Consumer Behavior

1. List the three stages in the consumption process. Describe the issues that you considered in each of the three stages when you made a recent important purchase.

PrePurchase Issues: This is the process that involves the identification of the motives for recognizing the need/want of a product. This process entails how a consumer best identifies the sources by which he/she will learn more about that product. An example is, my decision to purchase a TV for my bedroom because I would like to watch TV in bed. I turn to the web, as I do for just about anything I research these days and begin to determine what type of TV I want/need.

Purchase Issues: It’s at this point that consumers evaluate all purchase options: the brand, specific product attributes, personal experiences and other reviews of the products by consumers or the company. When a consumer makes the decision to purchase a product they must consider where and when to buy, and whether to buy the product at all. This varies on the complexity of the product (grocery store product, electronic sales, or vehicles). At this stage, the consumers evaluate the merchants at which to buy the product. They will consider past experiences with those merchants, and sales or special offerings, and even if the product can be returned. In addition, more attractive stores and sales associates are more influential to a buyer. Will I find the best deals online, or is better than I go see the actual model stores like Best Buy or Sears have? I know that Best Buy typically has top of the line products, so I naturally went to Best Buy to shop for my TV. There, the media team knew everything about all of the luxury brand TV’s, and made me feel comfortable and secure about the TV’s I was inquiring about. Sony and Samsung are among the best, so I narrowed down my selection to those. The prices of these TV’s were a little more expensive than some other locations, from shopping there previously that I was purchasing the product...