Consumer Decision Processes
“You can’t assume that people
know what they want”
“You can’t assume that people will tell you the
truth about their wants and dislikes, even if they
know them. What you are likely to get are answers
that will protect the informants in their steadfast
endeavour to appear to the world as really
sensible, intelligent rational beings”
Nature of Decision Processes
• Purchase options
• Consumption options
• Divestment options
Purchase options
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Whether to buy or save?
When to buy?
What to buy – both category and brand?
Where to buy?
How to pay?
Consumption options
• Whether to consume or not?
• When to consume?
• How to consume?
Divestment options
• Disposal
• Recycling
• Remarketing
Consumer Problem Solving
• Rational
• Hedonic
In most cases it is a combination of the two
Consumer Decision Making
Stages
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Need recognition
Search for information
Pre-purchase alternative evaluation
Purchase
Consumption
Post-purchase evaluation
Divestment
Variables that shape decision
making
• Individual differences
• Environment influences
• Psychological processes
Individual differences
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Consumer resources
Knowledge
Attitudes
Motivation
Personality, values, lifestyle
Environmental Influences
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Culture
Social class
Personal influence
Family
Situation
Psychological Processes
• Information Processing
• Learning
• Attitude and changes in behaviour
Information Processing
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Exposure
Attention
Comprehension
Acceptance
Retention
Decision Process continuum
complexity
high
low
Degree of complexity
Extended
problem
solving
Habitual
decision
making
Extended Problem solving
Thought and evaluation precede the
act of purchase and use because of
the importance of making the right
choice
Limited Problem solving
Need recognition leads to buying
action, because the purchase does not
assume great importance
Factors influencing extent of
problem solving
• Degree of involvement –personal factors,
product factors, situations
• Alternatives are differentiated – time
availability, consumer mood
• Sufficient time for deliberation
Impulse buying
It does not have the indifference that accompanies LPS. A
high sense of emotional involvement and urgency short
circuits the reasoning process and motivates immediate
action
• A sudden and spontaneous desire to act accompanied by
urgency
• State of psychological disequilibrium in which a person
can feel out of control
• Onset of conflict and struggle that is resolved by
immediate action
• Minimal objective evaluation
• Lack of regard for consequences
Variety Seeking
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Acivation of seeking variety as a motive
Similar alternatives
Frequent brand shifts
High purchase frequency