The Buying decision process Essay Example for Free

The Buying decision attend to EssayConsumer behavior is term used to describe the trend of how an individual buys and assesses a harvesting or service. It also includes the internal or the mental moldes and immaterial or social passagees that might affect the individuals conduct (Consumer Behavior 2008). Figure 1. The Buying finale Process Source Bowens, Kotler Makens (2003) Purchasing yields want get grocery supplies seems like a mundane action mechanism but a buyer real foes through several gives of decision making before eventually making the leverage.It leave alone all start with the problem recognition. A problem arises when the current status or condition does not coincide with the preferred one (Marketing Communications 2008). The aw arness of this situation can be caused by an internal stimulus, like feeling thirsty and needing to buy a drink, or an external factor, like advertising of a breed for a sale (Buyer Behavior 2008). The consumer may or may no t continue to the next coiffure unless there is a strong desire to improve the condition or fulfill the need (Principles of Marketing 2008).Once the consumer decides to fulfill the need, the stage of information search occurs. At this stage the consumer seeks out options to be able to solve the problem at hand. It involves internal and external types. Internal search usually occurs with frequently bought items. The consumer just simple remembers past positive experience with the overlap (Principles of Marketing 2008). The failing of this type is when the information stored in the memory is limited or the person is having a hard cartridge clip remembering, the luck of making an incorrect decision is most likely (Consumer Behavior 2008).On the other hand, the sources for the external types are personal sources like relatives and friends, public sources like reports, commercial sources like ads and lastly experiential sources master through experiencing the product (Buyer Behavio r 2008). The challenge for any marketing team is to identify how their target earshot source product information. After which make sure that the information is always available and can be easily accessed (Principles of Marketing 2008). The information obtained during the second stage will then be evaluated in the secondary evaluation stage.The information will be put into set of options or evoked set (Consumer purpose Process 2008). The evoked set is the set of brands a consumer consider while in the decision process (Marketing Communications 2008). From the second stage the consumer acquired the criteria he/she is looking for and got the brand names that meet those criteria (Consumer Behavior 2008). This process limits the choices for the consumer, making it easier for them to make the final decision of purchasing the product or getting the service.The fourth stage of the process, purchase decision, now involves the actual purchase of the product. Since the consumer now knows wh at to buy in this stage, he decides where, when and how to purchase the product of choice (Marketing Communications 2008). During this process, three methods of purchase may be used by the consumer fully-planned, partially planned, and unpremeditated. Fully-planned purchases are purchases where the customer picks out the merchandise and brand ahead of time. This method is usually used with high risk purchases like buying a house or car.In partial purchase there is a plan to buy a product but to what specific brand is decided later on. Finally, an unplanned purchase is a spur of the moment acquisition (Consumer Decision Process 2008). Although the consumer is already thinking of buying a product, this could still be altered at the point of purchase itself. Factors that could affect it are the store surroundings, time constraint, incentives offered in the store like a sale, product availability, and budget constraint. It is then important for the seller to make sure that these events are anticipated and avoided (Principles of Marketing 2008).Stores could make sure that the stocks are sufficient, the store is dandy and the personnel are trained to provide good shopping experience, promotions like sales are nonplus at the right moment, and that products are well organized and can be easily found. Following the purchase will be the consumption of the product and the consumer will enter the last stage of the process which is post-purchase evaluation. In this stage, the consumer will assess if the purchase solved the problem identified in the first stage. He/she will determine if satisfaction was provided by the action (Consumer Behavior 2008).Otherwise, the customer will feel cognitive dissonance, which is an bitter feeling or tension produced by thinking about two conflicting ideas. This is a dry land where the consumer stresses on the thought that the other choice should have been selected (Buyer Behavior 2008). Cognitive dissonance could result to product re turns, viewing the product in a negative way or not considering the product as part of the evoked set in the future (Principles of Marketing 2008). Companies can prevent this situation by providing good after sale service to customers.For example. free technical support to electronic device like computers. Other methods are follow-up calls and market research. As shown above the decision making process of consumers is actually a complex process that involves many steps and could be influenced by different factors. The whole process could take a few minutes for simple purchases but could take weeks for important purchases. It is then a good tool for businesses to understand what happens in each stage to be able to present their product favorably to the consumer.