Consumer purchases are influenced strongly by these four factors.
01. Cultural Factor
02. Social Factor
03. Personal Factor
04. Psychological Factor

01. Cultural Factors that Influence Consumer Behaviour :-

Cultural factor is divided into three sub factors (i) Culture (ii) Sub Culture (iii) Social Class

(i) Culture:-  The set of basic values perceptions, wants, and behaviours learned by a member of society from family and other important institutions. Culture is the most basic cause of a person’s wants and behaviour. Every group or society has a culture, and cultural influences on buying behaviour may vary greatly from country to country.

(ii) Sub Culture :-

• A group of people with shared value systems based on common life experiences and situations.
• Each culture contains smaller sub cultures a group of people with shared value system based on common life experiences and situations. Sub culture includes nationalities, religions, racial group and geographic regions. Many sub culture make up important market segments and marketers often design products.

(iii) Social Class:- Almost every society has some form of social structure, social classes are society’s relatively permanent and ordered divisions whose members share similar values, interests and behaviour.

02. Social Factors that Influence Consumer Behaviour :-

A consumer’s behaviour also is influenced by social factors, such as the (i) Groups (ii) Family (iii) Roles and status

(i) Groups :-

• Two or more people who interact to accomplish individual or mutual goals.
• A person’s behavious is influenced by many small groups. Groups that have a direct influence and to which a person belongs are called membership groups.
• Some are primary groups includes family, friends, neighbours and coworkers. Some are secondary groups, which are more formal and have less regular interaction. These includes organizations like religious groups, professional association and trade unions.

(ii) Family:-

• Family members can strongly influence buyer behaviour. The family is the most important consumer buying organization society and it has been researched extensively. Marketers are interested in the roles, and influence of the husband, wife and children on the purchase of different products and services.

(iii) Roles and Status :-

• A person belongs to many groups, family, clubs, organizations.
• The person’s position in each group can be defined in terms of both role and status.
• For example. M & “X” plays the role of father, in his family he plays the role of husband, in his company, he plays the role of manager, etc. A Role consists of the activities people are expected to perform according to the persons around them.

03. Personal Factors that Influence Consumer Behaviour :-

It includes – i) Age and life cycle stage (ii) Occupation (iii) Economic situation (iv) Life Style (v) Personality and self concept.

(i) Age and Life cycle Stage:-  People change  the goods and services they buy over their lifetimes. Tastes in food, clothes, furniture, and recreation are often age related. Buying is also shaped by the stage of the family life cycle.

(ii) Occupation :- A person’s occupation affects the goods and services bought. Blue collar workers tend to buy more rugged work clothes, whereas white-collar workers buy more business suits. A company can even specialize in making products needed by a given occupational group. Thus, computer software companies will design different products for brand managers, accountants, engineers, lawyers, and doctors.

(iii) Economic situation :- A person’s economic situation will affect product choice

(iv) Life Style :- Life Style is a person’s Pattern of living, understanding these forces involves measuring consumer’s major AIO dimensions. i.e. activities (Work, hobbies, shopping, support etc) interest (Food, fashion, family recreation) and opinions (about themselves, Business, Products)

(v) Personality and Self concept :- Each person’s distinct personality influences his or her buying behaviour. Personality refers to the unique psychological characteristics that lead to relatively consistent and lasting responses to one’s own environment.

04. Psychological Factors that Influence Consumer Behaviour:-

It includes these Factors.  i) Motivation (ii) Perception (iii) Learning (iv) Beliefs and attitudes

(i) Motivation :- Motive (drive) a need that is sufficiently pressing to direct the person to seek satisfaction of the need

(ii) Perception :- The process by which people select, Organize, and interpret information to form a meaningful picture of the world.

(iii) Learning:- Changes in an individuals behaviour arising from experience.

(iv) Beliefs and attitudes :- Belief is a descriptive thought that a person holds about something. Attitude, a person’s consistently favourable or unfavourable evaluations, feelings, and tendencies towards an object or idea