Process Model of The Consumer Decision

An individual who buys their goods and services directly from the market is referred to as a consumer. Before making a purchase, the consumer first goes through an evaluation process to choose the best good or service, the best price, and whether they will enjoy it enough to keep it. The steps individuals take are referred to as the consumer decision process model, and they include analyzing and identifying their needs, gathering information, evaluating the available options, and making a purchasing decision. Numerous elements, including psychological, economic, and social ones, have an impact on these activities. Consumers go through this decision-making process before, during, and after the purchase. Typical examples of this model include shopping for electronics, for instance, a Samsung smartphone. The consumer goes through the following strategy before considering the best smartphone to buy, during the purchase and even after the acquisition.

Need recognition- the need is the most critical factor which prompts purchasing of items and services. Need is, in fact, the impetus which triggers the purchasing choice of individuals. For instance, a person who purchases a drink or water distinguishes his/her need as thirst.

Product information gathering- when an individual perceives his need for a product or service they try to collect enough information on the product or service. An individual can obtain data through any of the accompanying sources;

Business sources- information may be acquired from advertisements, sales representatives, and packaging displays.

Open sources- newspapers and radio.

Experimentation- from one’s own experience.

Individual sources- he may gather information from friends and other consumers

Product evaluation- at this stage one assesses the different choices they have on the market and whether they fit the criteria that he or she marked out for the desired product.

Product choice and purchase- the consumer decides that the product meets all their requirements and chooses the favored product.

Post purchase use and evaluation of product- the consumer gets to experience and use the product and decide if his decision was the best or not and whether it was helpful to them or not.

Disposal of the product- the consumer, decides whether it is worth upgrading or purchasing an additional product.

During my decision process when I wanted to buy a smartphone, I used this strategy and found it very simple and straightforward. I first analyzed my needs, and since I was using an old outdated phone, I settled on the latest smartphone models. I picked Samsung and gathered all the information on their products and arrived at one of their latest models the Samsung s8. A lot of people had them, and they had advertised almost everywhere, so I had no problems gathering information about it. I found that it had everything wanted in a smartphone and decided to buy it. I have had an incredible experience using t so far, and I would eagerly buy an upgrade if it were available.

The company itself made the work even easier since their marketing strategy was based on the consumer decision process model. They reached out to consumers and established their needs based on different uses. Information about their products was made readily available to the consumers, and they offered a test run for their products. Each of their various models was in a series of products that have been upgraded over time to suit the consumer needs making the consumer return post purchase.

From my experience with this product and from my research that led me to settle on this specific one, I can attest that this company that is Samsung is headed in the right direction. They should continue making top quality products like this one and advance even further technologically to release products that are readily available to everyone and have an even better user experience than their current models.

References

Tanner, J. F., & Raymond, M. A. (2012). Principles of marketing. Flat World Knowledge.

Pescher, C., Reichhart, P., & Spann, M. (2014). Consumer decision-making processes in mobile viral marketing campaigns. Journal of interactive marketing, 28(1), 43-54.

Babin, B. J., & Zikmund, W. G. (2015). Exploring marketing research. Cengage Learning.