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To offer consumers the right product, in-depth analysis and knowledge of customers are required. Consumer behavior influences the choice and the nature of the marketing mix to be developed. There are a few essential questions to be asked. They are :
- What are the consumers buying?
- What is vital in the buying decision?
- How do they buy?
- What are their selection criteria?
- Where do the consumers buy from?
- When do they buy?
It is crucial to uncover and answer all the above questions to understand what criteria the buyer uses to select their product.
Based on the above questions, the buying process has been divided into 5 stages. The 5 stages of consumer buying process are – Problem recognition, information search, evaluation of alternatives, purchase, and post-purchase evaluation of decisions.
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Now, Let’s study the 5 stages of consumer buying process in detail.
The 5 Stages of Consumer Buying Process
The first of the 5 stages of consumer buying process begins with recognizing the problem.
Problem Recognition
The recognition of the problem may take place over some time—for example, the need for a bigger house. The problem may be initiated by the consumer’s emotional or psychological need, for instance, status.
Consumers have many needs at a time. They can’t pursue all needs together, so they must prioritize them. As a marketer, it is their job to ensure the firm’s product comes in their list of prioritized products.
The marketer must be aware of the needs of the customers. This can give them a competitive edge against others. It can be accomplished through marketing research.
As a manager, you should know that needs are raised because of stimulations. If a person is not aware of your product, they would never feel the need to buy it. Advertisements and salespeople selling the product act as a cue to raise awareness and demand. The ads create awareness of significant disparity and also stress the importance of owning the firm’s latest product.
As a business firm, your teams have to make sure that they exaggerate the advantages of the firm’s product so that the consumers feel that they are missing something from their product. The customer should feel that not having the new product is everything for them.
Information Research
The 2nd of the 5 stages of consumer buying process is information search. After realizing the need for a product, the consumer starts to search the market for alternatives that can satisfy their needs. They evaluate these alternatives based on their criteria.
Internal Research
The first thing consumer does is internal research. Internal research involves searching for relevant information from the own memories. They try to recall similar purchase decisions they made earlier. Such information includes the decision about choice criteria, brands included in the consideration, information received from reference groups or advertisements related to the product, etc.
External Research
When the internal research proves to be useless, the consumers opt for external research. External sources involve information collection from private sources such as family, friends, and colleagues and non-private sources such as advertisements, retailers, and other media sources. Third parties report provides unbiased information to consumers about the brand and its products.
Information research aims to build an awareness set, which refers to a group of brands that can satisfy their needs. This awareness set has to be reduced to a smaller size for serious consideration through screening. The smaller set is called evolved or the consideration set.
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Evaluation of Alternatives
The 3rd of the 5 stages of consumer buying process is the evaluation of alternatives.
The screening process narrows down the brand to fewer choices. Consumers use various rules while arriving at the set of possible brands that are to be considered for the purchase.
High-Involvement Products
In high-involvement decisions, the consumer carries out extensive evaluations of brands. High-involvement products have high expenditure or personal risks. The consumer spends more time and effort in arriving at the right decision. The evaluation of choices is narrower, and the consumer uses many choice criteria to evaluate the brands.
In the case of high-involvement products, the consumer evaluates the consequences of the purchase and what others will think about it. The attributes that are weighted heavily influence the decision.
In high-involvement situations, the salespeople must provide more details about the product’s attributes. It will help the consumer to evaluate brands more effectively. The salesperson should ensure that the consumer is aware of the important qualities of the product.
Low-Involvement Products
Low-involvement products incur less expenditure and perusal risks. Hence, the consumer spends less time and effort in making such decisions. In such purchases, simple and lesser evaluating criteria are used. Consumers use simple tactics to reduce the time and effort in buying the product.
Low-involvement products are characterized by awareness, trial, and repeat purchases. The limited importance of the product does not warrant reasoned evaluation of alternatives. Awareness precedes trial. If satisfactory, it can lead to repeat purchases.
In low-involvement products, attempting to gain top priority through advertisements and positive reinforcement, such as sales promotion, is more important than providing information about the product.
Purchase
The 4th of the 5 stages of consumer buying process is purchasing. Once the consumer has narrowed down their choices, the only thing left is purchasing the product. The consumer can purchase the product from retail shops, online shops, wholesalers, or directly from the manufacturer.
The purchase process has its process as well. The decision regarding the place and mode of purchase, payment terms, and conditions, product delivery, installation, etc. The business firm can provide people for these processes or hire a third party.
Post-Purchase Evaluation
The 5th and last of the 5 stages of consumer buying process is post-purchase evaluation. This refers to how consumers evaluate the product based on its performance.
Consumers experience post-purchase concerns called cognitive dissonance. The reason for cognitive dissonance is due to uncertainty while making a decision. Uncertainty happens because while the consumer selected this one product, they also rejected several others. The consumer may feel they missed the opportunity to experience the attributes, other alternatives, or other products that could have been better.
When we talk about the 5 stages of consumer buying process, post-purchase carries certain importance. During post-purchase evaluation, if the consumer likes the results, it will increase customer retention for the business.
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FAQs
What are the 5 stages of consumer buying process?
Problem Recognition
Information Research
Evaluation of Alternatives
Purchase
Post-Purchase Evaluation
Who are consumers?
Consumers are the end user who uses the product or service. A customer is the one who buys the product. But it’s not necessary that the customer will use it themself. The person who uses the bought product is the consumer.
Closing Statement
The above-mentioned 5 stages of consumer buying process are the universal steps. Every customer around the globe uses these 5 stages of consumer buying process. It may be consciously or subconsciously.
Every step is focused on finding value at a reasonable price. As a marketer, you must understand the line where the product’s value and price are aligned to perfectly capture the consumer’s attention. As a marketer, it is your job to make sure that the product is sold and the customer gets retained as well.
I hope this article about the 5 stages of consumer buying process is informative. If you have any doubts or suggestions, evaluate your words and write them in the comment box.