ANALYSIS OF CONSUMER DECISION MAKING

Nike is one of the country's biggest shoe and clothing brands. What has taken Nike to this
point is the company understands the customer decision-making process very well. Consumer
decision-making is a 5-step process that customers use when purchasing something. Those
five phases are recognition, informative search, alternative evaluation, purchase and post-
purchase behaviour. Nike makes it easy for customers to determine which product they like
best. However, when it comes to customer decision-making a lot of variables weigh in.
Considering that Nike is such a well-known brand, their products are also of high quality and
premium that lead to price increases.

Product or service procurement process is a problem-solving task for the customer. He goes
through the sequence of stages in such effort to achieve the result they want. The stages of
buying thus start just before the actual transaction and also have implications long afterwards.
Consumers may skip some of these stages in some transactions, especially small-value
transactions, but in general there are five basic stages in decision-making, problem-
recognition, information search, alternative evaluation, purchase decision and post purchase
behaviour. The phases of the buying process with respect to the NIKE product will be further
discussed in the report.

1. PROBLEM RECOGNITION

The buyers understand what their problem or need is between current motivation state and
desired motivation state in the first stage of Consumer Decision Process begins with need
recognition. I've seen a commercial for a brand new collection of Nike shoes, for example, to
encourage me to need a new Nike shoe. The buying process begins with problem recognition
when a consumer's desired and actual situation is substantially different and broad enough. It
can be activated on both inside and out. External triggers are hunger, thirst or some other
need, while external may be the company's marketing activities that encourage one to think
about the possibility of purchasing, or admiring the new shoe of the friend. The NIKE
purchase can be triggered by internal as well as external stimuli. One may need the shoes to
be used for running, soccer, basketball, walking or, and so on, or may be inspired by the new
look of Nike advert or friend.  In each purchase the customer can need to go through the stage
step by step. However, customers can skip the information search and evaluation stage
straight to purchase decision in daily purchase.
2. INFORMATION SEARCH

Consumer Decision Process next stage is information search; customers can search
information according to internal or external sources of information under information
search. Internal sources of information are memory-recovered knowledge, and the
information may be based on a person's past experience, past conversation, or previously read
articles. With regard to NIKE, this sort of search for information is relevant to customer
returns. When the customers have first-time contact with NIKE, it is more important to
analyse external information sources. External sources of information can be the latest
sources of information from the world and include friends, relatives, salesperson, ads,
brochures, and blogs and media articles. The marketers must define which target information
sources markets are most important, the influence of those information sources will depend
on the products and customers.

For example, I want to buy new pair of shoes and before I buy I'll take advice from my
friends about their experience on various shoe brands and search information about the
quality of the company's brand product.

3. ALTERNATIVE EVALUATION AND SELECTION

The third stage of the Consumer Decision Process model is the evaluation of alternatives,
where the alternative boundaries of the customer evaluation in the choice of knowledge. Each
product or service has a different installation of attributes aimed at meeting customer needs.
Customers can judge these items on different bases, such as design, ease of use, price and
prestige. Consumers prefer to use two forms of information like a list of brands from which
they decide to make their selection while considering possible alternatives and the criteria
they will be used to test each brand for decision. Accordingly, values and attitudes play an
important role in this assessment, and consumers seeking higher identity, price and the
unique look of the shoes that can be obtained by customizing them have a higher likelihood
of selecting the NIKE compared to the brand list of competitors type.

For example, I want to buy a new pair running shoes and there are brands like Nike, Adidas,
and Puma etc... And by looking the quality, design, Price I would choose any brand which
possess high standards.
4. PURCHASE

The fourth stage of Consumer Decision Process model is purchasing, the stage in which
customers actually purchase the product. Purchasing is the central stage in the decision-
making process for the consumer. At this level, customers have to decide on three key points,
from whom to buy, when to buy and in the end whether to buy or not. It is due to the number
of risks such as functional, physical, social, financial, psychological and time risk.
Consumers, however, make three forms of buy; purchase trial, repeat purchases, and purchase
long-term commitment. Based on previous experience and recommendations from their
peers, NIKE customers are inclined to make a purchase driven by these possibilities. For that
reason they neutralize some of the above threats. Other risks are reduced by the company, as
they give return possibility for any reason.

For example, after reading the Nike shoe advertisement, I suggest purchasing the Nike shoe
to fulfil my need or wish. The decision to buy will take place immediately or in a couple of
weeks. Compared with the competition, the seller may need to credit the product with its own
advantages and offer trial or sampling of the product hope that the sale will increase.

5. POST PURCHASE PROCESSES

The final stage of the Consumer Decision Process is a post-purchase process, after
consumers buy the product and use it, consumers can equate it with perceptions of either the
product is satisfactory or not with their previous experience. The customer interacts with the
company in post-purchase behaviour after the purchase. The tone of the interaction is largely
characterized by a consumer's level of satisfaction, which can be described as a degree of
closeness between expectations and actual product or service performance. Customers who
have not had good experience will probably not buy the product again, and would probably
complain and take legal action against the product.

For example, I bought Nike shoe and wearing it, I feel like Nike shoe is giving more comfort
and good quality than other shoes. I will repurchase the Nike shoe in future buying decision
because it suits my needs.