Buyer Decision Process
The buyer decision process refers to the series of steps that a consumer goes through when making a purchasing decision. It typically involves problem recognition, information search, evaluation of alternatives, purchase decision, and post-purchase evaluation. Understanding this process is crucial for marketers to effectively target and influence consumers at each stage of their decision-making journey.
8 Key excerpts on "Buyer Decision Process"
eBook - ePub- Richard M.S. Wilson(Author)
- 2010(Publication Date)
- Routledge(Publisher)
...This is illustrated in Figure 6.3. Figure 6.3 The four types of buying behaviour (adapted from Assael, 1987) Understanding the Buying Decision Process The third and final stage that we are concerned with here is the structure of the buying decision process that consumers go through. In other words, precisely how do consumers buy particular products? Do they, for example, search for information and make detailed comparisons, or do they rely largely upon the advice of a store assistant? Are they influenced significantly by price or by advertising? Questions such as these have led to a considerable amount of research into the buying process and subsequently to consumers being categorized either as deliberate buyers or compulsive buyers. To help in coming to terms with this, a series of models have been proposed that focus not simply upon the purchase decision, but upon the process leading up to this decision, the decision itself and then, subsequently, post-purchase behaviour. Here, the process begins with the consumer’s recognition of a problem, or perhaps more commonly, a want. This may emerge as the result of an internal stimulus (hunger or thirst) or an external stimulus in the form of an advertisement or a colleague’s comment. This leads to the search for information, which might be at the level simply of a heightened awareness or attention to advertising, or at the deeper level of extensive information searching...
eBook - ePubPrinciples of Advertising
A Global Perspective, Second Edition
- Monle Lee, Carla Johnson(Authors)
- 2013(Publication Date)
- Routledge(Publisher)
...By knowing customers’ buying behaviors, marketers can create marketing mixes that satisfy customers and lead to success in the marketplace. GE found that price was a deciding factor for Japanese consumers in the market for a refrigerator. The company then emphasized that its refrigerators cost half the price of a Japanese model. Constant research on buyer behavior and the factors influencing buying behavior is definitely important for marketers of any products. Chapter 7 will focus on the important topic of research methods. The goal of advertising is to persuade the consumer to do something, usually to purchase a product. If advertising is to attract and communicate to audiences in a way that produces this desired result, advertisers must first understand their audiences. They must acquaint themselves with consumers’ ways of thinking, with those factors that motivate them, and with the environment in which they live (see Illustration 6.1). In this chapter, we will first examine the buyer decision-making process as it goes through the various stages of problem solving. We will discuss what occurs at each stage and how advertising and promotion can be used to influence buyer decision making. We will also examine the influences of various personal (such as demographic) and psychological factors (such as perception, motivation, attitudes, lifestyle, and personality) on the Buyer Decision Process as well as the influence of external influences (such as social factors). The chapter will finally take a look at the importance of understanding consumer behavior. THE Buyer Decision Process All customers can be split into two general groups: business and consumer buyers. The business market consists of manufacturers, resellers, governments, and nonprofit institutions. The consumer market is made up of individuals and households who buy goods and services for personal use...
- Bonita M. Kolb(Author)
- 2016(Publication Date)
- Routledge(Publisher)
...The decision to pick up a chocolate bar near the store’s checkout counter can be made on impulse. However, the more a product costs, the more consideration must go into the decision. A handy model of considering this process combines the stage in the purchase process, the actions of the consumer that result, and the actions that the marketer should take in response. The relationship with the customer is not only about promotion, it extends throughout the purchase process. Consumer Marketer Awareness: Asks if you can solve their problem. Broadcasts general message. Interest: Decides that perhaps you can. Provides specific information. Evaluation: Determines if you are for real. Shows proof of benefits. Trial: Considers possible ownership. Shares information from customers. Adoption: Finally makes a purchase. Makes it easy to buy. Loyalty: Returns to buy again. Is consistent with message/product. Thomas 2014 QUESTION TO CONSIDER : Can you describe how we affect the customer at the six stages listed above? Whether consumers start the purchase process with a specific need for a product or become aware of a product when looking for other information, what needs to be examined is why some decide to purchase while others do not. If this is understood, the marketer can then adjust the product benefits, the price of the product, where it is distributed, change the promotional message, or any combination of these marketing mix components to better encourage purchase. While each person is an individual and the reasons for purchasing or not purchasing are unique, there are four general forces, namely, the economic situation, social influences, and psychological factors, which will affect the purchase decision. Economic influences—perception is reality The economic influence that affects the purchase decision must be analyzed in greater depth than the simple issue of whether the consumer can afford the price...
eBook - ePubStrategic Marketing
An Introduction
- Tony Proctor(Author)
- 2002(Publication Date)
- Routledge(Publisher)
...People spend a moderate amount of time gathering information and deliberating upon it prior to making a purchase. For example, if a new improved version of a brand of shampoo is introduced consumers will perhaps ask a friend who has used the product about its performance or even watch a commercial before they consider trying the product for themselves. Marketing strategists need to pay attention to advertising that is informative in nature and which provides the potential purchasers with the kind of information they need to aid them in their decision making. Complex buying decisions Many people have studied consumer behaviour and a five-stage model of the buying process has been distilled from these researches (see Engel et al., 1986).The implication is that consumers actually pass through all the stages in buying a product or service. In actual fact, of course, as we have seen in the case of habitual purchases, this is not necessarily the case. However, it is a useful framework from within which to view the purchase of many of the more expensive types of durable products and services. Let us look in more detail at each of these stages in turn. Figure 8.1 Complex buying decision Problem recognition First the prospective purchaser has to experience a need to buy a certain product, for example, a new hi-fi system. The need can be triggered by a variety of things, for instance the unsatisf actor y performance of the current hi-fi system or the fact that a neighbour has bought a new one. The marketing strategist needs to identify the factors which give rise to the recognition of the problem and use these to advantage in marketing communications about the par ticular product, service or brand. Information search Once the problem has been recognized, prospective purchasers search for information about the product in question...
eBook - ePub- Paul Reynolds, Geoff Lancaste(Authors)
- 2013(Publication Date)
- Routledge(Publisher)
...The consumer is aware of many products, but does not necessarily experience a desire to purchase them. This state of awareness becomes important when a product is perceived as being capable of solving a problem. For this reason, Figure 6.4, first put forward by Robinson et al. (1967), is a more useful model of the Buyer Decision Process, because it describes the activities involved. Our daily lives are made up of constant processes of problem recognition and need satisfaction. We need to buy food to satisfy hunger. Our problem is in deciding what kind of food, and which brand to purchase from which store. We may be invited to a special function and want to buy a new outfit. Again, we must go through the stages of the Buyer Decision Process. By identifying or feeling a need or want, we then recognise a problem. Key point The consumer is aware of many products, but does not necessarily experience a desire to purchase them. Figure 6.4 Steps in the buyer/decision process. If, for example, a person moves from an apartment to a house with a garden, then he or she will recognise the need to mow the lawn. Although the person will be aware that lawnmowers exist, this basic knowledge may constitute the full extent of awareness at that point in time. The next move towards purchase involves information search. A lawnmower might be a relatively expensive purchase and the potential consumer knows little about the product, so in this case the search process will be extensive (in contrast to the almost routine search activity carried out for everyday shopping items). Information sources may include the family, neighbours, colleagues, and the marketing activity of lawnmower manufacturers. The degree of influence each source has on the consumer will depend on the nature of the product and on the individual making the purchase. We know that reference groups, in particular the family, exert a powerful influence...
eBook - ePubEntrepreneurship Marketing
Principles and Practice of SME Marketing
- Sonny Nwankwo, Ayantunji Gbadamosi, Sonny Nwankwo, Ayantunji Gbadamosi(Authors)
- 2020(Publication Date)
- Routledge(Publisher)
...Unfortunately, most of these businesses die prematurely. In some cases, this happens almost immediately after the introduction of the business while in other cases, it happens a few months after the establishment of the business. A number of reasons could be given for the failure of these businesses. In some cases, the product design is rather shoddy, or the prices are not right in several other cases. There are also reasons around the fact that the distribution strategy adopted may be inappropriate for the product or inappropriate marketing communication strategies. It is also common that these business ideas lack the appropriate fund required to survive in the competitive environment. Meanwhile, one of the usually taken-for-granted points is the lack of appreciation of the fit of the products to the needs of the consumers. So, the question of what consumers buy, why they buy them, where they buy them from, and how often they engage in these transactions are among the salient questions that should drive SMEs’ activities in the marketplace. Accordingly, in this chapter, we will be examining the factors that propel people’s consumption decisions, the stages in the buying decision-making process, issues around organisational buying decision process, and how they relate to the SME in the contemporary marketing environment. We will now first turn attention to the stages in the consumer decision-making process. CONSUMER DECISION-MAKING PROCESS Before the consumer pick a brand of fragrance, a type of shoe, the service of an event planner, or any other market offering over other alternatives, they usually go through a number of stages in the purchase process. It is important for the SMEs to be aware of this in order to be able to know what are usually involved in each of these stages and how they could design their marketing strategies to be of fit for these stages...
eBook - ePubMarketing Communications
Integrating Online and Offline, Customer Engagement and Digital Technologies
- PR Smith, Ze Zook(Authors)
- 2019(Publication Date)
- Kogan Page(Publisher)
...This chapter considers some of the theories and models that the marketing professional can use to help to communicate with and influence the buyer at various stages before, during and after purchasing. Buying behaviour is often more complex than it appears. Individuals are generally not very predictable, but, in the aggregate, groups of customers (or percentages of markets) can be more predictable. Whether in the industrial or consumer market, or whether they are buying products or services, buyers respond in different ways to the barrage of marketing communications that are constantly aimed at them. Theoretical frameworks borrowed from psychology, sociology, social psychology, cultural anthropology and economics are now added to by both commercial and academic market research into consumer and business-to-business buyer behaviour. All of this contributes to a better understanding of customers. It is this understanding that helps to reveal what kind of marketing communications work best. This chapter can provide only an outline of the vast amount of work written in this area. The complex burger buyer example below is used to open up some of the types of questions that need to be considered. The chapter then looks at types of purchases and the buying process (including some buying models) and then considers how the ‘intervening variables’ of perception, motivation, learning, memory, attitudes, beliefs, personality and group influence can influence the communication process and, ultimately, buying behaviour. Three key questions There are three key groups of questions that have to be answered before any marketing communications can be carried out: Who is the buyer (target market profiles and decision-making units)? Why do they buy (or not buy) a particular brand or product? How do they buy (how, when and where do they buy)? The second question, ‘Why do they buy?’, is the most difficult to answer...
eBook - ePub- Susan Horner, John Swarbrooke(Authors)
- 2020(Publication Date)
- Routledge(Publisher)
...This is completely different from their behaviour patterns when they are purchasing fast-moving consumer goods, which is more mechanised and predictable. The tourist decision-making process The decision to purchase a tourism product is the outcome of a complex process. This is the result of a number of factors, which we consider in this chapter, relating to consumers and to the external influences that act upon them. However, it is also true that the diverse and interdependent characteristics of many tourism products make the purchase decision in tourism a complex phenomenon in its own right. This fact can be illustrated by thinking about the range of decisions a tourist has to make when choosing a holiday. These can be seen in Figure 6.3. Figure 6.3 Decisions involved in choosing a holiday There are myriad factors that affect the holiday purchase decision, some of which are illustrated in Figure 6.4. Clearly these relate strongly to the motivators and determinants outlined in Chapters 4 and 5. Figure 6.4 Factors influencing the holiday decision Source: Adapted from Horner and Swarbrooke (1996). While Figure 6.4 is only a selection of the relevant factors, it does give a good idea of both the number and scope of such factors. It is also important to recognise that the complexity of tourist decision-making is heightened by the fact that choosing their holiday is not the final decision tourists have to make. Once on holiday, they have to make a further set of decisions about what to do when they arrive at their destination. They have to decide how to spend each day in terms of excursions and leisure activities as well as where to eat and drink, and so on. Each of these apparently simple decisions is the result of a complex decision-making process. Models of purchase decision-making in tourism We have already considered models of consumer behaviour for tourism in Chapter 3. Fletcher et al...
