Information Searches in Marketing - Term Paper Example

Low involvement purchase refers to those products that are not that significant to a consumer and do not have much effect on the customer’s lifestyle. A low involvement product can also require less effort in decision-making because it is constantly bought. A regular buying behavior normally occurs if the involvement is low and there is a small brand difference (Sandhusen, 2000). In this case, therefore, the consumer of the product selects it because it is familiar to him or her. A man’s perfume is a good example of a product in this category.
Medium involvement purchase is defined as a situation whereby the consumer would not care when selecting a product for purchase. For instance, when booking a holiday hotel room, the consumer may not mind about the nature of services at the hotel because he or she is there for a short time. Most products and services in this category are normally impulsed because there is normally no prior consideration to buy them. An example is the purchase of new dresses, blouses, and jewelry for a night out.
High involvement purchases are those whereby the buyer spares much time and effort in searching for the products. Involvement in any type of purchase gets high for those products that are costly and are much significant to ones’ life (Evans, 1982). Consumer behavior is the study of individuals or groups and how they choose, secure, and dispose of products and services for them to get satisfied. The behavior of buyers is normally difficult to predict and always changes.
Information search involves the acquisition of information about products and services in the market. During purchase, a consumer may experience a problem with a certain product. He or she decides to search for any relevant information concerning the product or service to solve the problem (Kotler,1986). Consumers normally carry out both internal and external searches. Internal search is normally a psychological process that involves a buyer’s perception of a certain product. The consumer may want to know about their direct experiences about a certain product in the market: The feelings, attitudes, beliefs, and behaviors about a certain product in the market. For instance, a lady may not want to use certain soap because it dries her skin. Information search is also a tool to determine consumer behavior which is affected by the buyer’s learning, attitude, perceptions, and risk (Kotler,1986).
Manufacturers of products will normally come up with the necessary actions which make consumers search for information about their purchases. These include processes such as, standardization of prizes for the products, advertising which creates awareness to customers for them to make the appropriate decision about a product. Again, they can offer promotions and free samples to motivate the buyers. Thirdly, manufacturing companies of these products should at times brand their products so that the customers can notice something new about the products and buy them.