Consumer Decision Making and Business Research

The provided report discusses the significance of consumer decision making in business operations. It highlights the importance of anticipating customer needs and demands, as well as the distinction between B2B and B2C sales approaches. The document also touches upon digital audience research, including social media and company websites, in influencing consumer behavior.

HNBS 327 Consumer
Behaviour and Insight

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
LO 1.................................................................................................................................................1
Decision making process of consumers.................................................................................1
Consumer decision making models........................................................................................1
Decision-making process of consumers for a particular product or service..........................2
Importance of path making concept for purchasing and understanding the consumer decision-
making....................................................................................................................................3
Different levels of the consumer decision-making.................................................................4
Factors which influence or impact the decision-making.......................................................4
LO 2.................................................................................................................................................5
Comparison and Contrast key divergence among Business to Business (B2B) and Business to
Customers (B2C) decision-making process...........................................................................5
Market research varies as per B2B and B2C..........................................................................6
Personality, self motivation and different customer perception impact on decision-making
process....................................................................................................................................7
Behavioural as well as cognitive approaches for understanding the consumer learning.......7
Factors that impact on consumer behaviour...........................................................................8
Process of utilising the purchasing behaviour of customers for influencing the decision-
making process in context of B2B and B2C..........................................................................8
Evaluation on the impact of digital audience research developments for understanding the
consumer behaviour................................................................................................................9
CONCLUSION .............................................................................................................................10
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................11

INTRODUCTION
Consumer refers to an individual who buys services or products for personal usage and
is not for purpose of resale or manufacturing. They take decisions regarding whether they will
buy something within the store or not and they are the one who may be easily influenced by
advertising and marketing techniques (Bereznoy, 2019). Consumer behaviour refers to branch
of scrutiny of various types of stages which are associated with buying of services and goods.
This report is based on Unicorn Grocery which is a grocery store situated within United
Kingdom. This report deals with formative discussions on stages associated with consumer
decision-making, their importance, differences in B2B and B2C in relation to decision-making.
Apart from this, different approaches related with market research are discussed. Furthermore,
ways in which marketers impact decision-making processes are evaluated.
LO 1
Decision making process of consumers
Consumer decision making can be referred to as a process which is adopted by
consumers in order to execute an optimal decision while selecting relevant and suitable
products and/or services for their personal consumption (Calder, Isaac and Malthouse, 2016). It
is dependent upon the needs and wants of various types of customers. It is crucial for consumers
as this aids them in deciding their most preferable product from a number of available options
within the market.
Consumer decision making models
The consumer decision making is a crucial process for consumers and in this regards, a
number of models prevail which defined the basis on which people tend to take decisions
regarding purchase. These are briefly defined as follows:-
Economic Model: This model assumes that consumer is a rational being and takes a
rational decision. This assumption is made as per the general behavioural characteristics of
consumers, which is to analyse and evaluate the benefits of products before making a purchase
decision (Gensler and et. al., 2015). This model is unrealistic as people have limited skills
which restrain them from being rational while carrying out decision-making.
Cognitive Model: This is regarded as the best model for this process as it describes
decision-making process in accordance with the needs and demands of consumers. This states
1

that promotional activities used by an organisation can not influence their decisions in this
model.
Passive Model: This model states that consumer decision-making is influenced by the
promotional activities undertaken by a firm and, here, an individual responds on the basis of
offers and advertisements devised by marketing department of companies (Hofacker,
Malthouse and Sultan, 2016). This is also regarded as unrealistic owing to the fact that
consumers assess the information given by companies in promotional activities before making a
buying decision.
Emotional Model: This model of decision making states that this process commences
totally on the basis of emotional perspectives of individual towards any product. It defines
decision-making process in accordance with the impulsive reaction of consumers which does
not allow them to consider the usefulness of their purchase.
Decision-making process of consumers for a particular product or service
The decision-making process can be defined as a process of devising choices to buy a
product or service by carrying out an analysis of collected information, evaluating the decisions
and ascertaining a number of alternatives present within market (Shih and Ke, 2014). Consumer
behaviour can be comprehended with the help of economic and psychological elements. In this
regard, Unicorn Grocery is a small business operating within the confines of UK and deals in
grocery items. The consumer decision-making process comprises some essential steps which
are explained below:-
Need/Problem recognition: The decision-making process initiates on the basis of
emergence of a need or issue in the mind of consumer. The behaviour of consumer which
changes in relation to marketing trends leads them to believe that they are short of something
and persuades them to make a purchase (Zhang and Benyoucef, 2016). For instance- A
consumer finds the need to buy grocery products to spend their livelihood.
Information search: The decision making process depends upon the research conducted
by consumers to gain information about a product that they are likely to purchase. To facilitate
this, individuals use personal and commercial sources of market with a view to investigate
about factors such as quality, pricing and specifications of grocery articles sold by Unicorn
Grocery. This evaluation is done by gaining information from relatives and friends who have
already used the grocery sold by entity.
2

Evaluation of alternatives: Here, user analyse the substitute products present in market
and making a comparison to carry out effective decision making (Shankar and et. al., 2016).
This measure will enable consumers to take into account the grocery items sold by rival firms of
Unicorn Grocery and compare their pricing to arrive at a logical decision.
Selection and trial: Here, selection of certain items is done for trial. Here, a consumer
can buy grocery of Unicorn Grocery in a small quantity or take products for specific time period
to arrive at a judgement.
Purchase decision: This step aims at fulfilment of needs and demands of consumers on
the basis of their purchase. The purchase decision making is concerned with selection of brand
name, trader and quantity of goods to be bought (Shih and Ke, 2014). Consumer will buy the
grocery items from Unicorn Grocery after ascertaining its quality, cost and durability.
Post-purchase evaluation: This consists of the assessment of products after being
purchased by consumers. This is the most crucial part of this process as it directly impacts upon
the future decision making of users. If the products of Unicorn Grocery are able to meet the
needs of consumers, it instils a feeling of loyalty among individuals towards the organisation.
Importance of path making concept for purchasing and understanding the consumer decision-
making
Mapping path is important in order to purchase exist with various channels through
which customer passed by within a time to construct process of purchasing for specific goods or
services existing in market. It can be defined as a journey map of a particular user and this is
started through research procedure which is processed before construction of process of
decision making procedure.
For example:
A customer is needed to build a map to make purchase of required products of grocery
and the map considers factors as follows which are generated with research help such as
product needs, information about business enterprise, analysation of products that are secondary
and than lead towards formulating final decisions to purchase needed products. There are
various necessary steps which are concerned regarding mapping a path for purchasing which
are explained as follows-
 It provides assistance to customers in making consumer- based experiences in process of
decision making.
3

 It helps to decide mistake finding points of particular products for customers.
 The action course for purchasing help the customers to lead towards product purchasing
of goods and services in an a proper manner.
Decision making procedure of customer can be presented as a process by which a user
went at the time of purchasing goods and services in a market. The Unicorn Grocery is needed
for interpreting consumers needs in an impressive and good manner for drawing in its decision
making towards goods and services which are provided by the organisation in target market.
Some of the important points which helps to know decision making of customers are described
as follows-
 The real perceptive of consumer's decision making helps in assisting Unicorn Grocery to
intensify items sold in market with an appropriate manner.
 To acknowledge consumers requirements and its expectations from company's products.
Different levels of the consumer decision-making
The decision-making process of consumers leads them to take appropriate decisions for
buying a particular product or service, available in the marketplace (Xiang, Magnini and
Fesenmaier, 2015). The level which involve in such consumer decision making can be defined
in following way:-
Extensive Problem Solving: This kind of level mostly helps the customers to determine
the products' reliability while planning to purchase the same, to fulfil their service.
Limited Problem Solving: This level of this approach allows the consumers to execute
the generic investigation for buying a particular good or service, which will fulfil the needed
criteria from the available group of products in given market.
Routine Response Behaviour: At this level, customers grasp the low engagement with
those products that may satisfy their requisite need during particular time.
Factors which influence or impact the decision-making
The factors affecting the decision making process of consumers varies as per changing
trends and demand of market which leads to changes in human behaviour. Such factors are
defined below:-
Personal factors: These include aspects such as age, sexuality, demographics, etc. of
consumers. These factors at times directly influence or impact the consumer decision-making
process while making a purchase.
4

Purchasing power: This has the most crucial role in impacting upon the decisions of
consumers (Zhang and Benyoucef, 2016). The individuals analyse their purchasing power while
taking decision regarding buying a particular product or service.
Cultural factors: It includes those elements, which significantly impact on the decision
making process of consumers such as values, beliefs, customs, traditions, religions and ethics
etc.
LO 2
Comparison and Contrast key divergence among Business to Business (B2B) and Business to
Customers (B2C) decision-making process.
It is essential objective of an organisation to make sales of their services and products in
trenchant way to their customers. Therefore, to have effective accomplishment of this
organisational objective they need to make usage of approaches such as B2C and B2B for their
customers as well as sales (Difference Between B2B and B2C. 2019). In this context, it can be
stated that, customers have the power to make their own decision related with whether they
want buy specific commodity or not. Thereby, various formative approaches will assist them to
create impact at wide level on customers by which they can buy their services and products.
Difference between B2B and B2C has been evaluated below:
Basis B2B B2C
Buying decision Sales need logical enquiry
which assists seller and
accessibility of products for
longer duration of time
required for attaining desired
results.
This process needs less time
as individual have the power
to take decisions with respect
to services they want to have
them or not. Thereby, requires
less time logicalness.
Marketing strategy decision It basically comprises of
requirements associated with
sales person rather than usage
of mass media. IT acts as an
important channel for
It is a formative need
associated with mass media
within enhanced manner
along with effectual relation
with respect to B2C
5

formulation of contacts with
person.
strategies.
Decision associated with
market size
It comprises of medium or
small and selected market
size.
In this aspect, market size is
large with respect to
geographical appearance.
Identification of needs In this, effective determination
associated with various
requirements related with
business strategies is covered.
For gaining attention of
customer and create influence
on them by similar types of
techniques and intermediate is
utilized. Some of the modes
in this comprise of
advertisements by using
different media and forms of
marketing techniques.
Market research varies as per B2B and B2C
Business 2 Customer or more commonly regarded as B2C, refers to a process where an
economic transaction takes place between a customer and a business entity. In contrast to this,
Business 2 Business (B2B), the transaction occurs amidst two entities. Hereby, market research
of both of these can distinguish as beneath -
Business to Business (B2B) Market Research
The Business to Business market research refers to the procedure which strives to
collect information about the market place by way of a survey or sample representation of
chosen respondents. Here, the business entities buys goods and services to consume personally.
In this regard, market research assists them to analyse a number of metrics such as the
requirements of market place as well as acquisition cost of consumers (Gargiulo, Natale and
Russo, 2015). B2B market research will significantly aid Unicorn Grocery to obtain data in
relation to the market conditions, consumers and rival firms.
B2C Market Research
6

This types of market research is carried out with the assistance of customers. Here,
enquiries are made from the users in context with goods and services that a business entity is
planning to supply within the marketplace. In this regard, Unicorn Grocery is required to carry
out this research as it will assist the business in collecting data associated with needs and wants
of consumers against the products sold by the organisation. This will aid the company in
fulfilment of demands of customers and attaining maximum satisfaction from them.
Personality, self motivation and different customer perception impact on decision-making
process
Self motivation, different perception of customers and their personality, impact
adversely upon decision-making process is briefly given beneath:-
Personality: Organisation mainly concern on identifying the needs and different
demands of customers and then satisfying them by provision of goods and services in
accordance with them. The perception of each customer is different (Bereznoy, 2019). There are
two personality factors, namely, openness and agreeableness. While the former proposes that
people are captivated by the attractive features of products, the latter states that the attitudes of
consumers are dependent on their past experience.
Perception of consumers: Since every customer perception is differ from one another,
therefore, diverse set of perceptions tend to have different influences upon decision-making
process of consumers.
Self motivation: Herein, customers look out for a specific product and when they get
positive response from organisations, they feel encouraged to make a purchase. It implies that
an individual gets motivated on receiving a favourable response and vice-versa.
Behavioural as well as cognitive approaches for understanding the consumer learning
Consumer learning is referred to as a process which comprises individual gaining
information associated with purchase and consumption of products (Japee, 2015). Basically,
two types of approaches for consumer learning which are briefly described below:-
Behavioural approach
The given approach assumes that consumer occurs as a result of stimuli to external
events. This means that Behavioural approach focuses on inputs and outputs that a person is
exposed along with the resultant behaviour. This approach constitutes two types of theories
which are given below:-
7

Classical conditioning: It is generally concerned with the process of learning which is
carried out by way of various outcomes which are generated by connecting the two diverse
stimuli in market place.
Instrumental conditioning: This is a theory that illustrates the relationship among
stimulus and responses. It suggests that outcome can be generated on the basis of trial and error
procedure.
Cognitive approach
This approach proposes the belief that customer learning refers to a complex mental
process. Cognitive approach operates in a manner that comprises of exposing a consumer to
new information about a new product or service on a frequent basis with a view to improve
their learning process (Gargiulo, Natale and Russo, 2015). In contrast to behavioural approach,
it is inclusive of processing of data which includes a tough mental procedure and emphasizes
upon encouraging customers so as to persuade them to make a purchase.
Factors that impact on consumer behaviour
The factors that impact upon the consumer behaviour are defined below:-
Cultural factors: The aspects such as values, beliefs, traditions, customs and practices
of a specific region possess the potential to significantly impact upon consumer behaviour.
Social factors: This includes aspects such as educational background, income levels
etc. It is also regarded as sub-culture owing to the prevalence of a number of persons having
common values.
Economical factors: These are inclusive of elements like price, income, liabilities or
assets of a person which tends to directly influence the purchase decision-making process.
Process of utilising the purchasing behaviour of customers for influencing the decision-making
process in context of B2B and B2C
Both, consumers as well as businesses possess same purchase behaviour that influence
the process of decision-making. It is significant for a company to substantially study the
purchase behaviour of among parties in order to carry on the operations in a desirable manner.
Purchasing process of customers: Purchasing process of customers is related to the
examination of market conditions. Its main focus is on getting knowledge about the buying
decision of consumers together with its impact upon the working condition and profitability of
8

the entity. Thus, it becomes essential for Unicorn Grocery to carry out study of consumer
behaviour in response to different products and services.
Product specification analysis in order to target business owners: Generally,
companies comprise of their own specific buying procedure in accordance with which they act.
Organisations accurately possess knowledge about their requirements which influences them to
take decisions regarding what to buy (Gargiulo, Natale and Russo, 2015). Business enterprises
are flexible in context to identify the potential buyer and possess the ability to neglect their first
descriptions in case the alternatives are available.
Evaluation on the impact of digital audience research developments for understanding the
consumer behaviour
In modern era where corporate world is constantly undergoing digital transformation, it
is imperative that companies analyse the digital audience's impact. In this regard, to take strong
and effective decisions, it is required that entities must focus upon designing elements that
significantly influence the behavioural characteristics of consumers (Japee, 2015). It is required
by Unicorn Grocery to ensure that the alterations do not influence the behaviour and conduct of
potential customers in a negative manner. For getting a good understanding of behaviour of
consumers, some digital audience are described below:-
Social media: It is a type of digital platform which helps an organisation such as
Unicorn Grocery to carry out marketing of its business in order to persuade the customers to
buy them. Further, it aids in receiving feedback from them with a view to significantly improve
the quality of goods.
Website of company: It is an important platform by way of which the company shares
significant information to costumers about its products. This provides assistance in influencing
the perceptions of people and influencing them to buy their products (Zhang and Benyoucef,
2016). It is essential to concern here for business organisations that having an attractive website
for designing the database, will help in increasing profitability for them in respective market.
CONCLUSION
From the above report, it can be concluded that consumer decision making is of crucial
importance to an organisation as this assists an individual in deciding whether to buy the
products sold by company or not. It has also been ascertained that anticipating the needs and
9

demands of customers is essential for businesses to persuade the behaviour and decision of
people. Further, it can be observed that an entity can have two approaches to sell its good,
namely, B2B and B2C. In this regard, the decision making processes within both the
approaches is different and thus, organisation has to conduct separate market research for both
the approaches.
10

REFERENCES
Books and Journals
11