Habitual BuyingHabitual buying or habit buying is the buying behaviour of consumers when they repeatedly make their purchases with little thought or decision making. When consumers repeatedly buy the same product, it could be the product best suits their needs, or they just don't bother to look for alternatives. These products are usually low priced items or meant for daily use. One of the reason why they stick to the same brand or product could be that there aren't many differences between the comparable items. This habitual buying behaviour could also be developed through constant marketing.
Highest Price = Better?When deciding which product to purchase, we will do some assessment on the product value for money. A high-priced item supposedly means the product is of a better quality, but that is not always true. That is just based on an assumption. Many researches and tests show that consumers assume that highest-priced item will be of the highest quality as well. Here is an example of a test carried out: Participants are invited to try two similar cakes and give a rating. Cake A is priced at $55 Cake B is priced at $15 All the participants had chosen Cake A as their preference. Beside pricing, the flavour, shape and ingredients are all the same. The cakes are even baked in the same oven. So why do these participants chose Cake A? When these participants realised that both the cakes are of the same quality, they find it hard to believe. Their reply was that they genuinely felt that Cake A taste better. The conclusion derived was that it was just their own misperception of price and quality. Social Proof / ConsensusHumans are social animals, which means we like to be part of a group. While in the group, we learn to follow the group's collective decisions. So this behaviour trait has led us to look at others' experiences and opinions to guide us in our purchase. Many of us will do our research on the net before purchasing any products, especially when purchasing expensive items. We will first find out more about the product's features, follow by what others think of it. I am sure no one will like to buy from a company full of negative reviews.
Following the crowdWe are often looking for guidance to help us in our decision making. This is one of the trails of social animal. When we saw a long queue at a food stall, we assumed that the food must be good. It couldn't be that so many people make the wrong judgement, right? In this sense, following the crowd does sound logical. Sometimes, we do also follow others so as not to appear as weird and be outcasted. We want to be accepted by others. Following the crowd is similar to submitting to peer pressure but the latter uses more pressure to compel one to follow. Regardless of whether it is to follow the crowd or submitting to peer pressure, we should always make our own final decision. At the end of the day, you will be the one answering for your own actions, not others. And sometimes, even after a thorough discussion, a decision made by a group can still be wrong, let alone by strangers who happen to be in the same place. So we must always make our own final judgment. Following the crowd can only serve as guidance. Do not blindly accept what is presented and follow suit. Cognitive BiasOur brain tends to look for mental shortcuts to speed up our reactions. Thus, our brains are wired to quickly make sense of what we see. This is known as cognitive bias. When consumers see an advertisement, they will focus on the first few wordings (known as primacy effect) or some big catching words to grab hold the meaning of the ads. The rest, or most of the details, will be neglected by the consumers. We often see advertisements with Big Wordings such as "Warehouse Sales", "Discount 50%", or "Buy 1 get 1 free" with small fine prints below. Did you even read those fine prints? Maybe, you do. But how many consumers do that? Besides using big wordings, the colour choice plays a part too in leading the readers to the focus point. Did the above red wordings catch your eye? Choice OverloadHaving more choices seems to be a favourable scenario. But more choices also open the door to regret. When faced with many choices, we will have a difficult time making a decision. Why? Naturally, we wanted to choose the best choice out of all the available ones. We are afraid of making the final call, as we worry that we will be losing out on something better. This phenomenon is known as choice overload or the paradox of choice. So, with more choices, consumers will need more time to make their decisions.
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