Pride: buying or using something to make me feel better about myself in the eyes of others
Shame: buying or using something in order to not be shamed by others
Guilt: buying or using something so as to avoid feeling guilty
12. Five-stage model of the consumer buying process. Explain role of each stage.
The consumer decision-making process involves five basic steps. This is the process by which consumers evaluate making a purchasing decision. The 5 steps are problem recognition, information search, alternatives evaluation, purchase decision and post-purchase evaluation.
5 steps of the consumer decision making process Problem recognition: Recognizes the need for a service or product
Information search: Gathers information
Alternatives evaluation: Weighs choices against comparable alternatives
Post-purchase evaluation: Reflects on the purchase they made
13. Clarify “Decision Heuristics” in consumer behavior and give example for each point.
Heuristics are mental shortcuts or rules of thumb people use to make decisions. When market research observes heuristics, it offers insights into how consumers experience a product or service and how to increase the value in their minds. In our previous Heuristics and Shopper Behavior blog, we focused only on availability, representativeness, anchoring, and attribute substitution heuristics. Now, we are looking at Social Proof, Hyperbolic Discounting, Loss Aversion, Binary Self-control, and Affect heuristics.
Social Proof Heuristic The brain is always looking for shortcuts to make decisions. One way to speed up a buying decision is to observe the decisions others make. If someone else has bought something, it’s easier to justify the same purchase mentally. For example, someone purchases the best-selling novel solely because everyone else is reading it, or someone else may make more effort to save energy because their neighborhood has more energy-efficient conscious households.
When observing shopper behaviors, pay attention to the different personas that buy the product, and even competitors’ products, to inform brand messaging. Remind consumers of the product’s success with other consumers: of other people ‘like them’ who have used and loved the product, and local success. Measuring the social reach accompanied by customer insights within the market research process taps into this powerful heuristic.