Buyer decision processes are complex and include economic, psychological, and external factors. Models that accurately predict outcomes are considered successful, regardless of flawed reasoning. Understanding these processes can help companies sell more products.
Buyer decision processes are the ways in which consumers make decisions during the buying process. This doesn’t simply include which products they choose to buy, but also which they don’t, as well as the different factors that play a role in their purchase. Consumer behavior is complex and the buying process includes functions before, during and after a purchase.
A good example of complex buyer decision processes that appear subjectively simple include those where a customer picks up an item and places it in another. From the consumer’s point of view, he or she has just made a choice between two items. Investigating the economic influences, psychological forces, and other elements that affect buyer decision processes can help make it possible for a company to sell more products or services. If, for example, the reason the customer chose one item over another was because of a special offer advertised on the package, the company offering the offer knows that the strategy is positively affecting the buyer’s decision processes. This can be very valuable when thinking about marketing and other aspects of business.
Many people think of buyer decision processes as simple logical assessments of which products to buy, given economic considerations and the quality of the products in question. Economic models of decision processes are flawed because they assume that the consumer is a purely rational actor, with access to an objective truth about the cost of items and their quality. These models often do not take into account the emotional appeal of certain products or services or the whims of customers.
Psychological models of buyer decision processes are sometimes more successful because they consider the multitude of reasons why a person might make a purchase, but these models do not always take into account external considerations specific to individual situations. Not having an item in stock on a regular basis, for example, can affect long-term buyer decisions and change the ways in which a consumer purchases a particular item. Models using psychology are limited by their generalizations, but they can be made in such a way that they address the specific concerns of very small groups of clients.
For the most part, people in business are concerned with the practical outcomes of buyer decision processes rather than the theoretical justification that they exist. Any model that gets accurate results is considered a good model, even if the reasoning is flawed. For this reason, there are many different models that are considered successful, although they can be very different.
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