【正确答案】Individuals themselves vary greatly and so does the time and mental effort devoted to buying decisions. Since people are motivated differently, what is exciting for one person may be boring for another. People also learn differently. Some are slow, while some are fast. Some remember and some don't.
People's unique personalities also tend to affect their buying decisions. For example, generally happy people tend to wear bright, colorful clothing; more serious people tend to wear grays and blacks. Assertive and aggressive types tend to buy sports cars; more conservative people tend to stick with sedans.
Perception is another individual influence on buyer behavior. Different consumers perceive a marketing strategy in different ways. Consider two consumers: Jack is a man from a small town on a budget vacation; Steve is a business traveller on an expense account. Steve is happy with a hotel room at $ 75 a night, but Jack rejects the price as absurd. The difference in perception of the price may be caused by how much money each consumer has at the time or by the person's prior experiences with hotels.
Individual buying behavior is also influenced considerably by attitude. We all have positive or negative feelings toward other things. When you respond that you like or dislike a certain firm or product, you are revealing your attitude toward these things. Suppose that a local survey showed that people tend to distrust large organizations, small retailers might reinforce this attitude by stressing the homey, personal service in their downtown shops. The large department stores at the mall might advertise as a collection of neighborly salespeople who can offer great price and service. Marketers try to reinforce positive attitudes and change negative attitudes by altering their products, services, and image.
Besides internal / personal influences, a number of external influences affect buying decisions. These outside influences include people— those in the potential customer's family or circle of friends and acquaintances and the surroundings in which the potential customer moves.
The effect of a person's family on his or her buying behavior can readily be seen when you look at shoppers in various buying situations. Each family member often plays a part. Family members may influence buying decisions even when they are not present when the purchase is made. For example, parents tend to choose food items from the supermarket to satisfy family preferences.
Friends, too, both as individuals and as groups or organizations, influence buying behavior. This seems to be especially true for teenagers. Thus jeans, jewelry, shoes, and even bicycles tend to be purchased by teenagers on the recommendations of their friends.
Influence on buying behavior also comes from the customer's surroundings, the school, the job, the neighborhood, and even the weather. A young professional who works in a smoggy city may buy dark-colored suits instead of light colored ones so that she will look well-groomed on the job despite the miserable, dirty weather outside. A child may insist on a Superman lunch-box because all of the kids at the school have one.