This document discusses the various cultural, social, and personal influences that impact consumer purchasing behaviors. It identifies key cultural influences like nationality, religion, and geography that shape value systems and require companies to tailor products for different cultural segments. Social influences include reference groups from family, friends, and other affiliations that expose consumers to new behaviors and create pressures to conform. Personal factors incorporate demographic characteristics, life stages, occupations, economic circumstances, personality, lifestyle, and values that determine the products and brands that appeal to consumers. Marketers must understand these various influences in order to effectively reach different consumer groups.

1. How do consumer characteristics
influence buying behaviour?

2. Study of how individuals, groups and organisations select,
buy, use and dispose of goods, services, ideas or experiences
to satisfy their needs and wants

3. There are various
influences on consumer
purchase behaviour

4. • CULTURAL
• SOCIAL
• PERSONAL
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5. People from different nationalities, religions, racial groups and
geographic regions have different value systems
CULTURAL

6. Marketers must tailor
their products to reach
out to different
cultural segments
McDonald’s
introduces country
specific burgers to
reach out to
customers

7. • CULTURAL
• SOCIAL
• PERSONAL
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8. Reference groups
Direct influence
Indirect influence
Primary groups
Opinion shaped due to continuous informal
interaction with family, friends,
neighbours and coworkers
Secondary groups
Opinion shaped by formal interaction with
religious, Professional and trade union
groups
Aspirational groups
One that a person hopes to join
Dissociative groups
One whose values a person rejects
Reference Groups

9. Reference groups influence people in three ways
• Expose the individual to new
behaviour and lifestyle
• Influence attitudes and self-
concept
• Create pressures for conformity

10. Where reference group influence is strong, marketers must
determine how to reach the opinion leaders

11. FAMILY
Family of Orientation
Parents and siblings
Family of Procreation
Spouse, Children
Family

12. Roles and Status
People choose products
that reflect their actual or
desired status

13. • CULTURAL
• SOCIAL
• PERSONAL
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E
N
C
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S

14. Personal factors
Age and Stage
Family Life Cycle
Psychological Life Cycle
Influenced by critical life
events such as marriage,
childbirth, first job,
retirement

15. Occupation and Economic Circumstances
• Occupation influences
consumption patterns
• Economic circumstances
influence product
and brand choice

16. Personality and Self-Concept
Consumers choose brands whose personalities match their own

17. Lifestyle and Values
Lifestyle shaped
by whether
Money Constrained
Create lower-cost products
and services
Time Constrained
Outsource services to others
in order to save time

18. These slides were created by Anju Joseph, MEC Kochi during a
Marketing internship by Prof. Sameer Mathur, IIM Lucknow
(See www.IIMInternship.com)