The Consumer Decision-Making Process

Five steps of consumer decision making process

Whether want it or not, we as consumers have to go through some basic steps to decide which products or services will best fit our needs. Think about our own thought process when buying something big in value – such as a car or house. Typically, we consider what we need, research and compare our options before purchasing it. Afterwards, we often wonder if we made the right decision.

Generally speaking, the consumer decision-making process is the method used by marketers to identify and track the buyers’ decision-making behaviour from start to finish and it comprises five steps as follows:

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Recognition of need

Recognising need is the first stage of the model. Needs are specified as the gap between an actual state and the desired state. When the customer feels like something is missing and needs to address it to get back to feeling normal.

An individual’s need can also be recognised during the process of encountering the product in various circumstances as a result of engaging in ‘window shopping’ or media advertisements. Whether needs are triggered due to either internal or external stimuli, this leads to the same response: a want.

• Internal stimuli – a signal that comes from within an organism (e.g. hunger, thirst or sleep).

• External stimuli – come from the environment outside an organism (e.g. Light, sound, temperature or pressure).

Information search

Once the need is identified, the consumer is likely to search for more product-related information before making a purchase decision. When researching their options, not only do people rely on their knowledge about the product, but also on past interactions with a product or brand, both positive and negative and on some external information such as feedback from others.

Typically, there are four sources of information:

• Personal – Members of family, friends, colleagues and others.

• Commercial – Media advertisement, direct marketing, viral marketing, commercial events etc.

• Public – Mass media in print, television, radio and digital formats.

• Experiential – personal experiences when examining and using the products or services during a specific time period.

Evaluation of alternatives

At this point in the consumer decision-making process, prospective buyers have established criteria for evaluating what they want in a product among comparable alternatives. Specifically, consumer value preferences might be oriented towards price, quality or additional features and capabilities of products and services.

The process of evaluating a set of alternatives can sometimes be difficult, time-consuming and full of pressure for a consumer. By drawing on the evoke, inept and insert sets, consumers can narrow down their choices and focus their attention on a manageable number of options.

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Purchase decision

In this stage, the consumer decides to make a final purchase after reviewing all the alternatives and options. There are a number of factors that can impact the purchasing process including:

• Payment methods (cash, debit/credit card, instalments)

• Delivery cost

• Availability of the stock

• Online or physical store purchase

• Sales/ Promotions

• Store sales assistants

Post-purchase evaluation

Many companies tend to ignore the post-purchase stage as it takes place after the transaction has been done. However, this stage is seen as a key phase for the company and for the customer likewise because it reflects customers’ experiences after purchasing a product or service. The consumer may either get satisfaction or dissatisfaction depending on the evaluation of the purchase and comparison of their own expectations, thus, it will directly influence the future decision-making process by the customer for the same product.

References

John, D 2023, Consumer Decision-Making Process: A Detailed Analysis, Business Research Methodology, available at <https://research-methodology.net/consumer-decision-making-process-a-detailed-analysis/>.

Lamb, W.C., Hair, J.F., and McDaniel, C 2016, Consumer Decision-Making, MKTG3: Asia-Pacific Edition, Cengage Learning, pp. 46–56.

Lucidchart n.d., Consumer Decision-Making Process: The 5 Key Steps, Lucidchart , available at <https://www.lucidchart.com/blog/consumer-decision-making-process#:~:text=The%20consumer%20decision%2Dmaking%20process%20involves%20five%20basic%20steps.,decision%20and%20post%2Dpurchase%20evaluation>.

Professional Academy n.d., Marketing Theories: Explaining the Consumer Decision-Making Process, Professional Academy, available at <https://www.professionalacademy.com/blogs/marketing-theories-explaining-the-consumer-decision-making-process/>.