Consumer Decision Making Process - Assignment Example

Consumer Decision Making Process Consumer Decision Making Process Introduction and Analysis The interview began with a brief introduction of the interviewer and the intention of the interview to the interviewee who bought a 400 QR worth Samsung Galaxy phone. When asked what made him buy the Android phone, he answered that Android phones were trendy and stylish. This is probably because his peers had already had Android phones by then, and when he got an opportunity to buy a phone, it was not going to be an inferior one. When asked about the number of alternatives he had considered, if any, he affirmed indeed he had considered many alternatives before settling finally on the Samsung phone. He had, in fact, sampled about five brands of phones. However, he disclosed that he had done many site visits after doing a general search on the internet about phones that met what he desired. He then visited company sites for different brands and compared the information he obtained from the sites and friends as well as different dealers to arrive at his final decision. When asked about the choice of the Galaxy trend, he responded that the name itself complimented his main concern by then of getting a trendy Android phone. The Galaxy phone was just offering what he needed in a phone from the front camera, flash camera, slim design and added security features that came in handy to protect his documents and photos plus Samsung products were reputable to him due to quality. By then, he was still comfortable even buying a friend same brand if he had to. It was quite evident that the brand name played a role in influencing his purchasing decision. However, this was quite secondary as the main preference that were not brand related seemed to supersede brand loyalty. Samsung brand was however referred to as being reputable by the interviewee. This confirms many pieces of research that admit that brand name is a strength and an opportunity for a company to win customer loyalty. Implications for the Marketing Manager First, marketers need to know that consumers’ buying trend is systematic, especially regarding communication gadgets like phones. For this reason, marketing should only target the stages that consumers undergo when planning on buying and the choke points to introduce the product (Shane, 2014). Secondly, marketers should exploit stage one by creating the need-to-buy by the customers. This may be through content phone advertisement with testimonials targeting how efficient these content features are by those who are or have used them. Modern marketing is about the strategic targeting of consumer behavior and not the product. It should be customer focused. The third implication is the information that will be used as a tool more than ever in marketing especially by targeting the information search stage. Here, the marketer needs to increase its online presence. This can be done by among other methods increasing search availability in Google and other search engines. This may be done by being a Google trusted store that has an effect of increasing Google ranking in search displays. On the company website, everything should be made simple and efficient especially activities that concern online buying and enquiries. This makes customers a darling of the site. Appendices 1. Laddering The method used was laddering,with the help of Means End Chain Approach. This approach dictates that questions are asked in a certain manner, especially with many “why”-questions that may make the customer uncomfortable especially when the answers being sought by such questions are apparent. So an explanation was made to the customer/ respondent in advance of the questioning. The Means End Chain is based on assumptions that customers’ product knowledge is based on three factors as shown below according to the interview (attributes, consequence, values) These factors are arranged in a hierarchical manner as shown above, with the attribute topping the hierarchy and the value being at the bottom. Below is the interview excerpt from the interview of the customer. Attributes are the goodoutstanding features of the product, consequences are the benefits associated with the product or the problems of the product and finally, value is the feeling contributed by the consequence(Reynolds & Gutman, 1988). 2. Excerpt of the Interview 1. Why did you choose to buy this phone among the many varieties? Apart from installable applications, I like its front camera, flash and sleek design 2. Why are the front camera, flash and sleek design so important to you? Because with the attributes, I’m able to take my selfies, take photos even at night and look trendy as my friends. 3. Why do you want to be trendy? Come on, are you for real? I’m 25 and all 25s are trendy 4. Why is taking selfies, and other photos even at night important to you? It is because sometimes I want to capture my happy moments during parties and most parties extend to night hours. 5. Why did you choose just Samsung Galaxy but not the other makes? Because Galaxy’s design is sleek, trendy, and because Samsung Galaxy is more reliable than others. Besides, cheap is expensive. 3. Ladder from the interview V V C C C A A A 1. Different decision making stages that the interviewee went through before his purchase. References Reynolds, T., & Gutman, J. (1988). Laddering Theory, method, analysis and interprettation. Journal of Advertising Research, 28, 11-31. Shane, J. (2014, March 18th). The six stages of consumer buying Process and how to market to them. Retrieved December 8th , 2015, from Consumer Marketing: http://www.business2community.com/consumer-marketing/six-stages-consumer-buying-process-market-0811565 Read More