13.1 Consumer Decision Making Process

It is the selection of an option from two or more alternatives choices. The person is making a decision

when he is choosing between brand A or brand B, or between spending time doing X or Y.

Any consumer decision making needs some degree of information searches. Not all consumer decision

making situations receive the same degree of information search.

The consumer's decision making process is expressing the way in which people gather information and

make choices among alternative goods, services, organizations, people, places, and ideas.

It consists of the process itself and factors affecting the process. This process is generally consisting of

chronological stages through which the buyer passes in purchasing a product or service.

These stages are including the relevant internal psychological processes that occur at each stage such

as motivation, perception, attitude formation, integration and learning.

There are three distinguished specific levels of consumer decision making. Extensive problem solving,

limited problem solving and routine response behavior.

The Three Levels of consumer problem solving variations:

Extensive problem solving:

This is a situation when the consumers do not have well-known criteria for evaluating a product

category or specific brands in that category. It also happens when the consumers did not...

13.1 Consumer Decision Making Process

...narrow the number of brands they will consider small or manageable.

In this situation the consumer needs a great deal of information to establish a set of criteria on

which he judges specific brands and a large amount of information concerning each of the brands

to be considered.

In this level, all the stages of the consumer decision making process will be used. This level

requires considerable time and effort on searching for external information and in identifying

alternatives. This level is used in high involvement purchase.

Limited problem solving:

At this level, consumers have already established the basic criteria for evaluation the product and

brands in this category. They gather additional brand information to differentiate between the

varieties of brands.

This level involves the use of moderate information seeking efforts. Often used when the buyer has

little time or effort to spend.

Routine response behavior:

This is the level in which the consumer has some experience with the product category and a well

established set of criteria with which to evaluate the brands they are considering.

13.1 Consumer Decision Making Process

Consumers search small amount of information or are satisfied with what they already know. This

level requires little need for additional information. This level is used for low-priced, frequently

purchased products.

Models of consumer: Four Views of Consumer Decision Making:

The model of consumers refers to a general view or perspective as to how and why individuals behave

as they do. These models can be examined in terms of four different views; economic, passive,

cognitive and emotional views.

Economic views: It is the process of making rational decisions. Using this model the consumer

should be aware of the following:

The consumer will have to be aware of all the available product alternatives.

Be capable of correctly ranking each alternative in terms of its benefits and disadvantages.

Be able to identify the one best alternative.

In reality consumers rarely have the sufficient and accurate information to make this kind of

decision.

Passive views: In this view the consumer is compliant to self-serving interests and promotional

efforts of marketers. In this view consumers are perceived as impulsive and illogical purchasers...

13.1 Consumer Decision Making Process

...ready to give up to the aims of marketers. This view fails to recognize that the consumer plays an

equal or dominant role in many buying situations.

Cognitive views: In this view the consumer is a thinking problem solver because he is interested

to searching for products and services that fulfill his needs and enrich his life. This view focuses on

the processes by which consumers seek and evaluate their information about the selected brands

and the retail outlets. This view recognizes that the consumer will not be able to obtain all the

available information-seeking efforts when he perceives that he has sufficient information about

some of the alternatives to make his purchase a satisfactory decision.

Emotional view: This view focuses on the fact that the feelings and the emotions of the

consumers play an important role in their decision making. When a consumer makes an emotional

purchase decision the emphasis is placed on his current mood or feelings. This mood is a feeling

that happening in an unfocussed preexisting state; while emotion is a response to a particular

environment. Moods are important to consumer decision making because it affects the time the

consumer shops, where and how to shop. In general, consumers in positive mood recall more

information about a product than those in negative mood.

13.1 Consumer Decision Making Process

The consumer decision making model:

The decision making process is viewed as a model that focus on how consumers make decisions. This

process is viewed as three distinct connected stages: the input, the process and the output stage.

The input stage affects the consumer's recognition of a product need and consists of two major

sources of information. These two sources are:

The firm's marketing efforts: This includes the product itself, the product price, the promotion of the

product, and where it is sold.

The external sociological influences on the consumer such as family, friends, neighbors, culture,

and social class.

The process stage of the model focuses on how consumers make their decision. The psychological

factors innate in each individual affect the consumer's recognition of a need, the pre purchase search of

information and, the evaluation of alternatives. These psychological factors are motivation, perception,

learning, personality and attitudes. This stage will be discussed thoroughly in the latest part.

The output stage consists of two closely related post decision activities. These two activities are the

purchase behavior, and the post purchase evaluation.

13.1 Consumer Decision Making Process

The above paragraphs are a brief overview of the decision making process but it is important to analyze

the concept into more details to understand the related concepts of the process. The model of decision

making that is explained below reflects the cognitive view which is the problem solving activity and it

also reflects to some degree the emotional consumer view.

The decision making process model stages:

Before purchasing any product or service the consumer goes through several stages. These stages are:

The pre purchase stage: It includes the recognition of need and the searching and gathering of

information; in this stage the evaluation of the alternatives is essential.

The Purchase of the product or the service, it includes the decision itself.

The post purchase evaluation.