Sunday, October 2, 2011

Chapter 6 - Consumer Decision Making

When companies put out new products, they want it to satisfy the consumers eye. They put out products in certain ways that will attract the customers wants and needs. It's always important to know what attracts the consumers eye. And the process that a consumer goes through before finally deciding that they will buy this product. For consumers, this is a daily process that occurs on a daily basis. This is called the consumer decision making process.

The first step in this process is called the need recognition stage. This stage is controlled by your internal and external stimulus. Consumers can want or draw attention to a product based on their hunger alone. They can see a product, such as, Chips Ahoy! cookies and want it due to the fact that it looks tasty. They can also go buy recommendations, personal experiences, or commercials. Kraft Foods Inc. is a popular company. They have tons of commercials with all their tasty products. A consumer can have Kraft cheese and see that their Chips Ahoy! cookies are delicious and might want to switch over to their Oreo cookies the next time they come shopping. Also, a family member or friend can always come and tell you about a certain product they've had from this company that they thought was really good. Hearing others talk about a product that is good gives you the urge to want to try it.

The second step in this process is the information searching stage. After picking up a certain item of interest, you might want to find out more about it before actually purchasing it. And there are many different ways of looking into a product. For example, some people are extremely healthy when it comes their eating habits. Consumers might want to search for a product in this brand that will satisfy their taste buds while being healthy at the same time and keeps their diet on point. Others might pick up products of interest without ever trying it or hearing about it. It may be just a new product that just came out recently and you want to try it. People use the internet daily for looking up products. Consumers might want to look up this product and hear reviews or others opinions on the product to see whether it's something you'd want to choose. Also, just knowing that you've had another product in a past experience from this specific company can be a good enough reason to pick up another product from this same brand.

The next stage in the consumer decision making process is evaluating alternatives. Kraft puts out so many ads and commercials for new products everyday that it is easy to attract consumers. After gathering all information for wanting a certain product, your next decision is whether or not your going to buy the product. You can look at a certain product and think back to watching a commercial about this very same product. This alone can persuade you to buy the product. Or you can think back to a time when you tried this product at a family member/friend's home and you liked it. If you have some kind of past experience with knowing this product, you'll most likely decide to buy it. Sometimes you walk into a store with no intention of buying a product, but your eye catches it and you end up getting it.

After need recognition, gathering information, and evaluation alternatives, you can finally purchase the product. For Kraft Foods Inc. it's not so hard for consumers to decide. They know that Kraft offers great deals on their products. Certain supermarkets sell you their items at a reasonable sale price so you might go there to pick up your product. And they also offer their products in different quantities. Basically satisfying your needs to your extent. Recently, they've come out with the Chips Ahoy! cookies in different flavors. And they've even made family size boxes which are for larger families at decent prices.

And lastly, you want to make sure this product satisfies your needs as well as your families. This is called post-purchase behavior. A mom might walk into a grocery store and buy her children a pack of cookies. She might not be sure if her children will like it. But she'll buy it anyways because she's heard from others it tastes good, it's healthy, and the other kids love it. Watching to see how her children react to eating this new cookie will let her know if she can continue to buy it for them or if she should switch over to a different product.

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