Title: Situational Factors That Affect People’s Buying Behavior
Headings: 3.2
Situational Factors That Affect People’s Buying Behavior

3.2 Situational Factors That Affect People’s Buying Behavior
Learning Objectives
The Consumer’s Physical Situation
The Consumer’s Social Situation
Video Clip
The Consumer’s Time Situation
The Reason for the Consumer’s Purchase
The Consumer’s Mood
Key Takeaway

Content: Anna S. Matilla and Jochen Wirtz, “The Role of Store Environmental Stimulation and Social Factors on Impulse Purchasing,” Journal of Services Marketing 22, no. 7 (2008): 562–67. The Consumer’s Time Situation
The time of day, the time of year, and how much time consumers feel like they have to shop also affects what they buy. Researchers have even discovered whether someone is a “morning person” or “evening person” affects shopping patterns. Seven-Eleven Japan is a company that’s extremely in tune to physical factors such as time and how it affects buyers. The company’s point-of-sale systems at its checkout counters monitor what is selling well and when, and stores are restocked with those items immediately—sometimes via motorcycle deliveries that zip in and out of traffic along Japan’s crowded streets. The goal is to get the products on the shelves when and where consumers want them. Seven-Eleven Japan also knows that, like Americans, its customers are “time starved.” Shoppers can pay their utility bills, local taxes, and insurance or pension premiums at Seven-Eleven Japan stores, and even make photocopies.