Blog Number Nine: Consumer Behavior and its Motivation

Consumer Behavior is based on internal and external decisions that lead us to a purchase or not. When we feel the need to fulfill our needs or wants, the internal state kicks in and draws from events from the past weeks or months to make a decision weather to purchase an item or not. An example of this would be the organic food industry. When it first came to the market, organic food was exclusive; people would have to drive miles to find a Whole Foods, or New Leaf in order to fulfill their shopping needs. They would also pay more to have organic food. The typical background of a person who prefers organic food is education and awareness. Most of the consumers have a college degree and choose to spend more on a healthier lifestyle. Assuming that their education made them more aware of the environment, they made decisions based on making the environment a better place to live, while maintaining a healthy lifestyle. Over the past 10-15 years, this organic food trend has become a mainstream trend. Regular everyday consumers are increasingly becoming more aware of the environment and their health and are choosing to shop more organically, like at Whole Foods or New Leaf. Furthermore, Safeway has made an organic brand to keep their customers from straying away. 

Overall, these types of consumer motivations will change the marketplace and healthy life styles. We, as consumers, have a lot of power and can change the way the market produces. Consumer motivation drives change. So change comes from being involved. The more motivated we are, the greater likely hood we are involved with the brand, and we pay more attention to the advertisements. Consumer behavior is an integral part of the advertising processes. The better we understand people, the better we can understand the advertising process.