In the wake of the economic globalization, the markets in different nations tend to be integrated. As a result of this tendency, more opportunity and challenges are brought to companies. Although the global market provides huge amount of customers, it brings in more competitors. In order to really understand how consumers make their decisions to buy a product or service, the market organization should clearly analyze the process of their decision and the factors which will impact their behavior. Consumers usually make a decision through five stages: need recognition, information search, and evaluation of alternatives, purchase decision and post-purchase behavior. Marketers should not only focus on the purchase decision, but also emphasize the entire buying process. During this process, consumers’ decision and behavior can be influenced by two main factors. First, there are the internal characteristics: psychological and personal. Then is the external influences, they are cultural and social. All the factors above should be taken into account during the entire consuming decision process. It is responsible for marketers to analyze the main influences in each step so that appropriate actions can be taken in time. The essay will mainly identify and discuss the stages in the consumer decision process and the relevant factors influencing consumer behavior during each step.
STAGES IN THE CONSUMER DECISION PROCESS AND FACTORS INFLUNCING CONSUMER BEHAVIOR
CONSUMER BEHAVIOR
It is commonly recognized that human interests are many and polytropic. There are kinds of factors that affect consumer buying behavior. For the reason that buying behavior is never simple, it is essential for marketers to identify different factors that influence consumers’ decision during their buying process. Consumer buying behavior refers to the buying behavior of final consumers, individuals, and households who buy goods and services for personal consumption. (Adam&