Consumer decision process –

1. Need recognition
2. Pre purchase search
3. Evaluation of alternatives
4. Purchase
5. Post Purchase- cognitive dissonance

Classification of decisions
Limited problem solving vs Extensive problem solving

Limited problem solving is used for products purchased occasionally or when buyers need
to acquire information about an unfamiliar brand in a familiar product
category. Consumers engage in extended problem solving when purchasing an unfamiliar,
expensive, or infrequently bought product.
Limited: a problem-solving process in which consumers are not motivated to search for
information or to rigorously evaluate each alternative; instead they use simple decision
rules to arrive at a purchase decision.eg toothpaste

Extended: an elaborate decision-making process, often initiated by a motive that is fairly

central to the self-concept and accompanied by perceived risk; the consumer tries to collect
as much information as possible, and carefully weighs product alternatives .example car

Emotion vs. Cognition

In further research recently carried out, it was discovered that when presented with a
decision that has both positive and negative evaluations, people are more likely to go with
their emotional evaluation instead of their cognitive evaluation. For example, when
presented with a doughnut, the positive evaluation would be ‘delicious’ or ‘delightful,’ while
the negative evaluation will be ‘unhealthy’ or ‘fattening.’ In this situation, the positive
evaluation is more likely to influence the decision-making process due to its emotional
nature, and the individual is more likely to choose the object.
This process directly relates to consumer behaviour. When deciding whether or not you
should purchase something, there is always a positive and a negative evaluation involved.
So, if the consumer feels more positive emotions towards a product, they are more likely to
purchase it. However, if the consumer feels more negative emotions towards the product
then they are less likely to purchase it.

Satisficing Versus Optimizing

"satisficing", meaning that when people make decisions they sometimes don't look
for the optimal choice, but they make a choice that is satisfactory and sufficient for
the given circumstances.  Men sometimes satisfice when they shop, but some do
not.
Buying a car is one process where I know that I have optimized in the past.  Here are
some of the factors I consider when I buy a car: