Page 136 - DMGT551_RETAIL_BUSINESS_ENVIRONMENT

Unit 7: The Customers and the Retail Business: Knowing Your Customers

Self Assessment Notes

State whether the following statements are true or false:
1. A retailer’s role in the field of personal consumption is that of distributor and facilitator.
2. Retailers do not come in direct interaction with the consumers.

3. A retail consumer is affected by both his macro and micro environment.
4. Retailers need to group their consumers into different segments and then offer them
specific goods.

7.3 Factors Influencing Retail Shopper

Before studying what factors influence the retail shopper, let’s see what factors influence
consumers, in general.

Cultural Factors

Cultural factor divided into:

Culture: The set of basic values perceptions, wants, and behaviours learned by a member
of society from family and other important institutions. Culture is the most basic cause of
a person’s wants and behaviour. Every group or society has a culture, and cultural influences
on buying behaviour may vary greatly from country to country.
Sub Culture: A group of people with shared value systems based on common life
experiences and situations. Each culture contains smaller sub cultures a group of people
with shared value system based on common life experiences and situations. Sub culture
includes nationalities, religions, racial group and geographic regions. Many sub culture
make up important market segments and marketers often design products.

Social Class: Almost every society has some form of social structure, social classes are
society’s relatively permanent and ordered divisions whose members share similar values,
interests and behaviour.

Social Factors

A consumer’s behaviour also is influenced by social factors, such as:

Reference Groups: It can be two or more people who interact to accomplish individual or
mutual goals. A person’s behaviour is influenced by many small groups. Groups that have
a direct influence and to which a person belongs are called membership groups. Some are
primary groups includes family, friends, neighbours and coworkers. Some are secondary
groups, which are more formal and have less regular interaction. These include
organisations like religious groups, professional association and trade unions.

Family: Family members can strongly influence buyer behaviour. The family is the most
important consumer buying organisation society and it has been researched extensively.
Marketers are interested in the roles, and influence of the husband, wife and children on
the purchase of different products and services.
Roles and Status: A person belongs to many groups, family, clubs, and organisations. The
person’s position in each group can be defined in terms of both role and status.

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