Consumer Decision-Making and Internal Influences - Essay Example

Consumer Decision-making – Internal influences Your name Student number Name of the unit Name of the unit coordinator Introduction The activities and also processes that individuals engage in while in search of, selection, purchasing, using, evaluating, as well as the disposing of whatever commodity they have or wish to acquire in efforts to fulfil their desires/ needs is referred to as consumer behavior (Peter & Olson, 2002). While the marketers are in the development of effective communication for marketing programs, it is important to begin with an understanding of why consumer behave the way they do. This understanding is found to be of use to marketers as it helps know what to do so as to encourage more consumers buy a product or service. Using the five-stage decision process model developed by Kollat, Engel and Blackwell in 1968, the consumer is viewed as a problem solver as well as an information processor who has an ability to engage in metal processes to evaluate alternative brands and be able to be in a position to determine the degree to which they are in a position to satisfy needs or the motives of the purchase. This five-step model is more or less a form of cognitive learning (Hawkins et al., 2001). The five stage model Needs recognition and consumer motivation This marks the first step and it is the most important step as far as the buying process in consumer decision making process is concerned. Lack of need means there is no use in purchasing. It is what triggers the consumer to perceive a need, by this get a motivation to start a process of decision making in order to ensure that the felt need is resolved (Hawkins et al., 2001). Marketers are tasked with the duty to not only to understand those specific needs that the consumer is in efforts of satisfying but also be able to understand how the consumers translate that into a criteria for a purchase. After marketers have this information, they are in a position to accurately portray these needs in their promotional messages and in a locations that are appropriate. This need recognition is believed to be caused by the pattern difference that lies in the consumer’s ideal state and the actual state. Some of the important factors in obtaining this ideal state are ease of acquisition and product price which the consumer will perceive as “acceptable” generally based on the importance level of the need. Take the example of someone having a swimming pool and is looking for some assistance in taking care of it by regularly cleaning instead of him or herself (ideal situation) because it’s unpleasant to the owner (actual situation). This ideal situation is reached by paying $250 per month a payment that is made to a specialized company or an individual and this is viewed as being acceptable because the obtaining price is high. Mostly when it is compared to the level of importance people attach to the particular need usually very low hence no purchase behavior will occur in this situation. With this form of a goal which may end up being the attainment of a highly fulfilling situation from either a neutral situation or also a negative situation wishing to get to a neutral situation. The causes of the need recognition maybe both internal and external factors. For example, the presence of new products in the market with innovation may prompt consumers to develop a need recognition (Swait, 2001). For instances, the introduction of camera mobile phones created a new need on most consumers for it allows them to do more than ever before. In efforts to create this need recognition, marketers have not always been successful. A good example is from the case of the reluctance that consumers had towards embracing of the personal computers. Manufacturers continuously stressed how the personal computer would help children quickly improve and sharpen their academic knowledge not forgetting that it would also help them show better performance in school, as a result they successfully got a breakthrough in their marketing initiative (Hawkins et al., 2001). Internal influence; Consumer motivation This stage is critical for it influences the consumer’s decision on the remaining processes. The way a consumer perceives a given situation of purchase leads those to being greatly motivated to resolve or satisfy their particular needs. Let’s take for instance buying of a watch, while one consumer may perceive this watch purchase need from a functional perspective thereby focus on reliability and end up going for the low-priced alternatives, another consumer may on the other hand may perceive the purchase as a fashion statement thereby focus on the design as well as the image of various brands. Marketers devote considerable attention to assessing the motives. In examining the motives, they look into those underlying factors that in one way or another compel the buy to decide in a certain way. The classic theory of human motivation is one of the best approaches of understanding consumer motivations that was popularized several years ago by Abraham Maslow. This was through the theory of the hierarchy of needs that puts forward five levels of basic human needs which are arranged according to their importance. These needs are; 1) Physiological; for this level of needs are the things aimed at sustaining life and he found such things as shelter, food, sex, and clothing 2) Safety; under this level are such things as the needs for safety from any physical harm as well as security 3) love and belonging— this is understood to be the desire have relationships that are not satisfying with others but those that come with the feeling that sense of love, acceptance, affection, and belonging 4) esteem; this level outlines the need to feel having accomplished something and the zeal to gain recognition, as well as status and respect from others as being the important things 5) Self-actualization; in this level of needs one must have been able to achieve all the and for this level self-fulfillment coupled with the desire to realize one’s full potential are the needs to be met According to Maslow all the needs that appear on this ladder have to be satisfied first so that one can move to the next level that is the higher order needs. The relationship Maslow’s hierarchy of needs have with consumer decision making is that the needs that appear below the ladder are the greatest source of motivation for consumer behaviors when it comes to purchasing. For the developed countries where the physiological needs have been met, marketers sell products that that appeal to consumers in this way the physiological needs appeal to consumers is their key to getting them to develop the motivation to purchase. Look at for instance the focus Huggies have in the marketing of their wipes, they focus on showing the love between the parent and the child as a social need not forgetting the gentleness of the product. Marketers apply this theory very much usually for it offers a framework to use in determining the needs they wish their product to be shown to satisfy. When applied, there has to be a focus on the advertising campaigns which have to give a focus to show how a given product fulfill the desired needs. It on the other hand helps show and recognize that different consumers have different need preference levels. Take for instance how the situation is usually for a single person when they are into buying of a car, they will be after the social or self-esteem needs unlike the family which will focus will be more on the safety needs. Motivation relates to the consumer desire to achieve certain outcome. For instance, while trying to make a decision on making a purchase the consumer’s motivation is affected by their financial position or time constraints. The marketing implication this has is that marketers need to make options attractive do that the consumers can learn about their product such as information on the internet. For other products free trial would motivate them more before they can commit to the purchase. Information search and consumer perception This follows as the second stage of the consumer’s process of decision making. After the consumer has perceived a need to satisfy when they purchase a given product, they therefore embark on searching for information so as to be able to make a purchase decision (Kotler, 2000). The search will not only be touching merely on information depending on the complexity of the choices made but also their level of association with purchasing. (Buying a house calls for one to be more involved than when one is purchasing sugar). This means searching information on past experiences with the product brand and how much it will cost such as a car might entail greater search and of course with an in-depth search such as reading reviews as well as consumer reports, deciding on the best brands available, comparison to the information he or she already knew, affordability, the current petrol economy and also test-driving cars to make a decision (Hawkins et al., 2001.) Internal influence; Consumer perception This as an internal factor is an aspect of how consumers acquire knowledge as well as use information from external sources. For an everyday purchasing of any given product, internal information is sufficient to make the purchase and the consumer is mostly aware of which include FMCG’s or for CPG’s. When it comes to a purchase that fits the reference of being a major purchase however, it becomes a purchase with a certain level of uncertainty of the product or a need therefore calling for strong involvement. When the consumer does not have information that is sufficient information, they must seek it from different sources which in this case means external information to be able to fill the uncertainty gap. It is an important aspect that marketers need in the formulation of a communication strategy (Engel, 1995). According to the business encyclopedia, perception is the process through which individuals chooses, organizes and interprets stimuli. They organize it to meaningful world picture. This is highly associated with the stage of information gathering in the consumer decision process for being the process of gathering information through the senses so that one is able to hear, touch, see, smell, sense, and taste. External information of a product or brand is that which is received from and obtained by those who are close and known to the consumer, product reviews from other consumers on online forums or the press also through business sources such as advertising through billboards or posters etc. or a seller advertisement speech. In often times, consumers are bombarded with messages on magazines, television, radio and also the internet. With all this advertising information, not all makes it to the brain since they select what information makes there through a process called selective exposure. Within this internal factor lies selective attention, a situation whereby the consumer filters out information based on how relevant the information is important to them and also the selective retention where a consumer may forget information that is important to them. This is why marketers repeat their advertisement to ensure that messages get through the consumer so that they can remember them. In the formulation of communication strategies, marketers are interested in the following processes as part of perception; 1) Consumer’s abilities in external information sensing 2) Consumer’s attending of information from various sources 3) Consumer’s interpretation of information and giving meaning 4) The way these consumer’s retain this information Perception is highly dependent on internal factors. These factors include things such as the person’s experiences, their beliefs, moods, needs as well as their expectations. As mentioned in the definition, stimulus such as color, size, and intensity influence perception. Alternative evaluation, consumer attitude development and change After the acquiring of the information, the consumer moves to alternative evaluation. The consumer is able to evaluate from all the different options offered to him, choose that which is the best fit as far as what their need is so as to be able to satisfy their needs. In order achieve this, he or she will get into the evaluation of their attributes on majorly two aspects. The first one being the through objective characteristics (this looks into the functionality and features of the given brand) then onto the subjective (which is the insight and perceived value a particular brand is given by the consumer or the reputation it beholds). It is important to note that each and every consumer have their own preference which therefore means that they do not have similar attributes of importance in consumer buying decision process. And it varies from one shopper to another. One buyer may prefer a product due to the reputation it has in the larger market such as its popularity among users for a rather little but more powerful product that is less known. Another buyer may have a very negative perception of that same brand. Take for example the popularity of the Apple and Samsung smartphones, an iPhone user regards the Samsung smartphones lowly and vice versa. Here, the consumer compares the various brands identified as having the capability of solving the need (Churchill & Peter, 1998). For instance, a choice on what smartphone to acquire considering they serve the same need and motive would lead to one coming up with a list. But to be able to get to two products, the consumer reviews them at the alternative evaluation stage (Kotler, 2000). At this stage, the goal of advertising is that of increasing the possibility that the brand they are into advertising will make into the list of the evoked set so that it can be in the ultimate list in the alternative evaluation (Hawkins et al., 2001). Evaluation criteria are usually the attributes of a brand that the consumer uses to compare different available alternatives. Using the car purchase example, the evaluation criteria for the consumer would be objective attributes such as the price of the car, the warranty offered, not forgetting the fuel economy. On the other hand there are subjective attributes a consumer will look into and that is the image or the styling of the car. The product attributes as well as the benefits that the consumer associates with any product is very essential since these are the focal points from which the consumer form attitudes from and from there be able to decide among the various alternative choices (Hawkins et al., 2001). The consumer will then therefore use this information obtained previously in the collection and his perception of a product to be able to establish a set of evaluation criteria, which can makes them feel that they are the main strength areas in feature of a given product so as to classify the different brands available to be able to evaluate later the option that has the greatest possibility of satisfying their need. This particular process will then lead to what is referred to as an “evoked set”. “The evoked set” also known as consideration set can be defined as specific set of consumer products choices that a stand a greater chance of being purchased (mostly for the consumer has a positive perception of these products from the knowledge gathered. “Inept set” on the other hand is used to refer to particular set of products that do not stand a chance of being selected for purchase by the consumer (due to a poor perception held by the consumer towards these product which may be contributed by low reviews by other customers who may have used the brand before or due to past poor experience with the same product bringing a negative perception). While “inert set” are the particular set of products for which the shopper hold no specific opinion about, they simply no nothing about. The more the involvement of the consumer then the higher the importance it increases the chances of the purchase due to the higher number of solutions the customer will think of it as being of more importance. On the other hand, the number of possibilities and solutions that they considered will go down and be small for a regular purchase. Internal influence; consumer attitude development and change Attitudes are referred to as learned predispositions responding to an object according to Gordon Allport. It can be put as a summary of construct that is a representation of an individual’s overall feeling toward an object. It is true that with a variety of objects the consumers hold attitudes toward, it becomes usually important to marketers that they have to include the celebrity figure in the endorsement of the brand. It is important to those understanding the marketing initiatives for they are able to be in a position to summarize theoretically the reflections of the consumer on the product thereby representing negative or positive feelings as well as behavioral tendencies. For this reason, advertising and promotion comes in to crate favorable attitudes hence changing the negative attitudes (Liviu et al., 2008). Besides influencing the consumer’s decision, attitudes can be used to predict consumer behavior. Scale development and psychometrics are approaches that have been developed in attempts to measure attitudes (De Meuse & Hostager, 2001). The ability to predict attitudes highly depends on the time interval. Importantly also is that experience can form the attitude with a certain product or service such that they will always buy that or not buy it at all (Kirzner, 2001). An example of a child who has never watched the Tomb raider computer game may have a positive attitude towards it for just having watched the movie. Personality and self-concept A unique personality is something each consumer has. Personality is the broad concept that puts together a way of grouping, organizing and how an individual characteristically gives reaction to various conditions. This means that personality combines both the environmental forces with the psychological makeup. This includes the primary personal dispositions as well as the most dominant characteristics. Thus influences the brands and the type of products a consumer purchases. Take for example the choice of car type one drives or a consumers’ choice of jewelry when they are buying; it is a reflection of one or more traits of their personality. Self-concept on the other hand is the way consumers perceive themselves. It includes their attitudes, self-evaluations, and beliefs. It is through the self-concept that people define their identity which in turn provides for regular and articulate behavior. It combines both self-image that is the way one chooses to be and the way an individual actually perceives themselves to be better referred to as real self-image. With the urge by consumers to protect their identity, self-concept is what they largely depend on. For this reason, the stores the consumers buy from, the credit cards they carry, and the products that they buy support their self-image. Marketers on their part consider self-concept as important for it helps in the explaining the relationship between individuals’ perceptions and their consumer behaviors. Lifestyle also features here for it is a characteristic used in segmenting and targeting consumers. It addresses how consumers express outwardly their inner selves in their cultural as well as the social environment. Marketers apply this in their market segments (Liviu et al., 2008). Purchase decision At this stage, the consumer has already identified him or herself with the various and different solutions and brands available in the market that can adequately and efficiently respond to his or her need fully then proceed to the actual action of purchasing the desired product. His or her decision will depend on the acquired knowledge of the brand and the selection made in the aforementioned step of alternative evaluation based on the supposed value, brand features as well as its capabilities are some of the things considered important to the buyer. Though their buying decision process as consumers and their actual decision process may also change or be easily influenced by things which may include the quality consumer’s shopping experience previously at the shop or of the store which includes the online shopping, the presence of a sales promotion, availability of a return policy which is reasonable or a favorable terms and conditions for the sale. For example, an individual who is a diehard believer of particular radio brand and is committed to buying that particular one could change his/her decision if he or she has had a not so pleasant experience attendants in the particular store. While on the same note, a promotional offer in a supermarket for a milk brand could change the scale for the sales for this particular brand in the buyer’s mind who was mixed on the choice to make amongst the four brands of his evoked set. Consumer learning and involvement The process by which consumers change their behavior after they have gained information or after a given experience with a given product is what is referred to as learning. It is the process by which individuals get the consumption and purchasing knowledge as well as the experience that they apply in the future. Learning is the reason one does not buy a product twice, it doesn’t just affect what a consumer buys but it also affects how they buys. The people who have limited information regarding a given product seek out more information than those who have used the product before. To counter this, marketers try getting consumers to learn about their products in various ways. For instance, for someone who is looking to buy a car, the car dealers will offer test drive so as to have a feel of the experience in a given car brand. McDonald’s offered their customers free sample, they do this to get the consumers to try the product and as a result many of the consumers buy it especially right after trying it in the store. One of the learning theories used to explain this situation is the classical conditioning. This is occurs by associating a conditioned stimulus with an unconditioned stimulus so as to get a particular response. The more the conditioned stimulus is linked with the unconditioned stimulus, the faster the learning. This is exactly what advertisers try to do. Post purchase behavior. At the moment a product has been purchased and put to use or consumed by the consumer, he or she will assess the efficiency and the products ability to satisfy the consumer’s initial needs (what led to the buying behavior in the first place) and whether it was the ideal choice to purchase the product or it wasn’t. The feeling of fulfillment from the product and for making that particular choice) or a disappointment if the product has failed to satisfy the needs it was meant for. This forms a foundation in which the opinion made after use will influence the buyer’s decisions as well as their buying behavior in the future. If by any chance the product satisfied the customer it will help them in getting rid of various stages such as that of information search and also that stage of alternative evaluation for his next purchase since he or she will gravitate towards the same brand which will lead to customer loyalty. However, in case the experience with the brand product was not fulfilling, the consumer is going to repeat the whole process with another product in the next purchase but will not have this product in their list of their “evoked set”. This process post-purchase evaluation ultimately have some significant consequences and this applies for any product since a customer whose need satisfied is most likely going to become a loyal and customer who is regular on purchasing. This is what the marketers of most product brands in the industry are ever trying to achieve in the quality of their particular goods or services. Mainly for the purchases of everyday and with little to no involvement levels. Loyalty is the major source of money for brands when customers make their purchases throughout their entire life are combined known as lifetime customer value. Regardless of whether the customer’s experience was positive or negative, they are always able to share their opinion on the brands available in the market and this today with the technological shifts take place on the social media or online forums or by simply word-of-mouth. Among the methods that can be used to improve the post purchase behavior is the existence of efficient customer service as well as call center they are highly capable of developing and improve their behavior after the purchases. Conclusion In efforts to satisfy their needs and desires, consumers have been believed to use a five stage model that is a consumer decision making process. Within this five stage model are underlying internal influences that affects their decision making that include, motivation, perception, attitude formation and change, and integration processes. The decision process for this reason can be viewed as a cognitive orientation. The internal influences have possible influences on the behavior of the consumer and more specifically, they have an impact on the different stages of the decision making. These internal influences are important for marketers to consider so as to have the consumers decide quickly on purchasing their product or service. Brands should fully understand the five stages so as to improve their marketing and advertisement technique, for example: provision of concrete information to effectively satisfy their customers and better customer service thus strengthen their relationship leading to growth their sales. References Annals of the University of Oradea, Economic Sc http://theconsumerfactor.com/en/5-stages-consumer-buying-decision-process/ience Series, 895-900. Churchill, G, & Peter, J. P. 1998. Marketing: Creating Value for Customers. Second Edition. New York, McGraw-Hill Engel, J. F., Blackwell, R.D., & Miniard, P. W. 1995. Consumer Behavior. Eighth Edition. 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