Understanding the Information Search Process of consumer behaviour

Understanding the Information Search Process

Information search starts the moment a need is recognized. Once he need has been felt, the customer needs information on various dimensions related to need satisfying objects. So, a consumer is constantly recognizing problems. Having recognized the problem, he moves on the next stage in the decision-making process i.e. information search. We receive information about products or service from a wide range of source. And even we have no plans to make purchase we pick up all kinds of information through incidental learning. When we do have a plan to purchase of course our attention to such information is active and intense.

Information Sources – 

1. Own personal experience. 
2. Shop window display e.tc 
3. Word of mouth. 
4. A lecture on the product.

In the realm of consumer behavior, the information search process is a pivotal stage that significantly influences how individuals make purchasing decisions. This process involves seeking, gathering, and evaluating information about various products, services, or alternatives to arrive at an informed choice. Let's explore the key aspects of the information search process and its role in consumer behavior.

The Information Search Process consists of five stages:

1. Problem Recognition: The information search process typically begins with the recognition of a problem or need. This could be triggered by an external stimulus like advertising, personal experiences, or internal cues such as a desire for a new product or solution.
2. Internal and External Search: Once a need is identified, consumers engage in both internal and external searches for information. The internal search involves recalling information from memory about past experiences and knowledge. External search entails seeking information from external sources such as friends, family, advertisements, reviews, online research, and expert opinions.
3. Evaluation of Alternatives: Consumers compare and evaluate the various options they've gathered during the information search. They consider attributes, features, benefits, and other factors that matter to them. The goal is to identify the option that best fulfills their requirements.
4. Purchase Decision: Based on the evaluation, consumers make their purchase decision. This involves selecting a product, service, or alternative that aligns with their preferences and meets their needs.
5. Post-Purchase Evaluation: After making the purchase, consumers reflect on their decision. If the chosen option meets or exceeds their expectations, they experience satisfaction. Conversely, if it falls short, they might feel dissonance or dissatisfaction.

In conclusion, the information search process is a fundamental element of consumer behavior. It empowers individuals to make well-considered decisions, manage perceived risks, and ultimately attain satisfaction with their chosen products or services. By understanding the intricacies of this process, marketers can design strategies that provide consumers with relevant and credible information, enhancing their overall buying experience.

Decision Rules in Consumer Behaviour

In the dynamic landscape of consumer behaviour, decision rules play a pivotal role in guiding individuals through the complex process of making choices. Decision rules are frameworks or strategies that consumers employ to simplify their decision-making by focusing on specific criteria. These rules help consumers navigate through the multitude of options available and arrive at a choice that aligns with their preferences, needs, and constraints.

Types of Decision Rules:

1. Compensatory Decision Rule: The compensatory decision rule involves weighing the pros and cons of each option across various attributes. Consumers consider both the strengths and weaknesses of each option and make trade-offs based on their relative importance.

Example: Imagine a consumer looking to buy a new laptop. They prioritize attributes like performance, battery life, and price. Option A has exceptional performance but a higher price, while option B is more affordable but has slightly lower performance. The consumer, using the compensatory rule, might opt for option A due to its stronger performance even though it's pricier.

2. Non-Compensatory Decision Rules: Non-compensatory decision rules involve setting specific criteria that must be met. Options failing to meet these criteria are eliminated, regardless of their performance in other areas. There are different types of non-compensatory rules:

• Lexicographic Rule: Consumers rank criteria by importance, and the option that performs best on the most important criterion is selected. Example: Consider a consumer choosing a restaurant. They rank criteria as follows: food quality, service, ambiance. If Restaurant A has the best food quality, it would be the preferred choice for the consumer based on the lexicographic rule, even if other restaurants have better service or ambiance.
• Elimination-by-Aspects Rule: Consumers start with the most important criterion, eliminating options that fall below a threshold. The process continues with other criteria. Example: A consumer is buying a smartphone. They prioritize battery life, camera quality, and storage. If a smartphone doesn't meet the desired battery life threshold, it's eliminated, regardless of its camera quality or storage capacity.
• Conjunctive Rule: Consumers set minimum acceptable levels for each criterion, and an option must meet all criteria to be chosen. Example: When purchasing a car, a consumer sets minimum requirements for safety, fuel efficiency, and cargo space. If a car doesn't meet any of these minimum criteria, it's not considered, regardless of its performance in other areas.

Consumer decision making required information inputs form the following process 

1. Evaluate Criteria – If a consumer decides to buy a product his first thought would be why do I need the product and what feature will meet with my requirements. then he would engage in an internal & external search to determine the features required to meet his needs.

2. Appropriate Alternatives – After searching for appropriate evaluative criteria our prospective buyer would try to locate various alternative brands again, he will engage in internal & external to come up with a comprehensive awareness set.

3. Alternative Characteristics – The consumer compares them on the basis of relevant evaluative criteria this process naturally requires the consumer to gather information on each brand on each evaluative criteria.

4. Information collection & processing – All the brands known to the customer constitute his awareness set. The awareness set in turn consists of three sub categories.

• Evoked Set – This comprises of those brands which he thinks are worthy further consideration since they can solve his problem.
• Inept Set – This comprises of those brands which he thinks are unworthy of further consideration.
• Inert Set –Consumer will generally accept favorable information about brands in this set. Brands in this set will be considered only if the preferred brands are not available.

Type of search

1. Internal Search – It is a mental process of recalling and reviewing information stored in memory relating to a purchase situation. There are two dimensions of internal search –

• Extent of search – The degree of internal search can be widely from a simple recall of only a brand name to a more complete search through memory for relevant information, feeling and experience.
• Kind of information retrieved – A consumer generally recalls four major kinds of information. Brand name, attribute, evaluation done earlier and experience.

2. External Search – if information in the memory is missing, inadequate or is a suspect then an external search is required. It can be from personal sources i.e. friends, exports, sales people or from impersonal sources i.e. advertising, media reports e.tc.

 

Factors Influencing Decision Rule Selection

1. Product Complexity: For complex products like computers, consumers might employ non-compensatory rules to simplify their choices.
2. Time Constraints: In urgent situations, consumers might use non-compensatory rules for quick decisions.
3. Consumer Expertise: Experienced consumers may apply compensatory rules effectively based on their knowledge of the product.
4. Risk Tolerance: Consumers with a higher risk tolerance might be more flexible in using compensatory rules. Understanding these decision rules is crucial for marketers aiming to tailor their strategies to consumers' decision-making processes, thereby enhancing customer satisfaction and fostering stronger relationships between consumers and brands.

Evaluate Criteria

Evaluate Criteria are typically product features or attributes associated either with benefits desired by the customer or the cost he has to incur. To assess the benefits offered by goods a consumer uses a range of evaluative criteria. It can be tangible such as price, color, and size shape or performance characteristics or intangible such as brand image. Evaluate criteria can differ in number, type and importance. They also vary from customer to customer from product to product and situation to situation. For example, while buying a pair of trouser one person may go by the fit factors while the other may go for the styling, color, and price. There are two important issues in understanding the use of evaluative criteria in selecting from several alternatives.

• Number of Evaluative Criteria – The more important the purchase is for the consumer the more will be the evaluative criteria. While purchasing something of less importance the consumer will assess the product on fewer evaluative criteria.
• Importance of Evaluative criteria – Many criteria may go into selection/relative importance varies for some consumer price is the most important and for others tech. is the model.
• Selection of Evaluative Criteria – To develop a sound strategy to influence consumer decision a marketing manager has to determine.
• Which evaluate criteria is used by a consumer.
• What is the relative importance of these criteria?
• How the consumer perceives the various alternative on each of these criteria.
• Determination of salient evaluative criteria – There are direct and indirect method available to determine as to which criteria are used by the consumer while making a product choice.
• Direct Method – It include asking the consumer straightway as to what information they use in a particular purchase.
• Indirect Method – Indirect measurement technique assume that the consumer will not or cannot state their evaluative criteria. Two techniques are frequently used to know the consumer mind observation method. Projective technique Perceptual mapping.

Consumer Decisions Rules 

Rules govern the way in which different consumer evaluate different products in different buying situation. Consumer may use either compensatory or non compensatory processes as decision rules in evaluating attributes of the alternative products under consideration. 

1. Non Compensatory Decision Rules – A non compensatory rule is on in which the weakness of a possible alternative of a possible alternative is not offset by its strength .There are four types of non compensatory rules. 

• Disjunctive Rule – Using this rule the consumer first decide which criteria are determinants of his choice while which one are not. Then he establishes a minimum score on each one. 
• Conjunctive Rules – Using this rule a consumer considers all evaluative criteria as determinant and a minimum acceptable value or score is established for each one. 
• Lexicography Rule – The consumer using this rule rank each of the evaluative criteria in order of importance. If two suppliers score the same on the highest rank criterion, then the consumer uses the second, the third and so on 
• Elimination by Aspects Rules – Here the consumer ranks the evaluative criteria and also sets minimum score that must be met on each of them. The alternative that don't meet each minimum are eliminated. 

2. Compensatory Decision Rules – Compensatory rule are more practical as here the consumer is able to make trade off while comparing alternative. If one attribute is very strong, it may compensate for the weakness in another. This approach therefore uses more than one evaluation criterion for assessment by consumer. 

There are two types of compensatory rules 

• Simple Additive Rule – Using the simple additive rule the consumer totals the score on all evaluative criterions for each alternative and the highest score wins. This rule assumes that all criteria are of equal importance. 
• Weighted Additive Rule – Using this rule the consumer assigns a relative weight to each evaluative criteria based on its perceived importance. Then the score on each evaluative criterion is multiplied by the relative weight to produce a weighted score. These weighted score are summed up and brand with highest weighted score chosen.