We have learnt that there are cultural, social and personal factors that influence consumer buying:
- Cultural -> Does a certain culture value a product more than other cultures do?
- Social -> Is this the “hippiest” product in the market right now? Is the individual choosing the product because it makes him/her “cool”?
- Individual -> Different people have different tastes.
For example, Bob might be eating at The Keg because Westerners love their steak and will bring their friends out to a steakhouse for a meal (culture); Bob could be there because all of his friends say that it is the best steakhouse in the city and he would have a story to tell after having a meal there (social); Bob also personally love to eat-out, and is a big steak fan (individual).
When it comes to the perceiving of products from a consumer’s standpoint (the activity that we did in class), we can come to several hypotheses, and two general ones are:
- Most customers tend to have a similar general view on the product.
- Often, customers follow the judgments of the first person who gives a verdict on the product.
From this, we can infer that most (but certainly not all!) customers who come to The Keg are doing it based on cultural, social or individual reasons as listed above, and that with an established reputation, The Keg will be able to gain more consumers, given that no competitors spring up and no catastrophes happen. With this knowledge, companies will be in a better position to market themselves and expand their consumer base!