Environmental and Consumer Influences Analysis

Environmental and Consumer Influences Analysis
There are many factors that affect consumer purchasing decisions. Companies market products and services according to the wants and needs of consumers through demographics, surveys, and other statistical data obtained through research. This data is then analyzed and used by companies to provide desired, quality products to the consumer that helps the company to become profitable and successful. The information obtained provides insight of various factors such as psychological, social, and behavioral factors that all influence consumer buying. Manufactured baby foods are purchased by parents all over the world. The market for baby food products is consistently growing as many parents want to provide the best nutritional diet supplementing the essential nutrition that they receive from breast milk and formula.
Social Factors
A proper diet is essential for a child’s growth and development, so the food that they eat should provide the nutrients that are needed to ensure this. There are many baby food brands on the market, so it is important that parents use extensive research of the company and the ingredients used in the food. There are many factors that influence a parents’ choice of which brand of baby food to use. The most common are social factors. A parent will most likely be influenced by what their child’s pediatrician, other parents, and family and friends recommend because of first-hand experience with a product. Consumers rely and are majorly influenced by the opinions and experience of others. This is why product review blogs and polls are popular because it gives real accounts and personal experiences of a product by someone that has tried it. Trust is also another factor in a parent’s choice based on what someone with first- hand experience says. Parents’ usually will follow what a Pediatrician says because of their medical knowledge and experience of knowing what is best for a child. This is also true of other parents and family and friends who are very influential because they are trusted sources of information with the feeling and belief that they have the best interests of the child in mind. Parents are influenced by other parents and will likely purchase products that they see and are recommended by them. For example, parents enjoy talking with other parents about their children and will start conversations with strangers regarding their child.
A company should be aware of the driving social factors and influences of purchasing their products to successful reach the targeted audience of parents and implement this into their marketing strategy. A successful advertising strategy that companies use with promoting baby food and other baby products is commercials. These commercials usually involve a common scenario of parents talking at a park or social gathering place comparing products and giving advice regarding products that they use, enjoy, and are beneficial to the child. This advertising tactic gives the parent the idea or belief that the product must be good if another parent is using it and recommends, so the parent will go and purchase the product.
Social class affects consumer’s purchasing. Popular baby food products such as Gerber, Nestle, and Beech-Nut are generally more expensive than less popular brands or store brands. Pricing has an influence and impact on the baby food brands that consumers choose to purchase. Consumers in higher income brackets generally have the means to choose amongst the popular brands of baby food that are supposedly best in nutritional value and most desired by parents. Consumers with lower income or those that receive government assistance are usually limited in certain brand choices that they can choose from which are the cheaper store or off brand products.
Psychological Factors
Psychological factors also have a major impact on influence of baby food product