Many factors at the time of purchase
dramatically influence the consumer’s decision-making process.
Many factors affect a purchase. These include the
consumer’s antecedent state (e.g., his or her mood, time pressure, or disposition toward
shopping). Time is an important resource that often determines how much effort and search will go into a decision. Our moods
are influenced by
the degree of pleasure and arousal a store environment creates.
The usage context of a product is a
segmentation variable; consumers look for different product attributes depending on the use to which they intend
to put their purchase.
The presence or absence of other people (co- consumers)—and the types of people
they are—can also affect
a consumer’s decisions. The shopping experience also is a pivotal part of the purchase
decision. In many cases, retailing is like theater: The consumer’s evaluation of stores and products may depend on the type of
“performance” he
witnesses. The actors (e.g., salespeople), the setting (the store environment), and the props (e.g.,
store displays)
influence this evaluation. Like a brand personality, a number of factors, such as perceived convenience, sophistication, and expertise of salespeople, determine
store image. With increasing competition from nonstore alternatives,
creating a positive shopping experience has never been more important. Online shopping is growing in
importance, and this
new way to acquire products has both good (e.g., convenience) and bad (e.g., security)
aspects.
The
information a store’s layout, web site, or salespeople provides
strongly influences a purchase decision.
Because we don’t make many purchase decisions until
we’re actually in the
store, Point-of-purchase (POP) stimuli are important sales tools. These include
product samples, elaborate
package displays, place-based media, and in-store promotional materials such as “shelf
talkers.” POP stimuli are
particularly useful
in promoting impulse buying, which happens when a consumer yields to a
sudden urge for a product.
Increasingly, mobile shopping apps are also playing a key role. The consumer’s
encounter with a salesperson is a complex and important process. The
outcome can be affected
by such factors as the salesperson’s
similarity to the customer
and his or her perceived credibility.
The
growth of a “sharing economy” changes how many consumers
think about buying rather than renting products.
In the rapidly growing sharing economy people rent what they need rather than buy it. New
technologies make
this process much
easier and online networks allow us to form bonds of trust with strangers. In
addition, many consumers no longer place a premium on owning products and prefer to “borrow” them only for the specific
times when they
actually need them.
Our decisions about how to dispose of a product are as
important as how we decide to obtain it in the first place.
Concern about the environment and waste make the issue of product disposal key in many
categories. In addition to
understanding if and how consumers recycle, newer recommerce models such as swishing are
emerging that enable
people to share more of their used goods with one another rather than disposing of them.
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