B.

COM/BBA 2ND Semester

Sub: Marketing Management
Topic
Consumer Buying Decision
Process
 Introduction
The customer buying process (also called a buying
decision process) describes the journey your customer
goes through before they buy your product.
Understanding your customer’s buying process is not
only very important for your salespeople, it will also
enable you to align your sales strategy accordingly.

The five stages framework remains a good way to

evaluate the customer’s buying process.
John Dewey first introduced the following
five stages in 1910
3. Evaluation of alternatives
• individuals will evaluate different products or brands at this
stage on the basis of alternative product attributes – those
which have the ability to deliver the benefits the customer is
seeking. A factor that heavily influences this stage is the
customer’s attitude. Involvement is another factor that
influences the evaluation process. For example, if the
customer’s attitude is positive and involvement is high, then
they will evaluate a number of companies or brands; but if it
is low, only one company or brand will be evaluated.
4. Purchase decision
• Philip Kotler says, the final purchase decision may be ‘interrupted’ by two
factors. Customer may get a negative feedback from friends or other
customers who bought it. For example, a customer shortlisted a laptop, but
his friend gave a negative feedback. This will make him to change his
decision. Furthermore, the decision might also change. Sudden change in
business plans, financial crunch, unexpected higher prices, etc. might lead
the consumer to drop the idea of buying the laptop.

• The Consumer, chooses the product that he wants to buy, but many times,
he may not actually buy it for various reasons. At this stage, a marketer
should find out the various reasons due to which the consumer is hesitating
to buy. The reasons could be price, value, and change in the needs of the
consumer.
 .5.Post-Purchase Evaluation

• This is the last stage and most often ignored by marketers.

• After buying the product, customers compare products with their
expectations. There can be two outcomes: Either satisfied or
dissatisfied. Consumers will be happy after buying the product if
it has satisfied their needs. But in case the product was not up to
his expectations, the consumer will be dissatisfied. A consumer can
be lost even at this stage.
• A dissatisfied customer might feel as though he took an incorrect
decision. This will result in returns! Offering an exchange will be a
straightforward action. However, even when a customer is
satisfied, there is no guarantee that the customer might be a
repeat customer.