What Type of Consumer Are You?

According to CFI there are five types of consumers: The Loyal Customer, Impulse Customer, Discount Customer, Need-Based Customers. I consider myself a bit of each depending on the type of purchase I am making. For instance, I find myself to be more of an impulse buyer if I am craving a chocolate or coffee at my favourite shop, I would impulse buy or if I found a really good deal on an item like my favourite laundry detergent going half price the other day when I went to the store to re-stock on female hygiene products and impulse bought four of them as I knew I do lots of laundry and been waiting to buy at the right price. I find when it comes to electronics, furniture, car, rental property, I am a blend of loyal, impulse and discount customer. For instance, rental property, I am loyal to the neighbourhood area I was searching because of my daughter’s day home teacher. It was super important for me to be near her day home as it makes it easier for me commute wise. I also was pricing out two bedrooms in the area and looking to see what value I would receive the most for my rent, for instance proximity to the day home, gas station and shopping plaza, utilities percentage (including if internet was included or not in the price) and parking (whether it was on the street or on the driveway). The impulse comes in play where the place I ended up landing, I really hit off with the landlady and considering the price and everything else, I knew I couldn’t find another deal like it and so I made the impulse jump to just sign on, on the spot at the end of the viewing. When it comes to electronics like my cellphone, laptop, iPad I am incredibly loyal to my brands and I discount shop looking for the best deal, I go as far as calling my phone company during Black Friday and Boxing Day to ensure I had the best phone plan and if not switch it on the spot. I’d say I’m a blend of the above even when I shop for clothing or items for myself or daughter, I’ll search Facebook Marketplace in the rich neighbourhood to see if I can find the item I am looking for, for a fraction of the price. For instance the Breville Barista Touch espresso machine is over $2k after taxes. I kept searching for months until I found a listing for a brand new never opened Breville Barista Touch that was gifted to the lady by her mother in law who was not a coffee drinker. She posted the machine for $700. I remember I had $300 and change in cashback from my registered pre-paid Mastercard (KOHO) and I had benefits check come in that month and I used those two to make the purchase. One of my most prized and proud purchases. For me, it paid off in my mind because the coffee I was buying daily at Starbucks would pay itself off in a few months. Next month August will be one year since I made that purchase, I remember that day I placed a seatbelt on my machine. That’s the length I went to ensure it was protected.

What Influences Your Buying Decision, and How?

For me the largest driving factor in my buying decision is value for price almost always. The second is a really good (ethical mixed with personality) type of sales person. As someone who has been in the sales profession for close to a decade, I absolutely love this profession when employed right (the pun was no intended). I have such a deep appreciation and respect for sales, there was one time I was ordering from the Mary Brown’s drive thru and the girl that rang me up was so good at her job, she was welcoming and bubbly. She asked if I had the app to collect points, and tried to upsell me on a combo but the way she did it was so good and natural, and I told her I’m trying to watch my weight, but I love how you sell so much, I’m buying because “girl you should be proud of yourself”. I told her she was a natural and should look into a career in sales where she can also make commission on top of her base, while putting herself through school. She said she appreciated the advice and would look into it. When it comes to value for my dollar, it does not always mean I want to get the cheapest deal. For me I find sales done right is that everyone feels like they won. For instance the Breville Barista Touch espresso machine, when I saw the price tag of $700 brand new unopened (mind you people on Marketplace were selling their machines used for a year plus for $1,200) I was like either this is a scam, the lady priced it to sell quickly or she doesn’t know the market price for the machine. It worked out that that the lady did not know the price was $2k plus tax. When I came to pick it up she said to me that I think I under priced it, and I told her yes you did. She said to me that I was the only one that did not ask for a discount for her asking price. I told her that I felt that the value for what she was asking for price point wise was more than fair, and I felt personally it would be unjust and bit greedy to price it lower. She then told me when she looked up the price online she realized how much less she was pricing it and had I not come to pick it up she was going to raise her price. I told her at that point, if she felt she wanted to price it for higher, I would be open to a counteroffer considering she did not know the value when she priced it to begin with, and depending on that, if I could afford it I would shell out the extra and if not I’d politely decline and wish her the best. She told me she appreciated the honesty but she was okay to sell it to me for the $700. I then told her that it meant the world to me, I’m a single mom, at the time I was working full time and going to school full time and I run on coffee. This purchase was deeply meaningful and the lady was happy it was going to home like mine. In the end she felt good she was helping someone in need and I felt good that I had a machine I can make really good third wave coffee at a reduced price.

Which Stage Actually Leads To Your Purchasing Decision?

According to LucidChart there are 5 steps to the consumer decision making process:

1. Problem Recognition
2. Information Research
3. Alternatives Evalutation
4. Purchase Decision
5. Post-Purchase Evaluation

For myself, I find depending on the purchase I may be a blend of all five. Rarely do I have a post-purchase evaluation unless I regretted my purchase in the sense that it was not what I thought it would be or if I found gelatin or alcohol in food that I missed because I forgot to read the ingredient label or if the food I purchased was past the best sell date when I purchased it. I would say usually I am a blend of the first four and example would be when I was looking for a housecleaner. I had a problem during week 7 juggling my final assignments and working during peak season at the travel agency job I used to work at. It was hard for me to maintain domestic chores as I was working and studying over time. For me this was a problem that I needed to solve, and this is where information research on clean products used (as my daughter and I both are asthmatic and suffer from eczema). It was important that I researched market rate, types of questions to ask a cleaner especially when accommodating health sensitivities and the reviews and social media presence were huge driving force in my decision making. Lastly, I would also consider alternatives options and evaluate by weighing my the pros and cons before making a purchase decision .

When Making A Buying Decision, How Are You Influenced By Marketing Research And Marketing Design?

I always knew that I was a target behind marketing, I just didn’t realize how much I was a target and how intrusive big data was. I would say minoring in Marketing made me hyperaware of my digital landscape and almost always expect what I search up or speak about near my phone to be something I will see in my ads. I would say in the last year Marketing Research and Marketing Design does not influence me as much. I’ve given myself a way to mitigate that by placing the advertised item in the shopping cart and abandon it for a few days or weeks and then go back to the tab and re-assess whether I really needed it. An example that comes to mind is the Salt and Stone deodorant. I still have not made the purchase even though the shopping cart is there in my Google tab.

Do You Experience Any Post-Purchase Behaviour?

I rarely do experience post-purchase behaviour unless I truly regretted my purchase or it did not live up to what I expected when I made the purchase to begin with. An example that happened recently, was a program online that I purchased but I found it to be too complicated and a better alternative for a bit more but was a better fit. There was no way for me to really make that assessed judgement unless I tried out the program.

Citated Works

“Types of Customers.” Corporate Finance Institute, https://corporatefinanceinstitute.com/resources/accounting/types-of-customers/. Accessed 7 July 2024. ​

“Consumer Decision-Making Process.” Lucidchart, https://www.lucidchart.com/blog/consumer-decision-making-process. Accessed 7 July 2024.