Ch. 6 - Consumer Decision Making

Consumer behavior is the process that a consumer uses to make purchase decisions, and as to use and manage of purchased goods or services. It also consist of the factors that influence purchase decisions and product use. The consumer decision making process is a five steps process used by consumers when making purchase decisions:

• First stage- Need Recognition: Chanel’s marketing manager’s objective is to bring consumers to perceive the “want-got gap” which is the imbalance between actual and desired states. The strategies of advertising and sales promotion often success in trigger the need recognition of consumers. Chanel did accomplish this objective through advertising and sales promotion. They transmit their unique theme of classical, elegance, and simplicity, and their symbol of fashion, and class through their advertising. This creates the wants of their consumers. Consumer will have a sense of unfulfilled need and only Chanel’s products that will satisfy it.
• Second stage-Information Search: This process is proceed by consumer after recognizing a need or want. Chanel marketing manager, like many other marketers, cannot control the internal information search because it recalls information from consumer’s memory. However, Chanel marketing manager has control over one source of the external information search which is the marketing controlled information source. They have control over the source of media advertising, sales promotion, salespeople, product label and packaging, and the internet. Chanel marketer invests enormous efforts on those sources. Their strategies of advertising are successful as I have stated in the first stage. Chanel’s objective of salespeople is to provide customer with more and detailed information of various product that they interest in. The purpose of limited online purchase of their products is to make customer to visit their store, so that salespeople will have chances to inform them about the products. Chanel’s product label includes its brand name and logo, which stand for fashionable and high quality; and it is worldwide known and symbolizes upper class. Chanel’s product packaging also expresses its theme that will appeal the customer before they know the product inside. In recent years, internet plays an important role in the marketing world. Chanel has its own worldwide website that provided with different language. This allows consumer from different culture to easily search the information regarding its products. On the other hand, marketer have no control over another source of the external information search. This information source include personal experiences, personal sources, friends, acquaintances, coworkers, and public sources.
• Third stage- Evaluation of Alternatives: In this stage, the consumers  use the information stored in memory and the information gathered from outside sources to evaluate the alternatives. This means, in this stage, Chanel marketer’s attention should be on its competitors. Chanel’s symbolization of fashionable, upper class, and dignity can also be represented by its competitors such as Hermès, Louis Vuitton, and Prada. However, Chanel’s unique style of classical, elegance, simple, and refinement cannot be copied by its competitors.
• Fourth stage- Purchase: This stage involves with consumer facing the question of “to buy or not to buy.”  Sometimes consumer will use piecemeal process, which is the evaluation made by examining alternative advantages and disadvantages along important product attributes. Chanel’s advantages are limited boutiques in each country, strategy of limited purchase on their essential products online, the style of fashionable while remaining classical. It advantages also constitute the disadvantages. Chanel need to improve their disadvantages while remaining the advantages in order to strongly attract the consumer to buy their products.  
• Last stage- Post purchase Behavior, which is the satisfaction of consumer’s expectations determines whether they fulfill their needs or wants with this purchase. In this stage. Consumer involves in feeling an inner tension called cognitive dissonance, which is when consumer recognize inconsistency between their values or opinions and their behavior. Marketing managers can help diminish dissonance through effective communication with customers. Chanel marketing managers greet their customers by sending them birthday cards, booklet of newest style, and send samples to their repeated customers. Customers will feel themselves as a part of the Chanel house.