Travel to Peru for Yoga - Essay Example

CONSUMER DECISION PROCESS Affiliation Have you ever wondered what goes through the mind of aconsumer before and after the purchase a product? There are a series of numerous evaluations that pass through their mind before and after a single purchase. Theses analyses can be summarized in five main stages as discussed below.Need Recognition/ Problem Recognition.Before a consumer decides to buy a product, they must identify the need for that product. Without this need, the possibility of making a purchase is zero.

This recognition happens when there is a difference between the consumer’s ideal situation and the desired one and actual situation.Despite this fact, not all the needs end as purchases. Other elements such as product price and ease of acquisition come into play. For instance, you have a car and you want somebody to clean it every day (ideal situation) because you feel bad about cleaning it every-day (actual situation) so you decide to outsource the services of an individual or a specialized firm to do this task at whatever cost.

You don’t judge how to reach this ideal situation. So you won’t have a purchase in this situation.Information SearchThis is the second most important element in the buying process of a consumer. Once the consumer had identified the need for a product, the consumer will explore possible solutions to the needed problem. They will look for more information or less information depending on the choices they need to make as pertains to the identified need. There are two main sources for gathering information.

They are external and internal sources. The internal source is already present in the consumers’ memory while the external source is obtained from either friends, family or from the press. The consumer will pay much attention to the internal information as opposed to the external information to make purchase decisions. Alternative EvaluationOnce the consumer collects all the information, they will explore more alternatives that seem suitable to satisfy their needs and pick the one that befits them.

To make this possible, they will evaluate the attributes of a product. Each consumer has a unique way of evaluating these attributes. All brands are not equal to all consumers; consumers prefer different brands to others depending on how they perceive these brands.Consumers will also use the information that they had collected previously to make the evaluation easier for them.Purchase decisionAt this stage the consumer has evaluated all the options available with regards to the products. The remaining part is to make a purchase for the product that ultimately fulfills their need.

This stage may also be influenced by the consumers’ shopping experience, the store, availability of promotions and many other factors.For instance, a consumer who is committed to the idea of buying a cell phone handset of a particular brand may change their mind if they had an unpleasant experience with customer care agents of a store.Post purchase behaviorAfter the purchase of a product and its utility, the consumer will begin to evaluate whether their previous needs were satisfied. They will either feel a sense of satisfaction for the product or a disappointment to the contrary.

This stage is of great essence since it will either make the consumer to buy that product again or cease to purchase that product.