What is a consumer?
Individuals who buy products or services for personal consumption rather than for resale or business use.
What is the consumer decision-making process?
A series of stages consumers go through when making a purchase:
- Need recognition
- Information search
- Evaluation of alternatives
- Purchase decision
- Post-purchase evaluation
What is need recognition?
The stage where a consumer recognises a problem or unmet need that triggers the buying process.
What triggers need recognition?
- Internal stimuli (e.g. hunger, thirst, boredom)
- External stimuli (e.g. advertising, peer influence, seeing a new product)
What is information search?
The stage where consumers seek information to help satisfy a recognised need.
What are the two types of information search?
- Internal search: recalling information from memory or past experience
- External search: seeking information from outside sources
What are examples of external information sources?
- Personal sources (friends, family)
- Commercial sources (advertising, salespeople)
- Public sources (reviews, media)
What is evaluation of alternatives?
The stage where consumers compare different brands in their evoked set using specific criteria.
What is an evoked set?
The group of brands a consumer seriously considers before making a purchase.
What are choice criteria?
The attributes consumers use to evaluate alternatives, such as:
- Technical (features, quality)
- Economic (price, value)
- Social (image, approval)
- Personal (taste, preferences)
What is the high-involvement decision-making model?
A model used when purchases are important, risky, or expensive, involving extensive evaluation of alternatives.
What is the Fishbein–Ajzen Model (Theory of Reasoned Action)?
A high-involvement model suggesting behaviour is driven by:
- Attitudes toward the behaviour
- Subjective norms (social pressure)
What is the Theory of Planned Behaviour?
An extension of the Fishbein–Ajzen model that adds perceived behavioural control (how easy or difficult the behaviour is).
What is the low-involvement decision-making model?
A model where consumers make habitual or routine purchases with minimal evaluation of alternatives.
What is the Ehrenberg–Goodhart model?
A low-involvement model suggesting behaviour comes before attitude, and positive reinforcement encourages repeat purchase.
What is post-purchase evaluation?
The stage where consumers assess their satisfaction or dissatisfaction based on expectations versus actual performance.
Why is post-purchase evaluation important for marketers?
- Affects repeat purchase
- Influences word-of-mouth
- Impacts brand loyalty and relationships
What is extended problem-solving?
Occurs when:
- High personal involvement
- Many alternatives
- Low time pressure
(e.g. buying a car)
What is limited problem-solving?
Occurs when consumers have some experience but still evaluate a few alternatives.
What is habitual problem-solving?
Occurs when:
- Low involvement
- Repeat purchases
- Little or no evaluation
(e.g. groceries)
What is perception?
The process by which people select, organise, and interpret sensory information to form a meaningful view of the world.
What is selective attention?
The tendency to screen out most information and notice only what is relevant or interesting.
What is selective retention?
The tendency to remember information that supports preferred brands and forget competing information.
What is selective distortion?
The tendency to interpret information in a way that supports existing beliefs.
