Table of contentsSummaryIntroductionCultureSocial influencePersonal factorConclusionReferencesSummaryConsumer behavior is the study of how individual customers, groups or organizations select, purchase and use goods and services in order to satisfy their needs and desires. It refers to consumer action in the marketplace and the underlying psychological processes that determine purchasing behavior and ultimately consumer purchasing power. By understanding these purchasing processes, marketers are able to understand what drives consumers to purchase a certain product or service and be able to determine which products are in demand in the market, including ways to market the product, to achieve the net result which is profit. .Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get Original Essay In this report, a few factors are mentioned in conjunction with what influences consumer buying behavior and how it affects and its importance. .IntroductionThe key psychological processes that are important in consumer decision making are intention or motivation, biogenic needs, and a being's psychogenic need. These psychological needs come into play in consumer behavior as well as a person's culture, social and personal factors. When all factors come into play, marketers are able to understand consumer behavior in more depth, such as in Lewin's general model of behavior, where the influences of purchasing behavior are categorized as B = f ( P, E), meaning that a person's behavior is caused by the interactions of personal influences and environmental forces where they determine needs and motivations. CultureCulture plays a role in influencing a person's behavior through its manifestations of values, heroes, rituals and symbols (Hofstede, 1997). Each cultural group has different cultural manifestations. Like for example values, where Rokeach (1968) cited “a value as a central and enduring belief that guides actions and judgments in specific situations and beyond immediate goals to more ultimate end states of existence” , implying that a culture acts as a guide on which a person's actions are based. McCracken (1988) refers to “cultural principles” as the ideas about actions planned and deployed as people's behavior is rooted in these cultural principles. McCracken described the cultural categories of time, space, nature, and person that help an individual make sense of the world. In a study conducted by Gregory and Munch (1997) which investigated the effectiveness of advertisements in relation to individualistic or collectivist dimensions, it was concluded that advertisements which showed norms and roles similar to a person's cultural values ​​are often more effective than advertisements that do not depict images resembling the person's own values. Another cultural aspect is based on individualistic and collectivist cultures. Triandis (1995) defined collectivism as a social model in which individuals view themselves as a collective whole, while individualism is a social pattern composed of individuals motivated by their own preferences and needs and viewing themselves as an independent being . The social patterns of these different cultures affect a person's perception, whichconstitutes one of the key psychological processes of consumer behavior. According to Han and Shavitt (1994), advertisements emphasizing individualistic beliefs were found to be more effective in the United States, because America has a more individualistic culture, while in Korea, collectivist advertisements were more sought after. It is important to understand how different cultures influence the market value of a product because cultures are invented in such a way that these values ​​are integrated from an early age and shared by a fairly large group. Subcultures are usually formed bygeographic distribution, gender, religion, age and race. Religion plays a role: for example, during wedding events in a Christian culture, women wear a white dress, as in Muslim culture, women wear green on important occasions. A person in their 60s wouldn't wear clothes similar to a person in their 20s. These subcultures constitute an individual's culture. Overall, for a product to be marketable in different cultures, it is important for a company to adapt to various cultures by building different business models and being open-minded in the process. McDonald's is a well-known example of a multinational company that understands the value of different cultures. It has been found that McDonald's in various parts of the world offer different menus to their customers and most of them are based on local cultures. For example, the durian McFlurry was introduced to the Malaysian market while the McVeggie is often served in India. Social influenceSocial factors play an important role. important role in purchasing behavior processes. This includes both formal and informal memberships in groups other than the family, called the reference group. As for the reference groups to influence a person's purchasing decision, it is when they are informed about a certain product that they interfere with one of the psychological processes that is memory. A reference group would often bring up a certain product over and over again which would influence a person's memory, as studies have shown that with repetition, a short-term memory transforms into a long-term memory. A person would likely associate a product with a certain brand because they have a memory and perception that will influence a consumer's decision-making processes. The Asch phenomenon is derived from discoveries made in 1951 where Solomon Asch conducted an experiment to determine causality. relationship social pressure on conformity. It was concluded that people would conform under social pressure, allowing marketers to use this idea to their advantage when introducing a product. By simply asking a few people to give a good recommendation on a product, marketers are able to manipulate a consumer's psychological processes, as they are more likely to follow the opinions of their peers. Leibenstein (1950) termed the effect that influences lower levels of product recommendation. end of brand extension, the brand wagon effect where the main goal is to improve self-concept. People tend to desire prestige brands as a symbolic representation of group membership where they can distinguish themselves from a non-prestige reference group. The influence of media also plays on consumer behavior, as recent research has shown that consumers learn about wealthy lifestyles and try to imitate by consuming similar products (Dittmar 1994) where television has