Consumer psychology is a branch of psychology that studies the different methods used by customers to choose, buy or dispose of products and services. In the field of commerce, consumer psychology research allows companies to develop their products, services and market strategies in order to increase their sales.
Its main objective is to determine exactly why individuals make certain decisions when buying. Taking into consideration that it is a field study that is based on the belief that if companies were able to understand the reasons that drive people to make purchasing decisions, they could use that knowledge to improve their products and services, in addition to apply the most suitable market strategies and thus increase their interest.
There are three groups that, according to consumer psychology, directly and indirectly influence consumer behavior when buying or using a product or service. These groups are classified as primary, secondary and tertiary.
Primary: it is made up of the family, because in the first place, they are the ones that create certain customs in each subject, adjusting it to the same of the group, conditioning in a certain way the decision to buy this or that product or service.
Secondary: it is made up of friendships in general and educational institutions, which generate enough influence on the decisions of the person, being able to extend a variety of possibilities, but at the same time, creating limits when deciding.
Tertiary: in this group the media, opinion figures or other personalities intervene, which in a certain way generate expectations at a specific moment.
But, in addition to these groups indicated above, there are also certain individual factors, which it would be interesting to take into account, these are:
Cultural: it is the place where the individual lives, their way of thinking within a specific society, their customs, their culture and socioeconomic status.
Status: this is one of the factors that generate more influence within the psychology of the consumer, since through the media a mental image is created of what the subject should consider as a model of life to follow, causing different socioeconomic levels desire this lifestyle promoting consumerism.
Affective: this factor attacks against the mental processes of the subject so that it can predict possible difficulties, which could arise both in their relatives and in their expectations.
Necessity: this factor seeks to convince the person that a product is essential for daily life, even when said product does not represent an essential item.
Massification: according to this factor, it is only necessary to place in the mind of the consumer that an item that is on sale is bought by many people. For this, certain questions are used. You still do not buy it? What are you waiting to buy it?
Technology and innovation: this factor seeks to present technology as a necessary tool to increase the quality of life.
