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Your market may consist of different customers with different buying behaviours. Some may prefer impulse purchasing while others may prefer taking their time and getting assistance from others. Getting a good understanding of how consumers think, what their buying habits are and what factors influence these habits is essential for you to make the most of your marketing opportunities.   

There are six questions that are commonly asked in regard to consumer buying behaviour:

• Why do consumers buy? Why will they buy the products or services on offer?
• Who buys? What are the characteristics of consumers that are likely to buy from you?
• What do they buy? Which products or services do they typically choose? What brands do they prefer?
• How do they buy? What are their buying habits? Do they buy because it is convenient or do they buy because it is easily accessible? Do they pay cash, or do they use credit cards?
• Where do they buy? Do customers prefer to buy from mail order, retail stores, the internet or from door-to-door? How far are they prepared to travel to buy?
• When do they buy? How much is the behaviour of customers affected by seasonal influences? What about the holiday season? How does that affect their shopping patterns? What about inflation or recession, or higher interest rates?^[1]

Influences on consumer behaviour

There are many factors that can influence consumer buying behaviour. These can include personal factors; such as age and gender, social factors; such as social groups and culture, and psychological factors; such as personality and attitudes.

Social groups may be made up of family, friends, social clubs or sporting teams. Each group develops its own set of normal behaviour and attitudes which can dictate their buying habits. For example, surfers tend to wear certain types and brands of clothing, while younger children are interested in toys or the latest craze such as skateboards or scooters.

Roles in the buying process

Identifying the roles in the buying process can help your organisation in developing the most effective marketing strategy for your business.  Different people have different roles in the purchasing process of a particular product. For instance, if you consider a family, there can be different roles occupied by various family members as follows;

• The person who suggests the idea of buying a particular product or service
• The person who advises or carries some weight in making the final buying decision
• The actual decision maker who would ultimately make the buying decision
• The person who would make the purchase
• The user of the product. Therefore a company needs to identify who occupies which role or roles and thereby tailor the marketing strategy to suit.

Knowing the main participants and their roles in the buying process can help you to fine-tune the marketing strategy. 

^{[1] Smart Skills Queensland}