Consumer Decision Making Process - Literature review Example

Consumer Decision Making Process Name: Tutor: Subject: Date: Table of contents Introduction 3 Body of the report 3 Low-Involvement versus High-Involvement Buying Decisions 4 Purchasing Process 4 1.Problem recognition 4 2.Information search 4 3.Alternative evaluation 4 4.Purchase decision, and 4 5.Post-purchase decision 4 The Level of Involvement in Buying a Product 5 Conclusion 8 Reference 9 Introduction The consumer decision making process is a complex phenomenon. Making a decision is more complex and even more important for consumers today as compared to the past. Many customers are undergoing this process on a daily basis. However, most of the consumers are besieged by news articles, numerous advertisements, and direct mails with lots of information. According to Olga (2013), consumer decision making process can be defined as a process that consist various sequential steps or stages through which the consumers undergoes while purchasing a product in the market. Jagdish (2011) defines a consumer decision making process as a mental orientation that characterizes the approach that a customer uses when making a choice on what to buy. This report will analyze the process of purchasing a Cadbury chocolate bar as compared with the purchasing an Apple iPad. Body of the report The consumer decision making process is very complex when the subject matter that is involved is expensive. Customers are very sensitive when they are making a decision to buy anything expensive. For example, in this report, the main theme is to differentiate the process of purchasing a Cadbury chocolate bar compared with the process of purchasing an Apple iPad. Customers take time when purchasing anything that involve heavily on their budget. On the other hand, customers do not take the time when purchasing something that takes a small amount of their budget. Low-Involvement versus High-Involvement Buying Decisions The Cadbury chocolate bar and Apple iPad can either be categorized as Low-Involvement or High-Involvement products depending on the amount it is required when purchasing, the use or purpose and its necessity. Purchasing Process Buyers normally undergo various stages when making a decision of purchasing a product or a service. The common purchasing process involves the following stages: 1. Problem recognition 2. Information search 3. Alternative evaluation 4. Purchase decision, and 5. Post-purchase decision However, consumers do not necessarily go through the above named stages when they are deciding on whether to purchase a product. The customer can go to the market, looked at dozens of various products, compare them, and they end up buying none of them. At yet other times, a customer can skip many stages, say stage 1 through 3 and purchase product on impulse. Perhaps you see a magazine with Atti Abonyi and Claire Danes on the cover, and you make a quick decision and buy it simply because you want it. The purchasing Cadbury chocolate bar does not require planning or forethought. This can be referred to as impulse buying. The Level of Involvement in Buying a Product This issue of impulse buying brings in a marketing concept called level of involvement – that is, how is important is a Cadbury chocolate bar. In many situations, you can see a Cadbury chocolate bar, and you feel you need it. Or you might see a bag of chips and then you realized that you were hungry. A Cadbury chocolate bar fall under categories of low-involvement products. It is essential to note that the Cadbury chocolate bar is not necessarily purchased on impulse, although they can be. One of the factors that make the Cadbury chocolate bar be seen as a low – involvement product is because it is cheap, and can pose a low risk if the customer makes a mistake by buying it. According to Lantos (2011), customers are known to engage in routine response behavior especially when purchasing low- involvement products- that is; they buy them unconsciously, based on the limited information concerning the product. For example, if someone always orders a Cadbury chocolate bar at lunch, this means that the person is engaging in a routine response behavior. That person might not even think of other types of chocolate available because is routine is to order a Cadbury chocolate, and he simply does it. If it happens that he is given a tasteless chocolate,  oh well. It’s not the end of the world. By contrast, Apple iPad is categorized as a high - involvement product because it is expensive to customers if they fail, the iPad is a complex product, and it is very expensive as compared to chocolate. Other good examples of products that can be categorized as high-involvement products include a car, a house, and an insurance policy (Bouyssou at al, 2013). The primary difference between the purchase of a Cadbury chocolate bar and the purchase of an Apple iPad is that the customers have not purchased Apple iPad oftenly just like they do in purchasing the Cadbury chocolate. Customers do not engage in routine response behavior when purchasing Apple iPad. Instead, many customers engage in what is called extended problem solving. These customers usually spend A lot of time weighing and comparing the features of various tablets, their prices from different companies, warranties, and so forth. This complex process of comparing the Apple iPad does not apply when buying a Cadbury chocolate bar. Apple iPad is among the products that are likely to cause consumers a great deal of post purchase dissonance, if these buyers are not sure of their decision to buy a tablet. Apple company; the sellers of tablets are much aware of the post purchase dissonance can be a problem. They reduce this problem; the company frequently advertises their tablets, the features of the tablet and why the Apple Company is superior to competing brands and how they would not let their consumer down. The Sales people are mostly responsible in promoting the company’s product. Furthermore, the sales people do a lot of customer “hand-holding.” The other key difference between buying an Apple iPad and the Cadbury chocolate bar is that the consumers who are buying chocolate take too little time to decide. In fact others do it as Nike would put it, you “just do it.” buying a chocolate requires a habitual decision. Other examples of the products that can be categorized under low-involvement purchase include orange juice, snacks and many others. Purchasing process for the iPad, on the other hand, requires extensive information processing. The buyer needs to take time in accessing the product. In the normal situation, the dealers of electronic items/ products do not give warranties for the problems that arise on software usage. This makes them a bit complicated, and it also calls for more inquiries while purchasing them. Apple iPad differs with the Cadbury chocolate because a customer while only buys an iPad once in a while. The tablet will last for long provided it is maintained well. The customers who buy Cadbury chocolate buys them on a daily basis. Another difference between the two items is that the Cadbury is very cheap. In fact, the amount it takes to purchase Cadbury does not affect the budget for the buyer. According to Khan (2007), buying an Apple iPad requires consumers to carry out evaluation and pre-sale learning. It is essential to carry out this process so that one can avoid making expensive mistakes. Tablets from big companies such as Apple Inc. are very expensive, and it requires careful evaluation. Ulrich (2007) argues that the decision making process for buying an Apple iPad is difficult in both pre- and post-purchase because the product is highly-involving. The product is expensive, and the consumers will need to take time in buying it. Nigel (2006) believes that the customer does not need to consult or investigate when buying products such as Cadbury chocolate because the products are cheap. It is something with no effect in case the consumer makes a mistake in buying it. Furthermore, buying a Cadbury chocolate bar does not require a past experience. Customers do not need to strain in remembering whether the experience was good or bad. In comparison with the Apple iPad, a customer needs to gather information from all kinds of sources that are available. Some of the useful sources in such cases are the family members, friends, classmates or even coworkers. Customers can also research the item on the internet, newspapers and consumer magazines. All these researches require time, money and effort. It is tiresome and a complex process. Conclusion In conclusion, Apple iPad is a product that can be considered to be of high involvement product. Such product is very important to the consumer, they are also very expensive, and it requires thorough research to avoid making expensive mistakes. An iPad is something a customer will think of buying it once in a life time. It requires planning and saving for it. To some people an iPad is cheap, but in most cases, many people considered to be very expensive. Personally, I take it to be very expensive as compared to the Cadbury chocolate bar. Chocolate bar is cheap; it can be categorized as the products that are usually bought through impulse buying. Chocolate is something a buyer sees it, and he/she buys it without having a second thought. Reference Bouyssou, D., Dubois, D., Prade, H., & Pirlot, M. (Eds.). (2013). Decision Making Process: Concepts and Methods. Wiley-ISTE. Jagdish, S. (2011). Models of Buyer Behavior, Chapter 3: Consumer Decision-Process Models. Marketing Classics Press  Lantos, G. P. (2011), Consumer Behavior in Action: Real-Life Applications for Marketing Managers. M.E. Sharpe Khan, M. (2007). Consumer Behaviour. New Age International Nigel, H. (2006 ). The Handbook of Customer Satisfaction and Loyalty Measurement. Gower Publishing, Ltd. Olga, S. (2013). Influences and Attitudes Within Consumer Behavior Process. GRIN Verlag Ulrich, P. (2007). Type and timing of rewards as influencing factors in the value perception of a customer loyalty program. GRIN Verlag Read More