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ABSTRACT: Most of the theories of consumer buying decision-making assume that the consumer's purchase decision process consists of several steps. However, it may vary from product to services but all the customers pass through similar process. This study will help the marketers to understand various steps in the whole process of consumer decision making for final purchase of the products of their choices. The marketers may improve their marketing strategies by understanding issues which are most common in the different consumer decision model developed by earlier researchers and scholars of marketing management. In the present study we have tried to identify the major cues for purchase decision making and we have also explained various buying decision model which are most valuable in marketing literature like consumer psychology (how consumers think, feel, reason, and select between different alternatives), the psychology of how the consumer is influenced by his or her environment, behavior while at shopping, consumer knowledge or information processing abilities etc. and we have focused as how marketer can improve methods to convince the customers effectively.
KEYWORDS: Consumer buying decision making, Decision Making model, Consumer psychology.
1 INTRODUCTION
Marketers need to understand the dynamics of the consumer decision making process. While the process and the internal and external factors affecting decision making would vary from person to person and within the same person from situation to situation, the study of consumer behavior attempts to draw certain generalizations. The major decisions taken by a consumer relates to what he buys (products and services), how much he buys (quantity), where he buys (place), when he buys (time) and how he buys (payment terms). A decision is defined as choosing an option out of the few/many available. Decision making is the process of choosing between two or more alternatives, it is the selection of an alternative out of the few/many choices that are available.
The present study of consumer behavior focuses on how individuals make decisions to spend their available resources (time, money, effort) on consumption-related items (Schiffman and Kanuk, 1997). Consumer behavior is a study of the processes involved when individuals or groups select, purchase, use, or dispose of products, services, ideas, or experiences to satisfy needs and desires (Solomon 1996).
A consumer purchase is actually...