MASTER OF BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION
CMGB 6101 MARKETING MANAGEMENT
LECTURER:
DR NORBANI CHE HA
TO KEEP YOUR CUSTOMERS, KEEP IT SIMPLE
PATRICK SPENNER & KAREN FREEMAN
Prepared by:
Md Muzany Md Suradi (CGA 100045) Harbinderjeet Kaur (CGA 120063) Amutha Subramaniam (CGA 120067)
Summary of Article
Decision Simplicity; what’s the most important thing we can offer potential customers to move them from being interested to actually purchasing our product? The study described in this article suggests that it’s ‘decision simplicity’. The single biggest driver of stickiness, by far, was ‘decision simplicity’- the ease with which consumers can gather trustworthy information about a product and confidently and efficiently weigh their purchase options. What consumers want from marketers is, simply, simplicity. Researchers from the Corporate Executive Board analyzed results from multiple surveys totaled over 7,000 consumers, as well as interview with hundreds of marketing experts and executives, trying to figure out what makes a product ‘stick’. They looked at over 40 variables, trying to figure out what is most important in the choice of one brand over others. The key wasn’t frequency of interaction with the brand, nor was it price, nor was it the consumer’s initial perception of the brand. In the end, the purchasing decisions are most influenced by which company makes the decision to purchase simple. The article cites an example of two approaches to selling cameras to web searchers; one firm provides visitors access to extensive information about each of its products, while the other focuses on the user’s needs and steers the user to the most appropriate product. The latter approach would be far more successful in today’s marketplace, say the authors. The study showed that the ‘decision simplicity index’, a measure of ease of accessing the information