4.2 Buying-Process Stages
Learning Objectives
- Describe theories of consumer decision-making
- Describe the stages of the buying process
Take a moment to think about the last time you bought something. What factors played a role in your decision to buy? What process did you go through on the way to deciding?
Were you on autopilot, or was it a thoughtful, deliberate decision? What alternatives did you consider? How did you know where to go to make that purchase? And would you buy that same thing again?
Many decisions about what to buy are so routine that we hardly think about them. Other decisions may take days, weeks, or even months to finally get made. Believe it or not, there is a fairly common process that consumers follow when they make decisions about what to buy. Learning about that process is an important first step in unlocking the mystery of consumer behavior—and how to influence it.
Learning Activities
- Reading: The “Black Box” of Consumer Behavior
- Reading: Buying-Process Stages
