Extended problem solving occurs when consumers are involved in the purchase and where they perceive significant differences between competing brands in the same productfield. This type of decision process is likely for high-priced brands that are generally perceived as a risky purchases due to their complexity (e.g.
washing machines, cars, TVs, home computers) or brands that reflect the buyer’s self image (e.g. clothing, cosmetics, jewellery). It is characterised by consumers actively searching for information to evaluate alternative brands.
Extended
Typology of consumer decision processes (adapted fromAssael 1987) 74 CHAPTER 3: How Consumers Choose Brands
DULUX
Dulux uses perceptual organisation, as the consumer sees a smile in this advert, which promises a positive emotional experience with a change of paint colour
75 Extended Problem Solving
When making a complex purchase decision, consumers pass through thefive stages shown inFig. 3.2.
The decision process starts when the consumer becomes aware of a problem. For example, a young person may have tried their friend’s new mobile phone and become aware of how inferior their own phone is. This recognition would trigger a need to resolve the problem and, if they feel particularly strongly, they will embark on a course to replace their phone. Depending upon their urgency to act and their situation (e.g. time availability,financial situation, confidence, etc.) they might take action quickly or, more likely, will become more attentive to information about mobile phones and buy a brand some time later.
The search for information would startfirst in their own memory and, if they feel confident that they have sufficient information already, they will be able to evaluate the available brands. Often, though, consumers do not feel sufficiently confident to rely on memory alone (particularly for infrequently bought brands), so they will begin to scan the external environment (e.g. visit shops, browse online, become attentive to certain advertisements, talk to friends). As they get more information, the highly involved consumers will start to learn how to interpret the information in their evaluation of competing brands.
Evaluation of alternatives
Purchase
Post-purchase evaluation Feedback
Information search Problem recognition
FIGURE 3.2
Stages in complex decision making 76 CHAPTER 3: How Consumers Choose Brands
Even so, consumers do not single-mindedly search for information about one particular purchase. TheNew York Timesrecently reportedfindings from a market research study by Yankelovich, which suggest that a person living in a city 30 years ago saw up to 2,000 advertisement a day, compared with up to 5,000 adverts in 2009. The newspaper cites extreme examples of advertising’s ubiquity, including chicken eggs stamped with names of TV shows, software adverts on airline seat-backs, and advertising for children’s brands on the liners of pediatrician’s tables.
Of these messages, people are attentive to less than 2%. Consumers’ perceptual processes protect them from information overload and helps them search and interpret new information. The issue of what these perceptual processes are is dealt with later in this chapter. Should something interest them, their attention will be directed to this new source. Even here, however, of the few advertise-ments that they take notice of, they are likely to ignore the points that do not conform to their prior expectations and interpret some of the other points within their own frame of reference.
Thus, the brand marketer has to overcome, amongst other issues, three main problems when communicating a brand proposition. First, they have tofight through the considerable ‘noise’ in the market to get their brand message noticed. If they can achieve this, the next challenge is to develop the content of the message in such a way that there is harmony between what the marketer puts into the message and what the consumer takes out of the message. Having overcome these two hurdles, the next challenge is to make the message powerful enough to be able to reinforce the other marketing activities designed to persuade the consumer to buy the brand.
As the consumer in our example mentally processes messages about competing brands, they would evaluate them against those criteria deemed to be most important. Brand beliefs are then formed (e.g.‘the Nokia model is easy to use’,
‘I could get apps with the iPhone’, etc.). In turn, these beliefs begin to mould an attitude and if a sufficiently positive attitude evolves, so there is a greater likelihood of a positive intention to buy that brand.
Having decided which mobile phone brand to buy, the consumer would then make the purchase e assuming a distributor can be found for that particular brand and that the brand is in stock. Once the consumer has the phone, the consumer would discover its capabilities and assess how well their expectations were met by the brand. As can be seen from the model shown inFig. 3.2, they would be undertaking post-purchase evaluation. Satisfaction with different aspects of the brand will strengthen positive beliefs and attitudes towards the brand. Were this to be so, the consumer would be proud of their purchase and praise its attributes to their peer group. With a high level of satisfaction, the consumer would look favourably at this company’s brands in any future purchase.
77 Extended Problem Solving
Should the consumer be dissatisfied though, they would seek further infor-mation after the purchase to provide reassurance that the correct choice was made. For example, they may go back to the retailer, where the brand was bought, and check that the SIM card is correctly inserted and that the device is not faulty. If they find sufficiently reassuring information confirming a wise brand choice, they will become more satisfied. Without such positive support, they will become disenchanted with the brand and over time will become more dissatisfied. They are likely to talk to others about their experience, not only vowing never to buy that brand again, but also convincing others that the brand should not be bought.
In the event that the consumer is satisfied with the brand purchase and repeats it in a relatively short period of time (e.g. buys a mobile phone for their son’s or daughter’s birthday), they are unlikely to undergo such a detailed search and evaluation process. Instead, the person is likely to follow what has now become a more routine problem-solving process. Problem recognition would be followed by memory search which, with prior satisfaction, would reveal clear intentions, leading to a purchase. Brand loyalty would ensue, which would be reinforced by continued satisfaction (should quality be maintained). This process is shown inFig. 3.3.
Evaluation of alternatives
Purchase
Post-purchase evaluation Feedback
Information search Problem recognition
FIGURE 3.3
Routine problem-solving behaviour 78 CHAPTER 3: How Consumers Choose Brands
When consumers are deeply involved with the brand purchase and when they perceive large differences between brands, they are more likely to seek infor-mation actively in order to make a decision about which brand to buy. As such, brand advertising may succeed by presenting relatively detailed information explaining the benefits of the brand, as well as reinforcing its unique differ-ential positioning. It is important for the brand marketer to identify those attributes consumers perceive to be important and focus on communicating them as powerfully as possible. In circumstances such as those just described, as the consumer is likely to actively seek information from several different sources, the brand marketer should use a consistent multimedia promotional approach. Also, it is important to ensure that all retail assistants likely to come in contact with our inquisitive consumer are well versed in the capabilities of the brand.