How Consumers Buy. Purchase Decision (Steps 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5)

So now that we have discussed the factors influencing a consumer’s decision to purchase, let’s examine the process itself. This process is presented in a sequence of 5 steps as shown below.

However, whether a consumer will actually carryout each step depends on the type of purchase decision that is faced. For instance, for minor re-purchases the consumer may be quite loyal to the same brand, thus the decision is a routine one (i.e., buy the same product) and little effort is involved in making a purchase decision. In cases of routine, brand loyal purchases consumers may skip several steps in the purchasing process since they know exactly what they want allowing the consumer to move quickly through the steps. But for more complex decisions, such as Major New Purchases, the purchasing process can extend for days, weeks, months or longer. So in presenting these steps marketers should realize that, depending on the circumstances surrounding the purchase, the importance of each step may vary.

Steps in decision-making process:

1. Need/Want/Desire is Recognized

In the first step the consumer has determined that for some reason he/she is not satisfied (i.e., consumer’s perceived actual condition) and wants to improve his/her situation (i.e., consumer’s perceived desired condition). For instance, internal triggers (стимули), such as hunger or thirst, may tell the consumer that food or drink is needed. External factors can also trigger (бути стимулом) consumer’s needs. Marketers are particularly good at this through advertising, in-store displays and even the intentional use of scent (e.g., perfume counters). At this stage the decision-making process may stall (зупинятися) if the consumer is not motivated to continue (see Motivation above). However, if the consumer does have the internal drive to satisfy the need they will continue to the next step.

2. Search for Information

Assuming consumers are motivated to satisfy his or her need, they will next undertake a search for information on possible solutions. The sources used to acquire this information may be as simple as remembering information from past experience (i.e., memory) or the consumer may expend considerable effort to locate information from outside sources (e.g., Internet search, talk with others, etc.). Thus, information search may be internal (based on what the person remembers) or external (based on information gained from friends, family, marketing communications such as brochures, the Internet, and so forth). [Marketing (SAGE Course Companion, p.22)] How much effort the consumer directs toward searching depends on such factors as: the importance of satisfying the need, familiarity with available solutions, and the amount of time available to search. To appeal (привабити, зацікавити) to consumers who are at the search stage, marketers should make efforts to ensure consumers can locate (знайти, ромістити) information related to their product. For example, for marketers whose customers rely on the Internet for information gathering, attaining (одержувати) high rankings (розміщення) in search engines has become a critical marketing objective.

3. Evaluate Options (вибір)

Consumers’ search efforts may result in a set of options from which a choice can be made. It should be noted that there may be two levels to this stage. At level one the consumer may create a set of possible solutions to their needs (i.e., product types) while at level two the consumer may be evaluating particular products (i.e., brands) within each solution. For example, a consumer who needs to replace a television has multiple solutions to choose from such as plasma, LCD and CRT televisions. Within each solution type will be multiple brands from which to choose. Marketers need to understand how consumers evaluate product options and why some products are included while others are not. Most importantly, marketers must determine which criteria consumers are using in their selection of possible options and how each criterion is evaluated. Returning to the television example, marketing tactics will be most effective when the marketer can tailor their efforts by knowing what benefits are most important to consumers when selecting options (e.g., picture quality, brand name, screen size, etc.) and then determine the order of importance of each benefit.

Evaluation of alternatives: choosing between the different products which might meet the need, and choosing one which provides the best fit. [Marketing (SAGE Course Companion, p.22)]

4. Purchase

Purchase is the actual act of exchanging money for product. [Marketing (SAGE Course Companion, p.22)] In many cases the solution chosen by the consumer is the same as the product whose evaluation is the highest. However, this may change when it is actually time to make the purchase. The “intended” purchase may be altered (змінитися) at the time of purchase for many reasons such as: the product is out-of-stock, a competitor offers an incentive (стимул, спонукальна причина) at the point-of-purchase (e.g., store salesperson mentions a competitor’s offer), the customer lacks the necessary funds (e.g., credit card not working), or members of the consumer’s reference group take a negative view of the purchase (e.g., friend is critical of purchase). Marketers whose product is most desirable to the consumer must make sure that the transaction goes smoothly. For example, Internet retailers have worked hard to prevent consumers from abandoning (відмовлятися, залишати) online purchase (i.e., online shopping carts) by streamlining (спрощувати, модернізувати) the checkout (підрахунок вартості зроблених покупок) process. For marketers whose product is not the consumer’s selected product, last chance marketing efforts may be worth exploring, such as offering incentives to store personnel to “talk up” their product at the checkout line.

5. After-Purchase Evaluation

Once the consumer has made the purchase they are faced with an evaluation of the decision. Post-purchase evaluation may result in consonance (being pleased with the product) or dissonance (being disappointed with the product). Either way, the evaluation forms part of the internal search, so future purchase decisions are affected. [Marketing (SAGE Course Companion, p.23)] If the product performs below the consumer’s expectation then he/she will re-evaluate satisfaction with the decision, which at its extreme may result in the consumer returning the product while in less extreme situations the consumer will retain the purchased item but may take a negative view of the product. Such evaluations are more likely to occur in cases of expensive or highly important purchases. To help ease the concerns consumers have with their purchase evaluation, marketers need to be receptive and even encourage consumer contact. Customer service centers and follow-up market research are useful tools in helping to address purchasers’ concerns.

As we’ve seen, consumer purchasing is quite complex. In our next section, Business Buying Behavior, we will see that marketers must also have a thorough understanding of how business purchase decisions are made.

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