According to Phillip Kotler of Kellogg School of Management, a consumer is an individual who purchases products and services from the market for his or her own personal consumption. Consumer buying behavior is the buying behavior process of final consumers usually individuals and households who make a decision to buy goods and services. The behavior is affected by many external factors such as time and place. According to Kotler et al.(2005) consuming behavior is also about being and owning things not just the buying of the products. For example, how does owning a certain item effect a persons life or appearance? Customer value is the consumer's assessment of the product's overall capacity to satisfy his or her needs; to determine if the person who makes a buying decision such as what to buy, how to buy, where to buy or if to buy at all the good or service needed. It is very important for a company to understand their customers, so that they can target their product to the correct customer segments.
Factors and Characteristics Affecting Consumer Behavior.
Personal Factors.
Personal factors are the demographic factors of the buyer: age, profession, economic circumstances and life-cycle stage. Consumer behavior research shows that demographic variables are the basic elements for classification of consumers (McGoldrick 2002, 106). Demographic variables are used to find the factors that are common to specific groups of consumers (Ipid.). Consumer behavior studies prove that consumers should be divided into groups based on their demographics (Solomon 2002, 9). According to Boedeker (1993) the weakness of demographics is that they are very one-dimensional, as they don't give the answer for why someone would use a certain product. This is why it is also important to pay attention to the psychographic factors and the correlations between different demographical factors.(Ipid).
All of the personal factors together with the psychological and social factors impact the buyer's lifestyle.