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Running head: CONSUMER BEHAVIOUR ANALYSIS
CONSUMER BEHAVIOUR ANALYSIS
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

1CONSUMER BEHAVIOUR ANALYSIS
Table of Contents
Introduction....................................................................................................................2
Task 2.............................................................................................................................2
Explanation of different stages of decision making process......................................2
Evaluation of different market research methods used for influencing stages of
decision making.....................................................................................................................5
Differences between B2B and B2C decision making process...................................6
Ways by which elements of marketing mix that influence decision making process8
Conclusion....................................................................................................................10
References....................................................................................................................11

2CONSUMER BEHAVIOUR ANALYSIS
Introduction
Consumer behaviour van be defined as a process that is based on the study related to
the ways by which groups, organizations or customers are able to select, use, buy or dispose
the services or goods that are offered to them. The actions of consumers depicted in the
marketplace and based on their choice of services or products. Different aspects that are
related to purchasing based behaviour are analysed in the study of consumer behaviour. The
behaviour of consumers need to be studied and analysed by the organization so that it is able
to provide the services and goods based on their demands and needs (Anker et al. 2015). The
prediction of consumer behaviour is quite difficult for the management of the organization.
The report will be based on the analysis of the research based process that is used for
analysing the influences of consumer behaviour on the decision making of the organization.
The influence that marketers have in the various stages of decision making in the modern
organizations is also an important part of the analysis. The differences between the decision
making process B2B and B2C consumers will be analysed in the report.
Task 2
Explanation of different stages of decision making process
The behaviour of consumers is considered to be a process through which they go
through for the purpose of making effective purchases. This process involves different factors
which can affect the decision and usage by the consumers. A marketer thereby needs to
understand different stages which are a part of the consumer decision making process for
moving the consumers towards the products and closing the sale based process as well. The
promotional and advertising based activities that are performed by the marketers have a
major impact on the decision making based process and its various stages as well (Bell,
Bryman and Harley 2018).

3CONSUMER BEHAVIOUR ANALYSIS
The consumers are able to make effective decisions with the help of different
activities that are thereby performed by the marketers. The process of consumer decision
making is based on five major steps that include, need recognition, information search,
evaluations based on the alternatives, purchase and the post-purchase behaviour. The steps
related to consumer decision making are quite helpful for the marketers to communicate with
them and understanding their needs and demands as well (Claudy, Garcia and O’Driscoll
2015). The types of products and services that are offered to the consumers are able to affect
the decision making based method and the activities which are performed by the marketers.
The process of consumer decision making is considered to be highly complex in
nature and the purchase of products from the organizations are based on different stages
which are a part of the entire method. The consumers have different types of needs based on
their daily lives that can affect the decisions which are taken by them in an effective manner
(De Mooij 2015). Different stages of the consumer decision process are as follows,
Need recognition – The need recognition based stage is based on the ways by
which the consumer is able to determine his or her needs. The consumers can
recognise the needs based on the factors which they feel that they are missing
out and need to fill the gap as well. The business organizations can also
determine their target market with the help of proper analysis of the needs
which have been identified by the consumers (East et al. 2016). On the other
hand, the marketers need to decide the ways by which the services and
products can be promoted to the target customers. This step is considered to be
the most important part of entire decision making process.
Information search – The stage based on information search in consumer
decision making process changes on a continuous basis as they need more and
more information based on different services and products. The consumers can

4CONSUMER BEHAVIOUR ANALYSIS
also aim at obtaining information based on the products due to the experiences
that have been gained by people previously. The risk management process is
considered in this stage so that the features related to a particular brand can be
analysed (Godey et al. 2016). This step is based on the ways by which the
consumers tend to analyse the buying based decision that have been taken by
them. The information based on different products that are offered to the
consumers can be gained by the consumers from different sources like,
commercial sources, personal sources, experiential sources and the public
sources as well (Goodman and Paolacci 2017).
Evaluation of the alternatives – The stage related to evaluation of alternatives
is based on the similar products that are offered by different organizations in
the industry. The alternatives are evaluated by the consumers and they are able
to decide the products that are able to satisfy their needs in an effective
manner. The best option is selected by the consumers in order to fulfil their
needs and demands. The factors which are considered for this analysis include,
price and quality (Hair Jr et al. 2015).
Purchase decision – After the completion of previous stages, customers are
finally able to decide the products which can be purchased. Different factors
that are related to the logical conclusion are analysed and influenced by the
marketing campaigns and the emotional connections (Hudson et al. 2016).
Post purchase behaviour – The purchase of products is followed by the post-
purchase based evaluation that is related to the analysis whether the products
were useful for the consumers or not. The ways by which the product has been
able to meet expectations of customers will be able to affect the decisions
which can be taken by the potential customers. A negative experience on the

5CONSUMER BEHAVIOUR ANALYSIS
other hand is able to affect the purchase based decisions that can be taken by
the customers (Karimi, Papamichail and Holland 2015).
Evaluation of different market research methods used for influencing stages of decision
making
The methods that are related to decision making are able to affect the process of
decision making in the organization. The business organizations of different sizes implement
extensive research based methods in order to grow and improve the business operations as
well. The success of different types of organizations on long term basis is affected by the
research methods that have been implemented by them (Katsikeas et al. 2016).
The organizations rely on the different business research methods in order to gain
information from different businesses and the consumers as well. Business research methods
are undertaken in such a manner which helps the organization to conduct a study related to
different external and internal factors that can affect the profitability and market share in a
huge manner (Khare 2015). The business research methods that are able to help in the
decision making process of the organizations are as follows,
Case studies – The research method of case studies can be used by the
organizations in order to understand the response that is provided by the
consumers. The case study method can help the organizations to analyse the
consumer satisfaction levels and attitudes and opinions of the consumers based
on a product (Lantos 2015).
Conducting surveys – The surveys which are conducted by the organizations
are considered to be quite common for the organizations in order to gather
relevant information from the market or industry in which they operate. The

6CONSUMER BEHAVIOUR ANALYSIS
survey based method is quite popular and is used by different organizations on
a large scale (Pappas 2016).
Interviews – Organizations in different industries also rely on the interview
process for business research based purposes. The experiences which
consumers have related to the products that are offered by the organizations
can be analysed with the help of interview process. The follow up questions in
this case are able to help the management of organizations to analyse
responses that are offered by the consumers (Park and Nicolau 2015).
Focus groups – A focus group is a process that is able to provide larger
samples in comparison to the case studies and interviews. The major drawback
in this case is that the research which is conducted with the help of this
process can be based on different irrelevant questions which can divert the
entire results (Stephen 2016).
Research is conducted to be an integral part of the business activities of different
organizations in the industry. The availability of data is able to help the organizations to take
decisions in an effective manner. Business research is thereby able to guide the organizations
and the management so that important decisions can be made in an effective manner. The
managers of the organizations are able to gain effective levels of support in the decision
making process by using different business research based methods (Wang and Yu 2017).
Differences between B2B and B2C decision making process
The business organizations are able to provide the services and products to other
companies or consumers. B2B sales are related to the products that are offered to other
companies, on the other hand, the products which are provided to the consumers are B2C.
The businesses are able to create different processes for ensuring that the decisions are

7CONSUMER BEHAVIOUR ANALYSIS
rational in nature (Zhang and Benyoucef 2016). The major differences which are related to
B2B or B2C are as follows,
Identification of the needs – Need identification is considered to be the most
important stage for the businesses and the consumers as well. The needs are
identified in a proactive manner as a part of the business strategy. The
consumers can identify the needs in a similar manner. This is influenced by
the marketing and advertising based techniques (Zhang 2015).
Specification of the products – The purchasing based processes of the
business organizations are based on the effective product specification. The
business organizations have an idea based on the products that they wish to
purchase and in the similar way, the consumers are also able to identify the
effective products based on their individual needs and demands. The
consumers are however much more flexible than the other companies in the
product specifications. The specifications of the consumers can change with
time (Zhang and Benyoucef 2016).
Evaluation of the suppliers – The suppliers of an organization are evaluated
by the other companies that wish to purchase the products and services. The
reputation and levels of reliability of the suppliers are analysed by the
organizations. On the other hand, the customers make smaller purchases and
they check the specifications of the products and they are able to decide (Park
and Nicolau 2015).
Purchase decision – The decision related to purchase is taken by the business
organizations after a long process. The consumers can however take the
decisions quite easily. The impulse based purchases are more common for the
consumers rather the business organizations (Goodman and Paolacci 2017).

8CONSUMER BEHAVIOUR ANALYSIS
Post purchase – After sales service is considered to be an important part of the
entire buying process of the organizations. The business customers are long
term buyers as compared to the normal consumers (Claudy, Garcia and
O’Driscoll 2015).
Ways by which elements of marketing mix that influence decision making process
Marketing mix is considered to be a combination of the elements that are used for the
sale of some specific products. The four major elements of marketing mix that are able to
influence the consumer decision making process are product, price, place and promotion. The
4 Ps of marketing are able to affect the ways by which consumers can take their decision
based on effective purchase of products or services (East et al. 2016).
A major retail organization named Tesco that operates in the retail sector is able to
use the marketing mix in an effective manner to influence the decisions that are made by the
consumer. The service based sector is related to a broader concept based on marketing mix.
The 4 Ps of marketing mix are sometimes not enough for affecting the behaviour of
customers. The other major parts of the marketing mix based process include, process,
physical evidence and participants. Tesco has been able to provide the best example which is
related to the use of marketing mix for influencing the behaviour of consumers (Tesco.com
2019).
The corporate values that are developed by the organization with the help of proper
combination of the management strategy and marketing strategy is based on long term
relationships with customers. The loyalty scheme that has been developed by Tesco has been
named as “Tesco Clubcard”. The diversification of product portfolio is considered to be an
important part of the marketing mix based element which can affect the decisions that are
taken by the customers of Tesco. The major strategies which have been implemented by the

9CONSUMER BEHAVIOUR ANALYSIS
organization for increasing the levels of growth are market development, product
development, market penetration and diversification (Tesco.com 2019).
The expansion of the product portfolio of Tesco is considered to be a major strength
of the organization. The consumers are able to take decisions based on the ways by which the
organization is able to invest in the new technologies based services that are offered to them.
The distribution channels and supply chain of the organization has been developed in such a
manner which helps Tesco to influence the decisions taken by the consumers. Tesco has been
able to gain a competitive advantage over the other organizations in retail industry of
Australia with the help of efficient supply chain and distribution channels as well (Tesco.com
2019).
Tesco has given major levels of importance to the acquisition of new local formats in
different areas in order to ensure an effective commitment to the physical evidence based
factor of marketing mix. The development of physical stores is considered to be an important
part of the growth process of the organization. Physical evidence of the organization has been
able to increase the levels of profitability and revenues in the retail industry. The price based
element has also been given importance by the management of Tesco in the process of
deciding the prices of different products and services (Tesco.com 2019).
The loyalty levels of customers are also considered to be an important part of the
customer behaviour towards the services and products. The promotions are considered to be a
major part of the social performance that has been depicted by Tesco in the retail industry of
the United Kingdom. The behaviour of the consumers of Tesco is affected in a huge manner
by the different elements of the marketing mix of the organization which have been
developed by the management (Tesco.com 2019).

10CONSUMER BEHAVIOUR ANALYSIS
Conclusion
The report can be concluded by stating that the decision making base process of the
organizations are affected and supported by the business research based methods. The
marketers have a major influence on various stages of decision making based process. The
market research based methods can influence different stages of decision making process of
the organization. The decision of B2B and B2C based organizations are completely different
from each other. The marketing mix of Tesco has been able to affect the behaviour of the
consumers and their decisions. The decisions that are taken by the consumers of Tesco are
based on different elements of the marketing mix.

11CONSUMER BEHAVIOUR ANALYSIS
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12CONSUMER BEHAVIOUR ANALYSIS
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