Map
Framework

Consumer decision-making process

The question it answers

A marketing team sees plenty of browsing but few orders: at which stage of the buying process are customers stalling, and where could the team step in?

Origin
Engel, Blackwell & Miniard, 1995
Diagram type
Process by phase
Level of analysis
Individual
Topics
Marketing & sales
Megaphone aimed at a glass target, icon for marketing and sales

Diagram

Consumer decision-making process

  1. Before purchase
  2. Need recognitionThe buyer sees a gap between where they are and what they want
  3. SearchFrom memory and from outside sources
  4. Pre-purchase evaluation of alternativesOptions compared on the buyer's own criteria
  5. Purchase
  6. PurchaseOne option is chosen and paid for
  7. After purchase
  8. ConsumptionThe product or service is used
  9. Post-consumption evaluationSatisfied or not, measured against expectations
  10. DivestmentThrown away, recycled or resold

Pitfalls

Pitfall
  • Not every purchase walks through all seven stages. For a habitual buy, evaluation shrinks to an intention to repurchase the same thing.
  • Knowledgeable buyers search less outside, so they are harder to influence with advertising.
  • Buyers often settle for a satisfactory choice rather than the best one, to save time and effort.

Sources

References

Listed A–Z by author surname, Harvard style. A source with a DOI links to https://doi.org/…; one without links to its page or says plainly that it has no DOI.

  1. Engel, J.F., Blackwell, R.D. and Miniard, P.W. (1995) Consumer behavior. Fort Worth: Dryden Press.No DOISource page