Apart from understanding the mechanics of the consumer decision-making process,
marketers also try to ascertain what influences in consumers’ lives affect this process. There
are three main categories: internal, situational, and social influences. In Brandon’s case, for example, the evaluative criteria he used to compare cars and his feelings about each were
influenced by:
1. Internal factors such as the connection he learned to make between a name like Ford
Focus and an image of “slightly hip, yet safe and solid”
2. Situational factors such as the way the Ford salesperson treated him
3. Social influences such as his prediction that his friends would be impressed when they
saw him cruising down the road in his new wheels.