Explore consumer buying behavior, decision-making, food safety, flavor, naturalness, and healthiness in our comprehensive guide on food purchase trends.

The concept of “consumer purchase intention” is often interpreted differently by different people. Some believe that consumer purchase intention is constituted by the consumer’s attitude towards a product or brand and external factors. It is an important indicator used to predict a consumer’s subjective tendency to buy when faced with a specific product. Others define purchase intention as the subjective probability or possibility of a consumer buying a specific product. Therefore, the willingness of consumers to purchase a particular product is closely related to their cognition and buying behavior.

Consumer Cognition

Consumer cognition towards products undergoes four stages: sensation, perception, memory, and learning. Consumers first have an intuitive feeling about the product attributes, then process this information through the brain, leading to a certain level of understanding of the product. Consumer cognition is a prerequisite for the desire to purchase a product. Only with a deeper level of product cognition can the desire for the product be stimulated, leading to purchasing behavior.

Consumer Buying Behavior

Consumer buying behavior is the decision-making process by which consumers seek to satisfy their needs by actively seeking information about relevant products or services, establishing their own evaluation standards from the selection of suitable products or services, and then engaging in purchasing behavior if these standards are met. Its influencing factors mainly include information and signaling theory; information mainly comes from the providers and platforms, influencing consumers’ buying behavior through text and image information related to quality, emotion, form, and content; signaling theory refers to the process in the market transaction where relevant information is transmitted as signals, thereby influencing or changing the purchasing behavior of those with limited information.

The consumer’s buying decision is a systematic decision-making process, including the identification of needs, formation of purchasing motives, selection and implementation of purchasing plans, and post-purchase evaluation, aimed at satisfying a need under certain purchasing motives by choosing the best purchasing scheme from two or more options. Factors influencing buying decisions include individual consumer factors, product factors, product sales factors, and environmental factors. Consumers have different product needs at different living standards, tending towards rational buying behavior under lower living standards and more emotional buying behavior under higher living standards.

Characteristics of the Consumer Decision-Making Process

The purposefulness of consumer decision-making revolves around achieving one or several consumption goals. The process of planning, choosing, and arranging around these goals is the essence of purposeful activity.

The process of consumer decision-making involves a complete cycle where consumers generate needs stimulated by internal and external factors, form purchasing motives, choose and implement purchasing plans, and then the post-purchase experience feeds back to influence the next consumer purchase decision.

The individuality of consumer demand in decision-making shows that buying behavior, being an external manifestation of subjective needs and wishes, is influenced by many objective factors. Individual consumer decisions are generally made by the consumer alone; as consumers’ payment levels increase, the characteristic of independent decision-making in purchasing behavior becomes increasingly apparent.

The complexity of consumer decision-making, as a product of complex cognitive activities in the human brain, involves not just sensory perceptions like sensation, perception, attention, and memory, but also analysis, reasoning, judgment, and the evaluation of costs and potential benefits.

The situational nature of consumer decision-making indicates that factors influencing decisions are not static but change with time, location, and environment. Hence, a consumer’s decision-making has a clear situational character, with specific decision-making methods varying according to different situations. Due to variations in income levels, purchasing traditions, consumer psychology, and family environments among different consumers, the buying decisions for the same product may also differ.

Major Factors Influencing Consumers’ Food Buying Behavior

Safety: Food safety, as defined by the “Food Safety Law of the People’s Republic of China” and the World Health Organization, is crucial for human survival and development, implicating basic human rights. With the growth of China’s economy, the food industry has seen an increase in variety and quantity, raising concerns about food quality and safety.

Flavor and Texture: Flavor and texture play significant roles in consumer preference, with global surveys indicating a high appreciation for the impact of texture on the food and beverage experience.

Naturalness: The trend towards natural, pesticide-free, and preservative-free foods reflects consumers’ heightened sensitivity to health and food quality, emphasizing the ecological, natural, and nutritional attributes of food.

Healthiness: Healthy foods, rich in vitamins, minerals, and dietary fibers, are important for maintaining health, preventing diseases, and managing weight. The global food health industry, especially in Asia and China, has seen significant growth, with an increasing emphasis on online sales.

Color and Packaging: The color of food and packaging influences consumer interest and taste perception, with certain colors enhancing the appeal of food products. Packaging colors like green, red, orange, and pink play distinct roles in attracting consumers and conveying product attributes.

Brand Identity: Consumers’ identification with a company or brand, stemming from their cognition of the company’s culture, products, and services, is a key factor in forming purchase intentions. A strong sense of product identification enhances consumers’ desire to purchase.

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