5 Stages of consumer buying decision process

The marketer is responsible for selling the goods in the market so he must have the knowledge
how the consumers actually make their buying decisions. For this he must study the consumer
buying decision process or model. It involves five stages.

1.) Need recognition:- consumer buying decision process starts with need recognition. The
marketer must recognize the needs of the consumer as well as how these needs can be
satisfied. For example if a person is hungry then food is desired or if it is a matter of thirst than
water is desirable.

2.) Information search:– in consumer buying decision process information search comes at
second number. In this stage consumer searches the information about the product either from
family, friends, neighborhood, advertisements, whole seller, retailers, dealers, or by examining
or using the product.

3.) Evaluation of alternatives:– after getting the required knowledge about the product the
consumer evaluate the various alternatives on the basis of it’s want satisfying power, quality
and it’s features.

4.) Purchase decision:– after evaluating the alternatives the buyer buys the suitable product.
But there are also the chances to postpone the purchase decision due to some reasons. In that
case the marketer must try to find out the reasons and try to remove them either by providing
sufficient information to the consumers or by giving them guarantee regarding the product to
the consumer.

5.) Post purchase behavior:– after buying the product consumer will either be satisfied or
dissatisfied. If the consumer is not satisfied in that case he will be disappointed otherwise If he
is satisfied than he will be delighted. It is usually said that a satisfy consumer tell about the
product to 3 people and a dissatisfy consumer tell about the product to 11 people. Therefore it
is the duty of the marketer to satisfy the consumer.
Thus, these are the five stages of the consumer buying decision process.

Factors Influencing Consumer Behavior

Definition: The Consumer Behavior is the study of how an individual decides to purchase a
particular product over the other and what are the underlying factors that mold such behavior.

Factors Influencing Consumer Behavior

The marketers try to understand the actions of the consumers in the marketplace and the
underlying motives for such actions. These motives are the factors that influence the consumer
behavior. These are:

Characteristics/ factors influencing consumer behavior(***)

Psychological Factors: The human psychology plays a crucial role in designing the consumer’s
preferences and likes or dislikes for a particular product and services. Some of the important
psychological factors are:

 Motivation
 Perception
 Learning
 Attitudes and Beliefs

Social Factors: The human beings live in a complex social environment wherein they are
surrounded by several people who have different buying behaviors. Since the man is a social
animal who likes to be acceptable by all tries to imitate the behaviors that are socially
acceptable. Hence, the social factors influence the buying behavior of an individual to a great
extent. Some of the social factors are:
  Family
 Reference Groups
 Roles and status

Cultural Factors: It is believed that an individual learns the set of values, perceptions,
behaviors, and preferences at a very early stage of his childhood from the people especially, the
family and the other key institutions which were around during his developmental stage. Thus,
the behavioral patterns are developed from the culture where he or she is brought up. Several
cultural factors are:

 Culture
 Subculture
 Social Class

Personal Factors: There are several factors personal to the individuals that influence their
buying decisions. Some of them are:

 Age
 Income
 Occupation
 Lifestyle

Economic Factors: The last but not the least is the economic factors which have a significant
influence on the buying decision of an individual. These are:

 Personal Income
 Family Income
 Income Expectations
 Consumer Credit
  Liquid Assets of the Consumer
 Savings

These are some of the underlying factors that influence the consumer behavior, and the
marketer must keep these in mind, so that appropriate strategic marketing decision is made.

4 types of consumer buying behavior

Wants are unlimited and the resources to satisfy these wants are limited. So the consumers think
rationally before buying any product. Buying a toothpaste is totally different from buying a
luxury car. The more expensive the good is the more information is required by the consumer.
There are four types of consumer buying behavior on the basis of buyer involvement while
purchasing any product.

  High involvement Low involvement

Significant differences Complex buying behavior Variety seeking behavior
between brands (motor cycle ) (washing detergent)

Few differences between Dissonance buying behavior Habitual buying behavior

brands (floor tiles) (toothpaste)

High involvement:- the term means when the consumer is highly involved while buying a
product. Generally this situation happens in case of expensive or luxuries goods. Like while
buying a diamond necklace a consumer is highly involved.

Low involvement:- this term means when the consumer is not highly involved while buying a
product. It happens in case of low price goods. Like while buying toothpaste a consumer is not
highly involved.

Significant differences between brands:- it means when there are significant differences
between brands.

Few differences between brands:- it means when there are very little differences between
brands.
 1) Complex buying behavior:- when the consumer is highly involved in the buying and there
is significant differences between brands then it is called complex buying behavior. So in this
case the consumer must collect proper information about the product features and the
marketer must provide detailed information regarding the product attributes. For eg. Consumer
while buying a motor cycle is highly involved in the purchase and has the knowledge about
significant differences between brands.

2) Variety seeking behavior:- in this case consumer involvement is low while buying the
product but there are significant differences between brands. Consumers generally buy
different products not due to dissatisfaction from the earlier product but due to seek variety.
Like every time they buy different washing detergent just for variety. So it is the duty of the
marketer to encourage the consumer to buy the product by offering them discounts, free
samples and by advertising the product a lot.

3) Dissonance buying behavior:- here consumer is highly involved in the purchase but there
are few differences between brands. Like consumer while buying a floor tiles buy them quickly
as there are few differences between brands.

4) Habitual buying behavior:- in this case there is low involvement of the consumer and
there are few differences between brands. The consumer buys the product quickly. For eg.
Toothpaste.

Buyer Decision Process for New Products

When defining a new product, it may not be necessarily newly introduced to market, but it can
also be perceived by potential customers as new. In such situations, we look into the adoption
process – which is defined as the “mental process through which an individual passes from first
learning about an innovation to final adoption” and adoption is the decision by an individual to
become a regular user of the product.\

1st stage :

In adoption process in which an individual pass from first hearing about an animation to final
adaption . consisting 5step (AIERTA)

1. Awareness – consumer becomes aware of the new product but lacks information about it
2. Interest – consumer seeks information about the new product
3. Evaluation – consumer considers whether trying the new product makes sense
 4. Trial – consumer tries the new product on a small scale to improve his/her estimate of its
value
5. Adoption – consumer decides to make full and regular use of the new product

It is then the responsibility of the marketer to move the consumer through each of these 5 stages.

Stage 2:

In which product area there are consumption pioneer and early adaptor other individual adopt
new product much later

When evaluating consumers, they can be classified into 5 adopter groups:

1. Innovators – they are venturesome

2. Early adopters – they are guided by respect and often are opinion leaders in their
communities
3. Early majority – they are deliberate
4. Late majority – they are sceptical
5. Laggards – they are tradition-bound

STAGE 3

Influence of product characteristics on rate of adoption

To a consumer, there are 5 especially important product characteristics that affect the rate of
adoption:

1. Relative advantage – the degree to which the innovation appears superior to existing
products.
2. Compatibility – the degree to which the innovation fits the value and experiences of
potential consumers
3. Complexity – the degree to which the innovation is difficult to understand or use
4. Divisibility – the degree to which the innovation may be tried on a limited basis
5. Communicability – the degree to which the results of using the innovation can be
observed and described to others.