How Do Culture, Personality, and Experience Influence Buyer Behavior?

How Do Culture, Personality, and Experience Influence Buyer Behavior in Taiwan?

Start with the culture, each different country and race have their own culture. From where they lived, what they want, to how they think. Cultures can be changing over time, but it takes a very long period. When a culture has been built, it is hard to change it at short notice. Before 1979, there are no 24/7 open convenience stores in Taiwan. After Uni-President Enterprises start to operate more and more 7-11 in Taiwan, the consumer behavior and the retailers have been changed. For instance, during New Year's Eve and vacations, most of the traditional retailers are close, you must purchase all your necessities before New Year. However, with more and more 7-11 stores around the country, people don't have to worry about this issue anymore since 7-11 is always open. That means they can make their purchasing decisions just when they need them rather than plan ahead. This change may lead to some impulse purchases because they have more opportunities to walk into retail stores or put some spending backward since they don't have to purchase them too early.

Obviously, different personalities lead to very different purchasing decisions. For instance, people with open minds tend to try new things such as being one of the early electric car owners even though they know Tesla's superchargers are rare in Taiwan for now and the bonus for driving electric cars is also less than in developed countries. 

Experience also badly influence the purchasing behavior in Taiwan real estate. Taiwan experienced a demographic dividend after World War 2, and the government always want to stimulate the economy, plus mostly the prices are going up. Therefore, they think real estate is the best option to protect their purchasing value. As a result, the housing prices are incredibly high compare to the average income in Taiwan. A 40-year old apartment in Taipei can cost you nearly NT$ 20,000,000 or even one hundred million Taiwan dollars. They can eat less and cut down many other spendings just for their houses since they think the housing prices are always going up. The experience teaches me that if you see the same products with a different aspect such as see it as an investment, you are more willing to spend more on it. With budget constraints, they may tend to reduce other expenditures. So, in Taiwan, the brokers always tell their customers that the house they are selling is worth to invest rather than telling them it worth the cost when you live inside the house.

Conclusion

Although each of these factors has apparent effects on consumer behavior independently, they also influence each other. For instance, experience in the Taiwan housing market can also influence the culture. Now, many parents love their children to buy their own houses rather than buy cars. When it becomes a spreading culture, our purchasing decisions are not as free as we want.

Reference

Principles of Marketing. (2015). University of Minnesota Open Textbook Library. Licensed under a Creative Commons by-nc-sa.

Why Study Consumer Behavior? The Five Personality Traits, What Products or Services Would Someone Who Is Extremely Open to New Experiences Be Likely to Buy?

Why Study Consumer Behavior?

How do you make your buying decisions throughout the day? What should I wear for an important date with someone you like a lot? Do you ever consider putting on perfume before went out? Which restaurant did you book for dinner? As you can see, we make many buying decisions every day. Business owners all desire to decode the processes behind their targeted customers because they can use that info to boost revenue. 

The Five Personality Traits

The Five Personality Traits, also called, the big 5, are broad categories of personality traits. Although not every researcher always agrees on the exact labels for each dimension, it still helps companies to find some cues to make some profit by it.

The five personality traits are openness, conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness, and neuroticism. Each of the five personality factors represents a range between two extremes. 

Let's discuss each of them. 

Openness

People who are high in this trait tend to have a broad range of interests. They are curious about the world, love to discover new things, eager to learn new things, and enjoy new experiences.

Conscientiousness

People who are high in this trait tend to have high levels of thoughtfulness and great impulse control. Highly conscientious people tend to be organized and mindful of details. They often plan ahead, think in detail, and are always complete tasks before deadlines.

Extraversion

Extraversion is mostly characterized by sociability and talkativeness. Generally, people who are high in extraversion tend to gain energy in social situations. They feel energized and excited with other people. In contrast, people who are low in extraversion tend to have less energy to expend in social settings. 

Agreeableness

Generally, this dimension includes trust and kindness. People who are high in agreeableness tend to be relatively more cooperative. 

Neuroticism

People who are high in this trait tend to experience more anxiety and sadness. In contrast, people who are low in this trait tend to be more emotionally resilient and also more stable.

However, both biological and environmental influences play a role in shaping personalities and they are not born unchangeable. So, be careful while applying them to any long-term marketing strategy.

Products and services that would likely be successfully marketed to individuals at both ends of the spectrum.

What Products or Services Would Someone Who Is Extremely Open to New Experiences Be Likely to Buy?

Extremely open people are curious about the world, love to discover new things, eager to learn new things, and enjoy new experiences. So, they may tend to buy an electric car like Tesla Model S or Model X if they need a car in 2020 or earlier. Although electric cars are not as common as gasoline cars, they still much more willing to try new things. 

Someone Who Never Tries Anything New?

A person low in openness tends to prefer routine and stick to their comfort zone. So, they tend to wait until electric cars are commonly used or become the only choice when they need a car. People like this tend to buy big brands such as Toyota or Ford since they are more likely to limit their options in a safe zone even though they have plenty of alternatives.

What Products Appeal to Someone Who Is Outgoing? Shy?

People who are high in extraversion tend to gain energy in social situations. Therefore, they tend to spend more money on their clothes, haircut, shoes, transportations, vacations, or luxury goods such as LV, Montblanc, Rolex, or even Patek Philippe. Because social situation or how they look in other people's eyes is very important to them.

Shy people dislike being the center of attention. Shyness is a learned behavior of discomfort and anxieties. They may tend to buy a product that promises to protect their privacy. The appearances of their car tend to be more general, not attractive supercars.

Reference

Cherry, K. (2020, July 13). What are the big 5 personality traits? Retrieved February 11, 2021, from https://www.verywellmind.com/the-big-five-personality-dimensions-2795422

Tanner, J. & Raymond, M.A. (2015). Principles of Marketing. University of Minnesota Open Textbook Library. Licensed under a Creative Commons by-nc-sa.