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A Study on Consumer Buying Behavior of Young Adults Towards Coffee Brand

Chapter 1

Introduction

The study of people and the products that help to form their atttitudes is known as consumer

behavior (Solomon, M. 2015). The primary consumers purchasing habits are referred to as

consumer buying behavor. Socal science fields of Anthropology, Psychology, Sociology and

Economics are also used to study consumer behavior. The five major factors affect a

consumers buying behavior are; cultural, social, personal and psychological factors. A customer

goes through a decision process when buying any products. This method has up to five stages:

problem identification, information gathering, alternative evaluation,purchasing decision and

post-purchase behavior.

Moreover, consumer buying behavior refers to a person’s attitudes, desires, intentions, and

decisions when buying a products or services. There are three level of decision making;

Extensive problem solving, Limited problem solving, and lastly, Routinized response behavior.

Extensive Problem Solving is the initial stage of decision-making, where the buyer has no

preference for a particular product or service. Limited Problem Solving At this level, the buyer

has inadequate or incomplete information about the product, market or the brands operating in

it. Lastly, Routinized Response Behaviour is where the buyer is entirely aware of the products

offered by different brands and the features, pros and cons of each product. Therefore, to make

a buying decision, he/she look for a comparative study of the different brands and the products

available in the market.

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Through personal, social and psychological factors of consumer buying behavior. This study will

examine the factors that influence the purchasing decision of Young adults. The researchers will

use the coffee brands as a subject on this study. Nowadays, coffee is a commonly purchased

product, and the decision to buy it can be made routinely or without much thinking. The

objective of this study is to see if the personal, social and psychological factors influence the

buying behavior of Young adults. It also to know and gain knowledge about how the puchasing

decision process of the respondents being made. It is interesting to study how Young adults

came to choose a particular coffee brand, as well as the influence of personal, social and

psychological factors.

Theoretical Framework

According to Kotler, customer behavior is a challenge that has a significant impact on

corporations’ marketing decision-making process every year. Years ago, daily practice was

sufficient to comprehend the buyer behavior. The market has increased in size in recent years,

and businesses have lost direct touch with their customers. As a result, it is critical for

businesses to research their custmers in order to comprehend their behavior. Companies can

run various marketing campaigns dependeing on the target market’s beliefs, desires, and

aacteristics.

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 Figure 1. Buyer Behavior Model of Philip Kotler

Input Output

External stimuli The Buyer’s Black Box The Buyer’s Buying

Decision

Marketing Environmental Buyer Buyer Decision The Choice of:

Stimuli Stimuli Characteristic Process
Product
Product Economic Cultural Recognition of the
Problem Brand
Price Social Social
The search of Dealer
Advertising Political Personal Information
Quality
Distribution Technological Psychological Evaluation
Purchasing timing
Decision

Post-purchase
Decision

The external stimuli are the first factor that businesses must consider in this model. The

external stimuli are classified into two categories. The first one is marketing stimuli, that

consist of: Products, Price, Advertising and Distribution. Those characteristic are the most

important for the product, which businesses can control and alter in order to gain a

significant market share. Environmental stimuli is the second group of external stimuli, this

is not connected to the company and also to the consumers. Economic, technical, political,

and cultural factors all fall into this group.

The buyer’s black box is influenced by external stimuli. The buyer characteristics and the

buyer decision process are also included in this group. There are four buyer characteristics

such as cultural, social, personal, and psychological. Since these things are personal to each

individual, it is extremely difficult for the organization to obtain information or exert

control over them. The buyer’s decision process is another component of this black box.
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This section includes all of the previously discussed considerations, including external

stimuli and buyer characteristics. Consumers will have different need, as well as different

ways and preferences in the decision-making process. Depending on those factors, it’s also

necessary to remember that this process is influenced by the product.

The buying decision is the last or final stage in the process (Pieters, R. 1993). In this section,

the buyer must determine which product best meets his or her needs. Some aspects of the

purchase, such as the product, brand, or dealaer, require the buyer to make a decision.

Researchers attempt to manipulate this final phase by studying the buyer’s black box.

Researchers will accomplish their key goal if they have accurate knowledge about their

customers’ buying behavior.

Factors Influencing Consumers Buying Behavior

The buyers black box is the second component of the purchasing behavior model. In this

section the characteriscs and decision process of buyers are involve. Theres a major impact

those factors on the decision making process of consumer. (2001, P. Kotler)

Consumer buying behavior are influenced by cultural, social, personal and psychological

factors or characteristics that can not be controlled by the marketers. (Armstrong, G., et al,

2005;Perez, S. & Martinez, B. 2008)

Figure 2. Factor Influencing Consumers Buying Behavior

Cultural
Culture
Sub-culture
Social Class

Social
Preference groups
Family
Role and Situation

Psychological
Personal Motivation
Age and Life cycle state Perception
Buyers
Occupation Leaning, Beliefs and
Economic situation, etc. Page 4 of 5
Attitudes
Consumer Decision Making Behavior

The researchers will use the Sheth-Howard’s Theory of Buyer Behavior as a basis for the

analysis of the buying behavior of respondents in terms of buying a Personal Collection

Products. Sheth and Howard’s Theory of Buyer Behavior states that a buying behavior is more

or less repetitive, and the buyer establishes purchase cycles for various products which

determine how often he will buy (Howard&Sheth, 1969).

Howard J.A and Sheth J. developed the three level of decision-making those are: (1) Extensive

problem solving, (2) Limited problem solving, and lastly, (3) Routinized response behavior. This

study will use the third level of decision-making of the theory due to the fact that the

respondents are still buying a product without much thinking or routinely.

In 1969, Howard and Sheth said that the routinized choice behavior or routinized response

behavior occurs after sufficient number of ‘trials’ or purchases of a particular brand. With each

subsequent purchase, the routinized decision behavior becomes repetitive, and the decision to

purchase the product again needs little or no decision making. Routinized choice behavior is a

characteristic of being loyal to a brand as well (Howard&Sheth, 1969). The study will try to see

the level of loyalty and satisfaction of the respondents in terms of buying a Personal Collection

Products.

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