Exam 12: Decision Making I: Need Recognition and Search

It has been a month since Carl moved into a new apartment in Leicester.He spent most of his life savings on purchasing the apartment.He now considers his decision and feels that he has made the right selection in terms of the amount of money spent and the value received on the purchase.Which of the following activities in the decision-making process best represents Carl's consideration of his decision?

Greg is considering the purchase of a new truck.He wants to purchase the best one within his budget.He searches the Internet,asks friends,and visits dealerships to learn more about different brands and their features.He even found a website where he can directly compare different brands to help him in his decision.Which of the following decision-making perspectives would best describe Greg's decision-making process?

Consumers engage in extended decision making when they put off the decision making for a later time and restrain themselves from getting involved with the product in consideration.

REAL ESTATE BROKER SCENARIO Jane, a consumer researcher, worked with a real estate broker as part of her research on consumer decision-making behavior. During the course of her research, she found that young couples, mostly professionals, look out for a space they can call their own. Although young, they seldom make spontaneous and impulsive decisions while buying a house. All of them arrive at a decision after an exhaustive effort of finding more information, talking to different people, and checking out neighborhoods through various sources. This strengthens Jane's hypothesis that people tend to make wise and informed decisions while buying a house. In her experience of working with the real estate broker, Jane has had a successful run, except for the time when an elderly man left disappointed after weeks of continuous search. After his retirement, he had wanted to invest in a "dream house," but sadly he could not find what he was looking for. Whatever he liked exceeded his budget. Jane also met a young couple who spent most of their weekends house hunting. After being out with them week after week, they finally admitted that they never intended to buy a house and that they were mostly interested in gathering information and being updated about the real estate industry. -Refer to Real-Estate Broker Scenario.In her experience of working with the real estate broker,Jane has had a successful run,except for the time when an elderly man left disappointed after weeks of continuous search.After his retirement,he had wanted to invest in a "dream house," but sadly he could not find what he was looking for.Whatever he liked exceeded his budget.The disappointment experienced by the man can be best described as search _____.

The basic consumer behavior consumption process revolves around value-seeking activities that consumers perform as they go about satisfying needs.

Experiential decision processes often focus on utilitarian value.

Discuss five factors that influence the amount of search performed by consumers.

Alternatives in a consumer's awareness set that are deemed to be unacceptable for further consideration are referred to as the _____ set.

A consumer is considered loyal if she simply buys the same product habitually.

COFFEE-MAKER SCENARIO Jane was visiting her friend and was served a coffee drink at her friend's house that was similar to the ones she's had at coffee shops. Her friend told her that she can make such coffee drinks with her single-serve pod coffee maker. Jane decided she'd like to buy one as she wanted to enjoy similar coffee drinks at home, but she didn't know much about them. She searched the Internet and visited Bed Bath & Beyond, Sur La Table, Williams Sonoma, and even Walmart. She realized there were several brands of the product, such as Tassimo, Keurig, Brevity, Cuisinart, Bunn, Senseo, and Mr. Coffee. With prices ranging from as low as $20 to several hundreds of dollars, it was difficult for Jane to decide on a single brand. She was concerned about paying several hundred dollars for a coffee maker. In the end, she shortlisted Tassimo, Keurig, and Cuisinart over the others for further consideration, keeping in mind her budget as well as the product features she was looking for. She deliberately left out Real and Fresh Coffeez, even though it was believed to be a good brand as she had a bad experience with one of its products. She did notice that Tassimo featured Well-Fresh coffee while none of the others did, and she ended up purchasing Tassimo for $130. She bought it because that's her favorite brand of coffee and Jane strongly feels that the coffee experience at Well-Fresh coffee is found nowhere else. In buying Tassimo, Jane hoped to replicate the Well-Fresh coffee experience at home. -Refer to Coffee-Maker Scenario.Jane was concerned about paying several hundred dollars for a coffee maker.Which of the following best reflects Jane's concern?

The situation in which consumers are presented with so much information that they cannot assimilate it all is known as information _____.

With limited decision making,consumers search for extensive information on product prices as they have limited amount of money to spend.

Which of the following statements is true about the technologies used by consumers to search for product or service-related information?

Extended decision making occurs when involvement is high and when there is a significant amount of purchase risk involved with the decision.

The size of the awareness set decreases as external search proceeds.

Internal search includes the retrieval of knowledge about products,services,and experiences that are stored in memory.

When the search effort is not necessarily focused on an upcoming purchase;rather the effort is focused on staying up to date on a topic of interest,it is called a(n)_____ search.

The inert set includes those alternatives to which consumers are indifferent,or for which strong feelings are not held.

When Carl arrived in England,he compared four different options for accommodation,keeping in mind the budget as well as the neighborhood culture that would suit him.Which of the following activities in the decision-making process best represents Carl's comparison?

The total collection of all possible solutions to a recognized need is referred to as the universal set of alternatives.