Consumer Decision Making Process: Analysis Of Two Respondents’ Purchase Journey

Part 1: Interview process

In any business, consumers play a critical role and the marketers need to understand the reasons why the consumers behave the way they do. This is also known as consumer buyer behaviour which reflects the ultimate behaviour of the buyer of the final product offered (Cant, 2006). In most cases, a consumer goes through a process comprised of different stages before making a final decision to purchase the product he or she desires. This is known as the consumer decision making process and it is mainly influenced by various psychological and socio-cultural factors (Kotler and Armstrong, 2010).  As such, this paper seeks to analyse how two respondents that have been interviewed go through the decision making process. The paper is comprised of two stages: the first stage is about the interview process about how the consumers go through each buying process step and the second part pertains to critical analysis of the findings.

1. a. The two respondents interviewed bought a tablet each. One of the respondents was a student in her early 20s and the other one was a gentleman who was in his early 30s and he belonged to the working class.
2.  The type of purchase decision was extended and it was a high involvement decision. According to Brookins (2017), extensive decisions involve purchases of products with high prices such as electronic gadgets like computers as well as cameras among other products. These products involve extensive decision making since the consumers are compelled to research extensively about the options available before they make a final decision to purchase it. The customers need to read widely about the product, consult sales professionals, peers and they also need to read a variety of online reviews about the product. The two respondents pointed that they researched extensively about various tablets offered in the market in order to make informed decisions for final purchase.
3. Purchase decision making process consists of five stages namely: need recognition, information search, evaluation of alternatives, purchase decision and post purchase behaviour (Strydom, 2006). The following factors influenced both respondents to buy tablets.
4. i) Both respondents stated that the problem was triggered after realizing that a tablet had additional applications not found on other ordinary smartphones. The consumers indicated that they could use a tablet as a mini laptop, a function that could not be performed by ordinary smartphones.
5. ii) The time taken for information search by both respondents was quite long given that there are quite a lot of brands in the market that are offered by different cellular manufacturers. Both respondents indicated that they utilised different sources of information such as the internet, magazines and they also sought expert advice from other personal sources that involved family members, friends and sales representatives of different shops that sold a variety of electrical gadgets including tablets. However, both respondents consented that the bulk of information they used to make decision purchases for their tablets came from commercial sources. These are controlled by the marketers and they include advertisements in newspapers and other forms of electronic media such as the internet and television.

     iii) The evaluation of alternatives is where the consumers use information gathered to evaluate the alternative brands available (Kotler and Keller, 2006). The criteria used by both respondents involved the following aspects: battery life span, price, as well as applications. Indeed, it was not easy for the respondents to reach a final decision in purchasing the desired product but they both said that fairly priced products influenced them to buy the tablets. The respondents pointed that they compared prices between the products with high products and those with low prices. They then settled for tablets with average prices and they also considered other aspects like battery life span since they indicated that they prefer using their devices away from homes where they could easily get power supply.

1. iv)  Both consumers purchased their devices from retail chain supermarkets that operated in their nearest place. The final decision is often triggered by the incentive that is also offered for purchasing the product (Daramola, 204). Both respondents said that they got price discounts for purchasing the tablets in hard cash. They indicated that the sales representatives convinced them that they will get handsome discounts from purchasing the product and true to their promise, these two respondents got discounts. They were also influenced by other factors such as design of the tablet and potential for battery to have a long life span which was one of the main features they considered.
2. v) After the post purchase stage, both consumers indicated that they were happy with the devices they bought. This shows post purchase behaviour where the consumer takes further action after purchase depending on whether they are satisfied or not (Kotler and Armstrong, 2010). The consumers also indicated that they will continue conducting market research about similar products so that they can make informed decisions in future should they decide to buy the same devices again. They also pointed that they can use this information to help their peers to make informed decisions should they also decide to buy tablets.    

The findings from the interviews conducted between the two respondents mentioned above show that their actions towards making final decisions to purchase their tablets closely followed the buyer decision process model. According to Brookins (2015), consumers usually prefer the extended purchase form when buying electronic devices that are often characterised by high prices. In this particular case, it was also observed that the consumers extensively searched for information after recognizing the need to purchase a tablet. They both indicated that they utilised quite a number of sources to obtain information about the desired product. As shown in the buyer decision process model, the respondents also evaluated different alternatives available in the market before making a purchase decision. In other words, the decision was reached after undergoing a thorough process of information search and evaluation of the alternatives available. The respondents also reflected on their post purchase behaviour where they have shown that they are satisfied with the brands they settled for.    

It can also be noted that the behaviour of people is also influenced by aspects such as learning, attitude as well as beliefs. According to Kotler and Armstrong (2010), when people act, they learn and learning describes the changes in human behaviour which arise from experience. As such, the learning theorists suggest that human behaviour is learned since it is first stimulated, the individual then responds and it is reinforced after a positive response has been witnessed. As illustrated by the responses from the two respondents interviewed, consumer buyer behaviour is a learned process reached after people have acquired some knowledge from different sources. This constitutes learning.  

Part 2: Analysis of findings and link with theories of consumer behavior

The other aspect that plays a significant role in influencing consumer buyer behavior pertains to attitude. Joshi and Rahman (2015) state that attitude influences the buying behavior of people in different ways. Basically, attitude is described as a person’s relatively consistent evaluation, feeling or tendency toward something (Kotler and Armstrong, 2015). In other words, a person’s attitude reflects his or her feeling towards something and this feeling can either be negative or positive. A negative attitude deters the potential buyer from buying the product while a positive attitude influences him or her to buy the product offered. In this particular case, it can be seen that both respondents bought tablets after developing a positive attitude towards the brand that was finally purchased. The other issue is that the behaviour of consumers towards certain products can be influenced by their beliefs. A belief is a descriptive thought about something (Kotler and Armstrong, 2010). Beliefs are based on knowledge of something as well as opinions and these can influence the behaviour of potential buyers of different products to purchase them. Again, these contribute to the buying process that is followed by different people when they decide to purchase different products.

Conclusion

Over and above, it can be seen that consumer buyer behavior refers to the buying behaviour of final consumers who buy certain goods and services for final use (Kotler and Armstrong, 2010). Consumer behaviour is influenced by a number of factors such as attitude, social as well as psychological factors. More importantly, the consumers make buying decisions by following a buyer decision process that is characterised by five stages explained in detail above. This is also known as the buyer decision process model and it plays a pivotal role in influencing the behaviour of different people. The two respondents interviewed above have shown that they bought their tablets after going through different buying stages and they have also expressed satisfaction over the brands they acquired after a concerted effort. To a larger extent, it has been confirmed that the buying behaviour of the consumers is a learned experience that follows different stages.      

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