Purpose and Scope
The purpose of this study is to have a broad look at the consumer behavior while analyzing the buyer psyche and the basis behind their decisions. The study also tries to focus on the different stages of decision making before buying a product. The broad objective of the study is based on consumer behavior and brings to light the ulterior thought process behind a simple purchase transaction. Another very important part of the study is branding, since branding plays an indispensable role in shaping up a buyer’s psychology and consumer behavior takes cues from branding. The study also proves how big brands make it easy for the customer to buy a product instantaneously, with regard to branded clothing, thereby making the whole buying process easy by facilitating the fast movement of products from sellers to the consumers.
Consumer Buying Behavior
There are so many products thronged over the market that it is an extremely difficult task for a buyer to choose amongst the products. Consumer buying behavior is phased out in different stages and phases. There is a problem associated with a buyer which needs to be identified and tackled tactfully by the seller. Tackling the buying resistance problem begins with understanding the process of how consumers or companies make buying decisions. Buyers typically go through various stages to make the decision to buy. These stages occur in vastly varying degrees depending upon the complexity of the purchase and the buyer’s behavior.
Need awareness, is the first stage in the process. The stage deals with the buyer identifying a need for a product or service. The need can be induced or learned through the various contacts of the buyer like his social contacts, personal contacts. When this need is induced by the company’s marketing strategies, it is usually done through massive advertising, sales promotion and roping in celebrities and famous stars to endorse the products. The process involves going in for an in-depth study of marketing research on the market and its potential, including the target market and revenue expected. Until all these things are not looked and analyzed in detail, a decision concerning establishing a product to meet a buyer’s needs can not be taken. At this stage the decision-making process may stop if the consumer is not motivated to continue, however, if the consumer does have the internal drive to satisfy the need they have, they will most probably continue to the next step (Break the Resistance of Consumer Buying Behavior, 5 Stages of Consumer Buying Behavior).
Information Search is the next step in the process that comes after the need awareness. The step is about the search for information and the research done by the buyer after he has an established need. Assuming that the consumers are motivated to satisfy their needs, they will next undertake a search for information on possible solutions to the problem or need they are facing. The sources used to acquire this information may be as simple as remembering information from past experience or the consumer may expend considerable effort and time to locate information from outside sources like internet search, talk with others. How much effort the consumers direct towards searching depends on such factors like, the importance of satisfying the need, familiarity with available solutions, and may be even the amount of time available to search. To appeal to consumers who are at the search stage, marketers may make efforts to ensure consumers can locate information related to their product. For example, for marketers whose customers rely on the internet information, attaining high rankings in search engines has become a critical marketing objective (Principles of Marketing- Part 3: Consumer Buying Behavior).
Check Options is the immediate step after information search. Buyers’ search efforts may result in a set of options from which a choice has to be made. It has to be kept in mind that there may be two levels to this stage. At first level the consumer may create a set of possible solutions to their needs, while at second level the buyer may be evaluating particular products in terms of brands within each solution. For instance, a consumer who needs to replace a television has multiple solutions to choose from like Plasma, LCD or CRT televisions. Within each solution type will be multiple brands from which a buyer can choose with ease. Marketers need to understand how consumers evaluate product options and why some products are included while others excluded. Most importantly, marketers must determine which criteria consumers are using in their selection of possible options and how each and every single criterion is evaluated. Returning to the earlier example, marketing tactics may be most effective when the marketer can tailor their efforts by knowing what benefits are most important to consumers when selecting options for example, picture quality, brand name, and screen size and then determine the order of importance of each benefit. The buyer tries to check for all the products that fulfill the same purpose and are just the different brands of the same product. Breaking the resistance of no trust can be done by having others to praise the business. Trust and credibility are abysmally low for many buyers. Instead of trumpeting greatness to the buyers who have their guard up, a third party validation is always a better option (Principles of Marketing- Part 3: Consumer Buying Behavior). Buyers always look for product satisfaction and want maximum value for their money, which is the reason why they want to do their own research, want to have as many testimonials from the existing buyers of the product, and then want to arrive at a decision. (Break the Resistance of Consumer Buying Behavior, 5 Stages of Consumer Buying Behavior)
Works Cited
“Break the Resistance of Consumer Buying Behavior” Web.
“Principles of Marketing” knowthis. 2007.