Understanding Consumer Insights for Effective Marketing

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Consumer Behavior and Insight

Table of Contents
Introduction.................................................................................................................................3
LO1 Demonstrate the ability to map a path to purchase in a given category, including the
decision making process..................................................................................................................3
P1 Explain and analyze the stages of the consumer decision making journey for a given
product/service.............................................................................................................................3
P2 Explain why it is important for marketers to map a path to purchase and understand
consumer decision-making..........................................................................................................4
LO2 Evaluate appropriate forms of research to understand influences on the decision-making
process (B2C and B2B)...................................................................................................................6
P3 Compare and contrast the key differences of the decision-making process in the context of
B2C and B2B, providing specific examples................................................................................6
P4 Evaluate the different approaches to market research and methods of research used for
understanding the decision-making process in both B2C and B2B contexts. (466 words).........7
Complexity of purchase decision-...........................................................................................8
Derived demand.......................................................................................................................8
Less choice to switch suppliers................................................................................................8
Customer base-........................................................................................................................9
LO3 Evaluate how marketers influence the different stages of the decision –making process
(B2C and B2B) decision making process (B2C and B2B)............................................................10
P5 Evaluate how marketers can influence the different stages of the decision making process
of B2C and B2B, giving specific examples. (933 words).........................................................10

Problem Recognition-............................................................................................................11
Given time to risk management-............................................................................................11
Finding alternatives –............................................................................................................11
Final Purchasing of Product-.................................................................................................12
Review about purchase-.........................................................................................................12
Conclusion.....................................................................................................................................13
References......................................................................................................................................14

Introduction
In this report we are going to discuss about customer behavior and insight into it we will start by
mapping a path to purchase a product in decision making process particular to a category also
we will discuss about why it is necessary do so as it requires much time and energy so it should
not be wasted in any of the way, we will also discuss about marketers in context to a business as
well as in context to a consumer how this relation goes on between them, how market research is
done for decision making all its steps which required to be covered in order to make a successful
marketing to be done.

LO1 Demonstrate the ability to map a path to purchase in a given category, including the
decision making process
P1 Explain and analyze the stages of the consumer decision making journey for a given
product/service.
A great thinker said “Advertisement is not expenses, it is investment”. A consumer has always
awareness of the products which he wants to buy or he is clearly aware about the product he
wants to buy. Secondly, a product consumer is already using he is familiar to it, he takes
consideration with its loyalty and equipped with latest technologies and then he turn into the
decision of purchase.
Today marketers have only a goal to approach consumers at this moment which will in turn
influence their decisions. Any manufacturer company make sure that customers watch their
televisions more often and continue watching it regularly but also see latest televisions display
HD smart pictures and marketing companies like Amazon, Flip cart etc. they display product
recommendations to consumers using machine learning who are already logged in their PCs and
ready to buy it every time they visit the website. Every day, people form impressions of brands
from touch points such as advertisements, news reports, conversations with family and friends,
and product experiences.
In fact the decision making pipeline is a quite critical journey, with various battlegrounds where
marketers exhibits their products with the comparison with their competitors at similar stages of
highlighting their product at a upper ground and telling them it as better as comparison to other
products available in the market they also highlight the drawbacks of competitor’s product
which affects the consumer’s decision by evaluating the brands, post purchase services,
adopting it possible to focus on different aspects of the required product.
Suppose, a consumer willing to buy a car is confused about the different products and brands
available in the market and cannot think or evaluate about one brand in end due to large
marketing which is done by every car maker in the market so he has to choose one of them
precisely.

P2 Explain why it is important for marketers to map a path to purchase and understand
consumer decision-making
A marketer is a person who markets products and show it in a way that the consumers gets
attracted to them and buy them eventually, so if the marketer is able to map and identify the path
that the consumer will follow while making a decision to purchase anything which is also called
customer decision making then it would be very helpful in marketing more effectively and
expanding their market to a next level;
This journey is generally having six stages that starts with evaluation of product and
consideration of it before transitioning into a loop that includes four stages which include buying
of product, experiencing the product while using it and making a view about it that is is good or
not, next stage include advocating about product, and the last stage include bonding of product
which is the last stage of it.
An American association stated that this journey is circular and include different stages which
should be followed step by step which include consideration of product, evaluation of the
product closure and post purchase and the last step is loyalty which closes the circle of customer
decision circular loop.
Some of them believe that customer decision journey represents a web or map rather than a liner
path it doesn’t have any single starting and end point but it have multiple starting points and end
points so there may be many pathways to treat them initially.
Actually the true customer generally has much iteration, so business should rather use data which
is hided in respect to the customer’s path; some customers can skip some steps based on the
research they have performed that they want to purchase.
There may be some instances where marketers can find customers to caught up in similar points
while they search about any product, marketers who can find these steps in which they get
caught up they can successfully make through it and find more of the effective ways to deal with
it some websites can also be made whose analytics can provide us the valuable path to recognize
where the business is losing customers and where is the most he needs to get his focus on.

Marketers should also be able to determine the length of their customer –decision making
journey which can be different based on product particular which they might purchase or it can
be based on service too.
Initially phase of this can include shopping for many hours in which he might read many of the
reviews about that particular product he wants to purchase he might also use search engines to
search about a particular brand read about it daily or go and physically look for it, as he is
interested in purchasing it.
When marketers map their customer decision journey, they might be passionate about where
their customer are interested in in which products they are interested in and find a opportunity in
customer decision journey ,marketers should also watch out their competitor’s purchasing paths
they follow and can interfere in between them and can take away their customers to them.

LO2 Evaluate appropriate forms of research to understand influences on the decision-
making process (B2C and B2B)
P3 Compare and contrast the key differences of the decision-making process in the context
of B2C and B2B, providing specific examples.
A decision making process is a process which includes the process of making a decision
according to our intellectual abilities and perception of things, a person can make decision when
he is running a business or basically a consumer, an interaction can hold between a business
running person to another business running person or it can be done between business running
person to the ultimate customer who is going to use product ultimately and is on the last level of
chain running which is between the one who are making products and who is consuming
products ultimately.
A business to business (B2B) and a business to customers (B2C) have a large difference if we
talked about their decision making they are as listed below-
1. A contract can be built between a business running people to another business running
person whereas it is generally not available between B2C i.e. business to consumer as the
ultimate consumer would not be purchasing products in so much bulk so they would not
want any contract to be signed between them, consumer make take only one thing or a
single product of anything so it would be also difficult for them to sign a contact every
time and this would become cumbersome too so they will not have any facility to
purchase it every time.
2. A B2C (Business to consumer) have a clause of right to inform which is given by court
and is included in law in which a consumer can inform or file a case against the business
if he is not satisfied from the service provided to them or from any product they have
purchased but in B2B i.e. business to business this facility is not available, they can
include it in contract but this is not approved already by law this is legal only if included
in contract.
3. There is no clause of providing any rebate in B2B Business to business process, if not
included in contract or discussed between two parties but the court has passed a law for

the rebates between B2C, there is allowed rebate for consumers who are below poverty
line, the ones who are not able to fulfill their basic needs are given some allowance for
purchasing products on given rebates available to them.
4. Taking about discounts, it can be available for interaction between a business to business
as they would be ordering in bulk but this is not available for B2C (business to
consumers) so they might not get any discount for purchasing single products if they
would be ordering something in bulk then discounts for consumers might be available.
5. In B2C there are many intermediate chains between the main product maker and the
ultimate consumer who is going to consume products, there might be wholesalers,
retailers and many of the people involved in between but this is not in the case of
business to business i.e. B2B.

P4 Evaluate the different approaches to market research and methods of research used for
understanding the decision-making process in both B2C and B2B contexts.
Market research is something which is related to research of market before making any decision
so that our product can be used fully and should not be wasted in any of the way, research should
be done before purchasing anything, in order to buy a product which is worthy and is of our use
only, if we would be purchasing anything without any market research then it might be possible
that the product came to us is of no use to us and we might not be able to use it properly so a
market research should always be made in order to use product fully and worth it.
There are various tools available to support B2B, which can help to research market which
include internet as well as other technologies which are very interactive and can be used easily, a
person can research on Social networking Sites (SNS) but this is also limited as their might not
be availability of every product on social media sites and the achievement of brand objective
remains limited as it might be of no use then, both B2B and B2C have most of the modernist
nature in their approach there are techniques available in business to consumer but there are
none of them available in business to business .
The use of websites is available in creating value in industrial buyer seller relationships through
which a consumer can research whatever he needs and can buy that product as and when needed.
There is also a conceptual level made in Sweden in which by using four research question as a
guide, a qualitative, case study approach is followed which covers both business to business as
well as business to consumer approach ,and we can have a market research in both respect for
them and analyze the products accordingly.
Although there cannot be any quality search regarding this and it is rarely to generalize in any
way because of the dynamically changing situation around the world but the extranets can be
developed in order to have some study in this and analyze the situation to the core and research
accordingly and their might be a situation or instance where in future they could be analyzed and
provide some help in seller buyer relationships. There are some differences as well as
complexities which are as explained-

Complexity of purchase decision-
In B2B there is complexity of purchase decision as there are many tiers involved in it
from executive to staff, accountants or the suppliers there are many of them involved in
the purchase.
Derived demand
Basically there should be interaction between the ends consumers to the product makers
as they can meet all the needs of consumers based on their needs, if they could derive
their demand then they can work on it and make products accordingly.
Less choice to switch suppliers
When operating for B2B, if the supplier of the particular product gets interrupted or he
might not be available to supply at that instant of time then their occurs a problem as their
might be a possibility that company may be operating in market having less number of
suppliers or their might be less alternatives available also simply switching may consume
time and add cost to the product.
Customer base-
In business to business markets there are often less customers available, a company might
be having thousands of customers but that company might be dealing with small number
of suppliers and vice versa B2C have a large customer base in general.

LO3 Evaluate how marketers influence the different stages of the decision –making process
(B2C and B2B) decision making process (B2C and B2B).
P5 Evaluate how marketers can influence the different stages of the decision making
process of B2C and B2B, giving specific examples.
A decision making process is something if it is known by the marketers then it would be very
helpful for them to attract their customers easily and which will help them to expand their
business easily. Marketers need to reach to their consumers when they are going to purchase the
products they are going to buy, there are only some of the moments where they can get
influenced these points are called touch points other moments that are important and that maters
the most to the marketers.
These are basically the moments marketers generally wait for these are analyzed by tunnel which
is in use from ancient times it has basically five steps which starts with a large group of people
which come under awareness these are the people which are basically have knowledge about the
product and are aware of the product the company is selling to, these group further divides into
smaller group called familiarity which gets further divided into consideration, familiarity
includes persons who are familiar to your products and have idea about your product ,this further
gets divided into consideration group those people who consider your product and want to use it ,
this group gets finally divided into the group who purchase your product and finally your
product gets sold which was made and marketed well the detailed product includes some basic
step which are as under-
It requires specific functions to be performed which includes-
Problem Recognition-
This is the first stage of any decision making process as we need to know what the
problem is before tend to solve it, we can know about problem and gat it recognized only
if we connect to our customers on daily basis, we need to know what they want if
something is missing to them we need to know it and get back to work on it so that our
customers get full satisfaction for the product and are happy about the product.