Understanding Consumer Behaviour in a Virtual World

In the last years, consumer behaviour and their decision-making process has advanced and has become an important topic in the marketing society. There is no denying that the increasing use of the internet by end consumers has presented numerous challenges in the field of marketing research, and more specifically in the field of consumer behavior as evidenced by a growing number of studies. Organizations for acquiring their commercial success, it is significant that managers know consumers behavior, the relationship among the consumer behavior and marketing course of actions is emphasized because the success of organizations' marketing course of actions depends upon managers' recognizing's' of the consumer behavior. Understanding the psychology behind online consumer behavior is key to compete in today's markets which are characterized by ever increasing competition and globalization. In an online context, consumer responses are no longer dependent on the physical environment while at the same time entirely new factors come into play such as the device through which consumers interact, and the way products and services are sold and presented online which often differs significantly from traditional offline marketing strategies. It is for this reason that research into online consumer behavior has increasingly started looking to other disciplines, including psychological approaches and concepts.

The aim of this book is to highlight the importance of studying the impact of the evolution of the digital world on consumer behavior. Especially in the most recent WWW developments, psychological aspects of consumer behavior have gained in importance, namely individual preferences, emotions, and sensory experiences. The aim is to develop computers that interact with human beings and become part of daily consumer and customer relationships for many if not all people. Although the current Web technologies are not yet "emotionally sensitive" or able to read human emotions, these technologies are in development and rapidly advancing. This books also presents an extensive review on the influencing factors on consumers behavior and their buying decision-making process in marketing. The marketing starts and finish with the consumer hence, consumer purchasing decision making shows how well the organizations' marketing strategy suits marketing demand. This book is for anyone with an interest in changing behaviour regardless of whether they have a background in behavioral science.