CONSUMER DECISION MAKING PROCESS Assignment 2 Josh Kyne 101776331
Introduction Ford motor group is a global car marker producing vehicles in classes from small cars, family cars right through to commercial vehicles such as the Ford Ranger. The stages that a consumer goes through in making a decision to purchase something with such high financial commitment as a vehicle are important to ensure that Ford understands that it's product is going to be a favourable option to meet the needs of the consumer. This report will examine the consumer decision process in relation to the purchase of a Ford Ranger utility vehicle, and the steps that are taken in making the purchasing decision. Need recognition As Textbook ** states, 'Need recognition occurs when a consumer is faced with an imbalance between actual and desired states'. This imbalance when purchasing a vehicle may have come about because of several factors, such as end of lease of current vehicle, cost of repairs to current vehicle, changes in family needs or to cater for changing business or work needs. Utility vehicles are more likely to be purchased by trades people carrying tools or other materials, so the need element goes a little bit further than just needing or wanting a new car, because a trades person's ability to generate income can be affected. Whilst this need to carry out their trade can be a trigger, the desire to have a big powerful vehicle that can be useful whilst not being used as work vehicle (for example, towing a boat) can also be a trigger as well. Ford could more strongly focus on features of their vehicle that ticks both of these elements off such as biggest tray in it's class, heavier towing capacity to trigger the need recognition for the consumer. Information search After deciding that there is a need for a new utility vehicle, the consumer will then enter the information search. Consumer decision making for high involvement purchases such as vehicles are highly labour and time intensive, and involve a large amount of research about potential purchasing options (Nayeem, 2012). The consumer may undertake basic internet searches, discussions with peers and undertake test drives. During this stage the consumer begins to remember internally stored information such as advertising of utility vehicle manufactures that they have seen, as well as external information from sources such as their social network which can have a big impact on the way they perceive potential options. As Seth et al p161 states, 'A particular make of automobile may be chosen more for the social image evoked rather than for its functional performance'. From these searches, the consumer begins to bring together the potential choices they have outside of a Ford Ranger, as well as potentially biased. Currently it seems that Ford is relying heavily on word of mouth about being 'the best ute' for Trades people, and basic internet searches with industry articles such as AutoExpert and Carsguide (201ff) rate Ranger very high, but also note