In general, four main factors influence a consumers's experience, involvement, and satisfaction with a product:
- Personal
- Object
- Situational
- Social
Personal Factors: A person's perceptions, beliefs, attitudes, and values can substantially influence his or her experience and involvement with products. For example, certain cultures highly discourage women from exposing some of their body parts as part of their religious beliefs, which inevitably affects their consumption of clothing. Other examples of cultural influences include language, myths, customs, rituals, and laws. Consumers tend to be more involved with products that they believe can fill their own needs, which in turn are regarded as holding importance and relevance in their lives. Personal or individual factors can also serve as strong influences, including gender, age, income level or social class, ethnicity, and sexual orientation.
Woman wearing "burqini" swimwear in Egypt
A woman's religion can affect her consumption and involvement with clothes. Muslin women must be covered at all times so they cannot wear bathing suits at the beach.
Object Factors: The degree of information that a consumers have about a product, including how well they can distinguish its characteristics, can also effect their experience, involvement, and satisfaction. Typically, the higher a consumer's product knowledge, the more involved with it he or she will be. Deeper knowledge about a product also translates into higher involvement because the consumer perceives it as more important, especially if some of that knowledge pertains to characteristics that hold personal meaning.
Situational Factors: Products that can easily conform to and enrich a consumer's lifestyle tend to be consumed with more frequency and involvement. For example, a busy working mother might rely heavily on her smart phone to keep her organized and effective in an effortless manner.
Social Factors: Social influence can deeply affect consumer behavior, especially as related to the products they consider and consume. A consumer's social network has a strong influence on the products he or she uses, since individuals tend to rely on the opinions and advice of friends and family. Other social influences can include opinion leaders and reference groups.