Essay on Understanding Consumer Behavior: My Food Choices and Strategies for Informed Purchases

Introduction

Consumer behavior is a wide discipline that covers the processes involved when an individual identifies, buys, uses, or disposes of services, experiences, ideas, or products to satisfy desires and needs (Solomon et al., 2016). The desires and needs consumers people to satisfy range from thirst and hunger to status, spiritual fulfillment, and even love. Specifically, Solomon et al. (2016) argued that marketers depend heavily on consumer behavior approaches to guide their strategic decision-making process ranging from the most efficient technique to express their campaigns to the optimal manner of configuring an enterprise environment or ways of developing and implementing public policy advertisements that inspire responsible consumption. In this context, this blog post aims to demonstrate my previous personal consumption experience, and the theory and consumer behavior concepts applicable to that experience, as well as the strategies helpful to consumers concerning the most appropriate purchasing approach.

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Personal Consumption Experience

I am a third-year student, aged 20 years and my current food choice mainly revolves around functional food items based on a specific meal plan and convenience. Currently, my education schedule does not offer me room to cook for myself. Additionally, I am not a good cook, thus I often prefer purchasing meals from a local ready-meal kit company just across the college campus. Since I began my third year of training, I started replacing one meal with a snack during lunchtime that often begins at noon and ends at 1:00 p.m. I frequently purchase snacks from the Intuition's vending machine. However, the most interesting meal of the day is usually dinner because I often eat out at a local cafeteria with a couple of friends who happen to be my basketball teammates. Approximately three-quarters of our teammates do not know how to cook, thus the reasons we prefer eating at the cafeteria. The cafeteria is just a five-minute walking distance from school and their services have always been exceptional. I prefer going to the place as it is very popular and the quality of their tacos and Burritos is irresistible. Apart from the quality the taco and burritos are relatively affordable and are served within a few minutes after placing an order. I originally come from Mexico and my family tradition concerning dinner consumption has always revolved around the traditional Mexican Taco meal. I also prefer eating their burritos because the restaurant emphasizes nutritional service delivery. Specifically, the cafeteria serves a simple, elegant, and tasty burrito meal constituting pico de gallo, meat, rice, vegetables, a small quantity of guacamole, and beans. Indeed the restaurant is unique compared to other neighboring cafeterias that add shredded cheese, and a five-inch flour tortilla topped up with chocolate cream.

Consumer Behaviour Concepts

The experience illustrated above can be explained using the ABC model of attitudes and two fundamental consumer behavior concepts: the hierarchy of effects; and the concept of personality. According to Solomon et al. (2016), the ABC theory focuses on the interlinkages between "knowing, feeling, and doing" (2016, p.185) instead of simply their beliefs concerning the products. Specifically, a customer's attitude toward a given product is defined using the hierarchy of effects concept that constitutes three fundamental components: the high-involvement hierarchy; the low-involvement hierarchy; as well as Zajonc's theory of hedonic consumption. The high-involvement hierarchy factor describes a consumer who becomes highly involved with a particular product through a given belief and approaches it through a problem-solving process. Considering my consumption experience highlighted above, I often choose to go to the cafeteria for dinner based on the fact that it offers a satisfying taco meal prepared and served in a way that equates to my family's tradition.

The low-involvement hierarchy involves behavioral learning where the client's choice is supported by either bad or good experiences with the product following its purchase (Conlin & Labban, 2019). Initially, I did not have a specific preference for any cafeteria located outside the campus. However, after learning the ingredients used to make the burritos in different restaurants the optimal and desirable experience I had with the cafeteria reinforced my specific purchasing decision. In particular, the restaurant is unique, since it serves healthy burritos constituting pico de gallo, meat, rice, vegetables, a small quantity of guacamole, and beans, as opposed to other cafeterias that increase caloric content by adding high-calorie ingredients. Lastly, Zajonc's approach to hedonic consumption describes the customer's emotional reactions based on intangible product aspects like the nature of the setting, brand name, and package design. These attributes play a significant role in inspiring consumers' consumption behavior (Zajonc & Markus, 1982). After considering my consumption experience at the cafeteria, I have learned that my motivation to eat in that place daily is mainly grounded on the nature of the restaurant's setting. It presents an elegant and conducive environment where I can catch up and socialize with my friends after school activities.

The other essential concept includes the concept of personality. According to Solomon et al., this concept describes an individual's inimitable psychological makeup and how "it consistently influences the way he or she responds to the environment" (2016, p.150). This concept is best explained using the Freudian Theory guided by the pleasure principle where behavior is directed by the main desire to exploit pleasure and avoid pain (Zajonc & Markus, 1982). This concept relates to my consumption experience through the fact that I choose to relieve stress and pressure associated with day-to-day activities by going to the cafeteria and enjoying a satisfying meal socializing to my friends and listening to good music before I retire to the hostels. These concepts highlight one important aspect of a customer's consumption behavior: The level of interest in a particular place or a specific product and an individual's cognitive behavior often influence the customer's decision-making process.

Strategies to Assist Consumers

The most crucial strategy for consumers to optimize their consumption experience includes avoiding impulse purchasing as much as possible. Impulse buying implies purchasing a product without forethought or planning (Mohan & Ojha, 2017). As a university student, it is essential to emphasize low-involvement products based on routine response behavior. This strategy is essential because it will help them learn to make an appropriate purchasing decision about buying products that are less harmful and even avoid future consumption risks. For instance, if a student purchase is used to consume a low-sugar refreshment drink during lunchtime, it would be difficult for them to buy high-sugar beverages or accept one when served the same. In this context, the buyer would have significantly minimized post-purchase dissonance often involving unsure purchases of high-involvement products.

References

Conlin, R., & Labban, A. (2019). undefined. Journal of Food Products Marketing, 25(6), 647-667. https://doi.org/10.1080/10454446.2019.1629558

Mohan, R., & Ojha, S. (2017). A study of in-store factors affecting impulse buying of apparel amongst college students and young professionals in Bangalore. Asian Journal of Research in Business Economics and Management, 7(3), 37. https://doi.org/10.5958/2249-7307.2017.00012.3

Solomon, M. R., White, K., & Dahl, D. (2016). Consumer behavior: Buying, having, and being (7th ed.). Pearson Education Canada.

Zajonc, R. B., & Markus, H. (1982). Affective and cognitive factors in preferences. Journal of Consumer Research, 9(2), 123. https://doi.org/10.1086/208905