Influence of Social Factors on Consumer Behaviour: Context of Euro Integration

Abstract

This article highlights the conception of consumer behaviour and its beginning, it analyzes manifestation of social factors in consumer bahaviour in the theoretical level and points out the main social factors that influence consumer behaviour. Consumer behaviour and influence of social factors on it was researched by these authors: W. J. Stanton, M. J. Etzel ir B. J. Walker, E. J. McCarthy and W. D. Perreault Jr., E. N. Berkowitz, R. A. Kerin, S. W. Hartley and W. Rudelius, W. G. Zikmund and M. d‘Amico, S. Dibb, L. Simkin, W. M. Pride and O. C. Ferrell, Ph. Kotler and F. Bliemel, D. A. Statt, M. Solomon, G. Bamossy, S. Askegaard and others. Theoretical studies on how social factors influence consumer behaviour exhibited that the main social factors, which influence consumer behaviour, are family, influence groups, social class and culture. Determination of separate social factors’ influence and fluctuation tendencies helps to ensure the efficiency of marketing programme and to project the perspectives of the company‘s development in the future. Currently, marketing specialists unanimously agree that consumer behaviour is defined not only by what is going on at the moment when money in the hands of consumer is exchanged for goods or services; consumer behaviour must be treated as a non-stop process. Having summarized different definitions of consumer behaviour, we may state that consumer behaviour is a continuous process that covers individual acts from the origination of the problem, which may be resolved by purchasing a commodity, to the reaction related to the commodity already purchased. The importance of consumer behaviour recognition unfolds in the stage of strategical planning of the company. As practice shows, consumer behaviour research still lacks proper attention from business subjects. When marketing strategies are created, they very often narrow to the main marketing elements. A consumer’s attitude towards an item, his motivation to act in one way or another, determine the creation of marketing complex programme. Euro integration processes are closely related to economic, legal, cultural and social changes of the environment and open new opportunities to business as well as the coming of new foreign companies to Lithuanian market, so when forming the strategy and trying to maintain as well as to increase the competitiveness of Lithuanian business companies, it is necessary to consider the changes related to these processes in consumer behaviour. The analysis of social factors in the context of Euro integration unfolds the changes in family structure and distribution of roles in European households. The conception of a traditional family still exists nowadays, but vis-à-vis time and space, there is a variety of families and households in Europe. Besides traditional families, there are one-person or multi-person households; there are a growing number of re-married families, unmarried couples and a number of single mothers (fathers). A lot of European countries have a typical “diamond“ like type distribution of social classes, where the largest part of people is the middle class. The rise of the living standard fortifies economic opportunities of this social class and determines the changes of consumer behaviour. The research showed that it is becoming more and more difficult to understand consumer behaviour of the Europeans. Two tendencies may be noticed here. Firstly, middleclass Europeans tend to save when they purchase daily goods. Secondly, in order to achieve the oneness or to emphasize its social status, the same group of consumers tends to purchase goods- the symbols of the status. Free movement of people, goods and capital in the European Union has also determined the development of influence groups and culture, which in turn forms new nutrition, spending of leisure time and other changes of consumer behaviour.