Consumer Decision-Making Process - Assignment Example

CONSUMER DECISION-MAKING PROCESS By Students Name Course Professor University State Date The consumer decision-making process refers to the procedures by which individuals choose from several options, products, ideas, and brands. There are variations in any process that any customer goes through during purchasing. It can be broken down into numerous stages in order to help a business to understand their customer that must result in businesslike and efficient targeting (Keegan, 2009). In addition, it is the only visible aspect of a complicated decision procedure developed by a customer for every buying decision he or she makes. However, the big questions are on what happens after the purchase and the factors that influence the choice of a product that is purchased by a customer. This paper will focus on the consumer buying decision process of a customer who recently bought a vehicle. All the relevant stages followed in the acquisition of the vehicle will be analyzed as well. Need recognition This is the initial and the most crucial stage in the buying process. The absence of a need means that there is no purchase. This recognition takes place when a lag exists between the customer’s ideal, desired and the actual situation. Nevertheless, it is not all the needs that end up as a buying behavior. This means that a lag that exists between the two conditions has to be crucial (Bearden, & Netemeyer, 1999). In addition, the way of product acquisition in obtaining the ideal situation must be perceived as acceptable on the basis of the importance level for the customers For instance, the client who bought a vehicle has a job far away from her residing area and uses public means to travel to job which is a bit slow and needs a means of transport that she can be able to control(ideal situation)because it the public means inconveniences her(actual situation) (Du Plessis, & Rousseau, 2003).However, the client is not able to judge way to reach out to the ideal situation; purchase it in installments following the fact that the price is important. Additionally, a need created by another component and the specialty between the perfect and real circumstance can be as a consequence of three cases; The perfect circumstance has changed, yet the present one has not (a neighbor educated the client about heading to work in a compass of 20 minutes).The other case is the genuine circumstance has changed, however the thought one has not(the client is tired of using public transport to work). Or eventually, remains the same (Solomon, 2002). Information search After identifying the need, the customer sought out for information regarding possible solutions to her problem. This was more of less information counting on the complexness of the choices made, however, also her involvement level. Afterward, the customer sought to come up with her opinion as guidance for her decision-making process and choice with the following aspects; internal information: This kind of information was already in the customer's memory. This information results from previous experiences that she had with the product and the opinion that she ought to be having regarding the product. Customers always screen their mind to ensure that the decision they make although its affected by other aspects it remains their own. External information: This refers to the information about a product and, in this case, the vehicle obtained from family, friends, other customers reviews, or even press and even official business means such as adverts. Cultural aspects also are relevant in this case and the affect the decision made. During the decision-making process, the customer paid more attention from family members and friends who have purchased vehicles already (Howard, Kirmani, & Rajagopal, 2013). These purchasing means were more objective compared to the advertising aspects. Alternative evaluation After gathering information, the customer managed to evaluate the different alternatives that were offering to her, evaluated the most suitable to her needs and chose the one she thought was the best. This stage is relevant in that the customer manages to equip herself with all important features of the brand vehicle she wants to purchase. In order to undertake the evaluation task effectively, the attributes were based on two aspects. The impersonal characteristics such as the functionality and features of the vehicle and subjective characteristics such as perceived and perception value of the vehicle by the customer (Steckstor, 2012). The consumer used the information that was previously collected and here perception or product image to be able to abolish a set of evaluation criteria, then classify the different vehicle brands available and measure the alternative which had the most chance of satisfying her. This procedure results in what can be referred to as evoked set. This is the set of brands which contains a high probability of being purchased by the consumer (Vinhas Da Silva, Davies, & Naudé,1999). On the contrary, there is the inept set. This refers to a set of brands that do not stand a chance of being purchased by the customer due to lack of peculiar opinion. It is important to note that the higher the level of consumer involvement and the significance of purchase are stronger, the higher number of solutions that the consumer will put into consideration terming them as significant. Purchase decision At this point, the client had already measured the different solutions and products accessible for responding to her need. This enabled here to choose the vehicle brand that seemed most appropriate to her needs and proceeded to the actual purchase. In this case, the decision depended most on the selection and information received from previous steps on the basis of the perceived value, features of the product, as well as the capabilities crucial to her (Kuratko, 2014). The aspects such as quality, promotion availability, real terms, the sale conditions, and return policy had the likelihood of affecting the customer decision process. This means that the idea of buying a certain brand of a vehicle could change her decision due to an unpleasant experience with the sellers. Post-purchase behavior This is after purchasing and using the product, in this case, the customer measures its adequacy with her original needs that caused the buying behavior. The aim of this moment is to determine whether the decision made is the best choice in purchasing the product or not. At this time, it is whether a sense of satisfaction for the products felt or not. On the contrary, a disappointment results if the product has fallen far short of prospects. The opinion in this level plays a crucial role in the views of the customer future buying behavior and decision. In case the consumers’ feels satisfied with the product, he will minimize the information search stages as well as evaluation alternative during her next purchase and eventually resulting in customer loyalty (Revella, 2015). It is likely that in case the customer will not be satisfied with the product, she will repeat the five stages that are contained in the buying decision-making process. Customers always share both negative and positive views regarding a particular brand with their families or even by a word of mouth. Currently, on a wider scale it happens through the social media networks, or even customer product review websites. This a very important tendency that needs to be addressed with outermost care and should not be overlooked now with the internet, a dejected customer can have a study power to harm a certain brand reputation in the market (Krishna, 2013). Additionally, in order to optimize the customer experience, and effectual customer service and a circumstantial call center are several assets that can be formulated to ameliorate the post-purchase behavior if there is any fuss with the product. Conclusion Buying decision is applied no matter however simple a product seems. Business should not overlook these aspects as the count to the success and failure of their businesses. There is novel knowledge on the consumer decision-making process which requires marketers to reevaluate their marketing procedures in order to ensure that they cause an impact on customers at each stage of the process. This will require a mindset shift among numerous marketers by relying on buying media to an increased balance program that offers support for developing assets such as interactive websites, which offers a better chance for consumers to learn more about their products and services. Therefore, marketers must actively go after each and every opportunity that helps them develop a bridge between their customers and brand. It is crucial for them to understand how their customers reach a final purchase decision. In addition, marketers should know how to communicate with their customers effectively at various levels of their buying decision process through a broad perceptive of their consumer’s wide assortment of external and interior influences. It is possible to manipulate the consumer response through careful communication towards the organizations substance and brand. Therefore, monitoring consumers experiences is crucial and should be supported and monitored with proper reinforcement of their purchase to promote repeat purchases from existing potential and new users. Reference List Bearden, W. O., & Netemeyer, R. G. 1999. Handbook of marketing scales: multi-item measures for marketing and consumer behavior research. Thousand Oaks, Calif, Sage Publications. Du Plessis, P. J., & Rousseau, D. 2003. Buyer behavior: a multi-cultural approach. Oxford, Oxford University Press. Howard, D. J., Kirmani, A., & Rajagopal, P. 2013. Social influence and consumer behavior: a special issue of the journal Social Influence. Abingdon, Psycholog Press. Keegan, S. 2009. Qualitative research: good decision making through understanding people, cultures and markets. London, Kogan Page. Krishna, A. 2013. Customer sense: how the 5 senses influence buying behavior. New York, NY, Palgrave Macmillan. Kuratko, D. F. 2014. Entrepreneurship: theory, process, practice. 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