CONSUMER DECISION MAKING

Consumer Decision Making Process

Consumer Decision Making Process

Introduction

Understanding the consumer decision processes that drive consumers towards choosing a specific product or brand has been a priority to the organization's top management. As both the size of organizations and markets are in continuous growth, so has the distance of interactions between the organizations and consumers, thus making the collection of information about the consumers' behaviour that more challenging, this information can help answer a number of critical questions that are specific to tailoring the brand towards the market needs, in addition to addressing the market's needs; organizations can further utilize this information towards developing effective advertising, pricing and promotional programs (Connolly, 2003, 91).

Consumer brand behaviour and the relationship between consumers' self-concept and brands, and that is to develop an overview that will serve as a foundation to compare and contrast our findings, after which we shall explore and discuss a number of different construal, namely the Brand engagement in self-concept , Relational-interdependence self-construal (RISC) and Susceptibility to normative influence (SNI) examining the various dimensions and influences related to the aforementioned construal towards the consumers' brand choice according the empirical findings in the literature. Finally, we illustrate the implications relevant to the cultural difference and different aspects that are factored in influence the consumers' brand choice (Moisander, 2002, 42). The major actors involved in shaping consumer behaviour are consumers themselves, alongside states and businesses (together with advertisers and marketing consultants). The first actor, the consumer, is an individual who professes or exhibits a concern for the environment in his or her consumption activities. Although states, businesses, and other organizations are major consumers in their own right, scholarly research into consumer behaviour normally focuses on individuals. Relevant consumption decisions include the purchase of personal and household goods and services that are environmentally significant in their effect (notably automobiles, energy for the home, and travel), and the use and maintenance of environmentally significant goods (such as heating and cooling systems). Consumer behavior includes the purchase of items that are produced or cultivated in ecologically sensitive ways. Examples include energy-saving light bulbs, degradable freezer bags, locally farmed agricultural products, and a range of products such as timber or shade-grown coffee beans that are certified as “sustainable.” Influences on consumer behaviour can broadly be divided into two sets. One comprises personal factors, including norms and beliefs, capabilities, customs, and habits. The other, contextual factors, include interpersonal influences and community expectations, broader cultural influences (including advertising), and the material capabilities and constraints that encourage certain forms of action and discourage others—for example, the availability of cycle paths, or of a supply of mains electricity from renewable sources.

Discussion

Consumer Choice

In consumer behaviour, researchers and market practitioners have over a considerable amount of time developed a number of complex theories in an attempt to explain and predict the behaviour of consumers. A majority of these theories suggest that consumers follow a logical sequence towards formulating a matrix of benefits based on a specific decision process ...