Roles of a consumer: payer, buyer etc- decision making process In the process of acquiring goods or services there are

several roles which an individual may perform. They are related to the elements of the buying process which are purchase, payment and usage or consumption. Consequently, three basic roles may be distinguished on the basis of these activities. The first role is a buyer who is responsible for selecting a good or service as well as for choosing the provider and negotiating the conditions of the sale. The second role is payer, who finances the purchase. Finally, the third role is a user or, in other words, a consumer. He or she benefits from using the purchased good and thus is able to assess the qualities and drawbacks of the product or service1. All the roles influence the individuals behaviour. There are three types of roles, buyer, payer and user, which can be performed while purchasing. They can be played by the same person or by several individuals. These roles can be ascribed to four types depending on a character of purchase made. First type is when an individual exercises all three roles at the same time which is characteristic for purchases for personal usage. Moreover, such a concentration of roles is often seen in SME sector. Second kind of grouping of roles is when the individual is only a user and does not buy neither finance the purchase. In consumer markets, it often happens when children are bought clothes, toys and everything else by their parents. Third type of redistribution of roles is when the user is the buyer but not the payer. A good example of such situation is when an employee is offered a medical care by their employer as the worker does not cover its costs but chooses the service and is its direct beneficiary. Fourth kind of configuration of roles is when the user is the payer but not the buyer. In this case, a customer uses an intermediary to make a purchase2. * There are five kinds of customer markets. Consumer markets which involves households and individuals who buy goods and services for personal use. Business markets consist of entities which purchase goods and services for manufacturing their own products. Reseller markets acquire goods and services to resell them profitably. Government markets are made of public agencies which buy goods and services in order to transform them into public services and transfer them to public which needs them. International markets involve all kinds of foreign buyers, as consumers, producers, resellers and governments3.

Lambin, J.J., de Moerloose, C.: Marketing stratgique et oprationnel, Dunod, Paris 2008, p. 88-89. Lambin, J.J., de Moerloose, C.: Marketing stratgique et oprationnel, Dunod, Paris 2008, p. 89-90. 3 Armstrong, G., Kotler, Ph.: Principles of marketing, Pearson Prentice Hall, New Jersey 2010, p. 93.
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