Consumer behavior refers to the study of individuals groups, or organizations, and the process

they go through when they select and purchase a product or a service to satisfy either their needs

or wants. The way the consumer thinks and takes things into consideration has a big impact on

his behavior, and from one consumer to another it differs. There are various definitions of the

term consumer behavior. Consumer behavior is the actions shown by customers as they look for,

buy, use, rate, and abandon items, products, and ideas. It is a field of study that analyses the

reasons and methods by which people buy products and services or choose not to. The physical

and mental acts of a customer, household, an area, and their decision-making in the consumption

of goods or services are also consumer behaviors. Consumer behavior is about the behavior of

consumers in different situations. There may be pre-, during-, and post-purchase scenarios. The

situations may include trying something new (like a food item recommended by a grocery store

salesperson), buying something new (like a bike), repurchasing something (like the same brand

of water), changing service providers (like your phone or internet provider), promoting a public

service campaign (like slowing down your driving), or considering something but ultimately

choosing not to buy it (like travel insurance). You as a consumer might act differently depending

on the circumstances. For instance, you might purchase, use, and abandon a basic item; look for,

examine, and purchase as a present; purchase, use, and keep a costly item; evaluate but choose

not to purchase; and so on. Your experiences with consumer behavior are varied, and after

learning more about this difficult area of study, you might have developed your own definition of

consumer behavior. Peter Ling ()

Regarding the behavior of the consumers, there are four types of behaviors; complex buying

behavior, variety-seeking behavior, dissonance buying behavior, and habitual buying behavior.
Complex buying behavior is defined as when a buyer is very involved in the purchasing process

and there are important differences between brands. Therefore, the marketer must give detailed

data on the product properties, and the consumer must gather accurate knowledge about the

product features. For instance, a consumer who is purchasing a motorbike is quite involved in the

whole process and is aware of the key distinctions between brands. On the other hand Variety-

seeking behavior there is little consumer input during the product purchase process, but the

consumer is interested in trying a variety of products most of the time. Customers typically

purchase different things because they want variety rather than because they were unhappy with

their last purchase. Each time they purchase a different brand of laundry detergent just for

variety. Therefore, it is the marketer's responsibility to persuade the customer to purchase the

goods by providing them with exclusive offers, complimentary samples, and strong promotions.

As for Dissonance buying behavior, the consumer is interested in details like the consumers who

have a complex buying behavior but the difference is that the differences between brands in this

case are few unlike in the complex buying behavior. Finally, habitual buying behavior is when

the consumer isn’t that involved in the purchase and there is barely any difference in the brands.

Moving on to factors that affect consumer behavior, there are three important factors that will be

stated in this research; personal factors, psychological factors, and economic factors. It starts

with personal factors, which consist of age, stages of life cycle, occupation, personality, lifestyle,

norms, and values which all have an impact on consumer behavior. At different stages in life, a

person’s taste changes with age. For example, a 70-year-old would rather get a house away from

the city in a quieter place, unlike a 21-year-old student who would rather get an apartment in the

middle of the city. Therefore, businesses divide their consumers into different age groups, under

12 years, 13 to 18 years, 19 to 26 years, 27 to 35 years, and finally above 50 years old. The
purchasing habits of people change and evolve going up those different age groups. To add to,

the stage in life a person is in also has an impact on his\ her behavior, for example, a person in a

relationship will have a different consumer behavior and preferences than a person who is single,

even a couple with a child will have a different consumer behavior and preferences than a couple

with no kids. So the stage of life cycle a person is in makes a huge impact on his consumption

behavior. Moving on to the occupation, the job of a person also has. A great impact on a

consumer’s consumption behavior. Businesses have to take into consideration the occupation of

their target audience when it comes to pricing the products they consume, as doctors will have

different behaviors and approaches to a product with a certain price, which will differ from the

approach and behavior taken by a factory worker to that same product. Qazzafi, S. (2020)

Consumer behavior as stated before is affected by psychological factors. In everyday life those

psychological factors affect us without us noticing. By this means, people are frequently

influenced by the products or services that other customers buy. The "other consumer" could be a

coworker, friend, or member of the family. Customers may be enthusiastic about a new product

that has entered the market due to environmental factors. Psychology is related to the

environment. Businesses should always be aware of the environment the consumers are in and

what gets them excited nowadays. What motivates the consumers to buy something is what

business should focus on as this affect their consumption behavior. What consumer are learning

is what should be focused on as this also affect the things they buy and how they make decisions

in purchasing. Finally, the perception of the consumers and their point of view has to be focused

on as it has. A huge impact on their purchasing decisions and how they view what they are
buying. Motivation, learning, and perception are some psychological factors that should be

focused on. Qazzafi, S. (2020)

The third factor that influences consumer behavior is the economic factor. The economic state a

country is in affects the financial situation of a lot of the population in that country. As the value

of money keeps changing and the prices of a lot of products change, consumers think more

before purchasing something, as thoughts like what if this product will be cheaper in the near

future? Consumers question the economic state the country is in and try to always predict what

will happen in the near future as the answer or prediction will affect the consumer’s behavior, the

consumer will either purchase now as the product will be more expensive or will not as it will be

cheaper. To add to, businesses have to consider the consumers' purchasing ability and study the

individual’s income as it plays a huge role in how the consumer will behave, so that is why

businesses have to focus on researching on this factor, to know the right prices and ways of

paying that will be suitable for the consumers.