Buyer Behaviour

Consumer Buying Behaviour

There are many models of consumer buying behaviour, but the steps below are fairly common to most of them.

	The customer identifies a need	This is often initiated by PR coverage, including word of mouth. The customer may have seen a friend or celebrity using a product or service, or awareness may have been sparked off by advertising.
	Looking for information	At this stage the customer wants to know more and is actively seeking information. Advertising and PR are still important but product demonstrations, packaging and product displays play a role. This is the time to deploy your sales personnel, and customers find videos and brochures are useful. Word of mouth is still very important.
	Checking out alternative products and suppliers	The customer is now trying to choose between products, or firm up on the purchase decision. This is a place for promoting product guarantees and warranties, and maximising packaging and product displays. Sales personnel can greatly influence the customer at this stage and sales promotion offers become of interest. Independent sources of information are still of interest, including product test reviews.
	Purchase decision	This is the time to 'tip the balance'. Sales promotion offers come into their own, and if appropriate, sales force incentives need to ensure that your sales personnel are incentivised to close the deal.
	Using the product	Expensive purchases can lead to what is known as cognitive dissonance - a fear that the customer has not made the right decision. Your job is to reassure the customer by offering good customer care, simple instruction manuals and loyalty schemes. They should still be exposed to testimonial advertising to reassure them that they have made the right decision.