CONSUMER BEHAVIOR

Consumer Behavior

Consumer Behavior

Introduction

Consumer behavior refers to all of the processes and actions taken by the consumer in order to finalize their purchase. A company needs to identify its market to know their customers, their needs and know how to behave to satisfy the needs of the customer. Consumer behavior refers to behavior that consumers use to search, use, evaluate and buy products and services in order to meet their needs. The study of consumer behavior is an analysis of how individuals make decisions to spend their available resources (money, time, effort) on consumption-related items. This includes the study of what, when, why, how, and where they buy and how often they buy. Studying consumer behavior has grabbed much importance at present because by understanding this phenomenon help companies to understand the demand of the customers, which enable companies to make better products complying with the demand of the customer. This study will analyze consumer behavior of people of United States in order to recommend a different approach to Starbucks to understand their consumer behavior. In this connection, this study will attempt to answer two questions asked buy Starbucks:

The company believes that motivation and the benefits customers seek go hand in hand, which is why Starbucks needs some concept to better understand the motivations of their target audiences.

Starbucks is keen to know how understanding of family life cycle and family decision making can help them to improve their products and services more successfully

Background and operating philosophy of Starbucks

Starbucks Corporation is the ranked number one in the coffee retailer. Starbucks own about 9000 coffee shops in different countries. Starbucks president and CEO Mr Howard Shultz, follow a philosophy that a company should value its employees so that employees will value its customer (Starbucks Annual Report, 2006). Starbucks serves up strong drinks and remains strong as the leader in the coffee and tries to satisfy their customers through product variegation, high visibility and client loyalty. Starbucks serves the addictions and meets the needs of socioeconomically vibrant groups seeking to beat the daily grind. Got Milk? Starbuck does, and they put a spin on the famous marketing campaign to add calcium to the diet; they have created a dairy appeal for youths (Berry, 2002). Whether younger or older, customers with sundry palates may find something desirable amongst Starbucks' diverse products. They are sure to delight the senses with gourmet coffees, flavorful teas, baked pastries, and a myriad of seasonal hot and cold specialty drinks for any age patron. (Starbucks Annual Report, 2006)

Influences in the Buying Process

There are different factors that influence the buying decision of a customer. This is important to understand in order to explicitly understand the consumer behavior for Starbucks. (Johnson, Scholes, and Whittington, 2006) The influence is divided into two main groups:

External Influences

External influences cover economic, technological, cultural, environmental, social class, social groups, family and personal influences.

Economic environment represent the state of the economy

Technological environment is the innovation throughout the product

Cultural environment is a set of values, ideas, behaviors, beliefs, ...