5.Characteristics Affecting Consumer Behavior:

Consumer purchases are influenced strongly by cultural, social personal and psychological characteristics for the most part, marketers cannot such factors but they must take them in to account
Cultural Factors: Cultural factors exists brand and deep influence in consumer behavior. The market needs to understand the role played by the buyers cultural sub culture and social class.
Culture : The set of basic values, perception wants and behaviors learned by a member of society from family other important intuitions. Culture is the most basic cause of a person’s wants and behavior. human behavior is largely learned. Growing up in a society, a child learns basic values, perception, wants and behaviors from the family and other important institutions. A child in the United States normally leers or is exposed it the following values: achievement and success activity and involvement, efficiency and practically progress, hard work, materials confront individuals freedom, humanitarianism youth fullness and fitness and health .every group or society has a culture and culture influences buying behavior may very greatly from country to country. Failure to adjust to these differences can result in infecting marketing or embarrassing mistakes
Sub culture: A group of people with shared value system based on common life experiences and situations. Each culture contains smaller subcultures, or group of people with shared value system based on common life expresses and stations sub culture make up important market.8.Important Sub culture Groups:
(a) African- American Consumers: With annual buying power of $799 billion, estimated to reach $1 trillion by 2012 the nation’s 38.7 million African – American consumers also attract much marketing attention. The U.S black population is growing in affluence and sophistication. Although more price conscious than other segments, blacks are also strongly motivated by quality and selector. Brands are important. So is shopping groups, even for something as mundane as groceries. Black consumers are the most fashion conscious of the ethnic groups.
(b)Asian- American Consumers: Asian American consumers are the most affluent U.S demographic segment. They now number more than 14.4 million and wield more than $450 billion in annual spending power, expected to reach $670 billion in 2012. They are the second- fastest growing population sub segment after Hispanics. Chinese Americans constitute the largest group-followed by Filipinos, Japanese Americans, Asian, Indians, and Korean Americans. The U.S Asian- American population is expected to more nearly nine percent of the U.S population.

(c)Mature Consumers: As the U.S population ages, mature consumers are becoming a very attractive market. By 2015, the entire baby born generation, the largest and wealthiest demographic cohort in the country for more than half country, will have moved into the 50 plus age bracket. They will central a largest proportion of weather. Income and consumption than any other generation travel, and financial service companies have long target older consumers. But as this group grows in numbers and buying power, companies in all industries from grocer’s beauty products and cloth in to furniture and consumer electronic are devising new ways to leers ageing big spenders. 9.Social Class, Factors and Network : Social class: Almost every society has some form of social class structure. Socials relatively arrantly and ordered divisions whose members share similar values, interests, and behaviors. Social scantiest have indefinite the seams American social classes.

Social factors: A consumer’s behavior also is inflamed by social factors, such as the consumers small frumps, family, and social roles and status.
Groups and social networks: Many small groups influence a person’s behavior. Groups that have a direct influence and to which a person belongs are called membership groups. in contrast, referee groups sources as direct(face to face)or indirect points of comparison of references in forming persons attitudes or behavior. People often are influenced by reference groups to which they do not belong. For example, an inspirational group is one to which the individual wishes to belong as when young basketball star labor a play in the NBA.