Managing consumer behavior is an important marketing task. Its importance especially increases in highly competitive markets, where the choice of goods is large. In order to influence consumer behavior, it is necessary to understand how the process of making a purchase decision by the client proceeds and what methods can be used to push him to the desired decision at different stages.
Background
As an independent area of research, consumer behavior was formed in the middle of the 20th century. Against the backdrop of growing interest in motivational research, at the intersection of psychology and marketing, a new field of knowledge is emerging. Its object of study is the behavioral characteristics of the consumer, including the process we are considering in the article - making a purchase decision. American scientists J. Angel and R. Blackwell stood at the origins of science, they wrote the first textbook "Consumer Behavior",which is already a classic today, and created one of the first models of the purchase decision process. The goal of the science of consumer behavior was to find effective methods of influencing decision making.
Principles of consumer behavior management
Marketing in its desire to influence the decision of the buyer must proceed from the following basic postulates:
- the consumer is independent in his decisions, his sovereignty should not be violated;
- consumer motivation and the described process (making a purchase decision) are learned through research;
- consumer behavior can be influenced;
- influencing consumer decision is socially legitimate.
These principles were formulated at the stage of formation of the science of consumer behavior and are unshakable.
The concept of buying in marketing
Purchase is the main and desired goal of marketing programs. The essence of the purchase is the exchange of money for goods and services. At the same time, for a consumer, a purchase is most often associated with stress: the higher the price, the more difficult it is for a person to decide to make a purchase. The price of the goods is expressed in money, and they, in turn, are perceived by the consumer as part of himself, because in order to receive money, he spends his resources: time, skills, knowledge. Therefore, parting with money is often not easy for the consumer. The task of a marketer is to facilitate this process, to help a person enjoy the purchase and be satisfied with his purchase. To solve this problem, the marketer needs to have a good understanding of howthe process of making a purchase decision by the buyer. Today there are such types of purchases as:
- A fully planned purchase where the consumer knows exactly the brand, price and place of purchase. Usually this type is associated with the purchase of expensive durable goods.
- Partially planned purchase, when the consumer knows what product he would like to purchase, but has not decided on the brand and place of purchase. This type is most often applied to everyday goods, such as milk or bread.
- Impulse buying, when a consumer buys something under the influence of a momentary desire. Usually inexpensive things are bought this way, it is precisely such purchases that are stimulated, for example, by the “hot” checkout area, where up to 90% of impulse purchases are made.
Models of the purchasing decision process
Despite the individual differences of people, their behavior as consumers lends itself to schematization. Therefore, in marketing it is customary to use models of consumer behavior. They greatly simplify the understanding of the sequence of actions of the buyer and allow you to determine the optimal place of impact on the consumer. Historically, the first model was F. Kotler's scheme called "The Black Box of the Buyer's Consciousness". In this model, incoming stimuli enter a black box, where they are translated into customer responses. Kotler was unable to clarify the essence of the decision-making process and called it a "black box", but his merit was that hepointed to the existence of such a behavioral domain. The first complete model of the buying decision process was created by Angel and his team. It presented a sequence of actions of a decision maker: from the emergence of a motive for a purchase to a feeling of pleasure or displeasure after it was made.
Today, there are at least 50 different models for making a purchase decision, they vary in degree of detail, but they can all be summarized in five main stages of this process.
Awareness of need
Every process of making a purchase decision by a buyer begins with the appearance of a motive and an awareness of a need. Any person is constantly attacked by various desires, and the consumer can choose the most relevant of them not only based on his real needs, but also under the influence of various external and internal factors. The goal of marketing programs is to help the consumer realize their desire. Advertising, for example, is able not only to tell a person what he can buy to satisfy a particular need, but also to form a desire. For example, housewives did not need multicookers until the advertisement told them about the capabilities of this device.
There are not so many natural human needs, and marketing seeks to push a person to the maximum, not the necessary consumption. A modern resident of the metropolis is no longer enough clothes that save him from the cold, he needs a fashion item of famous brands tomeet the needs for prestige in accordance with fashion trends. It was the efforts of marketers that led to the emergence of these needs. As part of marketing communications, the consumer is influenced, during which he is inclined in favor of one or another option to satisfy a perceived need.
Finding Information
All steps in the purchasing decision process can lead to a purchase. In some cases, a consumer may make a purchase already at the stage of need, for example, he was thirsty, immediately saw a water machine and bought a product to quench his thirst. This is more often possible in the case of a small value of the goods and with minor differences between the goods. If the purchase requires relatively serious costs, then the consumer inevitably begins to collect information about possible options for satisfying the need. The search for information has certain patterns. When a problem arises, a person first turns to his internal information resources (knowledge stored in memory), and only if he does not receive an answer there, he turns to external sources - the media, friends, points of sale. In practice, it looks like this: a person wants to buy a sandwich - he remembers where there are points of sale of this product nearby. If he succeeded in remembering, then he will not turn to other sources of information. If not, then he can ask friends, look on the Internet, etc. Therefore, marketers seek to fill a person’s memory with information about the product, andalso organize an accessible information environment so that, if necessary, the consumer can learn about the product from different sources.
Assessment of alternatives
When the search for information has provided several relatively equivalent options for satisfying a need, the process of making a decision to purchase a product enters the next stage - comparing options. Evaluation criteria can be different, and the stage can take the form of a simple comparison (fresh and yesterday’s milk), or it can turn into a real expert assessment involving third-party people and building a system of criteria (for example, buying an expensive phone). The more expensive and prestigious the purchase, the more difficult the process of comparing options. In this case, the influence of advertising, brand, recommendation of the seller or authority figure can have a decisive effect on the decision.
Purchase decision
The described process - making a purchase decision - can be completed at any stage if a person has received strong arguments in favor of taking an action or refusing to do so. The final purchase decision comes at the point of sale, and here the important factors of influence are the atmosphere of the store and the person of the seller, as well as the competent arrangement of the point of sale: product display, navigation, cleanliness, ease of payment, etc. Product packaging and its organoleptic properties.
Post-Purchase Behavior
The main goal of marketing - customer satisfaction - is served by all stagesconsumer decision making process. The purchase is preceded by doubts, evaluation of alternatives, choice, but it does not end there. Having brought the goods home, the buyer continues to doubt the correctness of his choice. If the product in use does not bring satisfaction and pleasure, then the consumer will begin to spread negative information about the product, which will negatively affect the decision of other buyers. Therefore, marketers take care to convince the buyer of the correct choice after the purchase, for this they offer additional services, guarantees, supporting advertising.
Managing consumer behavior
The complex process of making a purchase decision by the consumer is the object of the marketer's actions. At each stage, you can influence the outcome of this process. At the stages of awareness of needs and information search, factors such as social and cultural values, reference groups, characteristics of the social class and lifestyle of the consumer are involved. At the stage of comparing alternatives and at the post-purchase stage, the brand, its image and advertising play an important role. Marketers, in fact, never leave the consumer with their attention, they smoothly lead him along the steps of the ladder of purchasing readiness to purchase, and then immediately involve him in a new process. Making a purchase decision at each stage should have its own results - this is awareness, knowledge, attitude, involvement, loy alty. These results are the result of a large, complex work that begins and endsconsumer behavior research.
The Importance of Consumer Behavior Research
The study of the process of making a decision to purchase a product is the starting point for the formation of any marketing programs. Without knowing how and where the consumer will look for information, what factors influence his choice, it is impossible to carry out competent media planning and the formulation of an advertising message. And the stages of the purchasing decision process are subject to careful marketing analysis. Moreover, it should be remembered that decision-making models change depending on the life cycle of the product. So, people buy a novelty and a well-known mature product in different ways. Behavior patterns in the wholesale and retail markets differ, and these differences are revealed only in the course of research.
Examples of purchase decision processes
Without realizing it, we are faced several times every day with the problem of choosing: what to buy for lunch, where to go to relax, what gift to buy for a loved one, etc. The process of making a purchase decision, examples of which every person can find in practice, is conventional and often automatic. Any consumer tends to save his resources, including temporary, energy and intellectual. Therefore, we strive to translate any process into the area of habitual and stereotyped ones. If we once spent time and effort on the choice of juice and it completely satisfied us, then we are unlikely to start thinking about the same problem again,only if circumstances do not force us to this, but we will buy the same juice. An example of complex search behavior is buying a car, most often in such a situation a person goes through all stages of the decision-making process, compares options for a long time and is sensitive to post-purchase service.
