




































AGORA INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF ECONOMICAL SCIENCES, 
AIJES, ISSN 2067-3310, E - ISSN 2067 – 7669, VOL 10 (2016) 

41 
 

The purchase behavior of the consumer  

 

Urziceanu Ramona-Mihaela
1
, Paşcalău Valentina-Simona

2 

 

Abstract 

The paper describes the types of purchase behavior of consumers and the stages of decision made by the 

purchasing of the consumer, the approach in which the personal factors can affect the decision made by the 

purchasing of the consumer, the psychological factors which can affect the decision made by the purchasing of 

the consumer, the examination of the social factors that influence the decision made by the purchasing of the 

consumer and why  is it so important that marketing has to understand consumer purchasing behavior. 

Keywords: behavior, consumer, purchase, marketing, factors, decision 

 

Introduction 

Marketing is defined in many ways, in the academic research or in the applied business purposes; 

marketing is the process of planning and executing of the conception, promotion and distribution of ideas, goods 

and services, to conduct exchanges that satisfy individual and organizational goals. 

 Marketing is one of the most essential tools for business success through business orientation towards 

the market, in other words, customer orientation. 

 The study of consumer behavior became a concern for marketers, as they can learn how buyers choose 

their goods and services to satisfy the many needs that are stimuli, factors that influence their choice. 

 The consumer purchasing behavior, as recent research field of marketing, refers to the behavior of final 

consumers who purchase goods and services for personal consumption - individuals and households - by 

fulfilling the current requirements or indicate their role in society. 

Marketing deals with the concept of consumer behavior both narrowly and broadly. 

 The American Marketing Association defines consumer behavior as "an interaction on impression and 

perception, behavior and common natural events that human beings direct their changes in their lives." 

The consumer behavior is defined as "all acts of individuals directly related to the purchase of goods 

and services, which includes the whole decision-making process that precedes and determines these acts".
3
 

There are three essential elements that define human behavior: stimulus that is cause; need is a desire 

that can be achieved; the objective of which is its purpose.  

As the needs multiply exponentially due to technical and scientific progress, leads to the invention of 

others and the need of satisfy leads to others, obviously the individual behavior changes, too. 

 It is also important to remember some key points for defining consumer behavior: 

 The consumer behavior is dynamic, both because of the time evolution of generation of consumers 

faced with the changes which they produce and due to the emergence of new factors directly 

influencing their behavior. The overtime change, determine the leading producers to monitor the safety 

of customers to have a real perception, fairly; 

 The consumer behavior is the individual's reaction to various endogenous and exogenous variables. 

 The consumer behavior, involves the successive or simultaneous actions for selecting an alternative, 

resulting in decisions
4
. The consumer behavior is a complex system of events, attitudes, motivations, 

decisions; 

                                                           
1 Agora University of Oradea, Romania, e-mail: ganearamona2002@yahoo.com 
2
 Agora University of Oradea, Romania, e-mail: simonavali@yahoo.com 

3
O.C..Ferrel, William M.Pride, Marketing,. Houghton Mifflin Company Publishing House, Boston ,1991, p.140. 

4P. Mâlcomete (coord.), Lexicon de marketing, Junimea Publishing House, Iaşi, 1994, p.67. 



42 
 

 The  development of human individuality both naturally and through education is reflected in his 

behavior through preferences, dislikes, beliefs, attitudes and values, in the position occupied in society, 

in the attended entourage, etc. Thus by combining individual circumstances and psychology will 

influence the purchasing decisions of each individual; 

 The consumer behavior determines interactions and therefore it is important to know "what consumers 

think (perception), feel (impression) and what do they do (behavior), what are the things and places that 

influence"
5
 

 The consumer behavior determines changes between people and therefore "if the relationship between 

the consumer who demands and the producer, who offers on the market, mutual understanding is 

essential in the purchase process and in the production of goods and services"
6
 . 

 The scope of consumer behavior widens, especially due to the development and diversification of the 

services sector in the no labor sphere. As a result "within the current social marketing meaning, the 

consumer behavior requires such a comprehensive approach to express the position of the people to all 

tangible and intangible assets arisen in the final consumption"
7
 

 

The stages of decision made by the purchasing of the consumer 

In the literature we find five stages (phases, stages, and moments) to adopt a complex decision: identify 

the problem, search for information, evaluation of alternatives, the choice, post-purchase evaluation.
8 

The involvement of the consumer in every stage of the decisional process is reflected in the cognitive 

behavior (the utility and affective motivations are focused on the functional characteristics of the product),
9
 and 

the intensity has its roots in the importance of the product or service for the consumer and the risk that it involves 

his purchase. 

”As a result, it can delineate the low, medium or highly involvement, as shown in the following table. 

Therefore, the concept of the involvement of different types presents: 

1 -   The poor involvement decisions, which does not mean a proper decision, because the experience provides a 

unique solution preferred, the product being purchased. So, the decisions are taken on the basis of routine, an 

important role being played by fidelity, like learning. It results from the repeated purchases. 

2 -   The decisions with strong involvement are usually complex decisions that go through all the decision 

making stages 

If we consider how the purchase decisions are done, we can classify them in: 

1 -         Scheduled decision – characterized by repetition and similarity in the way of adoption. They are routine 

decisions for the purchase of most products and services with high frequency and high fidelity; 

2 -         Unscheduled decision – it refers to new situations, restructured and they have strong financial and 

psychological implications, because there is no precedent that involves greater risk and have a more complicated 

structure. 

If you take into account the level of effort expended for the decision, going through the phases 

determined by the rate decision-making process, the nature of the products and the importance given decision, it 

defines five distinct shopping categories: 

1 -   Impulse shopping - made unplanned due to a motivation instant, sudden, driven mainly by visual stimulus, 

asks minimal effort; 

2 -   Routine shopping - which are regularly planned without great expense of time and effort; 

3 -   Family shopping - commonly consumed product, but the consumer is willing to extra effort for another 

version of the product. In this situation the advertising plays an important role; 

4 -   Unfamiliar shopping - involve a great effort, the decision process is lengthy because it uses different criteria 

for purchase; 

                                                           
5J. Blythe , Comportamentul comsumatorului, Teora Publishing House,1998, p.11. 

6I. Mihuţ, M. Pop, Consumatorul şi managementul ofertei , DaciaPublishing House, Cluj – Napoca 1996, p.14 
7P. Mâlcomete ,Marketing , AcademicăPublishing House – Gh. Zane, Iaşi l993, p.51. 

8
 O.C.Ferrel, William M.Pride,  Marketing, Ed. Houghton Mifflin Company, Boston, 1991, p.142. 

9
 C.W. Park, S.M. Young – “Consumer Response to Television Commercials,  the Impact of Involvement and Background, 

Music on Brand Attitude Formation” – Journal of Marketing Research, 1986, 23,1 p.11-21. 

 



43 
 

5 -   Critical shopping - involving high risk and therefore a special effort to get information and compare 

options.”
10

 

 

Table1 The involvement of the buyer in the stages of decision 

CHARACTERISTICS LOW MEDIUM HIGH 

TYPE Routine 
Partial solution of the 

choice 

Complete 

resolution of the 

problem of choice 

PROBLEM RELATED Selective Generic Generic 

INFORMATION REUEST Limited 
Intern                               

external limitation 

Intern 

Extern 

THE ALTERNATIVE 

RATING 
Intern 

few attributes 

Simple Decision Rules 

few alternatives 

many attributes 

Complex Decision 

many alternatives 

PURCHASE Purchase Purchase Purchase 

POST PURCHASE 

BEHAVIOR 

Without dissonance 

Limited Rating 

Without dissonance 

Limited Rating 

dissonance, Rating 

Complex Rating 

 Source: Sica Stanciu, ” Bazele generale ale marketingului”, http://ebooks.unibuc.ro/StiinteADM/sica/5.htm 

 

Factors determining consumer behavior 

 Dubois and Jolibert group the factors that influence consumer behavior
11

in: 
 individual factors, which include: personality, cognitive style, lifestyle and perceived risk; 

 Environmental factors, which include: socio-demographic factors (curve family life, social classes), 

reference groups, family, economic environment. 

 In the extensive analysis that makes of consumer behavior, Ph. Kotler starts from analyzing the factors 

which influence
12

, in groups: 

 cultural factors - represented by: culture, subculture and social class; 

 social factors - which include reference groups, family, roles and statuses; 

 personal factors - relating to: the age and stage of life cycle, occupation, lifestyle, economic 

circumstances, personality and opinion of oneself; 

 psychological factors - nominated by: motivation, perception, learning, beliefs and attitudes. 

 

Conclusion 

 Knowing all these types, shapes, situations  has a great practical importance, as the purchaser acts as an 

active partner and imperative in the economic transaction and the seller must be equally active and conscious, 

using marketing tools, to help the potential buyer. 

 Currently, all marketers agree that "the buying process begins and ends long before the actual 

purchase"
13

 

 Customer orientation does not mean that we must do everything the customer claims, but to recognize 

his needs and to offer services and products that bring real use. In doing so, we can transform the client in 

collaborator and, in turn, he will recommend us to others. 

Increasing the level of knowledge held by consumers, the availability of information and instant 

communication are factors that determine the almost total transparency for companies globally. 

  

Bibliography 

                                                           
10 Sica Stanciu, ” Bazele generale ale marketingului”, http://ebooks.unibuc.ro/StiinteADM/sica/5.htm 
11P.L. Dubois, A. Jolibert, Marketing teorie şi practică, Universitatea de Ştiinţe Agricole, Cluj-Napoca, vol. I, 1992, vol. II, 

1994. 
12 Ph. Kotler, Managementul marketingului,. Teora Publishing House, Bucharesti 1997. 
13Ph. Kotler , G. Armstrong , J. Saunders , V. Wong , Principiile marketingului, TeoraPublishing House, Bucharest, 1998. 

 

http://ebooks.unibuc.ro/StiinteADM/sica/5.htm
http://ebooks.unibuc.ro/StiinteADM/sica/5.htm


44 
 

1. Blyhte Jim, “Comportamentul consumatorului”, Eitura Teora, Bucureşti, 1998. 

2. Dubois Pieré-Louis, Jolibert Alain, “Marketing teorie şi practică”, Universitatea de Ştiinţe Agricole, 

Cluj-Napoca, vol. I, 1992, vol. II, 1994. 

3. Ferell O.C., William M. Pride, Marketing, Editura Houghton Mifflin Company, Boston, 1991. 

4. Kotler Philip, “Managementul marketingului”, Editura Teora, Bucureşti 1997. 

5. Kotler Philip, Armstrong Gary, Saunders John, Wong Veronica, “Principiile marketingului”, Editura 

Teora, Bucureşti, 1998. 

6. Mâlcomete Petre, “Marketing”, EdituraAcademica “Gh. Zane”, Iaşi, 1993. 

7. Mâlcomete Petre (coord.), “Lexicon de marketing”, Editura Junimea, Iaşi, 1994.  

8. I. Mihuţ, M. Pop, Consumatorul şi managementul ofertei , Editura Dacia Cluj – Napoca 1996. 

9. C.W. Park, S.M. Young – “Consumer Response to Television Commercials, the Impact of Involvement 

and Background, Music on Brand Attitude Formation” – Journal of Marketing Research, 1986. 

10. Sica Stanciu, ” Bazele generale ale marketingului”, http://ebooks.unibuc.ro/StiinteADM/sica/5.htm 

http://ebooks.unibuc.ro/StiinteADM/sica/5.htm

