"The factors affecting consumer behavior and purchase decision among the

senior high school students of golden heritage polytechnic college”

Chapter 1

Background of the Study

I. Introduction

Target markets are fragmenting as today’s students are increasingly selecting in

product choice. Understanding the student’s behavior can make difference between
success and failure in student’s behavior. This study focuses on the behaviors of
students towards purchasing of different product in Golden Heritage Polytechnic
College within the overall framework of this research and the knowledge of students
in their consumer behaviors. This study places particular emphasis on the
conceptual student’s behavior and how these factors impact the students.

The preferred commodities of the students based on their prioritized needs and
wants, the students prevailing buying behavior and the buying problems. They
want to buy a product that satisfied with their money. The time and effort that they
consumed with their short break really affects their behavioral status. Some of the
students bring their own food and buy in the food stall. The State Government of
Victoria (2016) said that the school canteens and other school foodservices are
important educational resources. They have an important role in the provision of food to
students and the school community as well as being an integral part of the school
environment.

Students considered as a consumer and customer because they have an ability

to purchase a product within the school. They have a power what they want to
buy and what behavior can express before and after purchased the product. The
income that they received from their parents is not enough for buying food. They
are satisfied and dissatisfied when purchasing different products. Some of them
are accept the conditions and terms in school. They buy products that exact for
their money.

The other factors that influence the behaviors of students towards purchasing of
products are the following familiarity and the name of the food items were less
likely to be chosen. The students were more likely to choose a food that they
tried before. On the other hand, being unfamiliar with a food including not
recognizing the name was presented as a barrier to choosing that food. J Nutri Health
(January 2016) said that the primary ingredient was a positive use for choosing to
eat food for example one of the student mentioned: “I would eat new food if I saw
something I like on it, such as blueberry topping. Therefore some of the students will be
able to purchase a new product of food depending on the ingredient the seller will put in
the food.

it has become necessary for retail managers to clearly understand and

foresee how different types of consumers behave when buying different products and
services to fulfil their needs.

Thus, to establish a competitive advantage in the marketplace, several retailers

have focused on creating favourable images about their brands in the minds of
consumers to influence their purchase behaviour (Shamsher, 2015). Consumer
behaviour emphasizes on understanding the purchase decision process of individual
consumers and how they utilize their existing resources such as time, money and effort
to get a product or service (Schiffman and Kanuk, 2016).

Hence, retail managers should have knowledge about consumers’

characteristics and preferences as they play an important role in forming purchase
decisions. This information could enable them to foster their competitiveness and
ensure their long-term survival.
 The consumer decision-making process can be described as the phases that
consumers go through in making a final purchase decision. The task of a marketer is to
focus on the whole purchasing process instead of emphasizing solely on a purchase
decision, because consumers experience different phases before reaching a conclusion
(Basil et al., 2013).

Understanding buyer behaviour is not easy because several factors can

influence consumer behaviour before making a purchase decision. In some cases,
consumers tend to spend less time in thinking about purchasing either low- or high-
value products, because they consider that fulfilling their needs is more important.

This has urged marketing managers to adopt strategies that motivate

consumers to purchase their offerings by creating an effective marketing plan. Previous
studies reported that corporate social responsibility (Elg and Hultman, 2016) and social
media marketing (Duffett, 2015) play significant roles in influencing a consumer’s
purchase behaviour and attitude towards a brand. Other scholars also considered store
atmosphere (Hosseini et al., 2014), perceived value and sales promotion (Andreti et al.,
2013) as important predictors of consumer behaviour and brand choice.

However, although previous studies emphasized on both corporate social

responsibility and social media marketing in influencing consumer behaviour, only few
scholars examined their effects on purchase decision in retail industry settings,
particularly in Carmen.

Furthermore, limited studies have explored the role of store environment and
sales promotion in forming purchase decision. In other words, considerable research
has already been done on examining consumers’ purchase decisions in various
business sectors, but there is no mutual agreement towards the factors conditioning
consumers’ purchase decision.

Thus, this paper is designed to examine the effects of corporate social

responsibility, social media marketing, store environment, perceived value and sales
promotion on consumers’ purchase decision with empirical data from department stores
in Carmen. The next sections present a brief review on past literature and
methodological approach used in data collection; finally, the conclusion and
recommendations for this study are established based on the findings.

II. Research Question

1. How does family influence impact the consumer behavior and purchase
decisions of senior high school students?

2. What role do peer opinions and recommendations play in influencing the

consumer behavior and purchase decisions of senior high school students?

3. How does income and financial resources affect the consumer behavior and
purchase decisions of senior high school students?
III. Definition of Terms

You can better understand the terminologies and concepts that will be utilized in the
research by reading the operational and conceptual definitions of the key terms that are
listed.These definitions serve as foundational building blocks to facilitate a
comprehensive comprehension of the research objectives and findings.

* Consumer Behavior - is the study of how people make purchase decisions to satisfy
their needs, wants, or desires and how their emotional, mental, and behavioral
responses influence the buying decision.

*Commodities - a basic good used in commerce that is interchangeable with other

goods of the same type.

*Corporate Social Responsibility - a strategy undertaken by companies to not just

grow profits, but also to take an active and positive social role in the world around them.

*Demand Forecasting -the process of using predictive analysis of historical data to

estimate and predict customers' future demand for a product or service. its brand or
product in the market.

*Fragmenting - refers to a supply chain that is broken up into different parts.

Companies spread the production process across different suppliers and manufacturers
when they fragment. As such, companies use separate suppliers and component
manufacturers to produce their goods and services.

*Perceived Value - a customer's own perception of a product or service's merit or

desirability to them, especially in comparison to a competitor's product.

*Provision - is an account that records a present liability of an entity.

* Purchase Decision - is the thought process that leads a consumer from identifying a
need, generating options, and choosing a specific product and brand. A Neuromarketing
Perspective for Assessing the Role and Impact of Typefaces on Consumer Purchase
Decision.

*Social Media Marketing - the use of social media platforms to interact with customers
to build brands, increase sales, and drive website traffic.

IV. Scope and Limitation

Words such as consumer behaviour, individual buyer behaviour, and buying

behaviour of the consumer are all the same. Consumer behaviour is defined as the
study of individuals, groups, and organizations performance in selecting, buying, using
the goods and services, ideas, or experiences to fulfil the buyer's needs and wants.

The information given below will help you to understand the behaviour of
the customers. Companies conduct various research programs to collect information
about their target customers.
The scope of consumer behaviour is as follows.

-Demand Forecasting
-Marketing Management
-Non-profit and Social Marketing
-Selecting Target Market
-Market Mix
-Educating Customers
-Assists in Designing Product Portfolio

Demand Forecasting

Consumer behaviour helps in the forecasting of the demands for the

business. Every business identifies the needs and wants of the customers by
understanding their behaviour. Forecasting helps them to find out the unfulfilled
demands in the market easily. If the company knows what their consumer wants, they
can design and produce the product accordingly.

The behaviour of the consumer plays an important role in forecasting the

demand for the products. In addition, it helps the company to identify the market
opportunity available to them.

Objectives and limitations of the study

The first objective is to examine if personal, social and psychological

characteristics have affect on consumer buying behavior. The second objective
of this thesis is to gain knowledge on how the purchase decision process is
being made by individual consumers.
 Consumer behavior consists of factors that have effect on consumers’
buying decisions. These factors have distinct characteristics that can be divided into
four categories: cultural, social, personal and psychological factors. In order to have a
manageable topic the scope of the subject has been limited. Cultural factors have been
left out intentionally.

The reason to leave out cultural factors is that Finland is a relatively small
country and cultural differences are not so significant. Additionally, post purchase
behavior is only shortly described in the theoretical part of the study, because it is part
of the buying process, but left out of the empirical part of the study. This limitation has
been made because the
focus is only on the actual buying process and not on after purchase actions.

CHAPTER II

REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE

This chapter presents the relevant literatures which are related to the purchasing
behavior of senior high school student on school canteens. A study of relevant
literature is an essential step to get a full picture of what has been done and said abroad
and own country with regard to the problem. Different factors will be considered
with how the students handle their behavior on purchasing decision.

Purchasing behavior based on Gender

According to Zoovu,2022, one of the key elements among the

numerous that can affect a customer’s decision-making behavior is gender. Men and
women approach purchasing for different reasons and with distinct viewpoints,
arguments, and concerns. There are discernible between men and women’s buying
behaviors, according to ten years’ worth of scientific studies. It is obvious that men and
women have distinct perspectives on purchasing and will approach school canteens in
various ways.

Gender is highly significant component that affects purchasing behavior

decisions greatly. While women tend to be more internally focused, men are more
externally focused. If we look at male and female in terms of psychological issues,
there are significant disparities. When buying any goods or services, woman
behave entirely differently from men. Men are typically more analytical and logical
than women, who tend to be more personal and convenient and base their
decisions on the opinions of others rather than on their own experiences. Men typically
make purchases based on urgent needs whereas women view purchases as
long-term decisions (Greeshma, 2016).

Gender is very important aspects among all the factors, and it plays a very
essential part in purchase decisions. Men should be outside focused, whereas women
tend to be more internally focused. Different features of male and female buyers are
shaped by gender. There have revealed that buyer’s decision-making and
purchasing behavior varies significantly between male and female consumers
(Laskhmi, Niharika, & Lahari, 2017).

Influencing Consumer Behavior

Significant changes have occurred recently in the study of consumer behavior,

particularly in the decision-making process, and as a result, in the factors influencing
purchase intention ( Rodrigues, Lopes, & Vaiela. 2021).

According to IPL, consumer is someone who choose what items to buy atthe
store and who might be swayed by any deals or marketing. Any consumer
purchase decision is influenced characteristics, including age and life cycle stage,
employment, the situation of the economy, way of life, and behavior. These could
explain why preferences, frequently after as out, “situation” does. Clearly each
person’s unique features influence their decisions in distinct ways.

Attitudes of Perception on Buying Consumer’s attitude towards school canteens

refers to their psychological state in terms of making over the school. Before
making purchases, consumers are bombarded by several factors which limits
or influence consumers for the final decision (Sultan & Uddin, 2013).

The empirical results of this study show that consumer attitudes regarding online
purchasing are influenced by perceived benefits and levels of consumer trust. ( Al-
Debei, Akroush, & Ashouri, 2015)