Consumer Behaviour in Making Purchasing Decisions - Essay Example

Consumer behaviour in making purchasing decisions Author Course Tutor Date Introduction According to Wright, East, and Vanhuele, (2008), every person is a consumer in his or her own capacity. Consumers buy different products that meet with their needs, tastes and preferences and their buying power. The products range from durable goods, special goods, consumer goods and industrial goods. What consumers purchase, how they buy, when and where they buy from, and what quantities they buy depend on self perception, social, economic and cultural factors around them. Therefore, consumer behaviour is the process of decision making and the actual activity that involves acquisition, evaluation, use and eventual disposal of consumer goods and services. The definition indicates that consumer behaviour process begins even before the goods and services are acquired until they are bought. The buying process begins from the mind of the buyer, which then translates to searching for alternatives to buy, considering the advantages and disadvantages of such commodities. This is followed by research which could be internal or external, and then making a decision to buy and utilize the product. Post purchase behaviour comes last, and this is important to both the consumer and the marketers in evaluating the success of the product. Diary Entries In order to fulfill my personal needs, I had to make some purchases which I happened to record in my diary. These are irregular purchases which required critical comparison of various brands in order to select the best out of the many. Each product had its own consideration when I was making a purchase as discussed below. Mobile phone A mobile phone is a communication device which facilitates interaction between people wherever they are located across the world (Mort and Rose, 2006). Without it, a person cannot pass on information to another person who is far from where he or she is. This is the first product I decided to buy because of the condition in which I was. The Samsung phone which I had bought earlier got lost two weeks ago and thus it had become difficult for me to communicate to my family and friends. I had no otherwise rather than buying another phone as soon as possible. Having had past experience with Samsung mobile phone, this time I opted for a Nokia brand. There were other brands like LG, Sony and Samsung but I preferred Nokia because it is of high quality and fair price. In fact I purchased the same type I saw with one of my friend. Initially, my Samsung mobile phone really gave me problems; it had poor battery. The new phone seems to be much durable and even the battery serves me for a long time before I can recharge it. I am convinced that I made the right choice and the fact that my problem is now solved. Motorcycle A motorcycle makes movement from one place to another easier compared to walking on foot. However, it is much slower than a motorbike since it does not use fuel. The main reason for buying a motorcycle was to relieve me from walking for a long distance from home to town and also to aid my movement across the town. Given the amount of money I had, I was very kin to choose a motorcycle that was strong and comfortable to ride but of fair price. What encouraged me to buy that particular model were its attractive features like light weight and its ability to move for a long distances. Buying a motorcycle has enabled me to visit my friends who are living some few kilometers away from my home, and also in doing riding exercise which helps me to be physically fit. This is a new product to me and as I said earlier, it would serve me better if I bought a motorbike, but due to inadequate money, I could not afford it. Also a motorcycle is environmental friendly since it does not produce smoke when in use. Laptop This is a product that serves many functions and it is applicable in many areas like education, communication, business and also for home use (Dennis et al, 2009). I have never owned a laptop before; therefore it’s a new product choice to me. The reason why I decided to purchase a laptop was to help me carry out academic research and assignments which are frequently given to use by our lecturers. It has been a challenge to me in doing class assignments and in most cases I could not finish them on time, an even if I managed, it could cost me dearly. Laptops come in different brands and quality. Having inadequate knowledge in Information technology, my friend helped me to purchase a Compaq laptop with enough memory capacity to handle my assignments. Other brands like HP and DELL were also available but I preferred Compaq. My friend is the one who influenced me to make this choice, and in fact I realized later that his parents own a Compaq laptop. Sports shoe Sport is my favorite extra curriculum activity, and it has helped me to remain physically fit and fresh in mind. I realized that my sports shoe was worn out and I needed to replace it as soon as possible. Making the decision to buy a new pair to myself did not take long since it is a habit that whenever I go for sports I have to wear sports shoe. Being a familiar product to me, I did not have a problem making a choice. In fact I had my customer in mind where I have always bought my sport wear from, and he knew me very well. This time he gave me a discount because of being his loyal customer. I had to decide whether to buy Nike sports shoe, sharp, or Marlboro but depending on the experience I had for both brands in the past, I opted for Nike because of its unspeakable comfort. Reflection of pre and post purchase Consumer behaviour and choice has been widely studied by different researchers and they came up with various theories and models. These models describe how consumers collect, process information and make buying decisions (Blythe, 2008). For the purpose of this exercise, am going to use four models by to reflect on the pre and post purchase stages during the purchase of the four products shown above. The models include: (a) the Andreasen model; (b) The Nicosia Model; (c) The Howard-Sheth Model; and (d) The Engel-Kollat-Blacwell Model (Gretzel and Fesenmaier, 2006). The Andreasen's model of consumer behavior In this model, consumer behaviour and choice comprise of consumer change and attitude formation that goes in hand with information processing. The model illustrates how a consumer reaches the decision of wanting to buy a new product. The model states that consumers develop attitudes about different products which then influence their respond, whether favorable or unfavorable towards the products they buy (Gretzel and Fesenmaier, 2006). Factors that influence consumer attitude include: information and feelings from past experiences, other people's norms and values, a person's attitude towards the product of interest, product complements or substitutes, social perception and beliefs and consumer's personality. According to the model, the final decision is based on income of the consumer, physical capacity, budget priority among others (Fraj and Martinez, 2006). This model is relevant to my behavior as a consumer considering the experience I had when buying the four products. My decision to buy the Nokia phone and the Compaq laptop was mainly influenced by my friends who owned the same models. Also the negative attitude I had developed towards the Samsung phone made me opt for the Nokia brand. Because of the positive attitude I had developed towards Nike sports shoe made me to purchase the same type once again. Even as I decided to buy these items, I dint really have to change my decision since I was so much in need of the items and the only way I could satisfy my needs was to purchase those products. Nicosia's model of consumer behavior According to this model, consumer's decision to buy depends on the marketing communication from the seller. The consumers looks for more information from the seller and evaluates it, and upon being motivated the consumer decides to buy the product and later appraise its quality after using it (Laros and Steenkamp, 2005). This model is also referred to as feedback process since the experience got after using the product motivates the consumer either to repurchase the product or not to repurchase it (De Mooij, 2010). The decision to buy some of the above products like Nokia phone and Nike sport shoe was basically due to my past experience with the products or alternative products. The purchase of Nike brand of shoe once again indicates how I have developed customer loyalty to the brand. On the other hand Samsung phone disappointed me that is why I decide to drop it and buy a different brand of phone. In fact I would consider myself an advocate to the company that makes Nike sports shoe because any time I make a purchase of sports shoe, I go for Nike brand. Howard-Sheth's model of consumer behavior This model states that inputs of consumer decision to buy are separate impulses which are divided into three groups that is, significative stimuli (describes physical properties of a product),symbolic stimuli (visual, verbal and suggestive information to the product), and social stimuli (consumer's social surrounding). Significative stimuli may include price, quality, availability and distinguished service. Symbolic stimuli are related to these but they are naturally suggestive while social stimuli may be family and social influences (Fischer and Arnold, 2006). The purchase of the four products especially the laptop and the motorcycle resulted from the estimations I made about their properties and even the attitudes I had towards the purchase. I had to consider the quality of the products and at the same time the price. As explained earlier, the type of laptop and the motorcycle I purchased had good features which attracted me t take them as my best choice among the many varieties. Engel-Kollat-Blackwell model In this model, the consumer's decision to purchase is based on stimulus. In addition to the stimuli shown earlier, marketing communication and other factors are linked to this model. The decision under this model begins by the consumer realizing a problem, carrying out research, comparing alternatives, making a choice and finally deciding to purchase. The processing of information is facilitated by the memory of the consumer (Pickett-Baker and Ozaki, 2008). This is relevant to my decision to purchase the above products. It started when I realized my various needs for instance, need to communicate, need to improve my studies and need to exercise my body. These were actualized when I finally made the decision to purchase the four product brands. According to Blythe (2008), the post-purchase behavior incorporate all the activities and experiences the consumer goes through after making a purchase. Fortunately, I did not experience dissonance since all the products I purchased met my expectations. Despite having different alternatives to choose among, I made the right purchasing decision that actually satisfied my needs adequately. Conclusion In conclusion, making a decision to purchase a product may prove to be a challenge to many consumers especially to those who have inadequate information about what they want to buy. As discussed above, before reaching to the point of buying a product, it is important for the consumer to go through all the stages involved in the buying process. In order to avoid pre-purchase dissonance a consumer has to make the right choice irrespective of the circumstances he or she may get into. The four products I purchased required making complex decision which I was able to overcome and at the end of it all I did not regret having made my choices. It was indeed an exciting experience. List of References Blythe, J. (2008). 'Consumer behaviour'. Cengage Learning EMEA. De Mooij, M. (2010). 'Consumer behavior and culture: Consequences for global marketing and advertising'. Sage Publications, Incorporated. Dennis, C. Merrilees, B. Jayawardhena, C. & Wright, L. T. (2009). 'E-consumer behaviour'. European journal of marketing, 43(9/10) pp1121-1139. Fischer, E., & Arnold, S. J. (2006). 'Sex, gender identity, gender role attitudes, and consumer behavior'. Psychology & Marketing, 11(2) pp163-182. Fraj, E. & Martinez, E. (2006). 'Influence of personality on ecological consumer behaviour'. Journal of Consumer Behaviour, 5(3) pp 167-181. Gretzel, U. & Fesenmaier, D. (2006). 'The transformation of consumer behaviour'. Faculty of Commerce-Papers, 9-18. Laros, F. J. & Steenkamp, J. B. E. (2005). 'Emotions in consumer behavior: a hierarchical approach'. Journal of business Research, 58(10) pp1437-1445. Mort, G. S. & Rose, T. (2006). 'The effect of product type on value linkages in the means‐end chain: implications for theory and method'. Journal of Consumer Behaviour, 3(3) pp 221-234. Pickett-Baker, J., & Ozaki, R. (2008). 'Pro-environmental products: marketing influence on consumer purchase decision'. Journal of Consumer Marketing, 25(5) pp 281-293. Wright, M. East, R., & Vanhuele, M. (2008). 'Consumer behaviour: applications in marketing'. Sage Publications Limited. Read More