This presentation is prepared by Dr.

Archana
Shrivastava for class room discussion from various
internet resources. Not for sale.

Learning Objectives
You should be able to:
1. Buying decision behavior and the stages in the buyer decision
process

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Outline
1. Buying Decision Behavior
2. The Buyer Decision Process

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Types of Buying Decision Behavior

Complex Buying Behavior
When consumers are highly motivated in a purchase and
perceive significant differences among brands
Purchasers are highly motivated when:
Product is expensive
Product is risky
Product is purchased infrequently
Product is highly self-expressive
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High involvement
(high risk)

Low involvement
(low risk)

Significant
differences
between brands

Complex buying
behavior (motor
cycle )

Variety seeking
behavior (washing
detergent)

Few differences
between brands

Dissonance buying Habitual buying

behavior (floor
behavior
tiles)
(toothpaste)

Types of Buying Decision Behavior

Dissonance-reducing buying behavior occurs when
consumers are highly involved with an expensive,
infrequent, or risky purchase, but see little difference
among brands
Post-purchase dissonance occurs when the
consumer notices certain disadvantages of the
product purchased or hears favorable things about a
product not purchased
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Types of Buying Decision Behavior

Habitual buying behavior occurs when
consumers have low involvement and there is
little significant brand difference- match box
Variety-seeking buying behavior occurs when
consumers have low involvement and there are
significant brand differencesmobile, laptop

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BUYER DECISION PROCESS

STEPS IN THE BUYER DECISION PROCESS

Marketers understand that the process
begins long before the actual purchase
decision and continues after the
purchase decision.
Often steps are skipped in the process,
particularly when consumers make
routine repetitive purchases.

NEED RECOGNITION

Begins when a problem or need

arises.
Triggered by internal stimuli such as
hunger or thirst or
Triggered by external stimuli such as
an advertisement or discussion with
a friend.
Marketers need to anticipate these
problems or needs before consumers
do.
Finally marketers need to be able to

The Buyer Decision Process

Need Recognition
Need recognition occurs when the buyer recognizes a
problem or need triggered by:
Internal stimuli
External stimuli

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 Depending
on the intensity of the need and
INFORMATION
SEARCH

the immediate availability of the product,

a consumer may or may not undertake
research.
The amount of research a consumer does
depends on:
Strength

of need or drive
The amount of information they start with
The ease of obtaining more information
Satisfaction gained from the research process

SOURCES OF INFORMATION

Personal sources
Family,

friends, neighbors

Commercial sources
Advertising,

salespeople, brochures, packaging, retail displays

Public sources
Websites

that independently rate products or have other

consumer ratings
Newspaper and magazine product evaluations or reviews

Experimental sources
Product

product

demonstrations, handling or examining product, trying

VALUE OF INFORMATION

Information can help to eliminate certain choices or

advance certain choices closer to the purchase decision.
Most information comes to consumers from commercial
sources, however personal sources tend to have a much
higher relative value in the information search process.
Marketers need to keep a sharp focus on the information
channels consumers use and make potential consumers
more knowledgeable about their brand.

EVALUATION OF ALTERNATIVES

Consumers do not use a simple and single evaluation

process in all buying situations.
Marketers need to consider all of the influencers of
consumer behavior and be able to apply them to
various situations.
Often the evaluation process is logical and scientific.
This is more likely to relate to larger or more longterm purchases. (The big-ticket items)
Often however, the evaluation process is almost
nonexistent. Consumers buy on impulse and rely on
intuition.

EVALUATION OF ALTERNATIVES

The evaluation process is often made alone, but

can also be made with the help of family or
friends.
A purchase based on a logical evaluation of
various product attributes can also be helpful.
For example, when considering various cars,
the consumer might determine that attributes
such as styling is more important that warranty
or reliability, or reliability is more important
than fuel economy.
The relative weighting of alternatives is used as

EVALUATING ALTERNATIVES

Marketers need to understand the steps that consumers go

through to evaluate alternatives.
Once marketers understand those steps, they can attempt
to influence consumers to sway their evaluation process
toward their brand.

PURCHASE
DECISION
The result
of the Evaluation Stage is that

consumers generally have ranked their

alternatives and formulated a purchase
intention.
Two factors can still change the outcome
between the purchase intention and the
purchase decision.
Attitudes

of others
Situational factors

PURCHASE DECISION
Attitudes of others-If someone important to
you thinks that you should buy the more
fuel efficient car then your chances of
buying the more stylish car are reduced
Situational factors-Sudden changes in the
economy, job status or family makeup may
change the ultimate decision. Additional
factors such as a more competitive price
might also influence the ultimate shift from

 The
POSTPURCHASE
marketersBEHAVIOR
job does not end when the

purchase is made.
The satisfaction after purchase depends largely
on the relationship between a consumers
expectations and the products perceived
performance.
The larger the gap between expectations and
performance, the more dissatisfied the
consumer is likely to be.
Logically, it is important to be sure that the
seller doesnt promise more than the product

POST-allPURCHASE
BEHAVIOR
Almost
major purchases
result in some degree
of discomfort caused by post-purchase conflict.
This is known as cognitive dissonance.
Consumer satisfaction and minimizing cognitive
dissonance is the goal of marketers and is essential
in building a relationship with a consumer.

The Buyer Decision Process

Post-Purchase Decision
The larger the gap between expectation and
performance, the greater the consumers
dissatisfaction
Cognitive dissonance is the discomfort caused by a
post-purchase conflict

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POSTPURCHASE
BEHAVIOR
A dissatisfied customer can result in:
Failure

to be a repeat customer
Generate bad word-of-mouth
Poor customer product reviews

Customers often do not communicate their

dissatisfaction with the company.
Companies

must measure customer satisfaction

regularly
They must encourage customers to complain
Develop strong post-purchase product support
Provide various outlets for customers to communicate
their dissatisfaction

The Buyer Decision Process

Post-Purchase Decision
Customer satisfaction is a key to building profitable
relationships with consumersto keeping and growing
consumers and reaping their customer lifetime value

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