Abstract
As seller are making efforts to understand the buying behavior of consumers, which will help their business make more profit, increase market share and improve consumers shopping experience, the study of the personal factor influence is important. The research seek to study the personal factor influence on consumer buying behavior in Nigeria which comprised of three sub-factors; Age, Occupation, Economic status as the independent variable which when satisfied would lead to understanding consumer buying behavior. the objective of the research is to Study the personal factors influencing consumer buying behavior specifically in purchasing products and to provide insight into understanding the extent to which personal factors influence consumer buying behavior. Relevant literature(s) were also used to establish opinions and supporting works of several researches to the importance of the research. primary data were collected through the use of structured questionnaires and data was analyz
CHAPTER ONE
1.1. Background
Consumer buying behavior refers to the buying habit of the final user of a product; organizations in this present digital age are created for the purpose of satisfying the needs and wants of the consumer. Business organizations have made the study of consumer buying behavior a priority in order to get closer to the consumer to understand how and why they buy. There are many factors that influence the buying behavior of the consumer. Understanding these factors would help business organization record high profitability and more market share. With this kind of information, organizations will know just how to reach their target consumers, and know exactly where to find them.
Nigerian consumers who are purchasing products have disposed different purchasing habits. While purchasing products, consumers consider different influential factors like quality, design and features, technology, brand name, packaging, price. Until now, there is no organized way of consumer behavioral studies in Nigeria because of lack of interest shown by the research community in the country along with complex nature involved in this kind of research. Based on this lack of information on Nigerian consumers and the factors influencing their buying behavior, the researcher opted for this study to provide comprehensive information to the business community of the country.
Factors which influence the buying behavior of consumers amongst others, are cultural, social, personal and psychological (kotler, p, 1991). Also other factors that can influence buyer behavior includes the marketing mix (4p’s). A consumer satisfaction is drawn from several attitude andcharacteristics, his or her perception about the brand quality is very important as it would create trust in the mind of the buyer. Personal factors among others would be the main focus of my study as it is more intrinsic to the consumer than other factors. As the demand for product increase in Adamawa state, it is crucial to understand what drives these demands and why. However, form my pre-interview carried out in the Jimeta involved a randomly selected business men and women, there are no recent literatures or in-depth analysis available for the impact of personal factor in consumer buying behavior. Therefore this research would help understand the personal factors influencing Nigerian consumer buying behavior.
1.2. Problem Statement
There are no consumer behavior studies in Nigeria particularly in recent years (Koji, 2014). The research has taken an initiative to study the personal factors that influence the Nigerian consumers and to show their behavior while purchasing products by offering some pre-determined factors. The research intends to find out what personal factors affect the buying behavior of consumers. This being the statement of the problem indicates that there is little or no right information accessible to sellers on the personal behavior of consumers in Adamawa state when it comes to purchasing products. The reason this is a huge problem is that consumers personal factors changes daily with different needs and want and therefore resulting to their buying behavior. This will help owner mangers to understand the personal factors influence this purchases in other to satisfy them. When the behavior of a consumer is studied, it makes the study of what drives the consumer to purchase certain goods apparent.1.3. Research Questions
ï‚· Does age affect your buying behavior ?
ï‚· Does occupation affect buying behavior?
ï‚· Does economic statues affect buying behavior?
ï‚· Does age and occupation affect buying behavior?
ï‚· Does age and economic statues affect buying behavior?
ï‚· Does occupation and economic statues affect buying behavior?
1.4. Hypotheses
H1. Age is the most frequent influential factor on consumer buying behavior.
H2. Occupation is the most frequent influential factor on consumer buying behavior.
H3. Economic statues is the most frequent influential factor on consumer buying behavior.
H4. The combination of age and occupation is the most frequent influence on consumer buying behavior.
H5. The combination of age and economic statues is the most frequent influence on consumer behavior.
H6. The combination of occupation and economic statues is the most frequent influence on consumer buying behavior.1.5. Objective of study
The major objective of this research is to:
ï‚· Study the personal factors influencing consumer buying behavior specifically in purchasing products.
ï‚· To provide insight into understanding the extent to which personal factors influence consumer buying behavior.
This paper will analyze the personal factors that influence final consumers because, whatever affects the final consumer will also follow the chain of transfer of goods. This is so because manufacturers cannot manufacture goods that do not meet the needs of the final consumers. Due to this fact, manufacturers can upgrade. downgrade or even completely overhaul the quality and nature of the goods they distribute to the market.
1.6. Significance of study
1) The research would seek to identify why the personal factors are relevant to making consumer buying decisions.
2) The result of the research would help manufacturers know what kind of products to make available to consumers
1.7. Scope of the study
The proposed research will focus on Jimeta in Adamawa State with 200 questionnaires. Besides questionnaires, a face to face interview will be carried out to enable the research capture data from individuals who are not literate enough to participate in the questionnaire that will be produced. The mild interview will focus on their scale of preference when it comes to thepersonal factors that affect the decision on buying their desired products. The research will be centered at market place, Plazas, eateries, and banks. The span of completion is for three months, which will include collecting data, analyzing and coming up solutions to problems identified.
1.8. Limitations
1. The study is limited only to Jimeta in Adamawa state of the country: The study was only taken in Adamawa state, so it does not have the information of this same research for the whole country.
2. The study is limited to only the personal factors affecting consumer buying behavior ( AGE, OCCUPATION AND ECONOMIC STATUS )
3. The study has very limited time for completion: Because the research is an extensive one that requires a lot of moving around to collect data, more time would have entailed a better research outcome.
4. Language barrier is one of the limitations to the study.