Environmental and Consumer Influences Analysis
Nikki Casalena-Pogue
PSY322
March 19, 2012
April Ward

Environmental and Consumer Influences Analysis People should not be pigeonholed into one or two categories therefore companies have to expand their brands to fit into the lives of consumers. People are unique and so are the preferences of each man and woman. A product, such as laundry detergent, that so many consumers use, the manufacturer has to expand that product to suit the various needs and desires of the consumer. Many factors influence the purchase of a product: psychological factors and social factors. Along with external factors that affect consumer behavior, such as social, ecological, and cultural. Psychological factors are termed by a science dealing with the study of behavior in people (Psychological Factors, 2012). The factors that influence consumer behavior toward laundry detergent purchases are personality and family, among others. The personality of the purchaser determines which type of detergent he or she buys. The consumer can choose from more than 80 different laundry detergent brands in the United States (Laundry Products: Laundry Detergents, 2012), but the consumer typically will choose just one and maintain purchasing that brand. Personality influences why people continue with one brand through consistency. Consistency shows there is generally a recognizable order and regularity to behaviors. Essentially, people act in the same ways or similar ways in a variety of situations (Cherry, What Is Personality, n.d.) When consumers purchase detergent for a family of one or a family of many, some of the following are significant to his or her purchase: factors that will clean the clothes, such as stain remover, brighter clothes, less fading, or the addition of fabric softener or Oxy Clean, along with price, and smell. The brands’ product factors into the purchase along with the family and that means consumers want to make sure the product is safe for his or her family because family is important to the consumer. The social factors are terms used to understand and explain how the thought, feeling, and behavior of individuals are influenced by the actual, imagined or implied presence of other people (Cherry, What Is Social Psychology?, n.d.). Social factors that influence consumer behavior toward a product or service are attitudes and perception. In the past, social awareness by consumers involved primarily pollution and environmental issues. Nowadays, the socially aware consumer looks at a wide range of issues, including diversity, eco-friendly manufacturing, greenhouse gas emissions, and humane treatment of animals (Chapter 8: Socially Conscious Consumerism, 2008). The attitudes the consumer takes on the brand and manufacturer are significant. Consumers may choose to or may not to choose to use Proctor and Gamble products, such as Tide or Gain because the manufacturer is still testing their products on animals (Companies That Still Test on Animals, 2012, Household Care, 2012). Consumers are empowered when they go to the store to purchase the detergent for his or her family. Each consumer has buying power and that power determines which brand is worth the money he or she has earned. People do not typically just buy based on name recognition alone, there are a few more reasons behind a purchase, such as emotions, replacement, or empathy. Probably the most important factor differentiating emotions from moods and attitudes is the way emotions arise (Bagozzi, Gurhan-Canli, & Priester, 2002). All of these reasons allow a personal perception of the brand to affect the purchase. Perception is a process that uses previous knowledge to compile and interpret the stimuli registered by our senses (Bagozzi, Gurhan-Canli, & Priester, 2002). Consumers can look at the brand of detergent and decide on the purchase but the purchasers’ perception of the price can weigh in on and affect that decision. Price perceptions are how consumers view and judge prices. These perceptions help a consumer determine the attractiveness of a market price is determined by comparing it to an internal reference price (Bagozzi, Gurhan-Canli, & Priester, 2002). Consumers want to know the money they are spending on laundry detergent is fair and reasonable. A consumer has several factors that influence his or her perception. Attitudes, motives, interests, experiences, and expectations affect the perceiver. Novelty, motions, sounds, size, background, proximity, and similarity affect the item targeted and the situation a person is in when perceiving is affected by time, work setting, and a person’s social situation (Chapter 5: Perception and Individual Decision Making, n.d.). Perception is relative and subjective to outside influences. The external factors that affect consumer behavior are cultural, ecological, and technological. The study of culture is the study of all aspects of a society. In the context of consumer behavior, culture is defined as the total of learned beliefs, values, and customs that serve to regulate the consumer behavior of members of a particular society (Schiffman & Kanuk, 2010). Schiffman and Kanuk further describe culture in America with three points. Point one; there is not a clearly defined singular culture. The United States is a diverse country with a number of subcultures each of which interprets and responds to society’s basic beliefs and values in its own specific way. Point two; America is an active and changing society that has undergone an almost constant change in response to the development of new technology. Point three; the existence of contradictory values in American society is somewhat confusing (2010). These contradictions are evident when it comes to consumers and the purchasing of his or her laundry detergents. Consumers want a variety of choices when they go to the store “[y]et, there is often a considerable amount of implicit pressure to conform to the values of family members, friends, and other socially important groups. It is difficult to reconcile these seemingly inconsistent values; their existence, however, demonstrates that America is a complex society with numerous paradoxes” (Schiffman & Kanuk, 2010, p. 360). The ecological factors that affect consumer behavior are physical and social surroundings. The physical surroundings of the consumer at the time of the laundry determine purchase can affect the brand purchase. If the consumer is in a store that does not offer the brand of choice a consumer can choose an alternate brand. The social surrounding can have the same altering effect on the purchase. If the purchaser is with people at the time of the purchase, in an effort to conform to a standard he or she has with these other people, the purchaser may alter the choice brand for a name brand or a bargain brand. Finally, the technological factor that affects consumer behavior is the Internet. Consumers today have the capability to get online, search the brand of choice, and find the best prices. There are multiple websites dedicated to help consumers compare prices on nearly every item on the market. Such sites as PriceGrabber.com, Nextag.com, and Bizrate.com will allow the consumer to enter in the name of the product you want to buy and within a second or two, you have the best prices available on the Internet. This advancement in technology may not have changed a particular brand the consumer purchases but technology has certainly influenced where the consumer buys there items. The culture, ecological factors, and technological advancements have all changed the consumer and the way the consumer buys but those external factors are not the reason the consumer continues to buy or has discontinued buying any particular laundry product. These external factors have only given the consumer something to think about when deciding on his or her purchase. The decision to think about one’s culture when buying laundry detergents is bred into each person as a child growing-up in America. The decision to think about your surroundings before purchasing your laundry detergent is a personal matter that only the individual can define and possessing access to the Internet to help the purchaser shop around for the greatest deal on his or her laundry detergent is a trade-off between time and shopping locally. Each person in America is entitled to clean clothes. The brand each consumer chooses to use will make one or two manufactures very happy while the other manufacturers are left alone. Consumers have many factors that weigh-in on the decision-making process of the purchase, even if the consumer never stops to consider the process. Psychological and social factors play a role on the consumer when purchasing his or her laundry detergent. These factors are further swayed by culture, environment, and technology. Consumers in 2012 have many advantages when deciding on a product. All of the advantages are still outnumbered by the vast number of laundry detergent brands the 80 different manufacturers produce. The vast number of choices available today requires the consumer to have a clearly defined need in place before shopping or get lost in the sea of laundry detergent.

References (2008). Chapter 8: Socially Conscious Consumerism. In Consumer Behavior (pp. 68-73). Retrieved from EBSCO: http://web.ebscohost.com.ezproxy.apollolibrary.com/ehost/detail?sid=ff6dc085-7630-414d-a0de-816e1731c010%40sessionmgr12&vid=1&hid=127&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ%3d%3d#db=bth&AN=27788308
Companies That Still Test on Animals. (2012, February 26). Retrieved from The Vegitarian Site: http://www.thevegetariansite.com/ethics_test.htm
Household Care. (2012). Retrieved from Proctor and Gamble: http://www.pg.com/en_US/brands/household_care/index.shtml
Laundry Products: Laundry Detergents. (2012, March 12). Retrieved from The United States Environmental Protection Agency: http://www.epa.gov/dfe/pubs/projects/formulat/formpart.htm#101
Psychological Factors. (2012). Retrieved from Medical onditions: http://medconditions.net/psychological-factor.html
Bagozzi, R. P., Gurhan-Canli, Z., & Priester, J. R. (2002). The Social Psychology of Consumer Behaviour. Philadelphia: Pearson.
Cherry, K. (n.d.). What Is Personality? Retrieved from About.com Psychology: http://psychology.about.com/od/overviewofpersonality/a/persondef.htm
Cherry, K. (n.d.). What Is Social Psychology? Retrieved from About.com Psychology: http://psychology.about.com/od/socialpsychology/f/socialpsych.htm
Chapter 5: Perception and Individual Decision Making. (n.d.). Retrieved from California State University, Sacraimento: http://www.csus.edu/indiv/s/sablynskic/Ch5OBE150.htm
Schiffman, L. G., & Kanuk, L. L. (2010). Consumer Behavior. Upper Saddle River. NJ: Pearson.

RUBRIC FOR THE EVALUATION OF WRITTEN ASSIGNMENTS CRITERIA | NEEDS IMPROVEMENTMinimum Points | SATISFACTORYMedium Points | EXCEPTIONALMaximum Points | CONTENT
(50%) | The writer does not demonstrate cursory understanding of subject matter, and the purpose of the paper is not stated. The objective, therefore, is not addressed and supporting materials are not correctly referenced.

FEWER THAN 20 POINTS | The writer demonstrates limited understanding of the subject matter in that theories are not well connected to a practical experience or appropriate examples, though the attempt to research the topic is evident, and materials are correctly referenced.
20 to 40 POINTS | The writer demonstrates an understanding of the subject matter by clearly stating the objective of the paper and links theories to practical experience. The paper includes relevant material that is correctly referenced, and this material fulfills the objective of the paper.
41 to 50 POINTS
Points Given: 50 | ORGANIZATION(20%) | Paragraphs do not focus around a central point, and concepts are disjointedly introduced or poorly defended (i.e., stream of consciousness).
FEWER THAN 8 POINTS | Topics/content could be organized in a more logical manner. Transitions from one idea to the next are often disconnected and uneven.

8 to 16 POINTS | The writer focuses on ideas and concepts within paragraphs, and sentences are well-connected and meaningful. Each topic logically follows the objective. The introduction clearly states the objective or ideas leading to the purpose of the paper, and a conclusion draws the ideas together.17 to 20 POINTS
Points Given: 17 | FORMAT
(10%) | The paper does not conform to APA style.

FEWER THAN 4 POINTS | The paper does not conform completely to APA style (e.g., margins, spacing, pagination, headings, headers, citations, references, according to the APA Manual).
4 to 8 POINTS | The paper is correctly formatted to APA style (e.g., margins, spacing pagination, headings, headers, citations, references, according to the APA Manual).
9 to 10 POINTS
Points Given: 10 | SPELLING, GRAMMAR, & PUNCTUATION(10%) | The writer demonstrates limited understanding of formal written language use; writing is colloquial (i.e., conforms to spoken language). Grammar and punctuation are consistently incorrect. Spelling errors are numerous.

FEWER THAN 4 POINTS | The writer occasionally uses awkward sentence construction or overuses and/or inappropriately uses complex sentence structure. Problems with word usage (e.g., evidence of incorrect use of Thesaurus) and punctuation persist, often causing difficulties with grammar.
4 to 8 POINTS | The writer demonstrates correct usage of formal English language in sentence construction. Variation in sentence structure and word usage promotes readability. There are no spelling, punctuation, or word usage errors.

9 to 10 POINTS
Points Given: 10 | CLARITY & STYLE(10 %) | The writer struggles with limited vocabulary and has difficulty conveying meaning such that only the broadest, most general messages are presented.

FEWER THAN 4 POINTS | Some words, transitional phrases, and conjunctions are overused. Ideas may be overstated, and sentences with limited contribution to the subject are included.

4 to 8 POINTS | The reading audience is correctly identified, demonstrated by appropriate language usage (i.e., avoiding jargon and simplifying complex concepts appropriately). Writing is concise, in active voice, and avoids awkward transitions and overuse of conjunctions.
9 to 10 POINTS
Points Given: 10 |

STUDENT’S NAME: Nikki Casalena DATE: March 24, 2012
GRADE: 100 out of: 100 30% Late Paper Deduction: 30
FINAL GRADE: 70

ASSIGNMENT: Environmental and Consumer Influences Analysis Paper
Instructor Comments:

Content:
The content of the paper is very good. Great job describing the different social factors that influence consumers decision to purchase laundry detergent. You may want to consider selecting a specific brand like Tide and compare it to why a consumer would select that over another brand like All. What social class would consider each one? How does technology influence the purchase of Tide?

Organization:
The paper is well organized, however, I would like to see section headers used to help section the paper into specific areas that align with the requirements of the paper.

Format:
The word count for the paper has been met. The format of the paper meets APA standards as required.

Grammar/Punctuation/Spelling:
There were minor errors in spelling, punctuation and grammar.

Readability/Clarity/Style:
Overall the readability, clarity and style of the paper are at the college level.