Home Marketing Consumer Market- 5 step-by-step Consumer Buying Process

Consumer Market- 5 step-by-step Consumer Buying Process

Do you know what is the consumer market and their buying behaviour? And how it helps companies to sell their product. If no then, you are at the right place to learn.

So consumer market is a market where a seller directly sell their product to end users.

Whenever you go to the market to buy vegetables, groceries, or any item to use for yourself or within your family, because it is directly consumed by you so, that market is called the Consumer market.

But did you ever realise how you buy a particular product? How a consumer makes his buying decision, that also influenced by many factors and here I discuss all about the buying process and all the factors that influence the buying decision making processes.

That will help you know better about the consumer market, and also by implementing them you can grow your business.

Couples are buying vegetables in consumer market

What can I get to know from here?

  1. Definition of is the consumer market.
  2. Consumer behaviour, in the consumer market.
  3. Buying decision process of consumer.
  4. Factors influence consumer behaviour.
  5. Conclusion.
  6. Frequently asked questions.

Definition of Consumer Market

Where a company or shop directly sell their product to the final consumers, that market is called the consumer market. So here the seller make a product or service to sell the end-users only.

In the consumer market, the seller deals with a large number of peoples and because the customer buys the product for personal or home use so they buy a little amount of product. And when the product over then they buy it again.

Apple is being given hand to hand.

What does Consumer behaviour mean in the consumer market?

Before we know about consumer behaviour we have to know about who is a consumer and who is a customer. A consumer is who consume the product or service but a customer who buy the product or service.

Suppose you went to a store and buy chocolate for your Little brother, here you are the customer for that shop but your brother is the consumer.

As a marketer, you have to understand who is your customer and consumer and also know about how they think feels and acts about your product to give them a better experience.   

When a person individually buys a product and if he is going to buy the same product with a group of people then the buying behaviour of that consumer may changes.

Because that people’s opinion also influence the buyer.

So consumer behaviour is the study of how individuals or a group of people select, buy, use, and dispose of any product, services, or experiences to satisfy their needs and wants.

What is the Consumer Buying Decision Processes in the consumer market?

Video Source: intellectual indies

In the consumer market, to make a buying decision a consumer unconsciously passes through five stages. But not every consumer goes through this five-stage, the consumer who already know about their regular brand they may skip some stages.

They may jump directly from the (problem recognition) to the (purchase decision) stage.

Infographic of consumer buying process

A consumer faces all these stages when they are going to buy a new product or service.

These are the Five Stages:

Problem Recognition–

In the consumer market, the buying process starts when a person faces a problem or need something. But, needs may be various types like hunger and thirst.

So to fulfil this need the person to purchase food, water, etc. The need can also come from our society like, you see your friend brought a new bike so you also excited to buy a new bike. And a need also generated from a different type of promotional ads.

So as a marketer you need to aware people about your product so when they required a product then they buy from you.

You also have to identify from where your consumer gets influenced. To know that you have to collect various information from your consumers and analyze the pattern of buying behaviour So that you can develop marketing strategies according to the consumer’s interest.

Information Search –

After recognizing the problem or a need a consumer start collecting information to know more about the product. Because they want to know what kind of brand is available? Which brand is good for me? , where can I get the best deals? Etc. So there are many sources to take the information.

Searching for information in mobile

A person can discuss with family or friends, searching for online websites, seeing different advertisements, searching in social media platforms, and also visit nearest stores to learn about the product, etc.

A consumer gathers all the information from the sources and then he/she know about the presence of all brand then he tries to compare and select one among them.

Because the consumer want to find a better product.

So as a marketer you need to aware consumers such a good way about your brand and product. So that when they searching to satisfy their need by your type of products then he/she will recognize only your brand.

Evaluation of alternatives in consumer market –

After getting information from different sources finally consumers compare all the brands to get a good product. Because consumers try to find some extra benefits from a product.

Like if you want to buy an internet service then what will you see in it, which service is low price with more data, which is fast in processing, is there any extra offers available or not, etc.

And a consumer evaluates alternatives is also depends on how his or her and other people’s beliefs on that brand, people’s attitude towards the brand, etc.

Evaluating alternative also depends on what attributes a consumer requires, suppose you are trying to buy a mobile. You choose four brands A, B, C & D as on the table and because you have seen that companies advertising so you find out how these brands perform out of 10.

Now if you want a budget-friendly phone then you buy brand ‘C’ and if you want to buy a best camera quality phone then you may go to brand ‘A’ and if you want to buy a phone which is little good in all attribute then you can go for brand ‘B’.

So as a marketer if you can predict what attributes, your target audience searching for in your product then you can serve them a better way.

      Mobile  Memory capacity       Designing  Camera Quality           Price
        A              8             9            10               3
                 B              8             8              8               7
                          C              7             6             7                  10

Purchase Decision –

After passing all the stages finally consumers get into the purchase decision section. Finally, the consumer is ready to purchase and he or she can buy it from a local store or an online store. In purchasing decisions where the consumer fell comfortable, they purchase from that store.

If you want to buy a mobile brand ‘A’, if there are three mobile stores of this brand in your city and you visited all that stores and also online stores and for whatever reason, you don’t satisfy with there product or service.

Then maybe you change your mindset and now you want to buy brand ‘B’ or ‘C’. Here most important for a marketer is to give consumers all the attributes and values as per the brand promise.  

Purchase occurs in two types whether the consumer trying to trail that product or they can buy for long use. When consumers fully satisfied with all the above stages about your product then he or she will make a purchase decision for long run products like cars, costly phones, etc.

Post-purchase Behavior –

This stage begins after a consumer purchases a product. So that means now the customer experienced with all the attributes of the product.

So if the product’s performance is the same with what consumers expect then the consumer is satisfied. And if that does not then the consumer dissatisfied.

 If the performance exceeds the expectations then the consumer is delighted. The consumer’s satisfaction process is both same in the consumer market and business market.

 Now a satisfied consumer purchases a company product again and again but a dissatisfied consumer may return the product and claim for refund.

The dissatisfied consumer may also hurt the company. They may complain to the company, they may write bad things about the company on social media or may also warn their friends and family to don’t buy from here.

 So as a marketer you have to always try to satisfy your customer. And you also have to monitor how buyers use and dispose of your product in the consumer market.

By observing their use and dispose you can also get ideas about new product formation and at what price you have to charge.

What Factors Influences Consumer Behavior in the consumer market?

In consumer market here are many factor influence in consumer behaviour like cultural factors, social factors, and personal factors and also psychological factors.

Cultural Factors –

Culture means a group of people with the same values, beliefs, ethics, and also norms at a particular time. Cultures also have subcultures that are nationalities, religion, geographic regions, etc.

Because people always surrounded with Culture and subculture, so these are some of the main influencer of consumer’s buying behavior.

Like a Hindu woman would like to buy a saree while a Muslim woman would buy a burkha because their culture influences them to buy. 

Muslim women are in burka.

So as a marketer you have to deeply understand your target audience’s cultural factors. So that you can better promote your existing product or find an opportunity to introduce a new product in the consumer market.

Also want to know about how to find an attractive target audience? Check our blog.

Culture also consists of some social classes based on our differentiation in income, education, occupation, etc. All the social classes are different from each other, their lifestyle, dressing sense, etc.    

Social Factors –

In social factor reference groups and family members are influence the consumer. reference groups mean any group where the consumer spent his or her time.

And the reference group is divided into two parts one is the primary group and another is the second group.

The primary group is consists of family members, friends, and also neighbours, etc. So in the primary group interaction between there is informal. And it influences more than any other group.

Because secondary groups are consist of religious groups, office working groups, etc. So their interaction is formal.

When a consumer joins to any kind of group, then he or she automatically trying to adapt their behaviour.

So as a marketer in the consumer market, you have to find the main Influencer and target them. 

The family is the most influential factor. When a person needs to buy something then he or she ask his or her family for choosing the right product.  Research also shows that most of the big decisions are made together.

Group of people joining their hands.

Personal factors –

In this factor, consumer behaviour influenced by the buyer’s age, life cycle, occupation, personality, economic circumstances, and also how they look at themselves.

As we know according to age buyer’s food, clothes, and also their life cycle changes. Suppose a man what eat in his 20’s but it may changes when he turns into 45 or 50. And his life cycle changes like he is single at his 20s but he is married at 30s.

So as a marketer we have to position our product according to our target audience personal factors.

Psychological Factor-

The main psychological factors that influence consumer behaviour are perception, motivation, personality, learning, and also their lifestyle.

When we show an advertisement and unknowingly recognize that company’s product, from the time when you show the ad and to the time when you recognize, that period is called perception.

But It depends on how a customer recognizes and remembers advertising. When we are watching TV then we show many advertisements but some of them we remembered and recognize that product.

So we have to design our advertising program in a certain way that they can easily recognize our product and remember it.

Motivation is a reason why a customer wants to buy a product. If a person has some need then he or she goes to the market and buy it.

Personality is how a person reacts to an advertisement, if a person’s personality is to achieve something in life then he or she wants to buy a product which can give more value to them.

Learning is what a person learns about our product, is it good or bad? But learning always comes from experience.

If you want to buy a t-shirt then you can wear a t-shirt and learn about it but if you want to buy a soap then you can’t try that soap at the shop.

So as a marketer in the consumer market, we have to identify the learning process, our target audience’s personality and according to that, we have to manage our product.

Conclusion

If you have a small or large business. In both of the cases, you have to know deeply about the consumer market. Because if you don’t understand about consumer buying process then how can you position your product better.

So to know about their buying behaviour you have to observe them. By observing them you can understand their motivation towards your product, how they collect information and also about their needs and benefits.

So as a marketer you have to manage all the buying situations. And according to that you also have to do the positioning of your product to get a good result.

FAQs

 What is consumer behavior?

Consumer behaviour is how a consumer behaves or thinks to buy a product.

What is the consumer’s buying process?

A consumer’s buying process starts when a person faces any problem then he or she research to get information about the product, he or she looks for any alternative products, then they decide to buy.

Why consumer behavior is important?

If we know what type of needs our consumers have, what, and how they satisfy they are needed then we can serve them better and our profit also increases. So that to know consumer behaviour is important.

What affects consumer behaviour?

The consumer’s place, culture, age, lifecycle, income, occupation, psychology, all these factors affect consumer behavior.

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