As discussed in my previous blogs perception can have many various meanings and interpretations, there have been several theories which have created models of perception which go into detail to show how people perceive things in particular when looking at consumer buying behaviour and decisions. In class today we looked at some of these models, one being Kotler's Buying Decision Process and the Harvard Perceived Risk Model.
Kotler's Buying Decision Process Model recognises five steps in which consumers tend to go through within the buying decision process; need recognition, information search, evaluation of alternatives, purchase decision and post purchase behaviour. However some of these steps may be missed depending on the situation and product, for example with a routine purchase a student buying a favourite sandwhich would recognise the need (hunger) and go straight to the purchase decision, missing out the stages in between.
The buying decision process starts with need recognition, this is the stage where the buyer recognises a problem or need e.g. hunger, thirst, a headache, needing a new washing machine etc or a response to a marketing stimulus for example walking past Starbucks and being attracted to the aroma of the coffee.
Once the need or desire has been recognised the customer then needs to decide how much information if any is required. If the need is strong and there is a product or service on hand that meets the needs of the consumer a purchase decision is more than likely to be made there and then if not then the process of the information search begins.
Consumers can gain information from several sources, personal such as family and friends, commercial, public and experimental sources such as handling the product. The consumer then goes on to evaluation of alternatives, which could mean looking at prices for example a customer wanting to buy a new phone may go to several shops to compare the prices to find the best deal.
After the consumer has done the information search and evaluation of alternatives, a purchase decision is made. The post purchase behaviour consists of whether the customer is happy with their purchase decision, this is just as important as the other stages because if the customer is not satisfied they will not make repeat purchases resulting in companies loosing custom and revenue.
An important determinant of the extent of evaluation of alternatives is whether the customer feels involved in the product. Where a product is highly involving the customer is likely to carry out an intensive evaluation. High involvement purchases include those involving high expenditure or personal risks such as ego and social, for example when buying a house it can take years as you are continuously searching for the best one as it is a long term commitment. Low involvement purchases have a very simple evaluation process such as buying a soft drink, credit or choosing cereal.
The perceived risk model was initially founded by the Harvard Business School in the 1960s, they believed that 'behaviour depends upon an individuals subjective perception of the risk inherent in buying a product'. This idea was later extended in 1985 by Laurent & Kapferer, they argued that a consumers level of involvement will be argued by four components, importance and risks (FTPEPS) which stands for; finance, time, performance, ego, physical and social, each of these elements they believed will affect the purchase decisions of consumers.
For example a 21 year old male buying a new car will consider all these factors with relevance to importance, the financial, performance, ego, physical and social aspects may have a high risk and importance values whereas time may be lower as at this age they are more likely to know what they want.
In high involvement purchase decisions marketers need to provide a lot of information about the positive consequences of buying into their product or service. The sales force may need to stress the importance of the product and the advantages compared to those of its competitors and may be even encourage trial or sampling of the product in the hope of securing a sale.
In class today we also looked at selective attention and stimulus which is related to how some advertisements we remember some and not others. This involves using contrast, movement, repetition, size, intensity and expectation within an advert. The more that these are used in an advert the more likely a consumer is to remember it.
Here are some examples of adverts I have found using these techniques.
Well written posting.
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