Consumer Buying Behavior As we have discussed, the decision-making process for consumers is anything but simple. Many factors can affect this process when a person makes their purchasing decision. The number of potential influences on consumer behavior is limitless. However, marketers benefit from understanding the KEY influences. In doing so, they may be able to tailor their marketing efforts to leverage these influences in ways that satisfy both the consumer and the marketer (remember, this is a key part of the definition marketing). In this tutorial, we'll break down these influences into three main categories: internal, external, and marketing. However, those interested in learning more about customer purchasing activity may want to consult one or more consumer behavior books where they will find additional methods for explaining consumer purchasing behavior. For the most part, the influences are not mutually exclusive. Instead, they are all interconnected and, as we will see, work together to shape who we are and how we behave. For each of the influences discussed, we will provide a basic description and also suggest its implications for marketers. Keep in mind that we only provide a few marketing implications for each influence; there are clearly many more. Consumer Purchasing Behavior What influences consumers to purchase products or services? The consumer purchasing process is a complex issue as many internal and external factors impact consumer purchasing decisions. When purchasing a product, consumers go through several processes. These will be discussed below.1. Problem/Need RecognitionHow do you decide that you want to purchase a particular product or service? Your DVD player may no longer work and now you have to look for a new one, you can no longer play all the DVD movies you purchased! So you have a problem or a new need. For high value items like a DVD player, car or other products purchased at low frequency, this is the process we will follow. However, for low frequency impulse purchases, for example confectionery, the process is different.2. Searching for information So we have a problem, our DVD player no longer works and we need to buy a new one. What is the solution? Yes, go buy a new one, but what brand?