Consumer Decision Making

Consumer Decision Making

Abstract

The general study of factors associated with the acquisition, use, and disposal of goods and services is called Consumer Decision Making. Decisions regarding consumption and the social and environmental issues associated with consumption are common aspects of humans' daily lives. Consider the last 48 hours of your life. If you are a typical UK. citizen, you will have been exposed to at least 3,000 marketing efforts. You may have visited a wide array of physical retail locations in addition to having visited Internet-based retailers and unique auction and exchange sites. You may have posted information about a movie or a book you recently experienced or sought advice from other consumers about a future purchase.

Consumer Decision Making

Consumer decision making is essentially the attitudes, intentions, decisions, and actions of individuals as everyday consumers in the marketplace. The study of Consumer decision making is embedded in a host of domains in social and behavioral sciences, such as anthropology, psychology, sociology, economics, and history, with reflection on social psychology, marketing, and management. As explaining and predicting Consumer decision making can be very challenging, it becomes more so for marketers doing business globally compared with nationally or regionally. This is because planning and implementing marketing efforts necessitates a profound understanding of consumer motivations and expectations along many cognitive, affective, and behavioral dimensions; consequently, this can differ substantially across country boundaries, given that Consumer decision making is subject to cultural, economic, and societal influences. Identifying the extent of consumer deliberation in decision processes is also essential to facilitate efficient and effective marketing communication efforts in international operations. (George , 2009, 23-29)

A prominent view of Consumer decision making is how it is embedded in capitalism, marketing, and consumption ideologies. Such consumption ideologies can be traced back to Georg Simmel in the 1900s. Also motivated by scholars such as Max Horkheimer and Theodor Adorno in 1944, this study expanded over time through sociologists, anthropologists, historians, economists, and specialized Consumer decision making-ists and consumer psychologists. Studies in the area of consumer research in many instances rely on consumption ideologies as a background presumption, where those studies proceed to investigate its corollaries and implications. (George , 2009, 23-29)

The British Marketing Association (BMA), the largest professional marketing association in UK for individuals and organizations involved in the practice, teaching, and study of marketing worldwide, describes Consumer decision making as the outcome of two main components: marketing and psychology. This view presents Consumer decision making as the dynamic interaction of affect and cognition, behavior, and environmental events by which people conduct the trading facets of their lives. According to this perspective, social psychology (a study of the two-way influence between social groups and an individual's attitudes, motivations, and actions such as reference group influences) and cognitive psychology (a study of all knowledge and mental behavior such as attention, perception, comprehension, memory, and decision making) represent the two main disciplines that the BMA describes as germane to studies of Consumer decision ...