Jordan Clark
Marketing
Dr. Zarzosa
19 February 2015
Assignment 3 The consumer buying decision process is used every day by millions of people that do not realize that they are following a particular process. When making purchases, customers follow a certain behavior, the consumer buying behavior. The consumer buying behavior is the decision processes and purchasing activities of people who purchase products for personal/household use. The process includes five steps. The first step is problem recognition. A consumer will first realize the problem at hand, whether it be a they are out of milk or larger like they need a new family home. While the problem may not always be a need, it could just as easily be a want, as in my case, I wanted a mountain bike. The second step is the information search. A consumer recognizes a problem and then begins the information search to decide a product. The information search can be done internally or externally. In my case, I did not have much prior knowledge on mountain bikes so the majority of my search was done externally. My roommate had recently purchased a mountain bike so I had asked him what he learned about the product when he went through the process. The rest of my research was done online on mountain bike websites and forums. Once the consumer learns about the particular product the third step, evaluation of alternatives, begins. The evaluation of alternatives is when the consumer compares different brands to each other to determine the best fit for them. I looked at all types of mountain bikes, from no suspension to hard-tail and full suspension, there were even different metal types the bikes were made of. Once the consumer has completed a full evaluation of alternatives and decides which product is best they enter the fourth step, which is purchasing. Once the product is purchased there is still one last step to the consumer buying decision process, the last step, which is the post purchase evaluation. This is the step in which buyers decide whether or not they are happy with the purchase they