Social Influences

Social influences are common within my generation. Whether making a purchase in a grocery store, or simply buying a song on iTunes, influential buying is being made constantly. Consumers are always being influenced to buy a certain product because it is what ‘everyone is buying’. For example, you go shopping with your friends in Wal-Mart for your personal items and a few groceries. While you are choosing items you are familiar with, your friends may have a different opinion, causing you to buy according to other’s preferences. This is also similar to television commercials. If you are used to using Crest toothpaste and see a commercial for Colgate informing you that it has been clinically proven to work better fighting against cavities compared to Crest, you are more likely to purchase Colgate instead of Crest. A purchase I have made recently based on a social influence was perfume. I am a huge fan of various smells of fragrances, from fruity to bold. I was in a store called Rue 21, and my intent was to buy clothes only. I noticed the fragrances, but I tried my best to avoid them. The cashier saw me staring them down, so she suggested me smell a few to see if they are what I liked. While trying to convince me, she made references to celebrities and movie stars. She had great sales pitch and influenced me to buy not only one but three different kinds, only because that was relevant to our society; I wanted to have a smell that no one else had.
According to Marketing: An Introduction, buyer’s decisions also are influenced by personal characteristics such as the buyer’s age and life-cycle stage, occupation, economic situation, lifestyle, and personality and self-concept (Page 174). The buyer’s age is a huge characteristic because a twenty year-old will not buy the same thing as a nine year-old child. The other personal characteristic that I feel is the most influenced is the lifestyle of the buyer. If the buyer recycles and drives a Hybrid car to preserve the