Psychology of consumer behavior

Psychology of Consumer Behavior

Over the last several years, the issue of compulsive buying has been increasingly brought to the forefront. This is because a number of individuals are making decisions that are not considered to be financially prudent. Instead, they are based the person feeling good about their purchase in the short-term. This is giving them a sense of emotional satisfaction. However, in the longer periods of time, is when these kinds of decisions can lead to varying financial consequences. As a result, marketers are more likely to target specific segments that are considered to be impulsive.

Two specific groups that were often perused include women and younger adults. This is because a number of studies were indicating, how these two segments are more than likely to engage in compulsive shopping. The main reason why is because women and young adults were often the focus of their surveys. This made the results favor this belief based on the high number of participants from these demographics. ("Men, Women have Similar Rates," 2006)

However, new research has been introduced indicating how these studies are wrong. A good example of this can be seen with a survey conducted by the Stanford School of Medicine. They found that men are just as likely to engage in compulsive buying based on predetermined psychological conditions. What is happening is certain men and women, will often make these kinds of purchases to address some kind emotional issue they are dealing with. This is important, because it is showing how new research must be conducted that will focus on what population groups will more than likely become compulsive buyers. To determine this requires conducting a research study that will collect data and corroborate the findings with the underlying trends. This will be accomplished by looking at: the method, analysis and conclusion. Together, these different elements will provide the greatest insights as to how actuaries will be studying this problem. ("Men, Women have Similar Rates," 2006)

Method

The method that researchers will be using is to the mixed approach. This is when actuaries will be looking at previous studies that were conducted and will compare them with the most recent surveys. This will assist them in searching for possible issues that could highlight how specific segments were under represented. Then, examine the information from the more recent surveys that were conducted. This will help researchers to identify what kinds of problems were taking place. At the same time, it will establish new trends about compulsive buyers. During this process is when actuaries will use a number of different resources to include: studies, journals, books and web based information. (Beazely, 2002)

Once this takes place, is when actuaries will focus on conducting their own survey. This will occur using the quantitative approach. This is when researchers will create a survey and select respondents from different segments of the population. In this particular case, the survey will subdivided into several different groups called the dependent variable. What actuaries are looking for are those individuals that will have specific attributes that are in line with the most common groups. (Beazely, 2002)

Using the study that was conducted by Stanford University, this will be divided into different segments. To include: men 16 -- 35, men 36 -- 60, women 16 -- 35, women 36 -- 60, anyone who has large credit card debt and individuals making less than $50 thousand per year. These different groups will severe as the dependent variables of the study. This is the specific segments that are being examined during the course of the project. To improve the accuracy of the research, a random sample will be collected from respondents who are from the general population. This will severe as the independent variable for the sample. The combination of these different factors will improve the accuracy of the study by: providing distinct groups to compare the responses with each other. Once this takes place, is when we can contrast these findings with the data that was collected from previous research studies. This is the point that the accuracy of the research will improve exponentially. (Beazely, 2002)

In the case of the research project, this will help give actuaries the ability to identify specific segments and compare responses with one another. This is when they can see if the specific groups are more than likely to be compulsive shoppers. Moreover, it will tell everyone what specific psychological factors are impacting respondents.

Analysis

The basic form of analysis that will be utilized is comparative analysis. This is when actuaries are taking the different facts and they are contrasting them against one another. Any kind of information that is discovered to be similar to the latest trends will be given higher amounts of importance. While any data that is not in line with the trends will be discarded. The reason why is because this information could have inaccuracies. When there are vast differences form these kinds of sources, it is an indication that data could be flawed. This will help to improve the accuracy of the findings by forcing actuaries to compare the trends with the most reliable data. Once this takes place, is when the odds improve that the population sample can build upon the general trends that were outlined earlier. ("What is Comparative Effectiveness Research," 2012)

Evidence of this can be seen with information provided by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. They found that comparative analysis can help to improve the effectiveness of a research study by focusing on a number of areas to include: