Individual

Assignment: Short Essay

Consumer
Decision Making
Process
Fact or Fiction?

Luke Meyer

BUSN1022: MARKETING PRINCIPLES

LUKE MEYER

CONSUMER DECISION MAKING PROCESS

Is the Consumer Decision Making Process a Fact or Fiction?

There has been much debate over the credibility of the consumer decision making
process. One viewpoint is that the process is a certainty and every aspect is followed by the
consumer in the exact order that is specified, another perspective is that it is a falsehood and
should be ignored. The reality is that the process has credibility in certain circumstances and
not in others. Usually, the process can be used when there are two or more products or actions
to choose from, but when there are less than two options a decision regarding which product
to by cannot be made (Olshavsky, Granbois 1979, p. 93). In some cases, some of the five stages
stated in the decision making process may not always be included in the process. It may also be
argued that the five stages may not always be done in a consistent order therefore a pure
structure to the process cannot be used. In spite of these reasons, generally, the consumer
decision making process works constantly in most situations.
In most circumstances a customer has to make a decision about what product to buy,
but what if there is only one option? In this case, there isnt a decision to be made (Olshavsky,
Granbois 1979, p. 93). For example, in 2010 the Affordable Care Act was signed into law by
President Obama in the US (US Department of Health & Human Services, 2015). This policy
states that citizens are obliged to have health insurance (Ballasy, 2011). The law provides
financial subsidies if the insurance cannot be afforded (Ballasy, 2011), nonetheless, it requires
the purchase to be made. In this exemplar the decision making process still occurs through
choosing the company or brand that supplies the health insurance but eliminates it when
choosing whether or not to by health insurance. It may be argued that the person could leave
the country to avoid paying for health insurance meaning more than one option is presented
and therefore the decision making process is present. The issue with this view is that assumes
that the person is looking for other options. In most cases moving overseas is not an option for
people and therefore the consumer decision making process is not a factor.
The consumer decision making process according to Elliott, Rundle-Thiele and Waller
(2014, p. 141) is made up of five stages: need/want recognition, information search, evaluation
of options, purchase and post-purchase evaluation. Although this is said to be a set structure,

pg. 2

LUKE MEYER

CONSUMER DECISION MAKING PROCESS

the order and existence of these steps may depend on the personal and psychological
characteristics of the buyer (Kumra 2007, p. 277). Personal characteristics include demographic
factors (such as age, education and income), lifestyle and personality (Elliott, Rundle-Thiele &
Waller 2014, pp. 130-3). Each one of these factors influence the extent that the consumer
decision making process is used. Hypothetically, when discussing demographic factors, if a
customer of young age purchased a toy they may have gone through need/want recognition,
purchase and post-purchase evaluation (1st, 4th, and 5th stages) but may not have gone through
information search and evaluation of options (2nd and 3rd stages). For this customer,
information search and evaluation of options may not be relevant as they are over exited about
the product and are instantly convinced they need it. Therefore, they will not seek information
from known, trusted or even convenient sources and they will not compare it with other
alternatives or consider not purchasing it. Psychological characteristics of the buyer also affect
the decision making process. These characteristics include motivation, perception, beliefs and
attitudes and learning (Elliott, Rundle-Thiele & Waller 2014, pp. 134-9). For example, if a
customer perceives a product to be the best in that product category they may not go through
the information search and evaluation of options stages when making the purchase. Because of
the absence of these stages the structural integrity of the process can be questioned.
To add to the ambiguity of the consumer decision making process, the 5 steps may not
consistently be in the same order. In terms of order, need/want recognition, purchase and
post-purchase evaluation are set in stone but the information search and evaluation of options
stages are interchangeable. Sometimes when investigating a product one may evaluate their
options first to see what is feasible to purchase and then find information about those
products. On high involvement purchases it is also a common trend that customers complete a
partial information search, evaluate options, do a comprehensive information search then
repeat the evaluation of options with the supplementary information. For instance, when
buying an expensive car one may repeat these steps many times so that the right decision can
be accomplished without regret. This therefore discredits the consistent structure of the
consumer decision making process.

pg. 3

LUKE MEYER

CONSUMER DECISION MAKING PROCESS

The credibility of the consumer decision making process is determined by the

congruency of the situation and the person. In most cases the process is present in the way the
model states but this is not always the case. The model cannot exist when there is only one
option to choose from therefore excluding decisions. Personal and psychological characteristics
also govern the existence and order of the 5 stages of the decision making process. The
application of the consumer decision making process can be widely applied but the exceptions
have to be considered by managers and marketers. These exceptions should be accounted for
when creating a marketing strategy in order for it to be highly beneficial.

Word Count: 907

Reference List

Ballasy N 2011, Obama: Forcing People to Buy Health Insurance Should Not Be Controversial,
CSNNews.com, viewed 11 April 2016, <http://cnsnews.com/news/article/obama-forcingpeople-buy-health-insurance-should-not-be-controversial>.

Elliott, G, Rundle-Thiele, S, Waller, D 2014, Marketing, 3rd edn, John Wiley & Sons Australia,
Queensland, Australia.

Kumra, R 2007, Consumer Behaviour, Himalaya Publishing House, Mumbai, IND.

Olshavsky, RW & Granbois DH 1979, Consumer Decision Making Fact or Fiction?, Journal of
Consumer Research, viewed 12 April 2016,
<http://jcr.oxfordjournals.org.ezproxy.flinders.edu.au/content/6/2/93>.

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services 2015, Read the Law, Washington D.C., viewed
11 April 2016, <http://www.hhs.gov/healthcare/about-the-law/read-the-law/index.html>.

pg. 4