Businesses should study every type of consumer behavior and align their marketing efforts and corporate strategy with their needs.
Consumer behavior refers to customers’ purchasing patterns and product consumption that are affected by various factors. It revolves around the study of human actions and all the determinants that influence them to buy certain products.
Studying consumer behavior provides marketers in-depth understanding of consumers’ behaviors and decision-making processes. This enables businesses to identify the likes and dislikes of consumers based on their analysis.
Read on to discover its importance and understand the types of consumer behavior.
Why should businesses learn consumer behavior?
Understanding consumer behavior is necessary for your company’s growth and success. It helps ensure that your marketing efforts such as product planning and launches align with customers’ needs.
Taking a good look at consumers’ behavior includes a thorough analysis and assessment of their thought processes. It seeks to understand their attitude toward their shopping journey and how they make decisions at every touchpoint.
If a business fails to understand a customer’s thought process and buying behaviors, there’s a great chance of a failed sale and a negative customer experience.
Along with the rapidly changing trends in fashion, technology, lifestyle, income, and other factors, consumer behavior also evolves. As a marketer, you have to understand these factors and the types of consumer behavior to improve your marketing strategies.
Types of consumer behavior
A consumer’s buying decision depends on multiple factors. It has been evident that the more complex and more expensive the purchase is, the longer it takes for buyers to deliberate.
Consumer behavior is evaluated by the consumer’s level of involvement in their purchasing decisions. The perceived risk of buying can also influence it. Below are the types of consumer behavior based on these factors.
Complex buying behavior
In this type of consumer behavior, a buyer seeks to deliberate and buy an expensive product. Since the transaction involves a great amount of money, consumers are highly involved in the purchasing decision.
Consumers with this behavior thoroughly research the product, company, and the entire brand’s offering before making the purchase. Since it involves more money, it’s only reasonable that a person goes through a longer and more complex deliberation when buying something pricey.
When it turns into a dilemma, the consumer would then consult a friend, family, or other experts if they should or should not pursue the purchase.
To understand the complex buying behavior, marketers should have a robust knowledge of their products and services. They should be the first line of assistance that consumers can reach out to in this difficult buying process.
Dissonance-reducing buying behavior
This buying behavior is apparent when a consumer resorts to a product due to few options. When there are fewer options and few significant differences among product choices, buyers would choose the most available or the cheapest.
Dissonance-reducing buying behavior is based on the customer’s decision to get what’s easiest considering time or budget limitations. With this behavior, they buy certain items without a lot of product research.
Marketers should address this behavior by delivering focused messaging. Marketing campaigns should support consumers in patronizing the brand they actually love. Eventually, these types of consumers would become repeat customers and even loyal advocates.
Habitual buying behavior
Habitual consumer behavior also shows a customer’s low involvement in a purchase decision. In this case, the consumer doesn’t see many differences between the products and services of brands.
When consumers habitually or routinely buy products for their daily consumption, they no longer put a lot of thought into it. They usually go to the brand they see every day or those priced the cheapest.
Since they are only buying out of habit, brand loyalty is nowhere to be found. Marketers, in this scenario, should put more effort into grabbing consumers’ attention using better imagery in their advertising.
Most shoppers have high visual senses and can easily relate visual advertisements with a brand.
Variety-seeking buying behavior
In a variety-seeking behavior, consumer involvement is low. Consumers who behave this way have often done a lot of brand switching.
At this stage, buyers may be undecided. And since switching products is as easy as a snap, consumers would want to try out new products simply because they are curious.
To address this consumer behavior, market leaders should put out a display of various products they are currently selling. This will not only catch their attention to various products; you are also introducing them to your brand’s unique pool of items.
Understanding your customers better
Businesses should study every type of consumer behavior and align their marketing efforts and corporate strategy with their needs.
Make sure you are conducting in-depth market research for an effective consumer behavior analysis. By looking into consumer behavior, you’ll figure out the forces behind customer purchasing decisions and patterns.
Coming up with a refreshing set of strategies to meet your customers’ wants and needs may be challenging at first. But when you understand their point of view and give them the most suitable options for their purchasing decisions, it’s going to be a win-win scenario for both ends.
