Journal Of International Business Research And Marketing Volume 2 .

9Theory of buyerbehaviourJournal of International Business Research and MarketingSheth J. &Howard behaviourandproductperformanceNarayanaC.L.&Markin R.J.,1975Mintzberg modelMintzbergH.,RaisinghaniD. & TheoretA., 1976Keeney R.L.,1982Keeney’s fourstage decisionmaking modelfollowing stages - needrecognition, search, alternativeevaluation, purchase, andoutcomes.The theory explains the buyerbehaviour of individuals overa period. More specifically –the brand choice behaviour ofthe buyer. The authors identifythe elements of consumerdecision process (a set ofmotives; several alternativecourses of action, and decisionmediators by which themotives are matched with thealternatives), observed thechanges that occur in themover time as a result of theirrepetitive nature and showedhow a combination of oration of informationfrom the buyer’s commercialand social environment. Thismodel suggests three levels ofconsumer decision-making:extensive problem solvinglimited problem solving, andhabitual response behaviour.The authors explain consumerbehaviour by describing theterm “evokedset”byincluding and classifying allthe brands that may be in theconsumer’s “awareness set”,inert, and inept set. er behaviour whenfaced with a multiplicity ofbrands.The key premise of this modelis that a basic structureunderlies these “unstructured”processes.This four-stage model takes astaged approach: Structure thedecision problem (generationofalternativesandspecification of objectives),assess possible impacts ofeach alternative, determinepreferences(values)ofdecision makers, and evaluateand compare alternatives. Thismodel depicts the anticipatedcomplexities at each stage.Rassuli & HarrellmodelRassuli K.M.&HarrellG.D., 1990Sheth, Newman& Gross modelSheth J.N.,Newman B.I.&GrossB.L., 1991Smith & Rupp’smodelSmith A. &RuppW.,2003The MarketingSpiralArmano D.,2007McKinsey’sdynamic modelof the consumerdecision journeyCourtD.,Elzinga D.,Mulder S. &Vetnik O.J.,2009The perspective proposed hereis that choice and purchase canbe viewed as inputs into aprocess, not merely the end ofconsumerdecision-makingefforts. In this way, onerecognizes the feedback, fromchoice to other consumerbehaviour variables.This model presents fiveconsumptionvaluesinfluencing consumer choicebehaviour: functional, social,conditional, emotional, andepistemic values. Any or all ofthe five consumption valuesmay influence the decision.This model is an Internetbased model that takes intoaccount external influences ofwebsite marketing, the sociocultural environment, andpsychological issues on onlineconsumer tasks which isfollowed by to a purchase andpost-purchase behaviour.Consumer behaviour is like aspiral that begins with aninteraction as opposed tocommunication. The spiralamplifies as the consumerincreases engagement.This model is more circularthat sequential and has ation, or the process ofresearchingpotentialpurchases; closure, whenconsumer buy brands; andpost-purchase,whenconsumer experience them.Consumer behaviour is the process consumers experience when theymake purchases, and it involves factors that influence their decision. Formany products and services, purchase decisions are the result of a long,detailed process that may include a broad information search, brandscomparison, and evaluation. Marketers' success in influencing purchasebehaviour depends to a large extent on how well they understandconsumer behaviour. Marketers need to know the specific needscustomers try to satisfy and how they turn it into purchase attributes. Theyneed to understand how consumers gather information about differentalternatives and use this information to select among competing brands(Belch G. & Belch M., 2009).2.1. Decision-Making ModelsOne of the most active academic research spheres in marketing over thepast decades has been behavioural decision theory. Behavioural decisiontheorists have identified many situations in which consumers makeirrational choices. What all these and other studies emphasise is thatconsumer behaviour is very valuable and the context of decisions is really

10Journal of International Business Research and Marketingimportant. Understanding how these effects manifest in the marketplacecan be crucial for marketers. The work of these and other scholars havealso challenged predictions from economic theory and assumptions aboutrationality, leading to the appearance of the field of behaviouraleconomics. In Table 1, the key models are shortly presented starting from1960 till nowadays.2.2. Traditional Model of Decision-MakingThe traditional model of consumer decision-making process "Five-stagemodel of the consumer buying process" (Figure 2) involves five steps thatconsumers move through when buying a product or service. A marketerhas to understand these steps to properly move the consumer to the buyingthe product, communicate effectively to consumers and close the sale.NeedrecognitionInformationsearchEvaluation ofalternativesPurchasePostpurchasebehaviourFigure 2: Five-stage model of the consumer buying processFor example, Kotler & Keller (2012) in their book describe this model indetails and explain additional stage of the model - disposal stage. Also,they discuss Moderating effects on consumer decision-making (likeconsumer involvement).Moreover, marketers may create the circumstance/need by themselves to make the consumer feel insecure without this product or create adesired status for customers.Factors that influence these moments are existence/creation of desired(preferred) status, availability of information about new status (newproducts or versions of the products), related/complementary products forthis product may create a need and motives that drive customer.After the consumer has developed a need/want, he/she starts aninformation search about the different alternatives that he/she canpurchase to satisfy the need/want. It is the second stage so-calledinformation search. He/she will look both internally and externally forthis information to help him/her make a decision. An internal informationsearch consists of utilizing information from memory, such as pastexperiences with the product/service. An external information search isasking friends and family about their experiences with acquiring a newproduct. They can also research public sources, such as reviews, blogs.Another external information source would be marketing-controlledsources, such as banners, television ads, brochures, etc. The buyingdecision influenced by different sources is presented in Figure 4.Belch G. & Belch M. (2009) went further and discussed relevant internalpsychological processes for each stage of the model (Figure LearningFigure 3: Internal Psychological ProcessesHereafter for each stage of the model the “moments that matter” andfactors that influence them will be identified and discussed. Moreover, aself-developed framework about factors and their influences on relevantmoments for consumers will be introduced with the aim of making abetter understanding of the process and how and when it is a good time tointerrupt it with a promotion. Later on, research of other scholars aboutfactors that affect decision-making will be presented for having a broaderview of the topic.The very first stage of the model is need/problem recognition whenconsumers realize that they need something. Interestingly, marketerswant to create intentionally an imbalance between consumers' presentstatus and their preferred status. This imbalance will create a need andmake consumers detect and buy a product or service. A need can occurimmediately and can be a very basic impulse - this is called an internalstimulus. An external stimulus is when a person is affected by outsideinfluences. Marketers create an imbalance/need by using advertising andsales promotions. When consumers recognize an unfulfilled need and thata product will satisfy it, they have created a want.On this stage for marketers it is important to determine when their targetdemographic develops these needs/wants, therefore, it would be an idealtime to advertise to them. Marketers may also help to recognize theconsumer’s need/problem or circumstances that trigger a ting-must.htmlFigure 4: Buying Decision Influence (“Digital Democracy Survey2015”, 2015)The amount of time dedicated to this step usually depends on theconsumer's past experience with buying the product, the risk involved andthe level of interest. Once consumer created a set of alternative productsto choose from, he/she has created an evoked set. This set consists of themost preferred alternatives. Once the evoked set has been decided upon,the consumer will then conduct final research to further shrink his/herchoices1.The process of looking for information, in this case, is a moment thatmatter for consumers. Marketers have to catch it and provide a relevantdescription of the product, promotions, etc. Also, recommendations fromfriends and family and reviews from other consumers will be taking intoaccount. Moreover, previous experience of using the product or similarone and personal experiments while searching (testing the samples) willinfluence the process.At the third stage of evaluating alternatives, a consumer may askher/himself questions like: "Do I actually need the product?" Are therealternatives out there? Is the original product that bad? Usually, theconsumer chooses one the most important attribute based on which he/shewill make a final decision or using cut-off method (e.g., price, quality,brand, etc.). Here moments that matter could be ndertoadvertising/marketing campaigns. For marketers on this step, it isimportant that a consumer is aware of their brand during the evaluation

11Journal of International Business Research and Marketingprocess and ideally knows the attribute based on what the consumermakes his/her buying decision. The process on this stage is individual fora consumer as he/she is looking for the best deal. A meaning of the bestdeal based on attributes that are more relevant to each consumer, it couldbe price, quality, brand, product positioning, a place where to buy(location), consequences of using the product, etc.At some point, consumer stops to evaluate evoked set and switches tobuying process – fourth stage: purchase. Once a consumer chooses whichbrand to buy, he/she must still implement the decision and make the actualpurchase. Also at the beginning consumer may make a purchase intentionto buy a certain product, but don't close a deal. Additional decisions maybe needed – factors that influence, such as when to buy, where to buy,and how much money to spend. Often, there is a time delay between theformation of a purchase decision and the actual purchase, particularly forcomplex purchases such as automobiles, personal computers, andconsumer durables. For nondurable products, which include many lowinvolvement items such everyday goods; the time between the decisionand the actual purchase may be short. At this point, it is critical to hookthe consumer in purchase intention and a delay period.On the last fifth stage - post-purchase (satisfaction or dissatisfaction),consumers evaluate and review the product. Was the product right for theconsumer? Did their expectations confirm? If a customer finds that theproduct has matched or exceeded the promises made and theirexpectations, they will potentially become a brand ambassadorinfluencing other potential customers in the stage two of their customerjourney, increasing the chances of the product being purchased again. Thesame can be said for negative feedback, which is if emerge at the stagetwo can restrain a potential customer's journey towards your product2.The moments that matter on the last stage is to catch the point if thecustomer is not satisfied. If the customer is satisfied, then to turn him/herinto a loyal customer. Such factor as the product matched or exceededconsumer expectations. Also, follow up activities (after purchase) help tomake a loyal customer.On Figure 5 the self-developed framework of moments that matter andfactors influence them is presented. One note to this model should beadded. Consumers do not always move in the exact order through theprocess. The second and the third stages could be repeated a couple oftimes; also the evaluation stage not in all cases finishes with purchase. Itcan depend on the type of product, the buying stage of the consumer andeven financial status.Many of the purchase decisions people make as consumers are based ona habitual or routine choice process. For many low-priced, frequentlypurchased products, the decision process consists of little more thanrecognizing the problem, engaging in a quick internal search, and makingthe purchase. The consumer spends little or no effort engaging in externalsearch or alternative evaluation (Belch G. & Belch M., 2009). So not allof the stages apply to repeated products because the person already haspreferences and brand loyalty and it considers like automatic process.Therefore, marketers of products characterised by a routine responsepurchase process need to get and/or keep their brands in the consumer'sevoked set and avoid anything that may result in their removal from it.Marketers of these brands want consumers to follow a routine choiceprocess and continue to purchase their products. This means onsumer-decision-making-processhigh levels of brand awareness through reminder advertising, periodicpromotions, and prominent shelf positions in stores.Also, the paper of Hoyer (1984) provides support to statements above andpresents a view of decision-making based on the idea that consumers arenot willing to engage in a big deal of decision-making process at the timeof purchase when they buy a product repeatedly and it is relativelyunimportant. Consequently, consumers apply very quick and effortlesschoice tactics that provide a satisfactory decision.Marketers of new brands or those with a low market share face a differentchallenge. They must find ways to disrupt consumers' routine choiceprocess and get them to consider different alternatives. High levels ofadvertising may be used to encourage trial period or brand switching,along with sales promotion efforts in the form of free samples, specialprice offers high-value coupons, etc.Figure 5: Framework of factors and moments that influence decisionmakingNonetheless, the traditional model was criticized, and other scholars addrelevant focuses and factors. For example, McAlister (1979) challengedthe existing time assumption that product choices are made separatelyfrom of each other. The scholar offered a model incorporatingdependence among selections of items groups.Also, Solomon et al. (2006) criticised the traditional model by saying thatit is a rational perspective, but people may behave irrationally "such aprocess is not an accurate portrayal of many of our purchase decisions".Consumers don't go through this sequence whenever they buy something.The authors talk about purchase momentum (impulses that lead tounplanned purchase at the last moment). Also, the authors argue thatconsumers possess a repertoire of strategies and they choose oneaccording to the situation and the level of effort required, so-calledconstructive processing. Moreover, they discuss behavioural influenceperspective and experimental perspective.Dhar, Huber & Khan (2007) also talk about shopping momentum thatoccurs when an initial purchase provides a psychological impulse thatenhances the purchase of a second, unrelated product. The authorspropose that the most promising theoretical mechanism comes fromGollwitzer's (1990) theory about implementation and deliberation mindsets. Under this theory, shopping momentum occurs because the initialpurchase moves the consumer from a deliberative to an implementalmindset, thus driving subsequent purchases.

12Journal of International Business Research and Marketing2.3 Variations in Consumer Decision-MakingSolomon et al. (2006) characterised the decision-making process as theamount of effort that goes into the decision each time it must be made.They found it convenient to think concerning a continuum, which isstarted by habitual decision-making and ends with extended problemsolving (Figure 6). Many decisions are in the middle and characterised bylimited problem-solving.potential purchases; closure, when consumers buy brands; andpostpurchase, when consumers experience them.Figure 6: A continuum of buying decision behaviourFigure 8: Decision-making processExtended problem-solving phase is similar to tradition decision-makingprocess described above. Limited problem-solving is usually morestraightforward and simple. People instead use simple decision rules tochoose among alternatives. Habitual decision-making refers to decisionsthat are made with little or no conscious effort – to make choicescharacterised by automaticity with minimal effort and without consciouscontrol.Another researcher Armano (2007) has a different non-linear view of thedecision process, so-called "The Marketing Spiral" (Figure 7). The authorexplains it that the spiral amplifies the more the consumer engages, frominteraction to engagement, to participation, to conversation, to affinity, toa community. The process of the one cycle may repeat itself adding morecycles to the spiral. But this model did not receive a lot of attention fromother researchers so far.Figure 7: The Marketing SpiralMcKinsey & Company (2009) supports traditional decision-makingmodel but showing it as a circular process (Figure 8) with four phases:initial consideration; active evaluation, or the process of researchingAt the end of this section, a couple of other interesting research will bepresented.A lot of research was done to investigate the how company’s brandinfluences buyer behaviour. One of the papers of Macdonald & Sharp(2000) describes a replication of the study of Hoyer and Brown on “Brandawareness effects on consumer decision making for a common, repeatpurchase product”. They examined brand awareness in the consumerchoice process. The results of this study support the idea that brandawareness is a dominant choice tactic among other awareness tactics.Choosing from different brands consumers show a preference for the highawareness brand, despite quality and price factors.Likewise, Heilman, Bowman & Wright (2000) examined how brandpreferences and marketing activities evolve for consumers who are newto a market. The authors developed a theoretical framework that startswith a consumer first purchase in a category and shows subsequentpurchases in sequential purchasing stages. The theory is based on the ideathat choices made by new to the market consumers are driven by twoforces. The first is an information collection stage. The second is a stagein which information collection is extended to less known brands. Theauthors use a logit-mixture model with time-varying parameters tocapture the choice dynamics o

also suggests several directions for future research related to buying behaviour. Keywords: Decision -making process , Consumer behaviour, Buying behaviour, M odel of decision -making 1. Introduction discussed. At the end recommendations for the further research "All marketing decisions are based on assumptions and knowledge of consumer behaviour."