A key to running a successful business is understanding your customers. Once you understand your customer journey, you can better relate and cater to them. Consequently, every business owner needs to understand the general customer decision-making process that people employ when buying a product.
By understanding this process, you can effectively infiltrate it with meaningful and effective content to influence their decisions throughout your marketing funnel.
The 5 Steps of the Consumer Decision Making Process
The five basic stages of the consumer decision-making process were first introduced by John Dewey all the way back in 1910. As it turns out, consumer behavior hasn’t changed much over the past century. Let’s break down the stages of the buying process to learn more:
Step 1: Recognition of a Problem
The first step in the consumer decision process involves the recognition of a problem.
We all have problems in our lives — both big and small. However, a problem needs to become big enough so that you feel the need to actually address it. At this point, the time you waste because of this problem is worth taking the time to find a solution to it.
Here are some different examples of problems that customers may come across in their daily lives:
- The need for a faster computer since their current one is too slow and is affecting their work.
- The need for a robot vacuum since they simply do not have the time each day to vacuum the entire house.
- The need for a new makeup product because you have run out of your previous product or you need a different shade.
Step 2: Information Search Stage
The second step in the customer decision-making process involves the information search to find external information as a solution to this problem. Sometimes customers may know exactly what type of product would solve their problem. Other times, they need to conduct a more detailed search to find the answer they’re looking for.
In the 21st century, these searches are usually performed online for obvious reasons. The Internet contains limitless information that you can access almost instantly through search engines. Hopefully, these keyword searches produce relevant information about your topics.
However, just because we have access to this type of information technology doesn’t mean that the human connection no longer exists. Customers may discuss this problem with friends or family to get insight or specific recommendations.
Step 3: Evaluation of Alternatives
The third step in the customer decision-making process involves evaluating alternatives. Most of the time, there are going to be multiple solutions to the identified problem. Very rarely is technology so new or exclusive that there is a single solution to the problem? For this reason, customers often need to evaluate the consideration set of products to find the best option to solve their problem.
If a customer is highly involved and invested in the process, they may decide that it’s worthwhile to spend the time evaluating several different options before choosing the best one. In other cases, customers aren’t overly concerned with their search results and are willing to purchase the first solution they come across for convenience’s sake.
In this stage of the evaluation process, the customer will begin to think about risk management. They’ll make pros and cons lists, or make a list for alternatives evaluation (evaluation of alternatives stage).
Step 4: Purchasing Decision
The fourth stage in the customer decision-making process involves making the purchasing decision. This is when the customer weighs all of the information they’ve gathered thus far to decide which solution they’re going to choose for their problem. Things that can influence the final purchasing decision include customer reviews and advertising.
Step 5: Evaluation of Decision
The fifth and final stage in the customer decision-making process involves evaluating the final purchase decision. If the customer’s post-purchase evaluation is that they made a good decision in purchasing a specific product, they’re more likely to make repeat purchases in the future.
On the other hand, if the customer comes to the conclusion that they made a mistake in purchasing a specific product, they aren’t likely to purchase the same product again or even patronize the brand again. They may end up returning the item or leaving negative feedback on social media that can affect other people’s buying decision process down the line.
As a result, it’s important to ensure that your product quality is high and that they actually solve the problem they promise to solve.
Examples of the Customer Decision Process
In order to fully understand the customer decision-making process, let’s take an example and walk through each step in the process.
Recognition of a Problem
Expanding on an example from earlier, let’s say that a customer regularly uses their computer for work but has noticed that it’s been really slow and lagging lately. This is affecting their work and is definitely a problem.
Information Search
After realizing that their computer is slow simply because it is old rather than being low on storage or having a virus, the customer decides that they need to purchase a new computer altogether.
They may begin the search process by asking friends or family members if they like their computer and would recommend it. They may then conduct research on the internet about some of the best and fastest computers available.
Evaluation of Alternatives
After doing some research, the customer has narrowed their options down to a few different types of computers from brands like HP, Dell, and Apple. The customer may consider objective factors like the computer’s features, functionality, price, and ease of use. The customer may also consider subjective factors like their feelings about the brand based on previous experience or input from others.
Purchasing Decision
Despite the higher price, the customer decides to buy the Apple computer based on the perceived quality and previous experience with the brand with their iPhone products. They see that Apple is currently running a pricing special and decide to purchase right away.
Evaluation of Decision
After receiving and using the new computer, the customer is able to evaluate their purchasing decision. Based on the speed, quality, customer service, and ease of use, the customer determines their satisfaction with their purchase. They then choose to give Apple their business later on down the line when purchasing other products, for instance, iPhones, iPods, Apple TVs, etc.
Final Thoughts on the Customer Decision-Making Process
While understanding the customer decision-making process can help you run a successful business, this is just a general process. For real success, you need to understand the ins and outs of your specific target group of customers. The best way to do this is to conduct research through surveys, focus groups, etc.
From there, you need to delve deeper into your target group of customers with more detailed information about what they want, what they care about, what they hate, etc. All of these points can be incorporated into a buyer persona.
Using the buyer persona, you can then move on to marketing to influence customers at nearly every step of the decision-making process. Your marketing campaigns should look different based on which step in the process they’re targeting. To create the best possible marketing campaigns, you may want to hire a content marketing agency or expert.
Greg Gillman is a marketing expert that focuses on omnichannel growth strategies for direct-to-consumer brands. He has helped his clients, big and small, generate more than $4 billion in annual revenue — and he can guide you to the same level of success.
Sources:
10 Key Principles for Truly Understanding Your Clients | Forbes
5 Steps of Decision Making Process | Yahoo Small Business
Buyer Personas: What They Are, Why They Matter and How to Best Build One | Entrepreneur
