The Consumer Decision – Making Process
Cultural, social, individual, psychological factors affect all steps
1-Need recognition
2-Information search
3-Evaluation of alternatives
4-Purchase
5-Post purchase behavior
The consumer decision-making process has 5 steps, one of the most important one would be the first step since that’s how the ball starts rolling and one step closer to purchasing the item. The first step is called the “NEED RECOGNITION” that’s when the imbalance between actual and desired states. The imbalance rises and activates the customer’s decision making. Another name for need recognition is problem identification, you can say it happens when a person discovers an unmet need that they fill must be fulfilled and most consumers will research to make sure it’s an investment that’s worth to make, and just by researching online or by asking people who have already purchased the item, it just makes him the consumers more determined to what to do by the item, especially if they received good reviews. Sometimes the imbalance between actual desired states can be called the want –got gap. It’s when the discrepancy between their actual situation and what they truly desire. Many customers don’t recognize this is a problem that they should pay attention to. The buying decisions are influenced by psychological factors: Perception, Motivation, and Learning. Since we act based upon perceptions during this process we select, organize, and interpret these stimulates into a coherent picture. Motivation the marketers can analyze the forces influencing consumers to buy or not to buy. So as long as the customer has a motive, it will force the person to take action. Learning about new items changes behaviors and conceptual learning is something that isn’t acquired through direct experience but based upon reasoning.