{"id":31,"date":"2014-08-22T02:43:27","date_gmt":"2014-08-22T02:43:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/courses.candelalearning.com\/principlesmktg1x2kscope\/?post_type=chapter&p=31"},"modified":"2019-06-25T12:20:04","modified_gmt":"2019-06-25T12:20:04","slug":"4-1-factors-that-influence-consumers-buying-behavior","status":"publish","type":"chapter","link":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/oakwood-principlesofmarketing\/chapter\/4-1-factors-that-influence-consumers-buying-behavior\/","title":{"raw":"Buying Behaviors: Situational Factors","rendered":"Buying Behaviors: Situational Factors"},"content":{"raw":"
\r\n
\r\n

Learning Objectives<\/h3>\r\n
    \r\n\t
  1. Describe the situational factors that may influence what consumers buy and when they buy it.<\/li>\r\n\t
  2. Explain what marketing professionals can do to influence consumers\u2019 behavior.<\/li>\r\n<\/ol>\r\n<\/div>\r\nYou\u2019ve been a consumer with purchasing power for much longer than you probably realize\u2014since the first time you were asked which cereal or toy you wanted. Over the years, you\u2019ve developed rules of thumb or mental shortcuts providing a systematic way to choose among alternatives, even if you aren\u2019t aware of it. Other consumers follow a similar process, but different people, no matter how similar they are, make different purchasing decisions. You might be very interested in purchasing a Smart Car, but your best friend might want to buy a Ford F-150 truck. What factors influenced your decision and what factors influenced your friend\u2019s decision?\r\n\r\nAs we mentioned earlier in the chapter, consumer behavior is influenced by many things, including environmental and marketing factors, the situation, personal and psychological factors, family, and culture. Businesses try to figure out trends<\/em> so they can reach the people most likely to buy their products in the most cost-effective way possible. Businesses often try to influence a consumer\u2019s behavior with things they can control such as the layout of a store, music, grouping and availability of products, pricing, and advertising. While some influences may be temporary and others are long lasting, different factors can affect how buyers behave\u2014whether they influence you to make a purchase, buy additional products, or buy nothing at all. Let\u2019s now look at some of the influences on consumer behavior in more detail.\r\n
    \r\n

    Situational Factors<\/h2>\r\nHave you ever been in a department story and couldn\u2019t find your way out? No, you aren\u2019t necessarily directionally challenged. Marketing professionals take physical factors such as a store\u2019s design and layout into account when they are designing their facilities. Presumably, the longer you wander around a facility, the more you will spend. Grocery stores frequently place bread and milk products on the opposite ends of the stores because people often need both types of products. To buy both, they have to walk around an entire store, which of course, is loaded with other items they might see and purchase.\r\n\r\nStore locations also influence behavior. Starbucks has done a good job in terms of locating its stores. It has the process down to a science; you can scarcely drive a few miles down the road without passing a Starbucks. You can also buy cups of Starbucks coffee at many grocery stores and in airports\u2014virtually any place where there is foot traffic.\r\n\r\nPhysical factors that firms can control, such as the layout of a store, music played at stores, the lighting, temperature, and even the smells you experience are called atmospherics<\/span><\/span>. Perhaps you\u2019ve visited the office of an apartment complex and noticed how great it looked and even smelled. It\u2019s no coincidence. The managers of the complex were trying to get you to stay for a while and have a look at their facilities. Research shows that \u201cstrategic fragrancing\u201d results in customers staying in stores longer, buying more, and leaving with better impressions of the quality of stores\u2019 services and products. Mirrors near hotel elevators are another example. Hotel operators have found that when people are busy looking at themselves in the mirrors, they don\u2019t feel like they are waiting as long for their elevators.<\/span>\r\n\r\nNot all physical factors are under a company\u2019s control, however. Take weather, for example. Rainy weather can be a boon to some companies, like umbrella makers such as Totes, but a problem for others. Beach resorts, outdoor concert venues, and golf courses suffer when it is raining heavily. Businesses such as automobile dealers also have fewer customers. Who wants to shop for a car in the rain?\r\n\r\nFirms often attempt to deal with adverse physical factors such as bad weather by offering specials during unattractive times. For example, many resorts offer consumers discounts to travel to beach locations during hurricane season. Having an online presence is another way to cope with weather-related problems. What could be more comfortable than shopping at home? If it\u2019s raining too hard to drive to the GAP, REI, or Abercrombie & Fitch, you can buy products from these companies and many others online. You can shop online for cars, too, and many restaurants take orders online and deliver.\r\n\r\nCrowding is another situational factor. Have you ever left a store and not purchased anything because it was just too crowded? Some studies have shown that consumers feel better about retailers who attempt to prevent overcrowding in their stores. However, other studies have shown that to a certain extent, crowding can have a positive impact on a person\u2019s buying experience. The phenomenon is often referred to as \u201cherd behavior.\u201d<\/span>\r\n\r\nIf people are lined up to buy something, you want to know why. Should you get in line to buy it too? Herd behavior helped drive up the price of houses in the mid-2000s before the prices for them rapidly fell. Unfortunately, herd behavior has also led to the deaths of people. In 2008, a store employee was trampled to death by an early morning crowd rushing into a Walmart to snap up holiday bargains.\r\n
    \r\n

    Social Situation<\/h2>\r\nThe social situation you\u2019re in can significantly affect your purchase behavior. Perhaps you have seen Girl Scouts selling cookies outside grocery stores and other retail establishments and purchased nothing from them, but what if your neighbor\u2019s daughter is selling the cookies? Are you going to turn her down or be a friendly neighbor and buy a box (or two)?\r\n
    \r\n

    Video Clip<\/h3>\r\nThin Mints, Anyone?\r\n\r\nhttp:\/\/youtu.be\/GJHN4eutKjY\r\n\r\n \r\n\r\nAre you going to turn down cookies from this cute Girl Scout? What if she\u2019s your neighbor\u2019s daughter? Pass the milk, please!\r\n\r\n<\/div>\r\n<\/div>\r\n<\/div>\r\n<\/div>\r\nCompanies like Pampered Chef that sell their products at parties understand that the social situation makes a difference. When you\u2019re at a friend\u2019s Pampered Chef party, you don\u2019t want to look cheap or disappoint your friend by not buying anything. Certain social situations can also make you less willing to buy products. You might spend quite a bit of money each month eating at fast-food restaurants like McDonald\u2019s and Subway. Where do you take someone for your first date? Some people might take a first date to Subway, but other people would perhaps choose a restaurant that\u2019s more upscale. Likewise, if you have turned down a drink or dessert on a date because you were worried about what the person you were with might have thought, your consumption was affected by your social situation.<\/span>\r\n
    \r\n

    Time<\/h2>\r\nThe time of day, time of year, and how much time consumers feel like they have to shop affect what they buy. Researchers have even discovered whether someone is a \u201cmorning person\u201d or \u201cevening person\u201d affects shopping patterns. Have you ever gone to the grocery store when you are hungry or after pay day when you have cash in your pocket? When you are hungry or have cash, you may purchase more than you would at other times. Seven-Eleven Japan is a company that\u2019s extremely in tune to time and how it affects buyers. The company\u2019s point-of-sale systems at its checkout counters monitor what is selling well and when, and stores are restocked with those items immediately\u2014sometimes via motorcycle deliveries that zip in and out of traffic along Japan\u2019s crowded streets. The goal is to get the products on the shelves when and where consumers want them. Seven-Eleven Japan also knows that, like Americans, its customers are \u201ctime starved.\u201d Shoppers can pay their utility bills, local taxes, and insurance or pension premiums at Seven-Eleven Japan stores, and even make photocopies.<\/span>\r\n\r\nCompanies worldwide are aware of people\u2019s lack of time and are finding ways to accommodate them. Some doctors\u2019 offices offer drive-through shots for patients who are in a hurry and for elderly patients who find it difficult to get out of their cars. Tickets.com allows companies to sell tickets by sending them to customers\u2019 mobile phones when they call in. The phones\u2019 displays are then read by barcode scanners when the ticket purchasers arrive at the events they\u2019re attending. Likewise, if you need customer service from Amazon.com, there\u2019s no need to wait on the telephone. If you have an account with Amazon, you just click a button on the company\u2019s Web site and an Amazon representative calls you immediately.\r\n\r\n<\/div>\r\n
    \r\n

    Reason for the Purchase<\/h2>\r\nThe reason you are shopping also affects the amount of time you will spend shopping. Are you making an emergency purchase? What if you need something for an important dinner or a project and only have an hour to get everything? Are you shopping for a gift or for a special occasion? Are you buying something to complete a task\/project and need it quickly? In recent years, emergency clinics have sprung up in strip malls all over the country. Convenience is one reason. The other is sheer necessity. If you cut yourself and you are bleeding badly, you\u2019re probably not going to shop around much to find the best clinic. You will go to the one that\u2019s closest to you. The same thing may happen if you need something immediately.\r\n\r\nPurchasing a gift might not be an emergency situation, but you might not want to spend much time shopping for it either. Gift certificates have been popular for years. You can purchase gift cards for numerous merchants at your local grocery store or online. By contrast, suppose you need to buy an engagement ring. Sure, you could buy one online in a jiffy, but you probably wouldn\u2019t do that. What if the diamond was fake? What if your significant other turned you down and you had to return the ring? How hard would it be to get back online and return the ring?<\/span>\r\n\r\n<\/div>\r\n
    \r\n

    Mood<\/h2>\r\nHave you ever felt like going on a shopping spree? At other times wild horses couldn\u2019t drag you to a mall. People\u2019s moods temporarily affect their spending patterns. Some people enjoy shopping. It\u2019s entertaining for them. At the extreme are compulsive spenders who get a temporary \u201chigh\u201d from spending.\r\n\r\nA sour mood can spoil a consumer\u2019s desire to shop. The crash of the U.S. stock market in 2008 left many people feeling poorer, leading to a dramatic downturn in consumer spending. Penny pinching came into vogue, and conspicuous spending was out. Costco and Walmart experienced heightened sales of their low-cost Kirkland Signature and Great Value brands as consumers scrimped. Saks Fifth Avenue wasn\u2019t so lucky. Its annual release of spring fashions usually leads to a feeding frenzy among shoppers, but spring 2009 was different. \u201cWe\u2019ve definitely seen a drop-off of this idea of shopping for entertainment,\u201d says Kimberly Grabel, Saks Fifth Avenue\u2019s senior vice president of marketing.<\/span> To get buyers in the shopping mood, companies resorted to different measures. The upscale retailer Neiman Marcus began introducing more mid-priced brands. By studying customer\u2019s loyalty cards, the French hypermarket Carrefour hoped to find ways to get its customers to purchase nonfood items that have higher profit margins.\r\n\r\nThe glum mood wasn\u2019t bad for all businesses though. Discounters like Half-Priced books saw their sales surge. So did seed sellers as people began planting their own gardens. Finally, what about those products (Aqua Globes, Snuggies, and Ped Eggs) you see being hawked on television? Their sales were the best ever. Apparently, consumers too broke to go on vacation or shop at Saks were instead watching television and treating themselves to the products.<\/span>\r\n\r\n<\/div>\r\n
    <\/span>\r\n
    \r\n
    \r\n

    Key Takeaway<\/h3>\r\n
      \r\n\t
    • Situational influences are temporary conditions that affect how buyers behave. They include physical factors such as a store\u2019s buying locations, layout, music, lighting, and even scent. Companies try to make the physical factors in which consumers shop as favorable as possible. If they can\u2019t, they utilize other tactics such as discounts. The consumer\u2019s social situation, time factors, the reason for their purchases, and their moods also affect their buying behavior.<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n \r\n\r\nhttp:\/\/www.openassessments.com\/assessments\/430\r\n\r\n \r\n\r\n<\/div>\r\n<\/div>\r\n
      <\/div>\r\n<\/div>\r\n ","rendered":"
      \n
      \n

      Learning Objectives<\/h3>\n
        \n
      1. Describe the situational factors that may influence what consumers buy and when they buy it.<\/li>\n
      2. Explain what marketing professionals can do to influence consumers\u2019 behavior.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/div>\n

        You\u2019ve been a consumer with purchasing power for much longer than you probably realize\u2014since the first time you were asked which cereal or toy you wanted. Over the years, you\u2019ve developed rules of thumb or mental shortcuts providing a systematic way to choose among alternatives, even if you aren\u2019t aware of it. Other consumers follow a similar process, but different people, no matter how similar they are, make different purchasing decisions. You might be very interested in purchasing a Smart Car, but your best friend might want to buy a Ford F-150 truck. What factors influenced your decision and what factors influenced your friend\u2019s decision?<\/p>\n

        As we mentioned earlier in the chapter, consumer behavior is influenced by many things, including environmental and marketing factors, the situation, personal and psychological factors, family, and culture. Businesses try to figure out trends<\/em> so they can reach the people most likely to buy their products in the most cost-effective way possible. Businesses often try to influence a consumer\u2019s behavior with things they can control such as the layout of a store, music, grouping and availability of products, pricing, and advertising. While some influences may be temporary and others are long lasting, different factors can affect how buyers behave\u2014whether they influence you to make a purchase, buy additional products, or buy nothing at all. Let\u2019s now look at some of the influences on consumer behavior in more detail.<\/p>\n

        \n

        Situational Factors<\/h2>\n

        Have you ever been in a department story and couldn\u2019t find your way out? No, you aren\u2019t necessarily directionally challenged. Marketing professionals take physical factors such as a store\u2019s design and layout into account when they are designing their facilities. Presumably, the longer you wander around a facility, the more you will spend. Grocery stores frequently place bread and milk products on the opposite ends of the stores because people often need both types of products. To buy both, they have to walk around an entire store, which of course, is loaded with other items they might see and purchase.<\/p>\n

        Store locations also influence behavior. Starbucks has done a good job in terms of locating its stores. It has the process down to a science; you can scarcely drive a few miles down the road without passing a Starbucks. You can also buy cups of Starbucks coffee at many grocery stores and in airports\u2014virtually any place where there is foot traffic.<\/p>\n

        Physical factors that firms can control, such as the layout of a store, music played at stores, the lighting, temperature, and even the smells you experience are called atmospherics<\/span><\/span>. Perhaps you\u2019ve visited the office of an apartment complex and noticed how great it looked and even smelled. It\u2019s no coincidence. The managers of the complex were trying to get you to stay for a while and have a look at their facilities. Research shows that \u201cstrategic fragrancing\u201d results in customers staying in stores longer, buying more, and leaving with better impressions of the quality of stores\u2019 services and products. Mirrors near hotel elevators are another example. Hotel operators have found that when people are busy looking at themselves in the mirrors, they don\u2019t feel like they are waiting as long for their elevators.<\/span><\/p>\n

        Not all physical factors are under a company\u2019s control, however. Take weather, for example. Rainy weather can be a boon to some companies, like umbrella makers such as Totes, but a problem for others. Beach resorts, outdoor concert venues, and golf courses suffer when it is raining heavily. Businesses such as automobile dealers also have fewer customers. Who wants to shop for a car in the rain?<\/p>\n

        Firms often attempt to deal with adverse physical factors such as bad weather by offering specials during unattractive times. For example, many resorts offer consumers discounts to travel to beach locations during hurricane season. Having an online presence is another way to cope with weather-related problems. What could be more comfortable than shopping at home? If it\u2019s raining too hard to drive to the GAP, REI, or Abercrombie & Fitch, you can buy products from these companies and many others online. You can shop online for cars, too, and many restaurants take orders online and deliver.<\/p>\n

        Crowding is another situational factor. Have you ever left a store and not purchased anything because it was just too crowded? Some studies have shown that consumers feel better about retailers who attempt to prevent overcrowding in their stores. However, other studies have shown that to a certain extent, crowding can have a positive impact on a person\u2019s buying experience. The phenomenon is often referred to as \u201cherd behavior.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

        If people are lined up to buy something, you want to know why. Should you get in line to buy it too? Herd behavior helped drive up the price of houses in the mid-2000s before the prices for them rapidly fell. Unfortunately, herd behavior has also led to the deaths of people. In 2008, a store employee was trampled to death by an early morning crowd rushing into a Walmart to snap up holiday bargains.<\/p>\n

        \n

        Social Situation<\/h2>\n

        The social situation you\u2019re in can significantly affect your purchase behavior. Perhaps you have seen Girl Scouts selling cookies outside grocery stores and other retail establishments and purchased nothing from them, but what if your neighbor\u2019s daughter is selling the cookies? Are you going to turn her down or be a friendly neighbor and buy a box (or two)?<\/p>\n

        \n

        Video Clip<\/h3>\n

        Thin Mints, Anyone?<\/p>\n