Consumer decision making

process and its influencing

factors

Acknowledgement
First of all I would like to thank Almighty Allah for helping me in every difficult time in
completing my research. I would also like to thank my Parents and my Friends whom helped
me in every possible way they can. Then I would like to take this opportunity to thank our
instructor Mr. Sohail Chohan who helped us in every difficult situation which I faced in my
whole Project. And last but not the least, I would like to thanks all the people who took their
time to fill the questionnaires and helped me in completing my research properly.

Table of contents
Topics

page no

Abstract...............................................................................4
Introduction.........................................................................5
Need to understand.............................................................5
Consumer purchase decision process..................................6
Factors that affect decision making process........................8
Types of buying behaviour..................................................14
Literature review..................................................................15
Objectives.............................................................................18
Variables.............................................................................18
Hypothesis.............................................................................19
Methodology.........................................................................19
Results...................................................................................19
Conclusion..............................................................................21
References.............................................................................22
Appendix................................................................................24

1. Abstract

The purpose of this report is to outline and discuss the consumers

purchase decision process and identify the factors that affect the decision
process. This report will first outline and discuss the consumers purchase
decision process including recognizing needs, gathering information,
evaluating options, deciding to purchase and post purchase behaviour.
Secondly, the report will identify the factors that affect the decision
process including cultural, social, personal and psychological factors.

2. Introduction:

In addition to understanding the needs of your customers, you also

need to understand what motivates them to purchase, and how you can
influence the buying process to ensure that your products or services are
on the shopping list. Understanding your customers will help you to
develop and distribute your product, as well as getting the right price
point and developing successful promotional activities. The psychology of
the buying process has been widely studied, and no matter what size your
business, knowledge of this process can help you become more
successful. Both businesses and consumers exhibit patterns of buying
behaviour. The business model is less open to debate as your business
customers will almost certainly have some formalised process of buying in
place. Your task is to understand the process and match your marketing
activities to the different stages of the process. This means that the
customer will receive the right kind of contact at the right time.
Consumer behavior is the study of individuals, groups, or organizations
and the processes they use to select, secure, and dispose of products,
services, experiences, or ideas to satisfy needs and the impacts that these
processes have on the consumer and society.[1] It blends elements from
psychology, sociology, social anthropology and economics. It attempts to
understand the decision-making processes of buyers, both individually
and in groups. It studies characteristics of individual consumers such as
demographics and behavioral variables in an attempt to understand
people's wants. It also tries to assess influences on the consumer from
groups such as family, friends, reference groups, and society in general.
Customer behavior study is based on consumer buying behavior, with the
customer playing the three distinct roles of user, payer and buyer.
Research has shown that consumer behavior is difficult to predict, even
for experts in the field. Relationship marketing is an influential asset for
customer behavior analysis as it has a keen interest in the re-discovery of
the true meaning of marketing through the re-affirmation of the
importance of the customer or buyer. A greater importance is also placed
on consumer retention, customer relationship management,

personalization, customization and one-to-one marketing. Social functions

can be categorized into social choice and welfare functions.

2.1 Need to understand:

Why consumers make the purchases that they make?
What factors influence consumer purchases?
The changing factors in our society .
Consumer Buying Behaviour refers to the buying behaviour of the ultimate
consumer.
A consumers buyer behaviour is influenced by four major factors:
1) Cultural,
2) Social
3) Personal
4) Psychological.
These factors cause consumers to develop product and brand preferences.
Although many of these factors cannot be directly controlled by
marketers, understanding of their impact is essential as marketing mix
strategies can be developed to appeal to the preferences of the target
market.
When purchasing any product, a consumer goes through a decision
process. This process consists of up to five stages:
- Stage 1: problem recognition,
- Stage 2: information search,
- Stage 3: evaluation of alternatives,

- Stage 4: purchase decision

- Stage 5: post purchase behaviour.

2.2 Consumers purchase decision process

In a complex purchase, consumers purchase decision process
includes recognizing needs, gathering information, evaluating options,
deciding to purchase and post purchase behaviour.
Recognizing need
Need is consumers unsatisfactory state which is encouraging consumers
to take action to improve it (Henry et al, 2007). Needs are closely linked
and human activities. Peoples buying products or receiving services are
to meet certain needs. After a need is met, new needs will be produced.
Therefore, people needs will not be completely satisfied and will never
have an end. For example, when hungry, consumers will take action to
find food. However, faced with bread, biscuits, noodles, fast food and
many other choice objects, in the end what food to eat is not entirely
determined by the needs. In other words, needs only determine categories
of alternative products. It does not provide full answers to why people buy
a particular product, service or a particular brand of products and
services.
Gathering information
After recognizing what they need, consumers will gather information
about the products or service to lay the groundwork to make a purchase
decision. In general, Sources of information consumers would like to
gather include personal sources (such as family, friends, neighbors, and
acquaintances), commercial sources (such as advertising, salesmen,
distributors, packaging, and exhibitions), public sources (such as mass
media, consumer review organizations, etc.) and experience sources (such

as the handling, inspection and use of products). For example, consumers

may often see their neighbors, colleagues and friends frequently buy
Coca-Cola's products but the market is also filled with a variety of
beverage products. When they feel thirst and need to buy drinks, they
may ask their neighbors, colleagues and friends for product information,
including price, taste and so on.
Evaluating options
After gathering information about the products or brands, consumers may
make out some options for the buying behavior. All kinds of information
that consumers get may be repeated and even contradictory. Therefore,
consumers also need to analyze, evaluate and select. This is a decisive
part in the decision-making process. In the consumer's evaluation process,
product performance is the primary issue considered by the purchaser.
Different consumers show different degree of attention to the various
properties of the product. For example, a young couple plans to buy a car.
The husband who will be the main user of the car will be collect
information focusing on the price and performance starting from the
needs for going out by car instead of walking. Wife may place more
emphasis on style and brand of choice.

Deciding to buy
After the comparison and selection of information of products or service,
consumers purchase intention may have been formed. That is to say that
consumer will make purchase decisions at this stage. Consumer will make
purchase decisions to determine why to buy, when to buy, who buy, how
to buy, what products to buy and where to buy. The so-called preconsumer psychology means the mental process in which the consumers
make the decision. For example, when consumers feel hungry, they want
to eat fast food. They may collect information about fast food restaurants
from various channels including, as discussed before, personal sources
commercial sources public sources and experience sources. By

comparison and selection, Consumers may think McDonald's is the best

choice because McDonald's is a multinational food company, and it is
more than superior to other small shops and McDonald's is a well-known
brand and they like the environment and services. Finally, consumers
decide to buy fast food at McDonald's. For another example, when a
consumer need lodging and go to a hotel and then determine which hotel
to choose, in the process, he will consider many factors. The hotel's
location and environment, dishes taste, health, price is an important
factor affecting customers decision of the choice. After evaluation, he will
choose a hotel with comfortable environment which can create and bring
a good mood for guests.

Postpurchase behavior
After the purchase, consumers will make the evaluation of the product or
service. The level of consumer satisfaction depends on the comparison
between consumer expectations of product performance and the actual
performance of product in use. The level of consumer satisfaction
determines consumer activities after the purchase, determines whether
the consumers repeat purchase the product and determines the attitude
of consumers to the brand. In addition, the level of consumer satisfaction
also affects other consumers and will result in a formation of a chain
reaction. For example, in consumption in a hotel, customers have
psychological needs for respect. The customer expects to get courteous
reception, the courteous greeting and reception of hotel staffs in the
service process. The customer also expects to get equal service. In the
service, the customer does not want to be ignored or treated unfairly. The
customer expects convenient and efficient service. The consumer wants
to minimize the waiting time in the period staying in the hotel. After
purchase the service, the consumer finds that none of his expectations
has been met. The consumer makes a highly negative assessment of the

hotel. Since then, the consumer will not patronize the hotel. To make
matters worse for the hotel, the consumer will affect the buying behavior
of his friends.

2.3 Factors that affect the decision making process

Consumer purchasing decision is affected by
numerous factors to a large extent (Fraj & Martinez, 2007). There have
been a lot of literatures on the impact factors of the consumer purchasing
decision. Mastering the consumer behaviors of the target consumer
source is undoubtedly great helpful for market segmentation, positioning,
and restaurant food product development and service design. Most of the
existing literatures are the studies on cultural, social, personal and
psychological factors.

Cultural factors
Culture is the most basic determinants of human desires and behavior
(Dittmar & Drury, 2000). In general, the impact of it on the consumer
behavior is more profound than other factors. A kind of culture is
composed of many elements, such as the spirit, attitude, norms, and
customs and so on. For example, as a part of national culture, Food
culture has a direct impact consumer behavior when they making decision
for food or restaurant service. Western consumers might be more willing
to opt for fast food, and Asians may be like Chinese food. For another
example, General Motor (GM) failed to launch its luxury brand Cadillac into
Japanese market, because it ignored the cultural factors. Cadillac
represented the typical American culture with a symbol of the spirit of the
United States. It turned out that the company ignored that oriental culture

10

was introverted compared to American culture. The Japanese preferred to

Toyotas Century rather than luxury Cadillac (Kacen & Lee, 2002).
Social factors
Consumption behavior of consumers is also affected by a series of social
factors, such as the relevant groups, family and social roles and status.
Related groups are those groups have reference value to the consumer
behavior (Marieke & Mooij, 2004). The related groups play two roles in
consumer behavior. First, it provides a standardized code of conduct for
the consumers. Second, it provides comparative reference for consumers.
Families have a direct impact on the hotel consumer behavior. For
example, food consumption habits of parents will influence their
childrens. In a family, children will affect family buying decision on some
specific types of product which are directly related to the childrens life
such as snacks, recreational and school supplies.
Personal factors
Consumer behavior is affected by the personal characteristics including
stable factors and such as economic income, age, lifestyle and occupation
and also including random factors (Steinfield, 2003). Stable factors will not
only affect the purchase decision-making process, but also affect the
speed of decision-making process. In a particular stage of decision-making
process, purchase behavior depends in part on stable factors. For
example, in the stage of collecting information, the age and income will
largely affect the quantity and types of information sources and will also
affect the time spent in the collect information Stable factors also have
affect the consumer needs of products or service. For example, it is
assumed that the annual income of a university professor is as much as
that of an administrative officer, but the distribution of these revenues will
vary considerably. This is because the two professional differences. They
will need different things required in their work and different household
items.

11

Random factors refer to events that may occur when consumers purchase
decision. Sometimes, the consumer purchase decision is made in
unexpected circumstances (Lafferty & Hult, 2001). For example, someone
might want to purchase a plane ticket and to spend their final days with
his dying relative. The emergency situation of his relatives is a variable
factor which affects the consumer's purchase decision because the
consumer never usually purchases a plane ticket but often takes the train.
The emergence of a situation may delay or reduce the people's decision
making process (Park & Kim, 2003). For example, a consumer who is
considering buying a computer may be hesitant in the evaluation and
selection and this hesitation will certainly slow down the decision-making
process or lead him to give up such purchases. However, if the consumer
suddenly gets a high bonus for his excellent work performance, the
consumer may immediately determine to buy a computer. As a result,
decision-making process is shortened because of this unexpected factor.

Psychological factors
Consumer purchase decisions are affected by some psychological factors
including attitudes, motivation, learning, perception as well as beliefs.
Motivation is a need, which can lead people to seek to meet the target
needs (Hausman, 2000). Perception depends on the physical
characteristics of stimuli, but also depends on the relationship between
stimulus and personal with the environment. People get their beliefs and
attitudes through behavior and learning. In turn, consumer beliefs and
attitudes will affect their buying behavior. For example, consumers
purchase of McDonald's service and Coca-Cola's products is affected by
buying motivation. Consumer needs determine what they want before the
purchase decisions. Consumers need perfect dining environment and
service when eating out and want new flavors when they want to drink.
So, McDonalds focus on its dining environment and the service system is
perfect in order to produce consumer motivation. Coca-Cola also
continues to develop new flavors to produce consumer motivation. The

12

two companies use marketing means such as coupons and prize-giving

sales to promote consumption. Consumer motivation can lead to
consumer decision-making.
Influences on Decision-making
External factors
Group such as culture, family, friends, the referrer
Environmental factors
such as time, temperature, etc.
Internal factors
Lifestyle, personality, decision making process, motivation, etc.
Word of mouth
According to East et al. (2008), identification of the people who give
advice is the third concern of market researchers as to target this group of
people as there is evidence that word of mouth can be a very effective
strategy in which a lot of companies offer incentives to encourage the
referrals (Buttle, 1998; Danaher and Rust, 1996, cited in East et al., 2008).
However, it is not clearly identify if the people received the message
would reconsider, knowing that the referrers are incentivized.
Demographic factors
Kotler (1997) mentioned that demographic factors influenced
customer's buying decision are the internal factors including gender, age,
income, education level and family size.
Kotler (2000) commented that the market is divided based on factors like

13

age, gender, income, occupation, education, family size, and religion,

race, generation, nationality and social class. These factors are the basic
factors to differentiate customer groups as the customer wants,
preferences and usage are usually involve demographic factors.
Age
Age is one of the demographic variables that often use to divide the
market segment as it helps marketers to understand and keep themselves
up to date of the changing life cycle of each generation (Dibb et al.,
2006).
According to Flynn (1995), age is a very important demographic factors
that influences on the decision making process on the purchase because
natural factor, easy to measure and use it a lot of social science theories.
Kotler (2000) mentioned that the different needs and wants are different
in different age groups. People of different age have different needs and
wants and buy different goods and services over their life time.
Gender:
Decision making may also be influenced on gender basis, certain
products such as cosmetics etc are just used by females moreover some
other products such as after shaves, shaving foams etc are used by males
only so these factors affect purchasing.
Education level
Skinner (1994) has mentioned that educated customers tend to find
more information on the product they are purchasing and demand better
quality products and so education becomes one of the factors that
influences the decision making process.
Solomon (2006) stated that the level of education might be related to the
income level and occupation as the certain education level will be

14

accepted by a certain social class in which education is also one of the

factors that's being use to identify the social class in some area.

According to Dunne and Lusch (1999), the accomplishment in the

education field is the most reliable index for the income potential,
attitudes and the way of spending of a person. For example, graduate
students have different buying behavior comparing to the undergraduate
students even though they might stand in the same age group. They are
more conscious of the quality, price and services.
Occupation
In accordance with Kotler and Armstrong (2001), the purchase made for
goods and services are affected by a person's occupation. Identifying the
occupational groups according to the interest in their products is an
important thing for the marketers to do as a company will be able to focus
on the target customers or even specialize on a certain products that will
fit with the customers' needs.
Hawkins, Best and Coney (2001) mentioned the differences in consuming
the products and services among the different occupational classes,
whether it would be normal grocery like soap or food or even the
electronic products like mobile phone or computer. It's not just the
differences in the consumption, but also the media preferences and
shopping patterns.
Income
According to Statt (1997), income is one of the variables that is used to
identify the status of a person. It is considered to be one of the most
important socio-economic status variable as the quantification can be
easily done and compel the entry to some markets. Peter and Oslon
(1996) have indicate that the different in the income level of people has

15

influences on the value, behaviors and lifestyles.

In agreement with Solomon (1999), the buying power and market
potential is also define by income of a person, as people obtain goods and
services that they need to show their choices, in which more money will
be required to do so.

Culture
According to Solomon (2006), culture is a society's character that
includes theoretical ideas like values and ethics and physical matters and
services like automobile, clothes, food, sports, etc, that are delivered or
respect by a society. In the other word, it's a set of belief, norms, values
and traditions that share among the members.
Culture is being learned and has a long effect on the behavior of an
individual. As an example of cultural influences, consider how the
salesperson in a car showroom in England should approach the different
couples of customers that visit as in some cultures the husband will be the
one making the decision, while in the other it's the wife.
Social Class
This can be simply defined by set of factors like income, family
background and occupation.
"Social class is a much a state of being as it is of having: As Phile saw,
class is also a matter of what one does with one's money and how one
defines his rold in society". (Solomon 2006)
However, it is mentioned in Solomon (2006) as one wealthy woman
observed when she was asked to define social class:
"I would suppose social class means where you went to school and how
far. Your intelligence. Where you live... Where you send your children to
school. The hobbies you have. Skiing, for example, is higher than the

16

snowmobile... It can't be [just] money, because nobody ever knows that

about you for sure."
Lifestyle
"Lifestyle is a person's pattern of living as expressed in his or her
psychographics. It involves measuring consumer' major AIO dimension
activities (work, hobbies, shopping, sports, social events), interest (food,
fashion, family, recreation), and opinions (about themselves, social issues,
business, products)."
According to Kotler and Armstrong (2001), lifestyle is not just all about
social class or personality, but it involves the entire life of a person. People
from the same family, social class, or income level can have totally
different lifestyles.

2.4 Types of buying decision behaviour

According to Kotler and Armstrong (2001), the process of buying
differs from each product or service, a bottle of shampoo, a tennis racket,
an expensive mobile phone or computer and a new car. The harder the
decision, it's usually the more expensive the product is and therefore
require mostly more people and time to consider before making the
decision.
High
Involvement

Low Involvement

Significant differences
buying

Variety seeking

Between brands
Buying behaviour

17

Complex

Behaviour

Few differences
reducing

DissonanceHabitual buying

Between brands
behaviour

Buying
Behaviour

3. Literature Review:
The topic of consumer behaviour is one of the massively studied topics
by the researchers and marketers in the past and still being studied.
Researchers show different reasons as to why consumer behaviour has
been the topic of many academics and researchers. One of the common
views is that understanding consumer behaviour has become a factor that
has a direct impact on the overall performance of the businesses (Kotler
and Keller, 2012). Another view suggests that understanding consumer
behaviour has become crucial especially due to fierce competition in retail
industry in the UK and worldwide (Lancaster et al, 2002). This chapter will
introduce some other areas of research background of consumer
behaviour addressing the works of researchers and marketers. Moreover,
consumer decision making process, in particular, five stages of consumer
decision making process will be discussed in detail.

18

It is worth noting that consumer buying behaviour is studied as a part of

the marketing and its main objective it to learn the way how the
individuals, groups or organizations choose, buy use and dispose the
goods and the factors such as their previous experience, taste, price and
branding on which the consumers base their purchasing decisions (Kotler
and Keller, 2012).
One of such studies of consumer buying behaviour has been conducted by
Acebron et al (2000). The aim of the study was to analyze the impact of
previous experience on buying behaviour of fresh foods, particularly
mussels. In their studies the authors used structural equation model in
order to identify the relationship between the habits and previous
experience on the consumer buying decision. Their findings show that
personal habits and previous experience on of the consumers have a
direct impact on the consumers purchase decision in the example of
purchasing fresh mussels. They also found that the image of the product
has a crucial impact on the purchasing decision of the consumer and
further recommended that the product image should continuously be
improved in order to encourage the consumers towards purchasing.
Another study conducted by Variawa (2010) analyzed the influence of
packaging on consumer decision making process for Fast Moving
Consumer Goods. The aim of the research was to analyze the impact of
packaging for decision making processes of low-income consumers in
retail shopping. A survey method has been used in order to reach the
research objectives. In a survey conducted in Star Hyper in the town of
Canterville 250 respondents participated. The findings of the research
indicate that low-income consumers have more preferences towards
premium packaging as this can also be re-used after the product has been
consumed. Although the findings indicate that there is a weak relationship
between the product packaging and brand experience. However, it has
been proven by the findings of the research that low-income consumers
have greater brand experience from the purchase of premium products

19

when compared to their experience from purchasing cheap brand

products.
Lee (2005) carried out study to learn the five stages of consumer decision
making process in the example of China. The researcher focuses on the
facts that affect the consumer decision making process on purchasing
imported health food products, in particular demographic effects such as
gender, education, income and marital status. The author employed
questionnaire method in order to reach the objectives of the research.
Analysis of five stages of consumer decision making process indicate that
impact of family members on the consumer decision making process of
purchasing imported health food products was significant.
The author further explains this by the fact Chinese tradition of taking
care of young and old family members have long been developed and
marriage is considered to be extremely important in Chinese tradition.
This reflects in the findings of the study that the purchase of imported
health food products made by a person for the people outside the family is
declined significantly by both male and female Chinese after they get
married.
Five Stages Model of consumer decision making process has also been
studied by a number of other researchers. Although different researchers
offer various tendencies towards the definitions of five stages, all of them
have common views as they describe the stages in similar ways. One of
the common models of consumer decision making process has been
offered by Blackwell et al (2006). According to him, the five stages of
consumer decision making process are followings: problem/need
recognition, information search, evaluation of alternatives, purchase
decision made and post-purchase evaluation.
Each stage is then defined by a number of researchers varying slightly but
leading to a common view about what each stage involves. For example,
according to Bruner (1993) first stage, need recognition occurs when an

20

individual recognizes the difference between what they have and what
they want/need to have. This view is also supported by Neal and Questel
(2006) stating that need recognition occurs due to several factors and
circumstances such as personal, professional and lifestyle which in turn
lead to formation of idea of purchasing.
In the next stage, consumer searches information related to desired
product or service (Schiffman and Kanuk, 2007). Information search
process can be internal and external. While internal search refers to the
process where consumers rely on their personal experiences and believes,
external search involves wide search of information which includes
addressing the media and advertising or feedbacks from other people
(Rose and Samouel, 2009).
Once the relevant information about the product or service is obtained the
next stage involves analyzing the alternatives. Kotler and Keller (2005)
consider this stage as one of the important stages as the consumer
considers all the types and alternatives taking into account the factors
such as size, quality and also price.
Backhaus et al (2007) suggested that purchase decision is one of the
important stages as this stage refers to occurrence of transaction. In other
words, once the consumer recognized the need, searched for relevant
information and considered the alternatives he/she makes decision
whether or not to make the decision. Purchasing decision can further be
divided into planned purchase, partially purchase or impulse purchase as
stated by Kacen (2002) which will be discussed further in detail in the next
chapters.
Finally, post-purchase decision involves experience of the consumer about
their purchase. Although the importance of this stage is not highlighted by
many authors Neal et al (2004) argues that this is perhaps one of the
most important stages in the consumer decision making process as it

21

directly affects the consumers purchases of the same product or service

from the same supplier in the future.
The most noteworthy writers that serve as academic advocates of The
Five Stage Model of consumer decision making include Tyagi (2004), Kahle
and Close (2006) Blackwell et al. (2006), and others.
It is important to note that The Five Stage Model is not the only model
related to consumer decision-making, and there are also a range of
competing models that include Stimulus-Organism-Response Model of
Decision Making developed by Hebb in 1950s, Prescriptive Cognitive
Models, The Theory of Trying (Bagozzi and Warsaw, 1990), Model of Goal
Directed Behaviour (Perugini and Bagozzi, 2001) and others. All of these
models are analysed in great detail in Literature Review chapter of this
work.

22

4. Objectives:
The objective of consumer behaviour is that the consumer
seeks to gain the best or the most goods and services for the least
amount of money possible.
4.1 Variables:
Variable may refer to:a logical set of attributes
The independent variable is also called an experimental variable. It
is the variable being manipulated in the experiment in order to show the
effect on the dependent variable.
The dependent variable is also called the response variable. It is the
variable being observed in the experiment. A change in the independent
variable is what causes the change (if any) in the dependent variable,
which is the purpose of the experiment.
There are several variables in the consumer decision making process,that
may affect them in some or in many ways:

23

5. Hypothesis:
External factors may affect buying behaviour.
Environmental factors may influence buying
behaviour.
Internal factors may change the buying behaviour
of an individual.

24

6. Methodology:
Several methods are used to identify the problems and
their solutions. I have done a research work regarding the consumer
buying decision behaviour and its influencing factors. The result is
gathered by using a questionnaire method. It is a small research to know
about the buying patterns of the consumer. From the population a sample
of 20 respondents is chosen. They are well educated and aged from 18 to
onwards. The scale used is likert scale, which measures strongly
agreed, agreed, undecided, disagree and strongly disagreed. The
respondents were given a questionnaire to share their views about the
statements given in the questionnaire.

7. Results:
1. Do people buy products and services to meet their needs? 70% (14

out of 20) respondents strongly agreed it, means that people always
buy products and services to meet their need.
2. 41% (7 out of 20) agreed that people get satisfied when they meet
their needs.
3. 45% (8 out of 20) respondents prefer the performance of the product
more than anything.
4. 41% (7 out of 20) agreed that they measure satisfaction level about
a product by comparing the product with another product.
5. Does culture influence the buying behaviour? So 46% (9 out of 20)
agreed that the culture do affect the purchasing pattern.
6. 55% (11 out of 20) also agreed that social factors do affect the
buying behaviour.

25

7. Unexpected factors are responsible for buying behaviour and 50% (10
out of 20) agreed on this statement.
10. Attitudes, learning and beliefs are strongly agreed by 46% (9 out
of 20) respondents important for buying behaviour.
11. (7 out of 20) 40% respondents disagreed that they change their
buying decision by the word-of-mouth.
12. Do people go through different stages of decision making process?
45% (8 out of 20) agreed that they go through this process before they
purchase anything.
13. Consumers are now-a-days more educated about the products and
services, as we all know about it and this statement is agreed by 46% (9
out of 20) of the respondents.
14. 41% (7 out of 20) respondents disagreed that they look at the
price of the product rather than its quality or performance while
purchasing a product.
15. 46% (9 out of 20) agreed that they take hard decisions for
expensive products.
16. 50% (10 out of 20) respondents agreed that they take their
purchases as a learned experience.
17. Branding influenced 40% (7 out of 20) respondents.
18. Information gathering is important for purchase decisions and 60%
(12 out of 20) agreed on this.
19. Age related products are good or are purchased by different age
groups and 46% (9 out of 20) strongly agreed this statement.
20. Family do influence buying decision and 65% (13 out of 20) agreed
this statement.

26

21. 55% (11 out of 20) strongly agreed that television advertisements
influence more than the magazine of printed advertisements.
22. 46% respondents agreed that advertising do influence their
behaviour.
23. It remained undecided by 40% (7 out of 20) respondents that
exaggerated ads affect negatively on the buying decision.
24. 50% (10 out of 20) strongly agreed that income and occupation
plays an important role in buying behaviour of a person.

8. Conclusion
In purchase, consumers purchase decision process includes
Recognizing needs, gathering information, evaluating options, deciding to
purchase and post purchase behaviour. Need is consumers unsatisfactory
state which is encouraging consumers to take action to improve it. After
recognizing what they need, consumers will gather information about the
products or service to lay the groundwork to make a purchase decision.
After gathering information about the products or brands, consumers may
make out some options for the buying behaviour. After the comparison
and selection of information of products or service, consumers purchase
intention may have been formed. After the purchase, consumers will make
the evaluation of the product or service. Consumer purchasing decision is
affected by numerous factors such as cultural, social, personal and
psychological factors.

27

9. References:
Assael Henry, Pope Nigel, Brennan Linda & Voges Kevin.(2007). Consumer
Behaviour: A Strategic Approach. US: John Wiley & Sons

Charles William Steinfield. (2003). New Directions in Research on E-Commerce.

US: Purdue University Press.

Dittmar, H. and Drury, J. (2000). Self-image is it bag? A Qualitative Comparison

between Ordinary and Excessive Consumers. Journal of Economic Psychology,
21(2), 109-142.

Elena Fraj & Eva Martinez.(2007). Ecological Consumer Behavior: An Empirical

Analysis. International Journal of Consumer Studies, 31(1), 2633.

Hausman, A. (2000).A Multi-Method Investigation of Consumer Motivations in

Impulse Buying Behavior. Journal of Consumer Marketing, 17(15), 403-419.

28

Kacen, J. J., and Lee, J. A. (2002). The Influence of Culture on Consumer Impulse
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Lafferty BA & Hult TM (2001). A Synthesis of Contemporary Market

Orientation Perspectives. European Journal of Marketing, 35 (1/2), 92-109.

Marieke K. de Mooij.(2004). Consumer Behavior and Culture: Consequences For

Global Marketing And Advertising .UK: Sage Publication, Inc.

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Bagozzi, R. & Warsaw, L. (1990) Trying to Consumer Journal of Consumer Research 17,
(2) pp. 127 140.
Backhaus, K. Hillig, T. and Wilken, R. (2007) Predicting purchase decision with different
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Perugini, M. & Bagozzi, R. (2001) The role of desires and anticipated emotions in goaldirected behaviours: Broadening and deepening the theory of planned behaviour British
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10. Appendix:
Name: _________________________

Your Occupation

__________________________
Gender

Age ___________

1. Male
2. Female
Strongly

Agree

Agreed

Undecid

Disagr

Strongly

ed

ee

Disagreed

2
1

#
Statements
1 Do you buy product and service
to meet your needs
1

30

2 Do you think that people gets

fully satisfied when they meet
their needs
3 Do you prefer product

service?
10 Do you change your purchase

behavior by a word of mouth?

performance more than

anything?
4 Do you measure your
satisfaction level by comparing
the product you use with another
product?
5 Do you think your culture
influence your purchasing
behavior?
6 DO social factors affect your
consumption behavior?
7 Do unexpected factors affect
purchasing of a consumer?
8 Are attitudes, learning and
beliefs necessary for
purchasing?
9 Do you think one needs to be
educated to buy a product or

11 Do you go through different

stages of decision making
process before buying a product
or service?
12 Is advertising important for
making a purchase decision?
13 Are consumers more educated
about the products today?
14 Do you only look at the price of
the product or service rather
than its quality or performance?

31

15 Do you make hard decisions for

expensive products?

newspaper or magazine ads?

23 Does advertising influence your

behavior positively?
24 Do you agree that exaggerated

16 Do you take a purchases as your

learned behavior?
17 Does a brand influence your
purchasing behavior?
18 Do you think life style is not just
all about social class or
personality, does it involves the
entire life of a person?
19 Do you gather information for
any product before you buy it?
20 Do you like to buy products that
suits your age?
21 Does your family influence your
purchasing behavior?
22 Do you think television ads
influence you more than

ads affects negatively on your

25

purchasing behavior?
Do you think that income and
occupation plays a role in your
buying behavior?

32

Figure of purchase decision process

Factors influencing buying behaviour

33