influences that affect consumer’s purchasing decisions. These influences
can be broken down into four major categories: social, personal, psycho-
logical and situational.Social influences
There is a range of social influences on a consumers purchasing behaviour:
● Culture: Behaviour is largely learned so the traditions, values and atti-
tudes of the society an individual is brought up in will influence their
behaviour. Cultural norms form the codes that direct behaviour.
Therefore in an informal culture such as the USA or the UK the use of
first names in a formal business meeting may be acceptable. In other
cultures, such as mainline China more formal behaviour would be the
norm. Within a larger culture there are obviously some sub-cultures
these may be based on religion, nationality, geographical areas or
racial groups.
● Social class: An individual’s social class has been seen as an important
influence on consumer behaviour. With individuals in lower social
groups generally been seen to be more culture bound. Social class
groupings are heavily dependent upon societies’ cultural background.
Some societies are more hierarchical than others many have a few people
in the top and bottom classes with the majority in the middle. However,
some societies such as Scandinavia and Japan have much flatter struc-
tures (see Figure 4.2). Some societies are more open than others, that is,
individuals can move from one class to another in an open society; in
a closed society this is not possible.In western societies social classification has been criticised as a predictor
of purchasing behaviour. In the UK a household in the higher AB cat-
egory, after paying for a mortgage and private school tuition for their chil-
dren, may have less disposable income than a lower category C2 or D
household. There can also be wide discrepancies in purchasing patterns
within social groups. Individuals are also influenced by smaller social
groups, such as friends, co-workers and family. These can be categorised
into reference groups and family:
● Reference groups: Reference groups can be formal (be members of a pro-
fessional association or society) or informal groupings (social friends,
etc.). These reference groups influence an individual’s attitude or
behaviour. Individuals will tend to exhibit purchasing behaviour that
is deemed to be acceptable by their reference group. Group norms and
the role an individual plays within a group exert considerable influ-
ence on their behaviour. Recent research into the behaviour of first
time mothers illustrated the power of reference groups in shaping
their expectations of the quality of service they would experience dur-
ing their stay in the maternity ward. For individuals from residential
areas of lower economic status, doctors, mid-wives and information
from ante-natal classes were less influential than friends with young52 Strategic Marketing: Planning and Control