Now let's assume our product/service along with the company goals and the branding are all aligned. The next step would be to understand how the consumer takes the decision to buy and how can we influence it?
A single buying decision and the purchase are done through 5 roles that the consumer and his immediate surroundings play. This also happens in five stages of consumer decision making. So I will attempt to weave both of them together to better understand the buyer/ consumer’s decision stages and the roles played by the immediate surroundings
Initiator An initiator is a person or entity who induces or expresses recognition of need. This is also the first step in a consumer’s lifecycle of decision making. He realizes that he might need some product or service to reach the desired level however this step can happen in two ways-
The conscious need of the consumer is when he is aware of his need. For Eg he finds grinding spices manually in the kitchen is time-consuming and actively searches for some machine or equipment to enable him to do so faster. He is already aware of the blenders available and decides to buy one of them.
Unconscious need. For Eg, One consumer finds it difficult to drive down to his favourite restaurant on Saturday nights due to traffic. Though he wants to buy eat the delicacies offered at the restaurant he decides against it thinking of the blocked roads. Here either the restaurant recognizes this and offers home delivery with a nominal charge, would find this consumer as a taker of the service. The initiator will be the one who spots the need or is aware of a need. For Eg let's say the Covid situation has forced online education and the school mandates children to have a laptop at home to enable online classes. So the School and the Child are the initiators.
Influencer
Influencers would be the person who plays a role in tipping the decision maker’s choice. The consumer is already in the Information search mode where he having realized that he needs something to reach the desired stage is now looking at the options. This is the time the influencer who could be a friend or family or an expert will give inputs in favour or against the various solutions to reach the desired stage. Continuing with our example when the child talks about buying a laptop, she talks to her friends or siblings about the different options. The parents also at this time at the stage of information search and look for the best options with their own set of influencers like their friends, google etc.
Decider The decider is usually the person who has the last word after having evaluated the options available in the market versus the desirability or need assessment. This is the role who do the evaluation of the alternatives. Here for all practical purposes, the Purchase decision has been made. Continuing with our example, now the mother/father or both of them jointly decide to buy or zero down on a particular laptop after having considered different options. The make, the brand and perhaps even the buying point has been decided upon along with the payment mode.
Buyer The actual act of buying or the transaction is the next role that the consumer plays. In household items, it might be the decider itself but this is a notable stage because this is where “many a slip between the cup and lip” occurs. Among the consumer behaviour stages, the Purchase Decision spills over this stage. The point the marketer has to understand is that the buyer should also be convinced of the purchase decision. Continuing with our earlier example, if the parents of the child ask a friend to buy the laptop online using his credit card as the offers are better, the friend might carry out the deal as requested. However if while browsing he finds a better option, he might suggest that to the parents and change the decision.
User The role of the user, in this case, is played by the same person who initiated the purchase ie of the little girl and indirectly by the school. The feedback from the peers and the post-sale service and the product’s efficiency at meeting the needs will be the criteria that decide a repeat purchase or the word of mouth influence. The post-purchase evaluation stage can double up as an input to Information research in another consumer’s buying stage. This user could play the role of influencer in another sale. A successful marketing campaign needs to tailor its communication not only to the different stages of consumer decision making but also to the different roles that have a pivotal hand in the final PURCHASE!
Gatekeeper Wind and Webster’s ‘Six buying roles’ model has an additional role which is played by the controlling bodies like Government, advertising advisory etc. In many cases, they too play a role in and the law of the state needs to be taken into consideration while designing a marketing strategy!
Sources:
https://research-methodology.net/consumer-decision-making-process-a-detailed-analysis/