Consumer Decision Making Process

Running head: CONSUMER DECISION MAKING PROCESS
Consumer Decision Making Process
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CONSUMER DECISION MAKING PROCESS1
Introduction
Whether one is marketing goods or services, gaining an in-depth understanding about
the buying decision making process of customer matters significantly. Customers are the
most important characters in the field of marketing management and their behaviours, both
directly and indirectly influence the business production, the shareholder return and the
financial outcome of the company (Groeger, Moroko and Hollebeek). This paper shall
elaborate on discussing the decision making process of consumers for purchasing an
automobile and how this process is different from that of the process of purchasing a
toothpaste. Also, the implications for the marketers will also be highlighted in this report.
Discussion
The term “customer behaviour” comprise of the customers of some specific goods and
the people who use the goods. It is basically used for referring to a particular human market
behaviour and use of the services and products (Tung, Chen and Schuckert). In modern days,
the consumer behaviour is referred to as a multidisciplinary science that investigate the
decision making process of the customers along with the product acquisition but at the same
time, also the activities of the customers after the product purchase like using, rejecting and
evaluating the service or product. The experts of the buying behaviour agree that there are a
total of five stages in the process of consumer buying decision making. These five stages are-
recognition of the unsatisfied need, the information search, evaluation of alternatives, actual
purchase decision and the post-purchase evaluation respectively (Ashman, Solomon and
Wolny).
Buying an automobile
In case of buying an automobile, say, a car, customers take huge amount of time to
make a decision as of the fact that it is a long term investment and costs huge. This is why

CONSUMER DECISION MAKING PROCESS2
they assess number of available options and choose the best one that suits their criteria and
budget.
In terms of the decision making process, it is to mention that in the very stage of
buying process called need recognition might be the need of buying a car as it is necessary to
go to work for the customer or to pick up his or her kids from school. These can be the stated
needs of the customer for which he needs to purchase a car. He first looks for the other
factors in it like the fuel efficiency, cost and time of maintenance, is safe or not, is cosy and
comfortable and will it provide good after sales service and will be having more space
internally. Also, price range is a significant factor in this process. The customers at this stage
decide on their budget for buying a car that will fulfil their need within the set range. The
second stage of information search involves searching of information and details about
different types and brands of car under the set budget (Mai). For this purpose, the customers
are likely to go through newspaper, magazines, internet, their preferred company sites, media,
the preference and advice of their family and friends (word of mouth), visiting stores, test
drives and sometimes, depending on their own experiences, if any. The third stage of
alternatives evaluation involves the evaluation of the preferred bundle of different options
that were identified in the earlier stages. It is to note that on the basis of different parameters
there are many cars that were evaluated and some of them are Fiat Punto, Hyundai i10,
Chevrolet Beat etc. In this stage the customer start to evaluate these cars for their potential of
satisfying their needs and budget. This also depends on the evaluation of the cars that are
done with the help of the representatives in the places of the customers itself, their high brand
image and the other offers guarantee for their vehicles. For example, within the price range of
four to five lakh, all the cars are evaluated and the customer has considered the set of Ford
Figo, Chevrolet Beat, Swift, Wagon-R, Hundai i10, Fiat Punto and Swidft and then, has the
decision of purchasing Wagon-R and purchased the same as this car has central locking, rear