Recognize Consumer Behavior in Today's Digital Age

Change in Consumer Behavior in the Digital Era

      In conducting market research, there are many studies that you need to do, one of which is to find out consumer behavior.

Consumer behavior is what makes a consumer decide to make a purchase or not. In order for your business profits to increase, you need to have a deeper understanding of consumer behavior, especially in the digital era.

What is Consumer Behavior?

Consumer behavior is a study carried out on consumers about the things that cause them to make purchases of a product/service.

Consumer behavior is developing dynamically, especially in the current digital era, consumer behavior has changed drastically.

So, this needs to be considered by business people so that they can survive in running their business.

By understanding consumer behavior, you, as a business owner, can understand all of their needs. The products and services you sell can be accepted by the market, so that your business turnover increases.

From Bricks to Clicks

Remember when you spent hours scouring through several bookstores to find your favorite author's book? Thanks to e-commerce, you don't have to.

Although some shoppers still prefer the experience of going to a physical store or engaging directly with a product before purchasing.

In 1998, approximately 0.2% of all retail purchases were made online, according to the Commerce Department. In the fourth quarter of 2019, online purchases accounted for nearly 12% of all retail sales in the US — or $158 billion.

What caused this change? In today's digital age, consumers can easily and quickly compare dozens of stores and products to get better prices and a wider choice.

Consumers can also see product reviews and ratings in just a few clicks. Convenience plays a big role. Consumers can access millions of products from all over the world via their mobile phones or computers.

Centaurs – The Hybrid Consumers

Centaurs are a combination of traditional and digital, emotional and rational, physical and virtual beings.

The digital world has penetrated almost every aspect of human life. It must have changed the way you communicate and interact with your environment.

You are in the transition from the real world to the virtual world, but not quite there yet. To understand the buying behavior resulting from this convergence, study the hybrid consumer classification.

How do Hybrid Consumers Behave Today?

It's not easy to persuade a centaur but you can get him to talk. Engaging them more often and effectively can move them, and that's the first step for brands to get the results they want.

Most ecommerce platforms have developed over the years, and this allows consumers to be very specific in their search queries.

The more specific consumers are, the easier it is to find the exact product or answer they're looking for.

Now this search behavior has been refined over a span of less than 10 years. For example, the search query “Jeans” will return a general set of results that are not exactly what the user is looking for.

A special request on the other hand would look like this: “Denim jeans in New York.” These are consumer insights that marketers can take advantage of.

Consumers want all Things Visual

Visuals create an instant recognition in the mind of the consumer.

Where words fail to communicate, intelligent imagery conveys a message, regardless of language barriers.

When a consumer makes a purchasing decision for a product, he or she will try to verify features and specifications through images, rather than looking through data that is usually fed to customers.

Consumers seek simplicity, and an image is the perfect ephemeral. Visuals grab attention and create engagement, which is why platforms like Pinterest and Instagram have become hits. Marketers frequently use this to their advantage.

Consumers See Other People's Reviews

An image is the first cue that allows your consumer to create a perception in his mind but a purchase decision has not yet been made. It comes through validation, and to do that, most consumers rely on reviews and recommendations from other people who have experience with the product.

Consumers Seek Facts

The digital age consumer has never been attracted to pure marketing spins. They will dig for the facts and will easily switch if they don't understand the facts they get.

Probably, this is the stage when most of the users have gone through the social networks and reviewed the platforms, and now they want a quick detail.

Consumers are Price Sensitive

Many consumers are sensitive to price. An individual may be willing to pay a premium price on perceived value, but be prepared to go the extra mile to check if a product is worth it. This doesn't mean that price was never an issue before.

The only difference in the digital age is that consumers have the means to know whether a product is worth the price. So how can you as a business owner attract customers who are price sensitive?

Summary

Understanding consumer behavior in the digital age is essential. Online consumer behavior is one of the greatest drivers behind the growth of data-driven digital marketing tools and techniques. Modern businesses cannot afford to ignore consumer trends if they want to attract the right audience, and then convert this audience into customers.