Question

Describe a time when you used the consumer decision process while making a purchase, and the role advertising played.

Answer 1

I had used the Consumer decision making process during the purchase of my Dell Laptop. The steps are explained in detail below-

1. Need Recognition - Firstly, it was very important for me to list down all my expectations from the product and then rate down these expectations as per their importance to me. This was very essential stage because in this highly competitive market, I was not expecting all my needs to be fully fulfilled by one product. For example - I had given high priority to portability and low priority to high graphic configuration.
2. Information Search - In this stage, I used all platforms at my disposal to learn about the present market trends, the popular models, the pricing structures, etc. I even visited various stores to check the ease of usage of each model. This stage was very important for me as it helped me make an informed purchase decision.
3. Evaluation of Alternatives - After getting all relevant information about various model, I jotted down how well each model was fulfilling my prioritized needs and created a small score sheet to help me reach my decision. For example - Dell laptops were more portable than Lenovo laptops so Dell received 5 rating compared to that of Lenovo receiving a score of 2. As this specification was of utmost importance to me, these scores greatly influenced my decision making.
4. Purchase - After evaluating various alternatives, finally the purchase decision was made. I went into an authorized Dell dealer shop to purchase the model of my choice. I firstly checked if the product delivers all the specifications described in its marketing campaigns. I also completed the formalities of product registration, warranty validation, etc to avail myself with the value adding services.
5. Post-Purchase Behavior - After one month of satisfactory performance from the laptop, I realized that the product had delivered as per the specifications mentioned in its campaign and thus portrayed a positive post-purchase behavior towards the brand and the product. I even recommended the same product to my friend looking for a new laptop.

Advertising had played crucial stage in almost all stages. First, the laptop manufacturer induced in me a need for laptop in spite of having desktop through their various marketing campaigns and then, used the same means to provide me with information required for the second stage of decision making. In the third stage and fourth stage, the information shared through advertisements was a point of reference. and lastly, the message communicated through advertisements was considered as a base for determining my post purchase behavior. As the performance matched the communication, I drew up a positive post purchase behavior.

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