How do consumers make purchasing decisions?

Problem Recognition

Information Search

Evaluation of alternatives

Purchase decision

Postpurchase behaviour

5 stages of the Consumer Buying Process

Problem Recognition

The buyer recognizes a problem or need, due to a stimulus

PublicMass media

PersonalFamily, friends, acquaintances

Information Search

CommercialAds, websites, dealers

ExperientialHandling and examiningthe product

Total set

Awareness set

Consideration set

Choice set

Decision

Consumers eliminate options in the choice set one-by-one to arrive at a decision

Evaluation of alternatives

Consumers evaluate the options to see which ones deliver the most desirable attributes

Expectancy-Value Model

Predicts the most preferred option based on total value

Laptop brand

Memory capacity

Graphics Capacity

Size and Weight

Price Value

Weights assigned

0.4 0.3 0.2 0.1

A 8 9 6 9 8.0

B 7 7 7 7 7.0

C 5 3 8 2 5.0

Customer would prefer

Laptop A

Purchase Decision

Consumers may not spend time weighing the pros and cons of brands

They make their decision based on a number of heuristics

Setting a minimum cut-off level foreach attribute

Choosing the best brandon the basis of oneattribute

Comparing brands and eliminating ones that don’t meet the cut-off

Heuristics

Conjunctive Lexicographic Elimination-by-aspects

Consumers may reconsider their evaluation based on these factors

• Attitudes of others

• Unanticipated situational factors

Intervening Factors

Postpurchase behaviour

Closeness between expectations and performance

Negative or positive word-of-mouth publicity

Faster the consumption, sooner the repurchase

Postpurchase Satisfaction

Postpurchase Action

Postpurchase disposal

These slides were created by Anju Joseph, MEC Kochi during a Marketing internship by Prof. Sameer Mathur, IIM Lucknow

(See www.IIMInternship.com)