Consumer Decision Making Analysis Through Survey Questionnaires

This report provides a critical analysis of consumer decision-making processes, specifically focusing on laptop purchases. The study utilizes survey questionnaires to understand the factors influencing consumer behavior, including price sensitivity, desired features, and brand preferences. The analysis examines three different respondents, representing diverse demographics and personalities, to illustrate how individual characteristics impact purchase decisions. The report explores the influence of personality traits, demographics (age, ethnicity, income), and psychological theories (Allport's trait theory, Freud's Personality Theory, and Social Learning Theory) on consumer choices. The findings highlight the importance of understanding consumer needs and preferences for effective marketing strategies. The report concludes with recommendations for marketers, emphasizing the need to tailor marketing approaches based on consumer profiles and emphasizing product features that align with their specific needs and desires. The research emphasizes that demographics and personality significantly influence consumer choices, which is essential for marketers to consider.

Consumer Decision Making Analysis through Survey
Questionnaires

Table of Contents
Introduction......................................................................................................................................3
Result analysis of the Survey Questionnaire...................................................................................4
Conclusion.......................................................................................................................................6
Recommendations............................................................................................................................7
References........................................................................................................................................8

Introduction
Purchase decisions could be extremely tough decisions given the wide array of choices available
in the market nowadays. Most of the consumers feel confused while making purchase decisions
and get stuck on the choices available. Especially making decisions about buying laptops or
mobiles et cetera becomes extremely complex because there are several kinds of products that
have different features which makes the customer confused about going for a particular brand.
This is not only complex for the consumers but it is also complex for the marketers to prepare an
effective product and release it in the market without thorough analysis of the consumer demands
and understanding of the taste and preference of the consumers. In a competitive retail market
understanding and determining what consumers want is imperative for the provision of the best
possible service to the consumers (Solomon, Russell-Bennett & Previte, 2012). Consumer
Survey is an extremely important effective tool which helps the marketers to understand the
needs and wants and the inclinations of the consumers in terms of choosing a product and hence
this is extremely important to properly analyse the survey results received from the respondents
to make effective marketing decisions in favor of an organisation. The present study is critical
analysis of the received survey results on the purchase of the laptops. The study will involve
discussions of theoretical and practical perspectives which would help the marketers to develop
effective strategies for marketing.

Result analysis of the Survey Questionnaire
The survey questionnaire helps the researchers to understand what they intend to understand
from a particular research. Customer survey is extremely effective because it helps the
organisation to determine the key aspects that consumers implement while making purchase
decisions. It is important to take into account the survey results and interpret them in the best
possible way to place products accordingly in the market for the target audience. In the present
case few respondents who are consumers looking to buy laptops have been considered as the
sample populace for the research (Gunter & Furnham, 2014). The quantitative questionnaire has
been developed which mainly contain relevant questions about purchase decisions of the
consumers that is what are the factors that drives them to buy different options the laptop
segment. For the present analysis 3 different respondents from the groups have been chosen and
their response from the questionnaire surveys will be analysed in order to understand the
behavior they show and the way they make their decisions while purchasing a laptop (Luchs &
Mooradian, 2012).
The first subject taken is respondent 5 and is a male who is 63 years old. The person is a director
of a company. The person has done higher studies and has completed Masters which helps to
realise that the person is stable in the professional field. Being a director of a company he
requires looking like that to support his cause in the office and this clearly drives his needs and
requirements. Personality plays an important role in the decision making for consumption of
products and services and hence this stands to be an extremely relevant aspect in making
purchase decisions. Since the person is a company director his personality would be pretty
similar to his position. It is important that the person is able to maintain a strong executive
behavior and personality in the office which should reflect even from his gadgets (Rani, 2014).
As per his responses received from the survey no. 5 it clearly reflect that price is not a factor for
the person because he wants the best quality product and hence he has chosen option 4 from the
given chart in the list because that is the most expensive laptop. As the ethnicity of the man is
German he is focused on having all the authority pretty similar to the other German people.
According to Allport’s trait theory the personality of a person is driven by the uniqueness of the
individual, intelligence, temperament, habits, skills and attitudes which clearly drive the taste and

preference of the consumers. As compared to the other two respondents this respondent is
educated, with higher skills and knowledge and ultimately also earning more that is actually
driving the choice of the person (Huang, Mitchell & Rosenaum‐Elliott, 2012).
On the other hand Respondent 1 is a young student 19 years of age and hence his main criterion
to buy a laptop is to get it at an affordable price. It is important to note that he is in the
educational stage where the total earning of the person is less and but he also wants get
maximum performance and hence he is opting for the 5th option to get Dell inspiron 15 7000
gaming. It is extremely important to note that the behavior of this kind of student is mainly
driven by the trend, interest and influenced by class (Sandy, Gosling and Durant, 2013).
According to Freud’s Personality Theory this person is young and aspires to become big one day.
It is important to note as a young student he has significant knowledge of computers which
clearly inform his decision. Even though his primary driving influence to buy the laptop stands
to be price pretty unlike the 5th respondent he is looking for quality configuration and feature
which is also unlike the previous respondent because there is a huge different in behavior
showed as the theories of personality they follow (O'Reilly et al., 2012). The fifth respondent is
successful and composed whereas this respondent is in formative stage and volatile which
largely impact the choice made by the person.
Respondent 2 is a flight attendant, female at her mid twenties which clear the air that the
individual is largely driven by style and class. Since she is sophisticated she needs sassy products
to be in her circle of friends which naturally drives her choice. In this case the social learning
theory by Rotter is apt. As per this theory the behavior of the person is largely defined by the
interaction which happens between him or her and the environment. In this case the flight
attendant is working in different field altogether where individuals have to maintain themselves
properly and is also getting paid properly and this drives the choice of the product that is the
most expensive product of the list the fifth option that is Dell XPS 13 (Quintelier, 2014).
It is clear from their behavior that all the three individuals are driven by their own position where
the company director is looking for effective service and moderate price, the student is looking
for best features considering the fact that this will provide the best possible service then the flight
attendant is thinking about the weight which is naturally related to her job and hence this choice.

The behavior reflected by these three individuals is apt in their own way as the position and
abilities influence their purchase decision making (Hawkins, Mothersbaugh & Best, 2013).
The three respondents also significantly differ in terms of demographics. As per the analysis of
the chosen respondents it is clear that since the company director is old and wise he is making a
choice that is likely to help him operate effectively in his field of operations. It cannot be denied
that demographic largely drive consumer behavior which is reflected through the present
respondents. With age people become more composed and efficient and through the
questionnaire it has been understood clearly (Solomon et al., 2014). The position and
demographics of the people are related to each other and hence it could be said that the young
student who is looking for an affordable laptop has chosen an option that comes over the range
of 1000 USD. On the other hand the respondent in her mid twenties has achieved a position
according to her age which clearly helps her to make decision to buy the most expensive laptop.
One thing that is extremely important to highlight here is the difference of thought which is clear
in this case and it comes with age and accordingly the behavior changes (Lin & Huang, 2012).
The young lady has achieved a job that pays well and hence she made a quick decision to buy the
most expensive item on the list whereas the older person that is the company director chose to go
with less expensive yet performing product which shows the wise behavior of the person.
Demographics also involve ethnicity and income and family situation. Given the present
information both the company director and flight attendant have strong family background and
ethnicity which loves to get expensive things whereas the student is Korean and they believe in
buying that what is essential and needed which clearly inform his choice (Nga & Ken Yien,
2013).
Conclusion
Demographics and personality largely drive the choice of the persons to buy something.
Especially the narcissistic approach of people also plays an important role in making purchase
decisions. It is important to mention young people make purchase decisions based on the design
and style of the products mostly whereas older ones tend to sleep over the decision getting the
justification to make the choice for a product. The present study has been able to analyse the
behavior of the consumers based on their age and personality to make purchase decisions that
provides significant insights to the markets.

Recommendations
It is important to note that the marketer selling laptop to the flight attendant to have strong
understanding of the way his customer thinks. Based on his understanding and memory the
below suggestions could be given:
 Customer like Flight attendants with the similar kind of background will be interested to
buy expensive items and hence showing something expensive will catch their attention.
 On the other hand these people are pompous about their status and hence being able to
show products absolutely classy and snazzy will involve them in the sales communication
(Lysonski & Durvasula, 2013).
 They are not bothered about features and it is important to emphasise on the sleek design
and price of the products which would help to draw the attention of the customer (Maity
& Dass, 2014).

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