Ch. 6 - Consumer Decision Making

Nowadays, a consumer uses what is called the consumer decision-making process pictured to the left when buying goods or services. Apple's marketing managers on the other hand, try to understand what the needs and wants of a consumer are, in order to create the ultimate marketing mix. Apple Inc. recognizing the importance of the need recognition step in the consumer decision-making process, has doubled its Ad budget to $ 1 billion a year.  Further, Apple's marketing managers, realizing the importance of  the second step used by the consumer or the information search  step,  wherein the consumer will search for new information about a product, have provided valuable information for all of their products, to their customers through their internet website( http://www.apple.com/ )  advertising, Facebook, twitter and tours. 

Apple is ubiquitous. As such, Apple is rated by Interbrand as the world's most valuable brand. In conjunction with Apple's fame and its trustworthy name, new consumers can easily obtain internal information from what other consumers have relayed to them about their past experiences. The third process in the consumer decision-making process is the evaluation of alternatives. Luckily, Apple's products are known as being the best in the market. Apple has achieved the product/service differentiation competitive advantage that few companies in the world have. The last steps involved are purchase and post-purchase behavior respectively. Purchase is the actual purchase of the product, and here Apple has also won the bet. Just three days after the launch of the new Iphone 5C, iPhone sales topped nine million, setting a new record for the company. Apple is making sure that all of consumer’s expectations are fulfilled. This has led to positive feedback and consumer-generated advertising of which I am participating in right now by posting on my blog.