When faced with a decision (a choice between two or more alternative actions or behaviors), a consumer goes through a five stage process to arrive at an optimal choice. These stages (need recognition, information search, alternative evaluation, purchase decision, and post-purchase evaluation) have been studied for many years. The question is do consumers go through these five stages any differently because of new technology?
Write a 1200 - 1500 word paper that discusses how the Internet can impact each of the five stages of the decision making process below:
Problem Recognition - Consumers are alerted to some need for a product or realize a problem that could be solved by a product. This alert can come from internal as well as external sources.
Information Search - Once alerted to a need or problem, the consumer searches for information to determine those products that can solve that need and their attributes. Search is conducted internally as well as externally.
Evaluation of Alternatives - The consumer evaluates the alternatives giving each attribute a value and weighing some attributes greater than others. The outcome is a consideration set of possible products to purchase and eventually the choice to fulfill the need or solve the problem.
Purchase Decision - The consumer completes a transaction that purchases the product. Decisions are made about where to buy the product, when, what payment method, warranties, or to postpone the decision to purchase.
Post-Purchase Evaluation - Both the product that was purchased and process used to make the decision is analyzed. The consumers expectations are matched to the perceived performance of the product and the purchase.
Use APA format and include at least two sources other than your textbook for the paper.