The Consumer Decision Journey

A customer's decision-making process is usually understood with the aid of a funnel.

Where the customers start from a large number of brands and gradually filter the brands
according to their choice and understanding, and finally reach the end of the funnel with
one final brand. It is at these stages that a marketer tries to reach a customer through
various touchpoints and attempts to persuade the consumer to buy their item.
But today, the funnel concept does not capture all of the touchpoints and key buying
factors as customers have a wide range of choices and digital channels that have made
the customer more active in making informed decisions. We, therefore, need a new
model that is better able to capture this data in a market that has different media types,
Internet access, and a wide choice of products. This new approach is referred to as
"customer decision travel".
The initial consideration set is an initial set of brands based on perceptions of the brand
and exposure to recent touchpoints. The funnel analogy suggests consumers are
systematically curtailing the initial consideration set as they weigh options, make
decisions, and buy products. Thus consumer loyalty should be determined on the basis
of user satisfaction after-sale. But the new model suggests more of a circular journey is
the customer's decision. It has four phases:
 Initial consideration
 Active evaluation - the process of researching potential purchases
 Closure - when consumers buy brands
 Post-purchase - when a consumer experiences those brands.

Compared with the funnel approach the latest approach had three major changes:
1. Brand Consideration:
With the numerous brands on the market, the brands which made some sort of
impression are included in the initial consideration set. Brand awareness matters:
brands may be up to three times more likely to eventually be purchased in the
initial-consideration set than brands, not in it. Contrary to the funnel metaphor, as
consumers seek more information, the number of brands being considered
during the active-evaluation phase may now actually expand rather than narrow.
By taking into consideration and even forcing the exit of rivals, brands can
"interrupt" the decision-making process.
2. Empowered Consumers:
Unlike traditional marketing methods, where communication was one way (from
marketers to consumers), where marketers tried to push their products to
consumers, the new way includes a two-way communication process (from
marketers to consumers and from consumers to marketers) and follows a pull
system where consumers are constantly pulling the information they need.
 During the active-evaluation phase, two-thirds of the touchpoints involve
consumer-driven marketing activities such as internet reviews and word-of-mouth
recommendations from friends and family, as well as interactions and
recollections from past experiences in-store.
3. Two Types of Loyalty: There are two kinds of customer loyalty: active and
passive. Active locals are the ones who not only stick with it but recommend it as
well. Others are passive loyalists who stay with a brand without being committed
to it, whether from laziness or confusion caused by the dizzying array of choices.
Passive consumers, despite their claims of loyalty, are open to messages from
competitors that give them a reason to switch. Businesses will also concentrate
on turning passive loyal to active loyalty.

When we've established a consumer's path to make choices, the main task is to
make strategies for targeting consumers at the most efficient touchpoints. The
direction of the marketing effort needs to change, from perhaps focusing brand
advertising on the initial consideration phase to developing internet resources
that help customers understand the brand better as they consciously test it.

Four types of practices that will help marketers address the new realities of the
customer decision path are -
1. Prioritizing objectives and spending: Marketers need to decide where
their brand's touchpoint is missing, whether it's the initial consideration or
when actively seeking information or getting active loyal clients. They
should focus their endeavors in that direction.
2. Tailor Messaging: They should highlight different product offerings at
different stages of purchasing journey, depending on the revenue earned
at each stage as opposed to a generic offering at all stages.
3. Invest in Customer Driven Marketing: Marketing powered by consumers
involves touchpoints such as twitter, online/offline ratings, word of mouth
marketing, etc. Finally, content-management systems and online targeting
engines enable advertisers to build hundreds of variations on an
advertisement, taking into account the context where it appears, viewers'
past habits, and an inventory of what a company wants to promote in real-
time.
4. Win the In-store Battle: A lot of consumers in the store make their final
decision. Consequently, merchandising and packaging have become very
important selling factors, a point which is not widely understood.
Consumers want to look at a product in action, and the visual dimension is
highly influenced.