The Impact Of The Internet On Consumer Decision Making Process Essay

The Impact of the Internet on Three Stages of Consumer Decision Making Process Consumer decision making has long been since a complexity. Each consumer has their own needs therefore decisions can be complex and then compounded with the technology of the internet; consumer’s opinions have become more relevant. The five stage model of Consumer Decision Making (CDM) is a common consensus among researchers and academics. The five stages of the theory about consumer purchasing are: recognition of need or problem, information search, comparing the alternatives, purchase and post-purchase evaluation. In this paper, the effect that the internet has had on three of the five will be addressed, those three are: alternative search, purchase decision, …show more content…
There are five common methods that can satisfy the needs of CDM; experimental public, marketing, group, and internet resources. One of the biggest shifts that the internet has brought to CDM is the customer loyalty. While access to the internet has become more prevalent, especially with the increased use of mobile devices versus the traditional desktop and laptop computers, consumer research has become easier before making actual purchases. “Today customers all digital explorers, seeking out online ratings, peer reviews, videos and in-depth product details as they move down the path to purchase,” (Rick, 2013). Each consumer may use the internet is a different way when it comes to searching products or services. “Consumers are more likely to seek opinions of others through social media and product-rating sites when making choices that have a great deal of personal impact (e.g., healthcare options or major electronics purchases),” (Interactive, 2008). With this rapid change in CDM alternative search marketers need to think differently about the effects that internet media has on the marketing …show more content…
This is the stage that is crucial for an organization when it comes to retaining customers. With the internet popularity and consumers searching through social media and product-rating sites positive and negative feedback is much more accessible. In this evaluation period a satisfied consumer is the potential for loyal and return customer that could bring in business with positive feedback on social media or various webpages. A consumer that has an average or disappointed response to product or services will begin the five stages CDM process over. Accordingly, companies need to be aware that with the internet an unhappy consumer can have strong power to cause