Situational influence refer to temporary forces associated with the immediate purchase environment that affect behaviour. Often situation in which the consumer finds himself plays a large part in determining how he behaves. For example the graduate of institute of management and technology might get his hair cut because of an upcoming job interview. Or a housewife maybe a souvenir that she wants to give out for a close friend's wedding gifts, a person might buy a fancier brand of small appliance than he would buy for himself.
Mccain 1979 and stressed that variations in buying behaviour stem mainly from differences in the situations people and encounter , than stable traits within individuals. Because situations change so often , consumer behaviour varies wildly over time.
The five categories of situation influences are related to when where, how and why consumers buy as well as conditions under which they buy.
1. WHEN CONSUMER BUY THE TIME DIMENSION:
The time pressure felt by a consumer to make a decision affect his purchase behaviour. For example, when one is under great time pressure he might make the decisions with less information relying more on the sales person than he would If I had more time to investigate. If much time is available to him the consumer will be able to consider alternative, brands, shop and sales condition before taking his purchase decision. But where time is very short, he would have to hessen his decision and buy the available water native.
Marketers should be able to answer at least three times related question about consumer buying namely:
How is it influenced by the time of the year , this season, week, day or hour?
What impact do past and present events have on purchase decisions?
How much time does the consumer have to make a purchase and consume the product?
The time dimensions of iron has implications for promotion scheduling. Promotional message must reach consumers when they are in a decision-making frame of mind. Each also influences pricing decisions, as when marketers are just price in an attempt to even out mind. If seasonal buying patterns exist. Marketers can tailor their merchandise accordingly.
The second question concerns the impact of past or future events. For example, the length of time since a person last went out on dinner at a nice restaurant may influence a decision on where to go tonight full stop aww the significance of an upcoming event, such as christmas festivity, could result in a greater than normal amount of clothing purchase. Marketers need to know enough about the recent and planned behaviour of targeted customer to anticipate effect of these past and future events.
2. WHERE CONSUMERS BUY THE PHYSICAL AND SOCIAL SURROUNDINGS:
Physical surroundings are the features of a situation that are apparent to the science, such as lightening , smells, weather, and sound. For instance, music can be an important element in a store strategies. In an experiment involving supermarket shoppers, the beat of in the background music apparently influence behaviour. Despite the fact that the shoppers reported paying little or no attention to a music, sales went 38% higher with lower background music done with faster music. millman 1982.
The social surroundings are they're number, mix and action of other people at the purchase site. For instance, when a person suddenly meet his friend in a restaurant, he will be spurred to buy more food and drinks that he had originally intended to celebrate the occasion.
3. HOW CONSUMERS BUY THE TERMS OF PURCHASE:
terms and conditions of sales as well as the transactions related activities that buyers are willing to perform effect consumer buying. For example, in an occasion a retailer selling textbooks decide to sell on credit to a customer this credit condition made the consumer to buy more text books than he had originally intended to buy. The marketer who suddenly reduced the price of his products may encourage consumers to buy more items.
4. WHY CONSUMERS BUY THE OBJECTIVE OF THE PURCHASE:
The intent or reason for a purchase affect the choices made. consumers are likely to behave very differently when buying a product for a gift as opposed To buying the same product for themselves. For instance, when purchasing a wrist watch for personal use a consumer may be most interested in one that will provide accurate time at reasonable price. However, the appearance of a watch but as a graduation present can be very important. Again, a consumer may use a different brand of coffee to serve dinner guest than for regular family use. a particular brand of perfume or collagen may be used for special occasions.
A marketer must understand the customer's objective in buying a product in order to design an effective marketing mix. For example, the failure by the most watch makers to appeal to the functional, non gift watch market is what allowed time to be so successful with reasonable with each reasonable priced products. And the interest of other consumers and stylish appearance at reasonable price created a market opportunity for swatch watches . Stanton et al., 1994.
5. CONDITION UNDER WHICH CONSUMERS BUY STATES AND MOODS: sometimes consumers are in a temporary state that influence their buyer's decisions. For instance, when a person is here or rushed, he may be unwilling to, wait in line or to make the time or care that a particular purchase deserves. Moods can also influence purchase. Feeling such as anger or excitement can result in purchase that otherwise would not have been made. Indeed exciting atmosphere of a trade fair music performance, for example, a buyer might pay more for a commemorative t-shirt than could in under normal circumstances. Sales people must be trained to recognise consumers mood and adjust their presentations accordingly.
