1

Chapter 6: The decision making process

Model of consumer behaviour:

6 Decision making process

• 6.1 Types of buying decision behaviour

• 6.2 The buyer decision process
• 6.3 Decision making and new products

6.1 Types of buying decision behaviour

Buying behaviour differs massively from one product to another

Depends on:

• Buyer involvement
• Differences between brands

6.1 Types of buying decision behaviour

6.1 Types of buying decision behaviour - exercise

1. Camera

• Complex buying behaviour

• Research information-gathering & evaluation process, communicate attributes, differentiate

2. Milk

• Habitual buying behaviour

• Distribution, visibility, promotions, ad repetition, differentiate
 2

3. Cookies

• Variety-seeking buying behaviour

• Market leader / Challenger?
• Shelf stock, reminder ads, innovation / special deals, samples, innovative ads, copy

4. Yoghurt

• Variety-seeking buying behaviour

• Market leader / Challenger?
• Shelf stock, reminder ads, innovation / special deals, samples, innovative ads, copy

5. Washing machine

• Dissonance-reducing buying behaviour

• After-sale communication & service

6. Bottled water

• Habitual buying behaviour

• Distribution, visibility, promotions, ad repetition, differentiate

7. Smartphone

• Complex buying behaviour

• Research information-gathering & evaluation process, communicate attributes, differentiate

8. Terrace tiles

• Dissonance-reducing buying behaviour

• After-sale communication & service

6.1 Types of buying decision behaviour

a. Complex buying behaviour

Specs:

• High consumer involvement

• Significant perceived differences among brands
• Product is expensive or risky
• Product is purchased infrequently
• Product is highly self-expressive
• Consumer has much to learn about the product category

Buyer will pass through a learning process:

• Developing ideas about the product

• Developing an attitude towards the product
• Making a thoughtful purchase choice

Marketers of high-involvement products

 3

• Must understand the information-gathering and evaluation behaviour of their products

• They need to help buyers learn about product-class attributes
• They need to differentiate their brand’s features

b. Dissonance-reducing buying behaviour

Specs:

• High involvement
• Low perceived differences between brands
• Product is expensive or risky
• Product is purchased infrequently
• Product can be highly self-expressive

Buyer:

• Will inform himself shortly, but buys relatively quickly

• Responds primarily to a good price or purchase convenience
• Might experience after-sale discomfort (= post purchase dissonance)

Marketers should provide good after-sale communication to help consumers feel good about their
brand choices

c. Habitual buying behaviour

Specs:

• Low consumer involvement

• Little perceived differences among brands
• Product is low-cost
• Product is purchased frequently

Marketing:

• Good distribution is key

• Product needs good visibility in store
• Price and sales promotions to promote buying
• Ad repetition creates brand familiarity
• Ad should contain only a few key messages
• Visual symbols and images are important
• Add product features to differentiate from competition and raise involvement

d. Variety-seeking buying behaviour

Specs:

• Low consumer involvement

• Significant perceived differences among brands
 4

• Brand switching occurs for the sake of variety, rather than because of dissatisfaction

Marketing:

1. Market leader
• Encourage habitual buying behaviour
• Dominating shelf space
• Keeping shelves fully stocked
• Running frequent reminder advertising
• Importance of innovation
2. Challenger brands
• Encourage variety seeking
• Offering lower prices
• Offering special deals & coupons
• Free samples
• Advertising for trying something new
• Copycat behaviour market leader

6.2 The buyer decision process

• The buying process starts long before the actual purchase and continues long afterwards
• In more routine purchases, consumers often skip or reverse some of the stages
• This process is usually used for new and complex purchase situations
➔ Marketers should focus on the entire buyer decision process and not only on the
purchase decision only

a. Need recognition

Internal versus external triggers (cf. section 5.1.2.3)

b. Information search

Depends on:

• Strength of the urge

• Information the consumer already has
• Ease of information availability
• Value attached to extra information
• Satisfaction level of the search

Different sources (marketers should have a good insight in the used sources + adapt the marketing
mix based on these insights):
 5

• Personal become more and more digital

• Commercial
• Public
• Experiential

Marketing should: (Information Search)

• Develop marketing mix in order to create brand awareness and brand knowledge with
potential customers
• Investigate which other brands the customer takes into consideration (know your
competitor)
• Investigate which sources of information the customer is using

Goal: get into the “consideration set” of the customer

= A shopper’s consideration set is the subset of brands that the shopper evaluates when making a
purchase decision.

c. Evaluation of alternatives

• Stage in which the consumer uses information to evaluate alternative brands in the
consideration set in order to come to a choice set
• Several evaluation processes are at work, depending on:
▪ The individual consumer
▪ The specific buying situation
▪ Logical thinking vs impulse buying
• Calculations vs intuition
• Individual decision vs advice from peers
• Consumers rank brands and form purchase intentions

d. Purchase decision

Purchase intention ---> Purchase decision

• Normally a consumer buys his/her most preferred brand

• Factors that can come in between the purchase intention & the purchase decision:
▪ Attitudes of others
▪ Unexpected situational factors

➔ Preferences and purchase intentions do not always result in an actual purchase decision!

e. Post purchase behaviour

• Consumers take further action after purchase, based on their satisfaction or dissatisfaction
with a purchase
• Depends on the relationship between a consumer’s expectations and a product’s perceived
performance (which might lead to cognitive dissonance*)
 6

• Importance of satisfied customers (satisfied customers tell 3 people, dissatisfied tell 10

people)
• More expensive to attract new customers than to keep existing ones
• Measure customer satisfaction and facilitate (constructive) communication

Today’s customers:

are moving outside the purchasing funnel (was “one way” communication)

find information via different channels (becomes a “conversation” with the customer)
➔ customer decision journey

Example customer decision journey: McKinsey Quarterly + LD&Co

How people decide what to buy lies in …

the “messy middle” of the purchase journey
 7

How people decide what to buy lies in …

the “messy middle” of the purchase journey

• People look for information about a category’s products and brands, and then weigh all the
options.
• This equates to two different mental modes in the ‘messy middle’:

▪ Exploration : an expansive activity

→ possible options are expanded

▪ Evaluation : a reductive activity

→ possible options are reduced

 8

6 biases that influence purchase decisions

6 biases that influence purchase decisions:

1. Category heuristics: Short descriptions of key product specifications can simplify purchase
decisions.

2. Power of now: The longer you have to wait for a product, the weaker the proposition
becomes.

3. Social proof: Recommendations and reviews from others can be very persuasive.

4. Scarcity bias: As stock or availability of a product decreases, the more desirable it becomes.

5. Authority bias: Being swayed by an expert or trusted source.

6. Power of free: A free gift with a purchase, even if unrelated, can be a powerful motivator.

How marketers can succeed in the messy middle

 9

The messy middle might seem a complicated place.

Remember that to consumers it just feels like normal shopping.

The goal isn’t to force people to exit the loop shown in the model, but to provide them with the
information and reassurance they need to make a decision:

1. Ensure brand presence so your product or service is strategically front of mind while your
customers explore.

2. Employ behavioral science principles intelligently and responsibly to make your proposition
compelling as consumers evaluate their options.

3. Close the gap between trigger and purchase so your existing and potential customers spend
less time exposed to competitor brands.

4. Build flexible, empowered teams who can work cross-functionally to avoid traditional
branding and performance silos that are likely to leave gaps in the messy middle.

6.2 The buyer decision process today

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is changing our consumer behaviour

More and more decisions are based on algorithms -> personalized recommendations: more rational
decisions = often better decisions

6.2 The buyer decision process in the future

• Functional purchases will be more and more automated

• For automated purchases real value becomes more important than perceived value

6.2 The buyer decision process in the future

• The higher the impact of algorithms, the lower the impact of a classical marketing approach
• Crucial in this process are data, leading to hyperpersonalisation
• Classical decision making for purchases to build ‘our personal brand’
• Classical decision making only in case of emotional involvement or personal passion for a
product category (high involvement)
 10

6.2 The buyer decision process in the future & the challenge for marketers

• 2020 (<Covid 19) = year of the biggest digital training course in human history.
• We moved quickly to a hybrid world; every interaction with a customer will have a digital
component.
• Digital convenience is becoming the norm and creates a new kind of customer expectations
towards companies
• Amazon, Booking.com, Zalando, Apple, Google, Alibaba are very good in digital convenience
• If a marketer can offer digital convenience = GOOD !
• If a marketer cannot offer digital convenience your company is in deep trouble

In the future

The challenge for marketers is to provide

1. The ultimate convenience. Use technology so that clients don’t have to put any
effort anymore to buy your products & services
2. Become a partner in life (life journey of the client). Build an emotional relation with
your client. Give your client positive energy; make your client’s life easier:
• Save time
• Save money
• Facilitate life goals
• Facilitate great experiences
3. Save the world = have impact on society

Example: KBC Mobile and Lumi by Pampers

6.3 The buyer decision process for new products

5 stages in the adoption of new products:

• Awareness: aware of new product but no info yet

• Interest: looking for information
• Evaluation: considering whether or not to try the product
• Trial: sample (on a small scale) to improve the estimate of the product’s value
 11

• Adoption: full and regular use of the product

➔ Marketers should help customers move through the stages

6.3 The buyer decision process for new products

6.3 The buyer decision process for new products

Factors influencing the rate of adoption:

• Relative advantage: compared to existing products

• Compatibility: fit in with existing products/services
• Complexity: difficult to understand
• Divisibility: trial on a limited basis
• Communicability: ability to describe or observe the results of the innovation

6.3 The buyer decision process for new products

Exercise:

• Discuss the adoption speed of Virtual Reality in gaming.

• Discuss which factors are influencing this adoption speed.