Consumers are engage in both internal as well as external information search. Internal search engages the consumer identifying alternatives from his or her memory. For certain low participation products it is very important that marketing programs achieve 'top of mind' awareness. For instance few people will search the Yellow Pages for fast food restaurants therefore the consumer must be able to retrieve one's restaurant from memory previous to it will be considered. For high involvement products consumers are additional likely to use an external search. Previous to buying a car for instance the consumer may ask friends' opinions read reviews in Consumer Reports consult several web sites and visit several dealerships. Therefore firms that make products that are selected predominantly through external search must invest in having information available to the consumer in need-example through brochures and web sites or news coverage.
A compensatory decision engages the consumer 'trading off' good and bad attributes of a product. For illustration a car may have a low price and good gas mileage but measured acceleration. If the price is adequately inexpensive and gas efficient the consumer may then select it over a car with better acceleration that costs more as well as uses more gas.
Infrequently a decision will involve a non-compensatory strategy. For instance a parent may reject all soft drinks that contain artificial sweeteners. At this time other good features such as taste and low calories can't overcome this one 'non-negotiable' attribute.