Using the theory of consumer behavior, conduct critical analysis on the decision making process

Essay by forchineUniversity, Master'sB-, April 2004

download word file, 15 pages 4.2 2 reviews

1. Introduction

With the dynamic environment, undoubtedly, each firm attempts to study and understand the consumer behavior due to businesses stay in business by attracting and retaining customers (Arnould, Price & Zinkhan, 2002, p6). As the basic consumer decision-making unit, family are most frequently examined by many marketers because decision making by family differs in many ways from decisions made by an individuals. According to Hawkins, Best, and Coney, the term of family decision making is the process by which decisions that directly or indirectly involve two or more family members are made (Hawkins, Best & Coney, 1998, p195). Generally, different motivations and different family life cycles will cause different decision making process. Meanwhile, with the dissimilar decision making process, the different members of family would play various roles and directly influence the result of decision.

Therefore, many firms tend to study the roles of different members of family regarding the purchase.

As same way, I am retained by the Toyota Company to design a study investigating how families make automobile purchase decisions. Following, along the progress of decision-making process, the different roles will be examined respectively. Besides, the influence of Chinese culture on decision making process also will be discussed late.

2. The distinct roles in the family decision-making process

As a case, one family intends to buy a station wagon of Toyota recently. Undoubtedly, the purchase activity will experience series decision-making process due to the automobile is valuable equipment for the family. In the light of Neal, Quester, and Hawkins, consumer decision making process of high-purchase involvement consists of five stages, namely, problem recognition, information search, alternative evaluation, purchase, postpurchase activities (Neal, Quester & Hawkins, 1999, p1.16-1.18). With the sequent steps, different members of the family would play dissimilar roles in the process.

2. 1 The...