Question

What are the psychological factors that may influence the prospect's buying decision? Give some examples.

Answer 1

The psychological factors that influence an individual's decision to make a purchase are categorized into the individual's motivations, perceptions, learning and his beliefs and attitudes.

The motivation is the drive that leads the consumer towards buying a product or service. If the motivation is high, i.e. the need is high, the individual will actively seek to satisfy that need. This results in the consumer buying the product. e.g. if you need sugar, you will get it.

Perception has been defined as the process by which people select, organize, and interpret information to form a meaningful picture of the world. Consumers make all manner of associations from their prior knowledge and experiences. It is difficult for a company that positions itself as a low cost retail store, Walmart for example, to sell expensive clothing once it has established its market positioning. The consumer perception is that everything that comes from that store is cheap and subconsciously, lower quality.

Consumers are influenced bytheir experiences. They categorise each experience as good or bad for later purchase. For example, many consumers choose to buy Toyota cars because they have had good experiences with their previous Toyota models. Companies that focus on the consumer experience often gain repeat business because the consumer does not feel the need to look anywhere else to fulfill that particular need.

Beliefs and attitudes influence consumer buying behavior. Beliefs are way people think about a product. An attitude is the individual's consistently favorable or unfavorable evaluation towards that product. These beliefs and attitudes shape the consumer's perception of the product. These factors may be difficult to change.