1. Factors affecting the consumer market
Consumer goods are the final products of society. They can be directly consumed by people without being reproduced and processed by production enterprises. The consumer goods market is vast, with a large and scattered number of buyers. These people are different in age, gender, nationality, education, geographical region, traditional habits, income and psychological motivation. The demand for consumer goods varies greatly, and the supply of consumer goods is extensive and complex.
In the entire market structure, the consumer market occupies an important position. Its development directly or indirectly affects the development of the industrial products market and the development of the entire social economy, and the main factor affecting the consumer goods market is the demand for consumer goods. The demand for consumer goods is affected by the number and composition of the population, as well as the quantity, quality and variety of consumer goods, but the most important factor is people’s purchasing power, which is directly related to people’s income level and is also restricted by the results of income distribution.
II. Characteristics of the consumer market
(1) Non-profitability
Consumers purchase goods to obtain a certain use value and meet their own living consumption needs, rather than to resell them for profit
(2) Non-professionalism
Consumers generally lack specialized knowledge of goods and markets. When purchasing goods, consumers are often easily influenced by manufacturers and merchants’ advertising, promotion methods, product packaging and service attitudes.
(3) Hierarchy
Due to different income levels and social classes, consumers’ needs will show a certain hierarchy. Generally speaking, consumers always meet the most basic survival needs and safety needs first, and buy clothing, food, housing, transportation and other necessities of life, and then gradually meet higher-level needs according to the situation, and buy enjoyment and development-oriented goods.
(4) Substitutability
Except for a few irreplaceable consumer goods, most goods can be replaced or interchangeably used. Therefore, goods in the consumer market have strong substitutability.
(5) Extensiveness
In the consumer market, there are not only a large number of buyers, but also a wide geographical distribution of buyers.
From cities to villages, from domestic to foreign countries, consumer markets are everywhere.
(6) Popularity
Consumer demand is not only affected by internal factors of consumers, but also by external factors such as environment, fashion, and values. Consumer demand varies with the times, and commodities in the consumer market have a certain degree of popularity.
The consumer market is a very large and complex system. From newborn babies to elderly people in their seventies, they are all members of the consumer market. Due to the influence of factors such as age, gender, education, income, occupation, interests, place of residence, and environment, the purchasing habits, motivations, methods, and levels of various consumers are significantly different, thus forming different types of consumer markets. Each market segment represents a meaningful purchasing group. Here, we focus on the behavioral analysis of buyers in the cross-border market.
There are three main types of buyers in the cross-border market: ①Individual Consumer, that is, individual consumers; ②Reseller, that is, middlemen; ③Purchase for Business, that is, company procurement.