activities - Activities including jobs, hobbies, shopping, sports, social events; I - Interest: Interests include food, fashion, family, entertainment. O - Opinion: Our views on ourselves, social issues, business, products). Not just includes the social class or in the personality of an individual, lifestyle has a broader implication which is worldview and how an individual interacts with the rest of the world. Therefore, shopping behavior is influenced by one’s lifestyle.

11 Personicx (acxiom, 2014) 12 A database marketing company collects, analyzes and sells customer and business information used for targeted advertising campaigns. (Wikipedia)

Often when choosing the same function products, people usually buy stuff that fits their personality. The individual’s personality influences the person’s buying behavior. Personality refers to the unique psychological characteristics that distinguish one person or group. It is often described in terms of self-confidence, domination, sociality, adaptability…

CÁC YẾU TỐ TÂM LÝ

MOTIVATION13

People are always have needs at any time. Some are biological needs that arise from neurological states such as hunger, thirst, or discomfort. Others come from psychological needs of recognition, desire or possessiveness. When demand is stimulated to high intensity, it will turn into motivation. Psychologists have developed many theories of human motivation. In particular, the most prominent are the theories of Sigmund Freud14 and Abraham Maslow15 . Freud believes that events in childhood have a great impact on our adult lives, shaping each person’s personality. For example, anxiety stems unconsciously from a person’s past experiences of being hurt, and can cause problems during adulthood16. Thus, most of us are unaware of the impact of psychological factors on our behavior. Freud’s theory is that the purchase decision of a person is affected by subconscious motives that even the buyer may not fully understand. Therefore, a middle-aged man could explain that he bought an expensive convertible car because he liked to enjoy the wind blowing through his hair. But at a deeper level, maybe he is trying to prove his accomplishments to others. Perhaps, the man may want to take back his youth and self-confidence like when he was twenties.

13 A reason or reasons for acting or behaving in a particular way. Desire or willingness to do something. (Oxford dictionary) 14 an Austrian neurologist and the founder of psychoanalysis, a clinical method for treating psychopathology through dialogue between a patient and a psychoanalyst. (Wikipedia) 15 an American psychologist who was best known for creating Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, a theory of psychological health predicated on fulfilling innate human needs in priority, culminating in self-actualization (Wikipedia) 16 What are the most interesting ideas of Sigmund Freud? (Saul McLeod, Simply Psychology, 2018)

Abraham Maslow seeks to explain why we are driven by special needs at certain times. Why does a person spend a lot of time and energy for personal safety and another person to gain the respect of others? His answer is that human needs are hierarchical, from low to high that includes physiological needs, safety needs, social needs, the need for respect and self-sufficiency.17

An individual will try to satisfy basic needs first. When this need is met, it is no longer his/her motivation and we will strive to satisfy the next need. For example, people who suffer from hunger and thirst (physiological needs) will not be interested in what is happening in the world of art (the need to assert themselves) or to make people love, respect for oneself (Esteem need), regardless of whether they have fresh air or not (safety needs). However, when an important need is met, the next needs will quickly emerge.

AWARENESS18

A motivated person is ready to act. Our mode of action is dominated by perception of the surrounding situation. However, each person will have their own way to receive, interpret and organize information. Awareness makes us select, arrange and interpret information to form a meaningful picture. In addition, human perception of something can change a lot from person to person, with each person creating a personal opinion of the stimulus (actor, action or condition). ) receive. Individuals receive “message” through five senses: sight, hearing, smell, touch and taste. Marketers use those senses to stimulate the consumer to try a product, thereby gaining awareness of the product, leading to subsequent purchases.19

17 A Theory of Human Motivation (Abraham Maslow, 1943) 18 The ability to see, listen to or be aware of something via senses (Oxford Dictionary 19 Role of Perception in Consumer Behaviour (Debbie Donner, 2017)

When taking actions, people also learn. Learning describes the changes in an individual’s behavior from experience. Suppose you bought a camera from Brand X after consulting different sources. If this product is good, you will get the most out of it. And when you want to buy accessories for this camera or introduce to your friends, family, you will think of X products first because you have the opportunity to experience it. In addition, the learning process does not necessarily come from the self but can be learned from observing the consequences of others.20 For example, you are in need of a skin care product. In the search process, refer to the information you notice the side effects of skin care A on many people, while skin care B helps restore many people’s skin. You will choose B’s skin care products for your shopping.

BELIEFS AND PERSPECTIVES

Through action and learning, we form beliefs and perspectives. Then those beliefs and attitudes affect our own buying behavior. Belief can be based on knowledge, judgment, which may or may not include emotional aspect. Humans also have different views on religion, politics, music, food and most other issues. A perspective describes a person’s judgement, emotion, and inclination toward an object or idea. The notion of putting people in a frame of mind about things like or dislike, about getting close to them or staying away from them. The view is very difficult to change. A person’s perspective on a certain pattern and the change of perspective may require us to change a different perspective, which is often difficult.

For example, as indicated in the graph above, one of the biggest concerns of Vietnamese people is health and well-being. Consequently, many brands offer products as well as messages that best fit this view, rather than trying to change it. You can see Vinamilk’s advertising messages: “Healthy gift from nature” or “Healthy immune for family protection” or TH Truemilk: “Clean milk for school, improve physical strength and intellect.”