Post Decision Process

Module Ten: Post-Decision Process

Overview of the Post-Decision Process

• Focus on understanding consumer behavior after the consumption of a product or service.

• Importance of learning from consumption experiences and how it influences satisfaction and dissatisfaction.

• Key topics include:

  • Consumer learning

  • Confirmation of expectations

  • Actions taken after dissatisfaction

  • Relationship between satisfaction and loyalty

  • Disposition process (how consumers dispose of products)

The Consumer Journey

• Pre-Acquisition Steps:

  1. Information searching through various channels (websites, word-of-mouth, advertisements)

  2. Evaluation of product/service based on marketing communications and personal observations.

• Post-Acquisition Experience:

  • Learning primarily occurs through direct experience with the product/service, which is seen as credible and engaging.

  • Three cases of information flow continue to influence post-decisions.

Learning from Consumption Experiences

• Hypothesis Testing:

  • Involves pre-existing expectations before trying a new restaurant or product (hypothesis generation).

  • Exposure to Evidence: Actual experience leads to observing and evaluating the product/service.

  • Encoding and Integration of Evidence:

    • Encoding: Taking in all sensory inputs during the experience.

    • Integration: Combining new information with prior beliefs to form revised conclusions.

• Factors influencing the learning process:

  • Familiarity: Prior knowledge strengthens belief formation.

  • Motivation to Learn: Higher motivation leads to more effective learning.

  • Clarity of Information: Clear and legitimate information strengthens consumer confidence.

Implications for Marketers

• Ensure consumer motivation is kept high to enhance learning and product experience.

• Develop marketing strategies based on whether a brand is a top dog (market leader) or an underdog (new entrant).

  • Top Dog Strategies: Focus on reinforcing positive consumer perceptions and blocking competitors.

  • Underdog Strategies: Promote trials, create awareness, and foster brand switching by demonstrating superior value.

Satisfaction vs. Dissatisfaction Judgments

• Satisfaction: Achieved when performance meets or exceeds expectations.

• Dissatisfaction: Occurs when performance falls short of expectations.

• Key Metrics for Marketers:

  • Satisfaction and loyalty directly impact profitability.

  • Satisfied customers are more likely to pay premium prices, leading to higher profits.

• American Consumer Satisfaction Index: Measures satisfaction across different product/service categories.

Pathways to Satisfaction and Dissatisfaction Judgments

• Expectation Confirmation: Judgments based on expectation minus performance.

  • Positive difference leads to satisfaction; negative difference leads to dissatisfaction.

• Emotions: Both cognitive and affective responses influence satisfaction judgments.

• Attribution Theory: When things go wrong, customers attribute causes to

  • Themselves

  • The company

  • The service provider

  • Considerations include controllability, stability, and intensity of the failure.

Conclusion

• The chapter emphasizes understanding personal experiences with products/services to identify improvement areas as marketers.

• Recognition of factors influencing satisfaction is crucial for creating effective marketing strategies.

Module Ten: Post-Decision Process

Overview of the Post-Decision Process

The Post-Decision Process is a crucial stage in consumer behavior analysis, focusing on understanding the actions and cognitive processes that occur after a consumer has made a purchase and consumed a product or service. This process is vital for marketers to gauge customer satisfaction and loyalty in a competitive marketplace.

Importance of Learning from Consumption ExperiencesUnderstanding how consumers react after consumption helps businesses improve their products and services. Factors influencing satisfaction or dissatisfaction include consumer expectations, emotional responses, and the overall consumer journey.

Key Topics Include:

• Consumer Learning: Understanding how experiences influence future purchasing decisions.

• Confirmation of Expectations: Evaluating whether products meet or exceed initial expectations.

• Actions Taken After Dissatisfaction: How consumers respond to unmet expectations, including complaints, returns, or brand switching.

• Relationship Between Satisfaction and Loyalty: Exploring the correlation between satisfied consumers and their likelihood of repeat business.

• Disposition Process: The methods by which consumers dispose of products post-consumption, which can influence future purchasing decisions.

The Consumer Journey

Pre-Acquisition Steps:During the pre-acquisition phase, consumers engage in extensive information searching, utilizing various channels including:

• Websites: Product information, reviews, and comparisons.

• Word-of-Mouth: Personal recommendations can significantly impact decisions.

• Advertisements: Marketing communications that shape perceptions about the product or service.

Evaluation of Products/Services: Consumers analyze and assess options through marketing communications and personal observations, weighing the potential utility versus costs involved.

Post-Acquisition Experience:The consumption phase marks the direct experience with the product/service. During this time, learning is predominantly based on firsthand experience, deemed credible and engaging by consumers.

Learning from Consumption Experiences

Hypothesis Testing:Consumers often form pre-existing expectations based on prior knowledge or marketing exposure before engaging with a new product or service. This hypothesis generation significantly influences their actual experience.

Exposure to Evidence:Post-experience, consumers evaluate the product/service against their expectations, analyzing whether their hypotheses hold true.

Encoding and Integration of Evidence:

• Encoding: The process of absorbing sensory inputs during the consumption experience, including sight, taste, smell, and sound.

• Integration: Combining new data with existing beliefs to update perceptions and future expectations.

Factors Influencing the Learning Process

1. Familiarity: Prior experiences can strengthen belief formation, making consumers more receptive or resistant to new information.

2. Motivation to Learn: Consumers who believe that the outcomes of their learning will benefit them are likely to engage more deeply with the information.

3. Clarity of Information: The clearer and more legitimate the information presented, the more likely consumers will feel confident in their understanding and decisions.

Implications for Marketers

To enhance consumer learning and foster positive post-purchase experiences, marketers should:

• Ensure high consumer motivation through engaging marketing practices.

• Tailor marketing strategies based on brand positioning:

  • Top Dog Strategies: Focus on reinforcing positive perceptions and securing consumer loyalty.

  • Underdog Strategies: Encourage trial purchases, raise brand awareness, and position the brand as a strong alternative to competitors by demonstrating superior value.

Satisfaction vs. Dissatisfaction Judgments

Satisfaction: Occurs when the product's performance meets or exceeds consumer expectations, leading to positive feedback and higher likelihood of brand loyalty.Dissatisfaction: Emerges when the product performance falls short, often prompting negative action such as complaints, returns, or switching to a competitor.

Key Metrics for Marketers to Consider:

• Satisfaction and loyalty are directly linked to profitability; higher levels of customer satisfaction usually correlate with a willingness to pay premium prices, increasing overall profit margins.

• American Consumer Satisfaction Index (ACSI): A widely recognized measure of customer satisfaction across diverse product and service categories.

Pathways to Satisfaction and Dissatisfaction Judgments

Expectation Confirmation:The assessment of satisfaction is often framed as the difference between what consumers expected and the actual performance experienced. A positive difference leads to satisfaction, while a negative difference results in dissatisfaction.

Emotions: Emotional responses can significantly shape satisfaction judgments. Positive emotions strengthen satisfaction, while negative emotions contribute to feelings of dissatisfaction.

Attribution Theory: When consumers encounter dissatisfaction, they often seek to attribute the cause to specific factors, which can include:

1. Themselves: Consumers may reflect on their choices and blame themselves for poor purchasing decisions.

2. The Company: The brand might be held responsible for unmet expectations.

3. The Service Provider: Individual employees or specific services can also be pinpointed as culprits for dissatisfaction.

Factors affecting attribution include controllability (was it preventable?), stability (is it a recurring issue?), and intensity of the failure.

Conclusion

This chapter underlines the importance of understanding personal experiences related to product/service consumption. By identifying the factors that influence satisfaction, marketers are better prepared to develop effective strategies aimed at improving customer relations and enhancing the overall consumer journey.