TOBUYORNOTTOBUY?

THATI
STHEQUESTI
ON!:RoleofFi
l
ipi
noConsumerCul
tur
etoFi
l
ipi
noSel
f
andIdent
it
y

Wit
ht hedev elopmentoftechnologythroughthey ears,i
tbecameconv enientandeasyf orpeopl
eto
l
ookforwahtt heyneedandwhatt heywant .Theycaneasi l
ydownl oadappli
cationwher etheycanbeableto
shopanndorderthingsanddeli
vertheserighti
nf r
ontoftheirdoor.Al
thoughthereisalreadyanadvancedway
tobuyanyt
hing,groceri
eswil
lnotsti
llbeempt i
edsinceithasbeenpar tofthecultureofthecommuni t
y.

Thr
oughbuy i
ngandshoppi ng,onecanfeelthereliefandsatisfact
ionforgett
ingtheirhandsont he
thi
ngsthatreall
ymattert
ot hem whetheri
tmaybesi gnifi
cantorcanpr obabl
ygiveshort
-ter
m sat i
sfacti
on.
Eit
herway,thisisbecomi
ngacul tureofeachFil
ipi
no.Fr om purchasingonlyrel
evantandi mportantitems,
shoppi
ngisnowanaddi ct
ivehobbywhichcanbeincorporatedinmakingsomeoneel se'
slif
ebet t
er.

Accor
dingtoGizawandNguy en(2014)
,consumerbehavi
orandpurchasedeci
sionsareaaff
ectedbya
vari
etyoff actorssuchasadv esti
sements,brandfamil
i
arit
y,percei
vedprice,andpercei
vedv al
ue.Also,
anotherstudyf r
om Solomon(2011),pur
chasedecisi
onsofcustomersareaf f
ect
edbyt hei
rexperi
enceand
expert
ise.

Fil
ipi
nos'deci sionsi nbuy ingitemsar ebasedf rom sev eralfact orsi ncludingbutnotl imit edt ot heir
brandf ami l
i
ar i
ty,perceivedv alue,demogr aphi cpr ofil
e,exper i
ence,exper t
ise,andi nfl
uence.Whenwet alk
aboutbr andf ami l
iari
ty,therear epeopl ewhocommi tandi nvestini temswi thknownbr andsincet heyar e
alr
eadyawar eoft hequal ityoft heitems.Theyhav eexper i
encedbet terwheni tcomest ot he l
if
eshel foft he
productsaswel last hecomf or tandbenef it
st heygi ve.Inter msofper cei vedv alue,Fi
lipinoconsumer sdeci de
whetheracer t
aini t
em candel iv
ert hem t hev al
uet hatt heyneedt or eceive.Asf ordemogr aphicpr ofil
e,
Fil
ipi
nospur chasebasedont heirneedsaccor dingt ot heirage, gender ,andpr eferences.Thesepur chasescan
varyfrom any onesi ncet herear enosucht hingt hatcanequal l
yf i
ttheneedsandwant soft woi ndi
v i
dual s.
Discussingexper i
enceandexper ti
ser elatet het woi nawayt hatacer t
ainconsumerhashi s/herenough
knowledgeaboutacer tai
ni tem aswel lasi tsmar ketingst rategy.Ther ear epeopl ewhodonotgi v eeasi lyto
theproductadv erti
sement ssi ncet heyar ewel l
-awar ethati tisj ustapar toft hemar ketingteam behi ndt he
product.Someoft hem alreadyknowst hequal ityandpr osandconsoft hei tem maki ngt hem swi t
chandl ook
foranot herproducti nt hemar ket.Anot herf actort hatcanmost l
yaf f
ectt heconsumerbehav i
orisi nfluence.
Speciall
yi nteenager sandadul ts,theyar eof t
eni nfluencedbyt heknowl edget hatapr oducti sbeingusedbya
well-
knowni nfl
uencer ,actor,oract r
ess.Thi ski ndofst r
ategyi sagr eathel pfort hemanuf act
urert osel ltheir
productseasi l
y.Consumer scanal sobei nfluencedbyt hef actt hatsomepeopl ehav ear eadyt r
iedand
experi
encedt headv antagesanddi sadv antagesofacer taingood.

Thesefact
orscontr
ibutetot hesel
fi denti
tyofFil
ipi
nosi ntermsoft hem bei
ngaconsumeri nthe
communi t
y.AswhatAbraham Masl ow'sHierarchyofNeedstryt oconv ey,anindi
vi
dualisinanev er
-endi
ng
maz eand hunttofulf
il
lhis/herownper sonalwants.Wei ncorporat
et hesev er
alfactor
st o aff
ectour
consumercult
ureandbehaviori
nordertoreacht hesat
isf
acti
oni nattai
ningourneedaandwant s.