Marketing scholars developed the five-stage model in an attempt to fully understand consumers’ buying decision process. They recognized that the process starts long before the actual purchase and continues long afterward.
According to model, the process begins with problem recognition - when the buyer, you, recognizesa want, need or problem that you feel can be satisfied by purchase of some kind of product or service. …
The urge to buy could be triggered by biological/internal stimuli, such as pain, anxiety, hunger or thirst … Or by external stimuli: seeing a fancy new gadget, car or uncomfortable temperatures or living conditions (can start the wheels turning)
Stage 2: At this point, you start doing some research on options …depending on the level of the want or need, you might just become more receptive to info about the product, or you will start to actively seek out info about it.
If this is the case, you can turn to personal sources, such as friends or family members, for info or opinions, or consult commercial sources such as web sites, ads or salespeople.
There are also public sources, including consumer ratings and reviews online, or product or service reviews on TV or in magazines or other mass media. But at some point, you’re prob going to want to try it out for yourself – taste it, test drive it, try it on.
Stage 3: If there is more than one brand or type of product to choose from, you then figure out your own set of criteria or attributes to consider that you think will most likely satisfy your want or need.
You decide what’s most important to you - Color, size, location, flavor, price, trendiness, horsepower, uniqueness, overall quality
Stage 4 is pretty straightforward: Once you’ve explored all the options, consulted people or sources you trust, weighed the pros and cons, and consulted the magic 8 ball, find the option that best meets your needs, you go for it.
To marketers, what you do after you make your purchase could be just as interesting as your purchase itself. It’s valuable for them to find out how big the gap might be between your expectations of the product or service and your actual experience.
If you’re satisfied with your purchase, it’s met or exceeded your needs and you’re likely going to tell everyone you know how great it is. If not, you’re probably going to feel even more compelled to spread the word about how disappointed you were.
As an example of the purchase decision process, I thought of something that has a lot of factors to consider and requires a bit of research – the attempt to make conscientious choices in regards to buying seafood.
At some point, you realize “there are only so many fish in the sea.” Once you become more aware of and interested in the importance of avoiding certain types of fish, you might decide to find out where your seafood comes from/how it’s caught
You thenlook into the more plentiful types of fish and what’s in season – read articles, talk to restaurant staff, buyers at your local fish market, maybe consult MBA’s Seafood Watch guide.
Stage 3: at this point, you’ve developed your list of criteria for selecting seafood - of the varieties that are local, plentiful and in season. Then you shop around to find the freshest, tastiest and most affordable options/sources/brands
At this point, you’ve put a lot of thought and research into buying this particular fish, so once you find some that meets your criteria, you take it home, prepare it in your favorite way and maybe share it with someone you like. You’ll prob know right away whether it was a good choice.
Depending on your experience, you could be pleased with your purchase and be excited to make it again and to tell your friends. Or maybe you were disappointed with the quality, not sure if it was worth the money or the effort, or maybe the fish just left a bad taste in your mouth.
At which point, either warn everyone away from the fish, complain to the market about the quality, or decide to give it another try, maybe cooking it a different way. Or, if you loved it, you might be happy you made a conscientious choice and continue to choose your seafood thoughtfully.
Because after all, making thoughtful choices means there will continue to be more fish for everyone to choose from. Thank you! And now, Lyrica will explore barriers to changing buyer behavior.
