Internal, External, and Situational Factors Affecting Consumer Behavior
MRKT 410 Consumer Behavior
March 29, 2015
University of Maryland University College

Introduction
We do everything for a reason, even if we can’t articulate what the reason is. The goal of marketing is to satisfy consumers’ needs. That is why understanding motivation would lead to understanding why consumers do what they do. Different individuals react differently to the same stimulus. Below are influences that affect consumer behavior that include internal, external, and situational factors.
Internal Factors
Internal influences are what personally influence an individual based on lifestyle and way of thinking. * Age: Consumers of different age groups have different needs and wants. People that belong to the same age group share a set if common cultural experiences that they carry throughout life (Solomon, 2013). The energy drink Red Bull targets young people and introduced it in bars, nightclubs and gyms. * Gender: Gender distinctions start at a very early age (Solomon, 2013). A simple example is that men purchase different things than woman do. Studies proved that women tend to spend more than men (Mohan, 2012). * Perception: The process by which people select, organize and interpret sensations and how people add meaning to the raw sensations (Solomon, 2013). Consumers who viewed themselves as socially conscious tended to place more weight on issues such as environmental impact when making buying decisions than consumers who did not hold similar views of themselves (Bank, 2014). * Attitude: Pertains to what an individual feels or thinks about something (Internal and external influences on consumer behavior, 2014). If a consumer has some kind of negative attitude towards a specific product or issue, it will not be easy to change that belief. * Motivation: The