customer decision making process

CUSTOMER DECISION MAKING PROCESS

Today, the customer is awarer and better informed. The days of caveat emptor are long gone. Customer is the king now.This changes the definition of rational consumer in a manner that the consumer or the customer now does his research before buying the commodity.Buying becomes a process involving various decisions,namely-

• problem recognition
• information research
• evaluation of alternatives
• purchase decision 
• post purchase behaviour

It means that the customer defines his area of commodity purchase.He narrows down the product line and shortens his list for the best alternatives.He starts looking at his subjects differently, analysing at every step.

To comprehend the given paradigm we take a product, in our case the Dettol hand sanitiser.It begins with problem recognition,here-unavailability of rudimentary soap and water for sanitary purposes due to in-transit situations or simply because the elements are not present.Another problem could be dirty-water scenarios or This is followed by information research-finding out from different sources like Internet,advertisements,dealers,family etc. the various brands and types of sanitisers available in the market.Different brands are Dettol,apollo and Zuci.They come with different types like classic,strawberry etc.
This is followed by evaluation of alternatives-the brands that the customer shortlisted would now be evaluated for further consideration.Thus the customer weighs his options and finds out the benefits reaped out of all the sanitisers of different companies on the basis of different beliefs and attitudes.This leads to purchase decision-the thought process that arises from five subconscious decisions that are-brand,dealer,quantity,timing and payment method.
And finally the post purchase behaviour-this is where the buyer retrospects on his decision after buying the commodity.Thus the customer will analyse the benefits derived out of buying the Dettol product is more or less than the total cost including physical and mental expenditure.
After all of this the customer starts using his experience in future purchases and and this in turn leads to habit formation.
The customer decision making process involves careful deliberation of efforts as our choices are irrational.