Understanding Consumer Behaviour and Decision-Making Process in B2C and B2B Contexts

This document discusses the stages of the consumer decision-making journey, the importance for marketers to map a path to purchase, and the key alterations in the decision-making process in the context of B2C and B2B. It also explores various approaches of market research and methods for understanding the decision-making process. The focus is on H&M fashion brand in the UK.

CONSUMER BEHAVIOUR

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION.................................................................................................................................3
TASK1..................................................................................................................................................3
P1 the stages of the consumer decision making journey....................................................................3
P2 Importance for marketers to map a path to purchase and understand consumer decision-making 5
TASK2..................................................................................................................................................6
P3 the key alterations of the decision-making process in the context of B2C andB2B......................6
P4 Various approaches of market research and methods of research for understanding decision-
making process..................................................................................................................................8
TASK3................................................................................................................................................10
P5 Marketers influence on the different stages of the decision-making process..............................10
CONCLUSION...................................................................................................................................11
REFERENCES....................................................................................................................................12
Books and journals..........................................................................................................................12

INTRODUCTION
Consumer behaviour can be defined as a study where there is analysis of how
individual customer groups and organisation by use dispose the ideas of goods and services
for satisfying their needs and wants.it can be said as an option of customers in a market place
where the identify the motive for the action in context of there want (Kaczorowska-
Spychalska, 2018). The study of consumer behaviour is done for identifying the consumer’s
action in marketplace. The basic nature of consumer is that they can influence the various
factors. This report is carried on H&M fashion brand in UK which sells number of fashion
products with their unique Identity at global level. In the present report there will be
discussion on the stages of a consumer decision making journey for product and services then
it will also analysed that what is the important for a marketer to map the path with customer
can understand in make a decision related to the product.in the middle of the report will be
comparison between the differences and process of decision making in context of business to
commerce and business to business entities. There will also an evaluation of different
approaches for market research which can helpful in decision making process in both B2B
and B2B business types.in the end of the report there will be an evaluation of how marketers
can influence the different stages of decision making process for both business to consumer
and business to business entities with some specified examples (Ivanov and Webster, 2017).
TASK1
P1 the stages of the consumer decision making journey
Consumer decision making is that process which include the study of individual
behaviour where customer decide the choice of their product, In this process consumer select
a particular product forgetting maximum satisfaction which can get on that particular product.
This is useful for both B2B and B2C organisations this is because we can identify the
requirements of customer and sell their product according to their requirement where they
can get the chance of earning more and more profit. The process of consumer decision
making the journey of consumer decision making is decided below which is described in five
points.
1. Problem recognition: The first state start with problem reorganization. this can also
be stated as a rising of need in mind of consumer for a product. There are number of

goods and services which are required by individual for its survival and this will give
rise to shortage which is an opportunity for a business firm. For this we can take an
example of environment of UK where there is highly requirement of winter products
this is because there is cold in atmosphere. It will work as an opportunity for H&M
that it must design the product of clothes which can satisfy this need of its customer
(Hartmann, Apaolaza and D’Souza, 2018)
2. Searching and gathering information: In this stage of decision making journey the
consumer start searching gathering information about the product which can satisfy
the needs of the consumer, here he get opinion from experience persons, family and
friends or with past experience of any product which it in your bike consuming the
product. This will help customer in finding the best product for satisfaction of his
need. This function can be used by H &M with the help of heavy advertisement of the
product on digital media like Facebook, What’s App or it can also use television
advertisement for promotion of their product.
3. Evaluation the alternatives: Now at this stage customer will start evaluating the
different alternative which we get from the previous page of searching in gathering
information.is alternative will be classified according to the satisfaction level which
the they can give to the customer dissatisfaction level will be define according to taste
quality quantity and price of the product. In accordance with H&M, it can studies the
behaviour of consumers in a market and make product according to their needs where
the quality of products must be super which attract customer directly.
4. Actual Purchase of product or services: Now the stage came where customer start
purchasing the product of the services which he evaluated in previous stages. No
customer chooses the product which can satisfy its need and requirement. It always
chooses the product which fit to its budget as well as fulfils all its requirements
perfectly. For getting benefit of this stage H&M can use the behaviour study tool
where from will help customer in choosing the best suitable product according to its
need (Gonçalves, Meireles and Carvalho, 2016).
5. Post-purchase evaluation: The last stage in this decision making process is the post
purchase evaluation where customer last time evaluate the product according to his
budget and other needs like quality date of manufacturing side effects precautions and
other benefits with it can derived from that product. This will all help customer in
identifying full information about the product and saving itself from cheating and

other unethical practices. Evaluation can also be done after the purchase of a product
or services. H&M can get benefits by using different salespersons on the sales outlet
that can help customer in understanding the product completely.
P2 Importance for marketers to map a path to purchase and understand consumer decision-
making
For a business firm, it is essential to make a decision plant which should play
important role in implementing its rules and strategies.this is because entrepreneur always
higher the expert in every field which can play all the functions effectively and run the
organisation buy managing smooth operations.it is important for a firm to identify and
evaluate the structure pattern of decision making by consumer for particular product which
help organisation in functioning its sales operation in an effective and productive manner.
Let's talk about H&M, all the management staff as well as employees are well organised
which help organisation in increasing the abilities of individuals as well as identifying the
customer behaviour which can influence the decision of customers. For this purpose company
have to acquire the information and data which help it in identifying the process and perform
on that process in an appropriate manner. Identification of parties is important as while
purchasing customer use number of factors which have to be examined by the company in a
particular market situation at big level, Number of ways and techniques through which a
marketer can understand needs of customers in industry for selling their products and services
and increase the sales of company. Leaders and manager is the main responsible person for
choosing a suitable method which can help in doing this performance (Gbadamosi, 2017).
The customer decision making is an important part as it helped business in deciding
the right product distribution to write customer by understanding CDM and their organisation
is able to identify and process the more customer and increase the Goodwill of the
organisation with its operation (Gangai and Agrawal, 2016). That’s why it is essential to
maintain the stability and increase the performance level of business the deep knowledge of
this concept is must. This process is time consuming and assists firm in generating higher
profit at rapid level so it is also increase the communication in organisation by maintaining
healthy relationship between the parties. H&M is operating at global level where it have to
identify the needs of customers and the decision making process more effectively where it
can understand the path which will helpful organisation in increasing the income and
decreasing the expenditure so that organisation can perform at optimum level as well as
increases its profitability for long run. Help in increasing the skill knowledge of enterprises.

TASK2
P3 the key alterations of the decision-making process in the context of B2C andB2B
There various difference between the decision making in reference of B2B as well as
B2C which is going to be mentioned below:
Meaning
B2B : Business to business transactions are those which include this transfer of goods and
services among to business forms in order to fir the sale of the product and not for
conduction. Here one organisation bye product and services from another organisation for
future sale. In context of HRM the manager of the firm have its main focus on maintaining
good relationship with other entities for increasing forms Goodwill as well as recognition in
market handmade in the flow of supply. This transaction only superiors security to access the
information of the customers near from conduct this is a professional level for maintaining
good relationship in market (Carter and Yeo, 2018).
B2C: Business to customers that type of transactions which are related to selling of product
for customer in order to satisfy their needs and requirements of customer which arise because
of human nature. In context of H&M, the managers meaning faces is to provide good quality
products and services to the consumer for satisfying their needs as well as also maintain the
focus on product which company manufacture products for customer, Main focus of
companies to maximize profit as well as satisfy the need for customer badminton in a good
relationship among customer and organisation (Bishop, Martin and Boies, 2016).
BASIS
FOCUS
B2B
The main concern of this type of
business is to maintain better
relationships in business
environment.
B2C
The goal & drive of this
commercial is to entice great
amount of client that assistances
in cumulative auctions and
income of the business.

RELATION Journey formal relations to their
customer for maintaining
professionalism in organisation.
In B2C, both individual and
expert relationship is preserved
and achieved by the firm and
these consequences to cord
network and optimistic relative.
Motive
Time variant
Decision Making
The main motive behind this type
of entrepreneur is to deal with
customers and generate more and
more profit through effective
contracts.
There is no fixed time period for
these operations they are
generally occur either weekly
monthly or yearly which depends
on mutual consideration of being
considered for happening event.
The decision making process is so
simple as to both party will do the
agreement by mutual concern
which generally avoid conflicts
and errors in future.
Main reason of commercial is to
obtain the capitals and
marketplace share development
finished client gratification. For
example- H& M, deliver quality
of crops to its clienteles at
reasonable prices.
In this, secure expressions
clienteles on daily foundation via
extensive delivery stations and
which assistance those in
diffusion of brand consciousness
in proper way.
Clients are the bases finished
which income is made so, DM in
this procedure done by finish
users. Dealers are reliant on
customer’s insight, defiance and
performance.
From critical analysation of above-mentioned matter and its understanding, it can be
said that both Business to business a swell as business to consumer are very important for any

businesses to survive in market. It is important that all the decisions made in an organisation
are well thought of so that the functions of business are run smoothly. Managers need to
smartly handle both of these in their organisations. It can however be said that the risks
involved in B2B is more than that in B2C (Kanten and Darma, 2017). It is important for
businesses to focus on their goals and objectives and fulfil them in a stipulated time period. It
is the duty of leaders and managers in an organisation to look into all these matters so that all
the required activities in the organisations are carried out without facing any conflicts among
the members of a team or without any error.
P4 Various approaches of market research and methods of research for understanding
decision-making process.
Market research is a systematic way for analysing as well as evaluating the market condition,
collecting and analysing all the information about the product as well as services which are
existing in market. Market research is a defective way to analyse the potential as a less
strength of a company existing in that market. Market research helps the company to attain
authentic and relevant data in order to solve the problems arising due to change in factors in
market. In order to apply STP that is Market segmentation, Market targeting in market
positioning it is important for business to conduct a proper market research. There are
basically two ways to collect data from research which are primary as well as secondary.
Primary collection of data includes first hand data which is collected by companies directly
with the help of various ways such as feedbacks, interviews, questionnaires and so on
(Maison, 2018). In secondary data collection the already present data in the market is used by
companies to conduct the research. These are the two ways through which data can be easily
collected. Company to acquire the knowledge about videos of customers. H&M uses market
research to analyse various processes of B2B and B2 C and how does decision make takes
place in both of these.
Market research approach in B2B- It is important and crucial for businesses to conduct
B2B researches in order to gather a number of data for knowing about the competition
present in market. This is a decision-making process for many organisations which can be
complex as it includes a number of suppliers from even larger territories when comparison is
done with B2C. Below mentioned are some methods through which H&M successfully
conducts B2B researches:

 Competition research: in order to deal in B2B it is important for companies to analyse
the market competition present in the industry (Vytis, Navikaite, Yuriy and Wadim,
2017). Companies critically study strategies of the competitors before formulating their
role strategies. This research method is also carrying on by H&M in order to achieve a
benchmark performance in researches (Monga and Kaplash, 2016).
 Qualitative interviews: this is a method where a company uses expert advice for research.
Experts chosen are those who have appropriate knowledge and information about market
as well as the company. They critically analyse the competition in the market. H&M
spends a huge amount in appointing an expert who collects qualitative data as well as
information for company in order to conduct their research.
Market research approach in B2C- This is a research done in order to identify the needs as
well as wants of customers. Customers play an important role in business therefore; it is
necessary for businesses to analyse them.
 Face-to-face interview: This is a method which allows companies to get to the bottom
user requirements of customers. Direct contact with customers takes place in this method.
This helps company in analyzing future needs and demands of customers which they
would require to fulfil. It is a useful method through which company can bring changes
and innovate their products as well as services in the market (Pera, 2017). H&M uses this
method to gather information so that they can effectively gather information about
customer needs and preferences and then change their products and bring required
changes as per needs of customers.
 Online survey: Online survey is the most commonly used method these days. This helps
company to reach maximum number of customers there is no biases while choosing the
samples through this method as convenient as it does not matter here. It is important to
fully gain the needs and wants of customers (Viertola, 2018). The basic idea of industrial
and service to get information so that customer satisfaction can be achieved by the
company. In Online surveys companies need to focus on statement as well as content of
the service in order to avoid any conflict or confusion through it. H&M spends time in
constructing a proper online survey in order to make sure that all the needs as well as
wants of their customers are fulfilled and customers attain maximum satisfaction.

TASK3
P5 Marketers influence on the different stages of the decision-making process
The identification of decision-making process for marketers includes identification of
needs for customers, collecting information, evaluating various alternatives available and
finally making a buying decision. These few stages are influenced by marketers in following
mentioned ways:
 Problem Recognition: The very first step-in decision-making process is identifying the
problem about which decision is to be made. Marketers need to understand the problem
of customers which they need to satisfy. After identifying and satisfying these needs
company can easily take various measures in order to increase their profitability. This is
one of the major steps in this process (Shaw, 2017). An example can be taken like a
customer needs cold drink and water this needs of customer is identified as thirst. H&M
also takes various examples through which they recognize their suppliers in order to
expand their business organisation. They come up with various range of new trends in
fashion in order deal with changing needs and perception of their customers.
 Search Process: In this next step company works upon various researches in order to
analyse market, products as well as services so that they can fulfil needs of their
customers. Company uses two basic ways in order to collect this information from
market. The first one is collection of first hand data directly through customers which is
also known as primary data collection. The second way includes the collection of data
which is already available in market. There is an importance of all these data collected
through companies in order to fulfil needs and wants of customers. There are a number of
changes taking place in market everyday it is important to look into all these changing
trends in order to meet customer requirements. H&M manager are responsible for
conducting researches to evaluate what their customers expect from them. In order to
analyse their suppliers H&M often conducts B2B researches.
 Evaluating Alternatives: This is a step where marketers research on all the various
alternatives to their product which are present in market. Price, quality, availability etc are
various features and factors which help in deciding between various alternatives available
in market. Customer will always go for a product which specifically suits their
requirement of quality as well as match the price they are wanting to spend. H&M makes
sure that they effectively take care of needs and requirements of their customers. They
make sure that they have best alternative of all (Songa and Russo, 2018).

 Selection stage: Marketers here research on stage where customer finally makes a
decision. In this all the factors are brought together compared and then best alternative
amongst those factors is chosen. H&M also takes various measures before choosing one
alternative which they think is best to satisfy needs of their customers.
 Evaluation of decision: Marketers aims at satisfying their customers not only once but
for a lifetime. If a customer faces any bad experience even once this will stay with them
for lifetime and they would never change the negative perception for product or service
thus generated. So, it is important for managers to make sure that they generate good
brand image of product and service they provide to their customers. H&M make effective
decisions from time to time in order to meet changing requirements of customers and
changing trends in market (Stancu, Haugaard and Lähteenmäki, 2016).
CONCLUSION
The above stated report justifies that consumer behaviour have an important role to
play in success of a business through identifying various needs as well as wants of customers.
This is good for businesses as it helps them in identifying decision making process of their
customers in order to provide them with maximum satisfaction of all their requirements.
Marketer are also responsible for identifying path which helps consumers in taking correct
decisions. The report also helps in concluding that there are various approaches which can be
related to decision making process which helps consumer to overcome various problems they
face while taking decisions on what to buy. At the end of report, it is also described how
problem recognition as well as products of a firm helps in global reach as well as customer
satisfaction for the organisation. In this way importance of customers for any industry and
company can be specified.

REFERENCES
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