Consumer Behavior and Decision-Making Analysis: Unicorn Grocery Report

This report provides an in-depth analysis of consumer behavior and the decision-making process, using Unicorn Grocery, a co-operative grocery store in Manchester, UK, as a case study. The report is divided into two main sections. The first section explores the consumer decision-making process, ...Read More

Consumer Behaviour
and Insight

INTRODUCTION
Consumers are the one who mainly buy commodities & services for their own
consumptions and not the motive of earning profit by resale the products. They are the one who
take their own decisions which is associated with the purchasing of goods. It is considered that
full decision of buying something depends upon the customers and is extremely influenced by
the techniques of merchandising utilized by organisations. In the context of present report,
Unicorn Grocery is chosen as the base organisation (Bereznoy, 2019). It is a co-operative
grocery stores which is mainly located in Manchester, UK. It refers to the report which mainly
includes different topics which includes formation of different stages which is which is
connected with the decision-making process of consumer. It is the report which includes two
main sections where the chosen company is Unicorn grocery. Under this part of the report
process of decision-making of the customers are going to be discussed. Along with this, mapping
a path as well as different level of consumer decision-making is included in this report.
SECTION 1
1. Process of consumers decision-making
In today's competitive world, it is identified that decision making procedure of users
define as a procedure which is generally chose by customers so that they can take positively
decisions to buy best & suitable services, commodities and products for their personal usage. It is
concluded that requirements & needs of each and every consumers is different. Therefore,
decisions taken by customers are variant from each other which is depend upon the need of
consumers (Biswas and Roy, 2015). It is important as well as crucial for the customers as it will
assist in deciding and identifying the most suitable goods and services from ample number of
substitutes accessible at the market.

2. Consumer decision making models
It is identified that process of decision making is critical process and in this context
ample number of models are there. With the help of these models, it can be said that consumers
take decisions in reference of buying commodities & services. There are various models which
are discussed as follows:-
Emotional Model: This is one of the most effective model according to which the
procedure of taking decisions is entirely based on the emotional view of people against any kind
of goods and services offered by them (Calder, Isaac and Malthouse, 2016). It refers to a
process which says that consumers sometimes take impulsive judgement whether to purchase the
goods or not.
Cognitive Model: It is considered as one of the most effectual and best model according
to which consumers decision are taken as per the need and demand of customers. It says that
with the help of different promotional functions and activities which is adopted by the companies
highly influence the procedure of decision making of consumers.
Passive Model: As per this method it has been said that the procedure of decision making
are extremely influenced by different promotional techniques. It is considered as one of the most
unrealistic method and in this method consumers take different information which is given by
organisations while doing their promotional activities and take their decision whether to but the
product or not.
3. Decision-making process of consumers.
Decision making define as a procedure of making choices by analysing the decision,
assembling information as well as examining substitute solutions. Behaviour of consumer can be
influenced by the factors available at the market. In the context of Unicorn Grocery, it is said that
it is a small business organisation which operates its functions in UK and mainly deals in grocery
items (Gensler and et. al., 2015). It is the process of decision-making which consist of some
important steps which are going to be discussed as follows:
Need & Problem recognition: It is said that decision taken by individuals are generally
supported on the requirements or needs of consumers. Attitude of customers are modify on a
day-to-day basis according to the marketing trends are for small period of time and provoke them
to buy the product to satisfy their necessitate. For instance, it is identified that a consumer find it
necessary to acquire a commodity or service in order to fulfil their needs.
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Information search: It is said that the procedure of decision making mainly based upon
the investigation which is done by customers just to increase their knowledge about a particular
commodity or services. For this, individuals use both commercialized as well as individualized
sources so that enough information will be collected by customers about the cost, quality,
uniqueness of grocery items which is sell by Unicorn Grocery (Hofacker, Malthouse and Sultan,
2016).
Assessment of substitutes: In this section, consumers or users mainly examine and
identify the substitute products available at the marketplace and make effective comparison in
order to take effective decisions regarding products and services. In the present context of
Unicorn Grocery, customers analyse different products with similar quality so that positive
decisions can be taken.
Selection and trial: In the present context, it is said that choice of specific items are done
on trial basis. In this references customers buy grocery items from Unicorn Grocery in a limited
quantity so that they can take effective decisions whether to purchase commodities & services
from them in their near future.
Purchase decision: It is the stage with the purpose of accomplishing the necessitate and
demands of consumers. Decision of purchasing the product is mainly concerned with the traders,
selection of brand as well as quantity & quality of goods and services which is bought by
customers. It has been said that customers purchase products from Unicorn Grocery after
examining the cost, quality, quantity & durability of trade good.
Post-purchase evaluation: It consist of an analysis of goods & services after purchasing
them from the company. It is considered as most important part of this procedure as it highly
affects the decision making of customers whether they buy the goods and services (Japee, 2015).
It has also been said that if the goods and services of Unicorn Grocery satisfy the requirements &
needs of users, they will grab attention of large number of individuals as well as retain them for a
long period of time.
4. Importance of path making concept for purchasing and understanding the consumer decision-
making
Mapping path is essential to buy existing commodity & services with different channels
with the help of which consumers passed by within a given time frame to construct the procedure
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of purchasing particular products & services within present marketplace. It is identified as a map
of journey of a customer & it is started through investigation process.
For instance:
A user is needed to develop a map in order to make acquisition of necessary commodity
of grocery & map considers elements which assist in investigation of product requirements &
needs, information about enterprise, analysis all the goods and services which are secondary &
than leads toward developing the last decisions in order to purchase the required commodities
(Kaur and Singh, 2017). There are different stages which is considered as path mapping which
are going to be discussed as follows:-
 It is the process which help customers in order to make customer- based experiences in
the procedure of decision making.
 It assist to determine and finding the faults and errors within a specific product which is
given to customers.
 Action course is a tool which helps customers in purchasing a product and moves tehir
behaviour in direction of purchasing.
Procedure of Decision making is very helpful for customers as this process helps a user
when they have to take a decision whether to purchase or not. Unicorn Grocery needs to
interpret needs of their consumers and make efforts that are able to attract maximum number of
prospective buyer so that overall profitability can be increased. Some of points which are
considered by consumers while making decisions are discussed below:
 To fulfil various requirements and demands of their targeted customers.
 To analyse perception of consumer used by them in making decisions, this is very helpful
for Unicorn Grocery to understand consumers to plan effective strategies (Richard and
Habibi, 2016).
5. Different levels of the consumer decision-making
It is identified that the process of decision-making which is taken by consumers leads to
take effective judgement whether to purchase the commodity or not. Here are ample number of
level includes in the process of user decision making. Many of these level are as follows:
Extended Problem Solving: It is the kind of level which assist the customers in order to
identify the reliability of goods and services while they plan to buy it in order to fulfil their
requirements (Schütte and Ciarlante, 2016).
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Limited Problem Solving: It is the level of an approach which allow the customers in
order to conduct the research about a specific product which they wants to buy in order to
accomplish their needs in an effective manner.
Routine Response Behaviour: At the end of this level it includes routine response
behaviour, under this customer are less attracted towards the goods and services those satisfy the
requirements for a less period of time.
6. Factors which influence or impact the decision-making
Here are ample number of elements which extremely affects the overall impact of
decision making procedure in positive as well as negative way. Some specific factors are
available at the marketplace which are different from each other as every human being have their
own need and requirements. Some of these factors are as follows:-
Purchasing power: This is the element which is effective as well as crucial element
which highly affects the overall decision making process of user. Each and every individual
analyse their buying ability while they take decision whether to acquire the particular product or
not.
Personal factors: Under this factors various aspects are going to be included which are
sexuality, age, nationality, demographics and many more of a consumer. All these factors
directly or indirectly affects the process of decision-making in affirmative & unsupportive way
while buying commodity & services from the marketplace (Shankar and et. al., 2016).
Cultural factors: It includes all those elements, which impact the procedure of taking
decisions as each individual have their own values, customs, religions and many more. All these
factors positively and negatively impacted upon the decision-making process of a person.
SECTION 2
1. Compare & Contrast among (B2B) and (B2C) in decision-making process.
This is one of effective and essential element of a company to sale their services,
commodities & products to their consumers in a positive and attractive manner. In order to
accomplish goals and objective in a positive manner, it is essential to use different approaches
which involves Business 2 Customer and Business 2 Business (Difference Between B2B and
B2C. 2019). According to this, it is clearly known that the users have authority to take their own
decisions whether to acquire the commodities & services or not (Shih and Ke, 2014). With the
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assistance of various formative approaches, organization will create positive impact among the
customers. Some of the differences between B2C and B2B are discussed as follows:
Basis B2B B2C
Buying decision In this context, it is known
that sales require some logical
enquiry which helps the seller
in order to access the duration
of products.
Apart from this, it is the
procedure which require less
time as each and every
individual have the right and
power in order to take
decisions whether they want
the product or not.
Decision connected with size
of the market
It is the type of business
which is linked with both
small and medium sized
marketplace. It also includes
specific selected market size.
In this context, it is identified
that the sized of marketplace is
big in reference to the
geographical appearance.
Finding of necessity It is the factor in which
effective determinations are
linked with different needs,
wants and requirements which
are related with business
strategies.
In order to gain attention of
large number of customer as
well as influence them by using
same kind of tools and
techniques (Xiang, Magnini
and Fesenmaier, 2015).
2. Market research varies as per B2B and B2C
In context of B2C it is also known as Business to Customer where all the transactions are
done between business organisations and customers. On the other hand, B2B refers to the
business in which all the transactions take place between business to Business. Below mention
are the market research of both organisation which are as follows:
B2C Market Research
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It is define as a kind of investigation which is basically carried out with the assistance of
customers. Herein all the enquiries are done in the references of products & services which are
planned by the entity in order to sell to the users (Zhang and Benyoucef, 2016). In associated
with Unicorn Grocery, it is necessary for the management team to conduct a research effectively
so that data is collected effectively about the products. As a result, it will assist in fulfilling the
requirements of customers.
B2B Market Research
The B2B market investigation defines as a procedure in which data is collected about the
current market area by using survey method. In the present context of Unicorn Grocery, with the
assistance of market investigation, organisation will examine needs of customers along with the
current marketplace trends.
3. Personality, self motivation and different customer perception impact on decision-making
process
Personality: It has been said that, organisations mainly focuses on examining the needs,
demands & requirements of customers. With the help of this, company provide goods and
services accordingly which create positive image of the organisation at the competitive
marketplace. Each and every individual have their own perceptions. Here are commonly two
kinds of personality elements which are agreeableness and openness.
Perception of customers: Every individual have their own perceptions towards a thing
which is quite different from the view of other person. Therefore, it will leads to influence the
process of decision making of customers in both positive and negative way (Bereznoy, 2019).
Self motivation: In this context, it is identified that customers mainly look for a specific
commodity and in return if they get affirmative return they will feel satisfied and self motivated.
Therefore, it has been said that individuals get influenced and encouraged if they get favourable
result.
4. Behavioural & cognitive approaches for understanding the consumer learning
Consumer learning define as a procedure with the assistance of which individual will be
able to acquire information about the consumption and purchase of goods and services which
they can further apply to their future behaviour (Biswas and Roy, 2015). Generally there are two
main types of consumer learning approach which are going to be discussed as follows:-
Behavioural approach
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It is the approach which mainly focuses on the outputs as well as inputs an individual is
exposed along with the consequent behaviour. Behavioural approach includes mainly two kinds
of theories which are as follows:
Instrumental conditioning: It refers to the theory which exemplify the relationship
between responses & stimulus. According to this, it has been said that results can be produced on
the basis of error & trial process.
Classical conditioning: It is on the other hand, concerned with the procedure of learning
which is developed by generating various outcomes by connecting two different stimuli in the
market area.
Cognitive approach
It is the approach which belief that customer learning define as one of the most difficult
mental process. As compare to behavioural approach, it is comprehensive data process which
mainly focuses on encouraging consumers and is a tough mental process.
5. Factors that impact on consumer behaviour
There are various factors which positively as well as negatively affect the consumer
behaviour. Some of these elements are going to be describe as follows:-
Cultural factor: It is the factor which includes beliefs, traditions, values, customs as well
as tradition of a particular region (Calder, Isaac and Malthouse, 2016). All these elements
highly affect the overall behaviour of an individual.
Economical factor: It includes all those elements which is associated with the economic
condition of the country. Some of these factors includes income level of individual, price of
products and services, assets as well as liabilities of a person. All these tends to highly influence
the process of decision-making of customers.
Social factors: It is the factor which includes various aspects such as income level,
educational background of an individual and so on. These elements and aspects influence the
behaviour of consumers.
6. Process of utilising the purchasing behaviour of customers for influencing the decision-
making process in context of B2B and B2C
Buying procedure of consumers: It has been said that purchasing procedure of user is
associated with the analysis of marketplace situations (Gensler and et. al., 2015). Their main
emphasis is on getting information about the purchasing decision of customers along with impact
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on the profitability as well as on the working condition of the business entity. It is important for
overall management of Unicorn Grocery to perform a study of customers behaviour in context of
various commodities & services.
Product specification investigation in order to target business owners: It is identified
that organisations possess all the information & knowledge about their need which highly
influence the decision making process about what they want to purchase. In the context of
identifying the capability as well as ability of buyer, it has been said that it is quite difficult task
which requires lot of research work.
7. Evaluation on the impact of digital audience research developments for understanding the
consumer behaviour
It is necessary for the management of Unicorn Grocery that they should ensure that no
alterations influence behaviour of their customers in negative manner. In order to get effective
understanding about customers behaviour, there are some digital factors which are going to be
discussed as follows:
Social media: It is a form of digital platforms which assist a company in various ways.
In the context of Unicorn Grocery, it is essential for them to use social media in order to attract
large number of customers towards them (Hofacker, Malthouse and Sultan, 2016). Along with
this, it will assist in getting feedbacks and reviews from customers in order to enhance the
quality of products according to the requirements of customers.
Website of company: It is another important factor with the help of which company share
their information with customers related to goods and services offered by them. It will help in
attracting more customers towards them in an effective manner.
CONCLUSION
From this report, it is concluded that each and every individual have their own perception
and rights to purchase goods & services. It is also identified that there are large factors which
affects the whole process of consumers decision-making in both positively & negatively manner.
Along with this, it is concluded that there are various models which might affect the overall
process of decision-making. Along with this, there are some digital methods which assist in
attracting customers in an effective manner.
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