Consumer Decision Rules - Essay Example

Consumers will exhibit habitual/routine response behavior while buying these products. In such cases, the consumer recognizes a problem and resorts primarily to internal search only, i.e. relies on his long-term memory. The internal search throws out a single solution, i.e. the most preferred brand which is purchased by the customer. There is thus a low level of consumer involvement in such cases. Consumers typically demonstrate routine buying behavior in the case of low-priced products that are frequently purchased.

Men’s Aftershave Lotion and Carpeting
Consumers will resort to limited problem-solving (LPS) decision rules while purchasing an aftershave lotion or taking carpeting decisions. Under LPS, consumers resort to some amount of external search in addition to internal search. They tend to consider a few alternatives before selecting a particular brand. Products involved in LPS arouse mild interest and curiosity. Consumers also resort to a little post-purchase evaluation in such cases.

Luxury Cars
Consumers will resort to extensive problem-solving while purchasing luxury cars. They indulge in extensive information search which is followed by a complex evaluation of multiple alternatives. This process entails a thorough post-purchase evaluation in such cases. Consumers use the extensive problem-solving decision rules in case of infrequently purchased, very highly-priced products. Typically such products carry a high symbolic meaning and have a high social visibility.

35 MM Camera
There are numerous features like focus, film format, lenses, timers, preview buttons, viewfinders, light meters, shutter controls, etc. that can be considered while purchasing a 35mm camera. I find that the following attributes are relevant and must be kept in mind while making the purchase decision for a 35 mm camera; Shutter Speeds, Flash Sync, Autofocus, Film Handling, and Metering

Compensatory Decision Rule
In case I use the compensatory decision rule, I will evaluate the various brands of 35 mm cameras on each of these attributes. A weighted score would be computed for each brand and I will buy the brand that has the highest score.

Non-Compensatory Decision Rules
The non-compensatory decision rules include the conjunctive rule, the disjunctive rule, and the lexicographic rule. I can adopt the conjunctive rule whereby I’ll buy the camera that has no bad feature in it or the disjunctive rule whereby the camera that excelled in at least one attribute will be bought by me. Finally, if I follow the lexicographic rule, I’ll buy the camera that ranks highest on the attribute that I consider to be the most important.

Fast-Food Restaurants
Evoked Set
Burger King, Dunkin Donuts, McDonald's, KFC, Nandos, Panera Bread, Subway, Taco Bell, Wendy, and Wimpy form my evoked set.
Inept and Inert Set
Fat Burger, MOS Burger, Dairy Queen, and Chicken Cottage are the restaurants in this category.
Difference in Attributes
The brands that are in the evoked set differ from those in the inept and inert set primarily because the fast-food restaurants in the evoked set have worldwide operations. They have been in business for many decades and have won the trust and admiration of consumers by consistently providing high-quality items.