As business people, we need to have as much clarity as
possible about how and why our customers choose to buy from
us.
Since we're all consumers, we should be able to recognize
and identify with the Buying Decision Process on a personal
level.
If you can isolate the specific reasons you buy products or
services - whether it's status associated with a brand,
analysis of a specific product benefit, or your
relationship with a salesperson - you will be more in touch
with what can strongly influence your potential customers
to buy from you.
Smart companies really want to understand their target
consumer's complete decision experience. They want to know
how their customers came to learn about their product to
begin with, specifically why they chose it, how they use
it, and even how they dispose of it.
Getting answers to the core reasons why someone buys,
provides incredibly valuable information.
Consumers pass through 5 distinct stages in the Buying
Decision Process:
1. Problem Recognition
2. Information Search
3. Evaluation of Alternatives
4. Purchase Decision
5. Post-Purchase Behavior
The way people make buying decisions depends, of course, on
the complexity of the problems they are trying to solve and
the complexity of each step in the decision process.
The time span of the buying process could be years or 3
minutes, depending on the product. And of course, our
different personality styles contribute to how much
detailed analysis we do, how quickly we buy, whether we are
driven by emotions, data, salespeople, etc.
The next time you make a substantial buying decision,
become aware of the thoughts and feelings you experience as
you go through each of these stages.
1. Problem Recognition: You know this feeling. You see a
problem or feel a need. Maybe it's as simple as feeling
sleepy and wanting a cup of coffee. This would be an
internal stimulus. Or perhaps your problem recognition
comes from an external stimulus. You see a commercial for
the newest model of your favorite luxury car, and all of
a sudden the car you currently own loses favor.
2. Information Search: Once you believe that you have a
valid problem or need, you want to investigate further.
You have what's called heightened attention. This is
characterized as openness to receiving information about a
product or service. Later you move into active search,
where you proactively visit stores or surf the web to
learn about a product. Maybe you ask family or friends
about a particular service you're considering.
3. Evaluation of Alternatives: This is the stage where you
look at competitive companies or brands and make judgments
about them. Most buyers consider several factors about a
product that's most important to them. If you're buying
a laptop computer, for example, you might be most concerned
with its memory, size, price, and local service options.
You eventually form a preference among a couple different
brands you're considering or among a couple models within
your favorite brand.
4. Purchase Decision: After you have some preferences in
mind, what triggers your final purchase decision? This is
a really important point in the buying process. It's a
complex period because there are 2 sub-stages to the
Purchase Decision stage:
a. Purchase Intention - this is a mental state where you
believe you know exactly what you want to buy. You
envision the purchase, but you haven't made any monetary or
legal commitments yet.
b. Purchase Decision - this is full completion of the
physical act of handing over your money, signing on the
dotted line of a legal documents, or submitting you credit
card information, for example.
It's important to realize that one's Purchase Intentions
are not reliable predictors of final purchase behavior.
This is because the time between your Purchase Intention
and your actual Purchase Decision can be highly influenced
by 2 factors:
• Factor #1 - the Attitude of Others means the extent to
which someone else's attitude can reduce or strengthen a
consumer's buying preference.
Imagine that you make the decision at work one morning that
you're going to buy a new Dell laptop computer that evening
when you get home. But on your lunch break you happen to
get a call from your best friend, who must bought an Apple
laptop. Your friend goes on and on about how much they
love their Mac, and all the great things they're doing with
it.
The closer you are to this friend, or the more you trust or
respect them, in combination with your self-confidence and
ability to be influenced in general, will determine how
likely you are to adjust your Purchase Intention.
Perhaps your brother is an IT professional, and just
yesterday he highly recommended that you only invest in a
PC. Now you have conflicting advice from two people who
are close to you. If you're someone with a tendency to
want to please others, your decision has just become much
more complex!
• Factor #2 - Unanticicpated Situational Factors are events
that arise in life that we don't expect.
If you decided to buy a Dell laptop in the evening when you
got home from work, but ended up losing your job at the end
of the day - that would be a major Unanticipated
Situational Factor! Your motivation to purchase could be
substantially reduced.
5. Post-Purchase Behavior: A consumer's behavior after
buying is related to their level of satisfaction or
dissatisfaction with the product or service.
Remember that one's satisfaction is always tied to one's
expectations.
If a product exceeds expectations, we are thrilled with it.
If it's lower than expectations, we are dissatisfied with
it. And if it meets expectations we are satisfied with it.
So it's critical that the claims you make about your
product or service are truthful, or even understated, to
increase the likelihood that customers will be happy!
----------------------------------------------------
Laura Adams is the host of the popular MBA Working Girl
Podcast. The content combines brainy business school theory
with real-world business practice from her career as a
business owner, manager, consultant and trainer. Subscribe
for FREE to this top-rated show and get the useful MBA
Essential Tip at
http://www.mbaworkinggirl.com
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