Stages of the Consumer Decision Process - Essay Example

?Stages of the consumer decision process The consumer decision process aims to find how a consumer comes to a conclusion and makes a decision – one that ensures that a product or service is availed out of the numerous available in the market. This consumer decision process banks a great deal on how the consumers view the competition and what they aim to achieve from the rivalry which grabs their attention. However, for this process to take place, it is of paramount significance to comprehend that there is a need in the first place which must be satisfied at a later stage. It is possible that if there is no need for a particular product or service, then there is no use moving on forward with the consumer decision process as there is only little that one achieve in entirety. Every business wants to build new consumers and retain the old ones (Chen, 2009). However, these consumers are of negligible value if they do not bring in the desired results in terms of sales for the business. It is important that the consumer decision process is looked upon at from all sides before reaching a consensus as to how marketing and sales domains shall be managed within the business. If the consumer decision process is easy to undertake and the sales are coming in, perhaps there is reason why this consumer decision process has been a successful one over a period of time. On the flip side, there could be a number of survival issues for the business. This paper discusses how the consumer decision process is managed within the tourism industry from a supply perspective. The 5 stages of the consumer decision process involve the recognition of the need, the information search, the evaluation, the eventual decision to purchase and lastly the post-purchase evaluation. These 5 stages essentially dictate how well the consumer decision process has been reached upon and the kind of success that a consumer has within his ranks to make sure that he buys the intended product or service (Hudson, 2010). Within the domains of the tourism industry which is a combination of both products and services, the need is to understand how well the consumer decision process has been applied. It will then enact ways to reach out to consumers who are more prone to make that much needed purchase which will benefit the business under the ranks of the tourism industry. This is an important aspect and one that requires significance from the people who undertake these businesses in the first place. It gives them an idea as to where they are going wrong and what corrective measures they need to take in order to bring sanity within the realms of the tourism industry (Betsch, 2004). The consumer decision process does not come about without hard work and thought. The consideration that goes into its making is something that leaves many astounded since sometimes consumers take a life time to make that vital purchase while at others the whole process is often completed way too quickly. These 5 stages are fundamentally hierarchical because these highlight how strongly the consumer decision process takes place and that too within a sequential feel. The hierarchy comes about in the form of following each one of these stages. One cannot skip any stage and move on to the next one. It has to follow a set line in order to successfully complete the consumer decision process. The sale process of the business will only culminate when all these stages are amicably given the significance that these richly require. Focusing specifically on the tourism industry, it is important to comprehend the amount of energy a business dedicates towards attracting that vital consumer. This means that these consumers form the core basis of the business and without them the tourism industry would suffer on a number of different counts (Ekstrom, 2006). The understanding must be derived from the fact that the entire tourism regime shapes up due to the undertakings of the consumers and if the latter do not show any interest, it would be difficult to sustain this industry in essence. The tourism industry depends on the stakeholders to make sure that the consumers get the best value out of their related businesses. These stakeholders include the travel agents within the sea cruise industry, the air travel agents, the road transport quarters and the train authorities. These sub-domains of the tourism industry indeed discuss the supply side discussions which are the topic of this paper. When the supply side perspectives are taken into consideration, the end result for the consumers is envisaged right from the very beginning. It gives the people an idea how the tourism industry will pan out in the wake of the significant role of the intermediaries and the channel members who work alongside one another (Miller, 1946). This is the basis of knowing where value provision could be witnessed and how it can be exponentially increased in the wake of a business going down in profits over a period of time. The tourism industry has a number of players within it who are undertaking their active role at making sure that this industry is always up on its feet. These players are indeed the movers and shakers of the industry giving their best time and again. It is because of these players that the tourism industry has no parallels all over the world. The sea cruise personnel, the air travel agents, the road transport staff and the train regimes are working endlessly to make sure that they attract enough consumers all around the year to make sizable profits (Beach, 1996). When these sub-domains of the industry work alongside one another, the entire tourism industry benefits as a result of the same. This ideology benefits the end consumers nonetheless who are always looking at purchasing tourism packages at a cost effective price coupled with the best value on return. The bottom line is that the tourism industry must make a profit otherwise there will be a number of issues which would stand in the wake of delivering results (Robbins, 2009). When these players are bent upon making a profit, the supply side gets beefed up on a number of counts. Thus the supply side perspective happens to be the combined result of reaching out to the consumers on the need recognition phase, the information search phase, the evaluation phase, the decision making phase and lastly the post-purchase evaluation phase. Each one of these phases are explored duly by the supply agents who are indeed doing their utmost to make sure that the supply side delivery of processes is in line with the global standards that the tourism industry would like to have within its folds. Analyzing the consumer decision process from the beginning, it is important to note how the need recognition stage comes about within it. The needs are understood in terms of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs where the travelers’ needs are put in comparison and then studied. This means that the supply side has to find out how travelers and sightseers are wishing to visit a place and then enact ways and means through which alternatives could be provided to them. But then again, in the wake of the need recognition it is significant that these needs are their physiological ones since they are looking at moving from one place to another and not asking for food, shelter and clothing from the tourism industry. The other kinds of needs within this model are the safety needs, social needs, esteem needs and the self-actualization needs (Pomazal, 1988). Except for the physiological needs, one would believe that the supply side can work wonders within the remaining four types of needs, i.e. the safety needs, social needs, esteem needs and the self-actualization needs. What this means is the fact that people can make use of road transport and train locomotives to assure that they are safe and hence plan to move from one place to another. They can also employ the social needs to fly out or take a cruise whenever there is a need to visit a new place or just to have a holiday on their favorite destination (Pol, 1997). Within the esteem needs, the people visit places through the tourism domains to stay one step ahead of others while fulfilling their own cravings and desires. Lastly, the self-actualization needs are very imperative for the people who are the movers and shakers of the tourism industry as it allows these individuals to book air tickets, have sea cruises and the like as and when they require, often at a moment’s notice. This suggests how different needs and the people associated with those kinds of needs are taking on the tourism industry and what their aspirations are, as and when they wish. The supply side perspective within tourism industry for the sake of the consumer decision process can also be properly studied when information is being searched upon, either by consumers themselves or by the supply side patrons. Thus stakeholders can also go through the details as and when they wish which speaks highly of the roles played by these people. The supplier provides related information to travelers which will actually interest his peculiar settings (Hill, 1988). This means that his own basis will be benefited immensely when he gives out information to the travelers. This information could either be presented on the social media channels like YouTube, Facebook, Twitter or different websites and webzines. Also the traditional forms of media like the newspapers and television channels could also be employed in order to reach out to the audiences that the supplier wishes to make an impact upon. This is one of the most important aspects that the supplier can wish to have once he has undertaken the information search module within the consumer decision process. He is just a helping agent and the service will eventually be availed by the consumer himself. The role played by the supplier is indeed of significant value because it mentions the need of consumer in the long run. Hence information search is a stage which is the make or break point of the whole consumer decision process and should be given the significance that it richly deserves (Gurley, 2005). The third stage within the consumer decision process which studies the tourism industry is that of evaluation of alternatives which are going to play a huge role in reaching up to the decision which is in mind of the consumer. The supplier needs to know what the consumer is thinking and it is of paramount essence to comprehend where the consumer’s mind is hovering around. This includes the kind of support that these suppliers are bringing forward in the form of tailor made packages and programs that shall allow ease and cost effectiveness within the traveling regimes of the consumers (Otondo, 2008). This shall allow the consumers to feel good about their own selves and that they had been able to make a purchase at a good price. Indeed this is one of the ways through which the decision becomes easier, and thus it requires persistence and support on the part of the supplier nonetheless. The supplier must know what kind of alternative support programs he is bringing forward to allow the consumer to reach a decision that shall be in the best interest of the supplier and the consumer itself. This will mean that any free deals along with these travel packages would be deemed as most welcome by the consumers (Leong, 2008). In fact the consumers do their best to find such packages and free deals in the first place whenever they are planning their journey as they know that their respective journeys would entail of shopping costs, boarding issues and lodging charges. Hence anything that gets saved in the name of traveling is appreciated by the consumers at large. The fourth and most important stage within the consumer decision process is the actual decision which brings the consumers right in front of the suppliers and the suppliers give their best towards the consumers to make sure that the eventual purchase is done. There is a great amount of hard work and commitment that goes into making this vital purchase and the supplier deserves the accolades for making it happen from beginning to end. The suppliers need to support the decision which is made by the consumer in order to solicit a favorable response. They must understand how the travelers chose a certain package and what goes into showing them alternatives packages and destinations (Tatum, 2003). This is indeed a decision that has been much thought about and consideration has been paid towards its eventual basis. This support is firstly made available through the different websites upon which the packages are made available and then only after seeking a response from the suppliers on the part of the consumers, the support comes about in full circle. Also other channels can be made use of by the supplier in order to suggest his all-out support so that the consumer decision process can be comprehensively completed. The different activities that the consumer might make are also covered under the heading of support (Ashley, 1997). These might include the basis of a proper ideological basis where consumers are shown the way through which they can choose the different packages, allowances that are made at the various traveling undertakings, and so on and so forth. This sets the precedent for support which will be deemed as the most significant one, especially when one is concentrating whole-heartedly upon the basis of building trust and confidence for the consumers, who are the travelers in this case. The consumer decision process is the eventual locking stage where both the suppliers and the consumers reach a consensus – a point of no return until the next stage – post-purchase evaluation comes about. However, for now it is significant to understand that the consumer decision process requires vigilance on the part of the supplier as he is the one who is providing all-out support and assistance to the traveler as the traveler continues along the decision-making process especially when it concerns his traveling, the different packages and plans that he wishes to seek and others. The role of the supplier becomes even more important because he is the one who would give away tickets for different attractions and ask the travelers to make use of certain discounts which he has to offer (London, 2003). This makes the entire exercise all the more interesting since the travelers would now know that the supplier is doing his best to give them something of value at a reasonable and cost-effective price (Castellan, 1993). One should understand that this is indeed a two-way relationship which has come about with the passage of time since the suppliers are dependent on the consumers who are travelers, who in return are looking up to the suppliers for help and support so that they can undertake their travel packages, routines and so on and so forth. Indeed the decision stage within the consumer decision process is the most important one because here money is exchanged and the end product is bought or purchased (Willson, 2000). What happens after this stage has been completed depends entirely on how well the traveler has understood the decision process and what he has derived from it to achieve sound results. The fifth and last stage revolves around the post-purchase evaluation which signifies the expectations raised by the suppliers, the feedback received from the travelers, and how the feedback is affecting the suppliers in shaping up positive changes within his work routines. The supplier and the consumer are both looking to build a long term relationship and this has only become better through the purchase decision which has just recently been made. If only the purchase does not work too well for the consumer, he has the option to give feedback regarding the same which is another point as to how it is taken on by the supplier. If the supplier takes this feedback in a positive way, the relationship between the traveler and the supplier can become much better in the future while if the feedback is comprehended in a negative mindset, then things might get worse. It is also possible that the traveler might never return for future travel related packages and destinations to the supplier, which essentially means lack of profits for the suppliers’ business. A number of aspects therefore need to be taken into consideration before one can deduce which course of action was the most righteous one, for the sake of the linkage that developed between the supplier and the traveler (consumer). To sum up the discussion, it would be important to ascertain how well the consumer decision process works for the sake of the travelers and what kind of support do the suppliers believe in providing. If only all these steps are understood in an adequately sound way, there would be no issues that one would encounter at any stage (East, 1997). Also the travelers would find it easy to book their travel plans through any of the possible options that are available. This will allow them to know more about their working relationships with the suppliers as well as study the kinds of support and facilitation that comes about in a very handy way. It is therefore quite a reality to know that the consumer decision process is the best available methodology in order to reach a result and to make a sale as far as the business domains are concerned. This business could be either the tourism industry or any other (Perloff, 1993). The consumers would remain the same no matter which industry one looks at, from different angles and perspectives. All said and done, the consumer decision process would continue to be seen as the best amongst a series of other processes as it comes about with much thought and consideration on the part of the consumers. The support that comes in within this equation is also handy and leaves no stone unturned for all and sundry to analyze, discern and explore. 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