Understanding Consumer Decision-Making Journey for Luxury Cars

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Introduction
According to Kotler et al. (2008), understanding consumer behaviour is very critical
in marketing management. This is because the consumer is the most important player
in the supply chain. The behaviour of consumer has an impact on any aspect of a
business such as production, profitability as well as on shareholder value
(Adnan,2014). It is therefore very critical for every business to research and
understand the behaviour of its customers.
While studying the behaviour of consumers, it is critical to understand the
characteristics that impact the behaviour of the consumer. This document evaluates
the stages of consumer decision making the journey for a luxury car. This helps in
understanding the process that a consumer undergoes before making a final decision.
This paper also discusses how marketers are reacting to the decision making the
process.
Additionally, the report discusses the importance of mapping consumer decision
making map and understanding the process that consumers follow when making
purchase decisions. The differences in the consumer decision-making process
between B2B and B2C as well as methods used by consumers to influence the
different stages of the process are discussed.
q.1.Explain and analyse the stages of the consumer decision-
making journey for a given product/service (P1)
According to one model of consumer behaviour I have selected..
There are five stages of the consumer decision-making process for a luxury car
customer as discussed below;
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Need recognition- this stage involves a customer realizing that they are missing
something (Aguirre-Rodriguez, Bosnjak and Sirgy, 2012). With time, this becomes a
need, and hence consumers begin to think of how they can fulfil the need. Therefore,
for example, a young footballer who has signed for a big club and signs a
multimillion-dollar contract may begin the process of buying a new luxury car. If the
footballer was driving a Toyota Corolla car before the contract, the vehicle might no
longer befit his new found social and financial status. After signing the deal, he, then
recognizes the need to own a luxury car that befits his status.
Information Search-This stage involves the buyer seeking information on a product
that can satisfy the customer (Bashar, Ahmad, and Wasiq, 2013). After recognizing
their need for a new luxury car, the footballer will begin searching for information
from different sources. He can get information from fellow footballers who own
luxury cars. The footballer can also go to the internet and search for luxury cars, and I
can read all the information he wants about the product.
Evaluation of alternatives- After obtaining information from different sources about
the luxury vehicles that are available, the footballer should then compare the various
alternatives that are available (Domina, Lee, and MacGillivray, 2012). Some of the
most popular luxury car brands include; Ashton Martin, Bugatti, Rolls Royce, Range
Rover Sports, and Mercedes Benz. The footballer can compare different aspects of the
various brands such as speed, quality, reputation as well as cost.
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Purchase decision-After evaluating all available alternatives, the footballer will then
finally decide on the choice of a car he wants. At this point, the consumer has
evaluated all available facts and arrived at a logical conclusion (Darley,Blankson, and
Luethge, 2010). The footballer can, therefore, go ahead and purchase the brand of
their choice.
Post-Purchase-Post purchase evaluation involves the consumer realizing whether the
product has met their expectations or not. Given the information that the footballer
had about the chosen car, he may feel as either satisfied or highly satisfied after using
the vehicle.
Question 2 - Evaluate how marketers are responding to the decision-
making process, applying relevant concepts and models
(M1, D1)
After understanding the consumer decision-making process, marketers have to design
their strategies to meet the behaviour of customers (Xu, Luo, Carroll, and Rosson,
2011). Marketers must react to the consumer decision-making process to design
strategies that are aligned with the process. Marketers react to the consumer buying
process through the four views of consumer decision making models. They
include;economic model, passive view, cognitive view and emotional view. The
marketers of luxury vehicles should investigate to understand the factors that affect
the buying behaviour of the customer in order to react accordingly.
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