categories of consumers

Discuss the two major characteristics of consumers and their characteristics in the consumer market and the business market.

The consumer is the one who consumes the goods and services produced. Mahatma Gandhi said a costumer is the most important visitor in our premises. He is not dependent on us, we are on him. He is not an interruption to our work; he is the purpose of it.

The different types of consumers are combined within several major categories: the consumer market and the business market. Amid these two major categories the consumer market is comprised of individuals and households that purchase goods and services for personal consumption whereas the business market encompasses organizational entities that purchase goods and services for their use in the production of other products and services for the purpose of reselling or renting to others at a profit. Business market poses a smaller amount of large buyers unlike the consumer market.

With the consumer markets or people who purchase goods and/or services for their personal consumption, buying is centered on certain factors and they may exhibit certain characteristics. The consumers market’s behavior is influenced by four key sets of buyer characteristics which are cultural, social, personal and psychological.

The cultural aspect entails social class and group wants and behavior. Social incorporates the factors of influences by family and small groups that determine ideal brands and products; Personal adapts the different age groups and lifestyles and psychological utilizes motivators and perceptions of beliefs and attitudes.

Aside these, other consumer characteristics include the geographical location of the consumer. This involves where people live – not just the region but might include, post code groups, whether it is a rural or urban area, whether it is an estate, private housing, etc. The nearness of the product or service to the consumer is of major importance to the consumer. This may influence the consumer’s decision to purchase the product or service.

Another characteristic of the consumer is the demographic location. This includes the age, occupation, educational background, income, gender and family size of the prospective consumer or buyer – Age and life cycle because people change the goods and services they buy over their lifetimes. Tastes in food, clothes, furniture and recreation are often age related. Also a person’s occupation affects the goods and services bought, for instance, people who work in banks and telecommunication industries will buy more suits whilst those who do not work in such industries will not. Furthermore, a person’s economic situation will affect product choice. If economic indicators point to a decline then purchasing power will also decline respectively.

Consumer’s lifestyle is also an indicator. People coming from the same social class and occupation may have quite different lifestyles. Lifestyle is a person’s pattern of living as expressed in his or her psychographics. It includes work, hobbies, shopping, sports and social events whilst interest of the consumer may include food, fashion, family and recreation.

Individual consumers and organizational consumers are different from one another based on their consuming and purchasing behavior such behaviours can vary from the different influences and understanding of the consumers purchasing characteristics.

Research has shown that consumers make their purchase decisions based on five stages, which are, need recognition, information search, evaluation of alternatives, purchase decision, and post purchase behavior. Need recognition is when the buyer recognizes a problem or need. The buyer senses a difference between his or her actual state and some desired state. Needs could be hunger, thirst, class, etc.

Second stage is the information search where the consumer may or may not search for more information. If a consumer finds a satisfying product at hand the consumer is likely to buy, if not the consumer undertake information search related to the need. Consumers may often ask friends, relatives, acquaintances or professionals for recommendations concerning a product or service.

The third stage is for the consumer to evaluate alternatives. Here the consumer uses information to arrive at a set of final brand choices. Consumers evaluate purchase alternatives depending on the individual consumer and the specific buying situation.

The next step is the purchase decision. Here the consumer ranks brands and form purchase intentions. Normally the consumer’s decision will be to buy the most preferred brand. Decisions may be made based on income, price, and expected benefits of the product or service.

Finally, we look at the post purchase behavior. After the product has been purchased, will the consumer be satisfied or dissatisfied. If the product falls short of expectation, the consumer is disappointed but if it meets expectation, the consumer is satisfied.

In general, consumers face four types of purchase decisions. The first type is the minor new purchase. Those purchased represent something new to a consumer but in the customer’s mind it is not a very important purchase in terms of need, money or other reason. The second type is the minor old or re-purchase. These are the most routine of all purchases and often the consumer returns to purchase the same product without giving much thought to other product options.

The third type is the major new purchase. These purchases are the most difficult of all purchases because the product being purchased is important to the consumer but the consumer has little or no previous experience making these decisions.

The last type is the old/re-purchase. Here the purchase decisions are also important to the consumer but the consumer feels confident in making these decisions since they have previous experience purchasing the produce. For marketers and advertisers it is important to understand how consumers treat the purchase decisions they face.