Customer Decision-making Process Research Articles

Impact of Brand on Consumer Psychology: A Case Study

The paper deals with the results of the primary research which purpose was to examine the impact of brand on influencing consumers to purchase a product. The goal of the paper is to stress the fact that the brand has an impact on customer decision-making process. Original primary data within the primary research were collected by using a quantitative method of questionnaire. Into the quantitative research was involved selected group of 1,250 respondents. Partial results of the complex research conducted between 2009 and 2014 are subject to the content of the paper. Primary research was conducted continuously during the period of six months in 2014 in Slovakia. An established questionnaire was pilot tested and revised before it was used. As the statistical method was used chi-square test. Based on above stated subject area of research have been formulated two hypotheses focused on relationship between the age of respondents and purchasing branded products and between the age of respondents and brand preference. We have found that purchasing of branded products and preference of brand origin depends on the age of consumers. Keywords: Consumer psychology, brand image, Consumer behaviour toward product, brand image in consumer mind.

Delegation of purchasing tasks to AI: The role of perceived choice and decision autonomy

Although artificial intelligence (AI) outperforms humans in many tasks, research suggests some consumers are still averse to having AI perform tasks on their behalf. Informed by the literature of customer decision-making process, we propose and show that consumer autonomy is a significant predictor of customers' decision to adopt AI in the purchasing context. Across three experiments, we found that the delegation of purchasing tasks to AI, which restricts choice and decision dimensions of consumers' perceived autonomy, reduces the likelihood of AI adoption. Our results show that the effects of choice and decision autonomy on AI adoption holds even when product choice evaluation is complex. We also found that identity-relevant consumption moderates this relationship, such that it interacts with choice and decision autonomy. Specifically, despite lacking choice and decision autonomy, those who identify strongly with a given activity are more likely to use an AI-enabled app to purchase the product needed to perform this activity. With these insights into when and why consumers are likely to use AI-enabled technology, firms might effectively increase its adoption.

COVID-19 and Digitization of SMEs: The Impact and Way Forward

The Covid-19 pandemic has brought significant changes to the global economy, particularly in terms of digitization. This study aims to examine the role of digitization in helping small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) survive during the pandemic in Nepal and assess its sustainability for the future. The sample for this study consists of 52 SMEs from various industries such as clothing, food, and retail businesses. A quantitative research approach is employed to analyze the data. The findings of this study indicate that there was little to no change in the adoption of digitalization among SMEs before and after the crisis. This suggests that the level of digitization in SMEs remains relatively unchanged in the post-Covid-19 period. However, in terms of sustainability, the study reveals that SMEs need to undergo digital transformation to ensure their long-term viability. This finding aligns with previous research that emphasizes the importance of digital technologies for SMEs in emerging markets.
 The literature review supports the notion that social media advertising can increase brand loyalty and provide opportunities for direct interaction with potential customers. Additionally, studies have shown that social media influencers have a positive impact on the buying decision process of customers. Furthermore, research has demonstrated that social media marketing influences consumer decision-making processes.
 It underscores the potential benefits of digitization in terms of survival and sustainability. The findings suggest that SMEs should prioritize digitalization efforts to adapt to the changing business landscape and enhance their competitiveness.
 In conclusion, this study emphasizes the importance of digitization for SMEs in Nepal, particularly in the context of the Covid-19 pandemic. The findings indicate the need for SMEs to embrace digital transformation to ensure their long-term viability.

The beauty premium of tour guides in the customer decision-making process: An AI-based big data analysis

This study investigates how the facial cues of tour guides in their profile pictures, and especially aesthetically pleasing facial features, play a role in the different stages of a tourist's decision-making process. Facilitated by an artificial intelligence (AI) facial recognition system, a comprehensive model is developed which incorporates the facial and service cues of 3786 tour guides. The results show that beauty scores and smiles have a positive effect on purchase decisions, while post-service ratings are only subject to service cues. The contingency effects of the beauty premium are also examined. The results indicate greater beauty premium effects for females, and for tour guides who are responsible for chauffeured, package or walking tours. This research is a pioneering study in AI-based facial analyses in the context of tourism, and offers insights into the impression management of online profiles in the customer decision-making stages.

The Theoretical and Practical Evolution of Customer Journey and Its Significance in Services Sustainability

In the scientific literature, the concept of the “customer journey (CJ)” has only recently been introduced, and, accordingly, it lacks robust empirical evidence. Still, the number of papers concerning the CJ has increased exponentially in recent years. The aim of this paper is to fully represent the available CJ research in services and highlight its importance for service sustainability. Since the current CJ literature mainly includes qualitative data, this paper is a narrative review based on the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis checklist. The systematic literature review conducted by the authors is based on peer-reviewed articles published up until 2019. The main findings mostly concern the conceptualization of the CJ at a theoretical and practical level—CJ definitions and evolution for the former and customer journey mapping for the latter—as well as to present new perspectives of the examined terms in the services peer-reviewed bibliography and verify their contribution to service sustainability. CJ monitoring helps the development of a more sustainable service because it advances service innovation and effective channel management. Furthermore, it leads managers to understand their customer decision-making process and better allocate their resources by establishing a sustainable service design throughout the various service phases.

The impact of the information revolution on the classical sales model

The ready availability of information about purchase options has shifted the point at which customers make purchase decisions; they often come into the sales interaction knowing what they want (i.e., have higher preference certainty). Yet companies continue to base their selling strategies, spending billions of dollars, on a model of the customer decision process that is predicated on low preference certainty. Therefore, understanding the impact of customer preference certainty on the efficacy of the traditional selling paradigm is crucial. Through an extensive field study spanning four months across 15 different stores of a durable goods retailer and two experiments, the authors examine the consequences of this shift toward higher preference certainty for the practice of selling. Drawing on the theory of cognitive dissonance and adaptive selling, they find that a lack of consideration of the shift in customer decision making can hurt both salespeople and customers. Specifically, they find that ignoring customer preference certainty and unconditionally employing tactics that involve educating and challenging customers can have negative repercussions on purchase probability and sales revenue.

Organizational citizenship behaviors perceived by collectivistic 50-and-older customers and medical-care service performance: an application of stimulus-organism-response theory

PurposeThe study aims to examine the underexplored agenda in organizational citizenship behaviors (OCBs) through the collectivistic 50-and-older customers' lens when encountering medical-care services by applying stimulus-organism-response (S-O-R) theory.Design/methodology/approachThe authors propose an integrative causal model derived from employees OCBs perceived by the collectivistic 50-and-older outpatients in Korean medical-care organizations and test the causal relationships using structural equation modeling (SEM).FindingsThe three dimensions of OCBs are external stimuli to the synergistic relationship of both cognitive and affective organisms for enhancing the organization's external outcomes. The customers' organismic processes mediate the relationships between OCBs and the resultant outcomes. Customer satisfaction plays a pivotal role in determining customers' future behavior when converting the business relationship to friendship.Practical implicationsThe proposed integrated model provides an overall mechanism of the collectivistic customer decision process in the medical-care service setting. The integrated model helps to understand better how customers proceed mental and emotional states with the encountered services and how frontline employees offer extra-roles beyond in-roles to their customers in touching points to maintain superior organizational performance.Originality/valueThe authors respond to the underexplored agenda in the OCB research discipline. The study is one of the few studies to examine the effect of OCBs from collectivistic customers' perspectives and apply a consumer behavior theory to explain a service organizational performance in an integrative causal model.

Influence of packaging design parameters on customers’ decision-making process

Many recent research has focused on graphic design and shape of the packaging, and their effects on the customer's decision-making process as two separate categories. Since the shape of the packaging along with the graphic design plays an important role in the visual appearance of the packaging and attracts the customer's attention, the main objective of this research was to find out which packaging shapes and graphic elements customers find most attractive, as well as to understand the general opinion of customers about the influence of packaging aesthetics on their decision-making process when purchasing a product. Methodology of this research was conducted in two stages, from which the first one included creating three different graphic design solutions combined with three shape categories, and three variations of added value, for the same food packaging. The second part of the research covered an online questionnaire, in which a group of 50 people participated. This questionnaire focused on three variables: graphic design of the packaging, packaging shape and it’s added value. These variables were evaluated using the Likert scale. Through the questionnaire, participants were asked to answer general questions about the impact of the packaging visual appearance and added value, on their decision-making process when buying a product, as well as to choose the most appealing packaging between the given options. The research results showed that customers preferred non-standard packaging shapes and simple graphic design, as well as packaging with added value. The results of this research prove that the aesthetics of packaging has an impact on the customer's perception of a product, which means that packaging plays an important role in product marketing.

Reflections on the Customer Decision-Making Process in the Digital Insurance Platforms: An Empirical Study of the Baltic Market

Multifold effects of the COVID-19 global health crisis and economic lockdowns are reflected in the insurance industry, and are predicted to expand to the post-COVID-19 era. It is expected that, within a short period of time, the current worldwide situation, in regards to the coronavirus pandemic, will be reflected in new trends, regarding customer behavior, organizational management, and culture, as well as reveal improved business management models, legacy infrastructure, and service systems in insurance organizations. Here, a focus on end-user preferences, data, and their behavior modeling in digital platforms are major practical drivers within the modern insurance concept, but there is a paucity of researches within the theoretical synthesis of consumer decision-making (CDM) models, information system theories, and behavioral economics concerning modern insurance-specific value chains and digitalized decision-making processes. Therefore, the following research aims to expand upon the existing scientific knowledge of end-user behavioral patterns and process frameworks in the Baltic insurance market, by including and examining a factor group of technological enablers and a digital environment. Research results in digitalization, personalization, and customization levels within the Baltic non-life insurance market are homogenous with a leading position of Estonia and overall evaluations ranging between Satisfied and Rather Good. There are also three major factor groups and process stages identified, which influence insurance purchase decision-making in digital insurance platforms in the Baltic market.

Guest Online Review: An Extraordinary Focus on Hotel Users’ Satisfaction, Engagement, and Loyalty

ABSTRACT The article aims to heighten the impact of guest online reviews on the hotel industry. Its objective is to increase the volume of users on the degree of satisfaction for effective engagement and loyalty in the luxury hotel context. Based on a keyword-driven search, the study has examined the factors influencing the guest online reviews: guest feedback, hotel management response, and customer decision-making process. They, in turn, impact the levels of customer satisfaction and engagement in the hotel and tourism industry in Vietnam. The practical problem takes place when there is a decline in the number of customers. Particularly hotel management is involved in facing negative comments in the online market. The quantitative method tested the validity of the measurements of the questionnaire and the correlation of the constructs through SPSS tools. Three hundred and eighty-four respondents participated in the survey, who are associating with the hotel and tourism profession. The results show that the customer’s decision-making process holds the most significant impact in guest reviews’ online activity toward the hoteliers’ service quality to create positive customer satisfaction in handling online communication. The study’s implications are to foster luxury hotel management and sustainable tourism by adopting guest online reviews in developed and developing countries. Its limitation and further study are also discussed to an overall understanding of existing and future research.

Digital marketing communication in the age of globalization

Research background: The marketing perception has changed dramatically in recent years. Evolution of digital shopping and information technology generate new challenges. Internet marketing and social media have a significant impact on the behavior of consumers, and businesses are forced to look into new ways to play a role in each stage of the consumer’s decision-making process. Nowadays marketing is concerned with understanding people’s motivations and using these insights to create content and campaigns that engage and gain the attention of relevant users in the global Internet marketplace. Purpose of the article: Consumers use different research strategies when preparing to purchase a product. The purpose of this article is to demonstrate the importance and relevance stages of the mapping customer decision-making process for better user experience and to segment users on the basis of their current intention to purchase goods. Methods: The research work is based mainly on the STDC framework, which is used for strategic and content planning in order to adapt ads to the decision-making phase in which the customer is located. For the purposes of the article and to obtain target information, a quantitative self-service questionnaire was created. The purpose of this questionnaire was to find out the steps in the selection of specific goods and the factors that influenced their final purchase. Findings & Value added: The article has a practical focus on the recommendations for marketing communication which will attract more consumers and increase competitiveness, which is relevant especially in the context of globalization.

Do Ambient Conditions (Air Quality, Noise Level and Temperature) and Image Congruity Matter for Boosting Customer Approach Behaviors in the FSC Sector?

The present research presented a conceptual framework by uncovering the apparent role of ambient condition quality (in-flight air, noise level, and temperature), image congruity, love, respect, and perceived ticket price in increasing customer approach behaviors in the full service carrier (FSC) industry. A quantitative method was used. The evaluation of the measurement model verified the quality of construct measures. Findings from statistical analyses demonstrated the significant associations among research variables, and identified the mediating nature of FSC love and FSC respect. In addition, the important moderating effect of perceived FSC ticket price was found. A prominent role of ambient condition quality in eliciting approach behaviors was also explored. Overall, our theoretical framework contained a prediction power for approach behaviors. The research findings thus assist FSC researchers and practitioners to better understand the process of generating the customer decision-making process and behaviors that are positive for full service carriers. This research hence successfully fulfilled its objective to discover the influences of the customer approach behaviors in the full service carrier (FSC) industry.

Customer decision-making process and the effect of marketing on the final purchase decision

The paper aims to explain the consumer decision process and evaluate the various marketing channels used by the firms to influence the decision process of the consumer. The first part of this paper critically reviews the customer decision process by analysing the stages of the process which are a) Problem recognition b) Information gathering c) Evaluation of alternatives and d) Customer purchase decision. Subsequently various patterns of buying behaviour formed as a result of the purchase decisions made by the customer in the case of products are explained. The second part seeks to look at the efforts on the part of the marketer to market their product including advertising, packaging, pricing, differentiation and product distribution. Keywords: Buying behaviour, Customer decision-making process.

"In Peers We Trust": The Substance of Customer-to-Customer Interactions to Customer Decision-Making Process

The current marketplace is defined as the Age of Customer, an age that marks the shifting power from marketers to customers. Customers are enabled by technology and have the ability to access real time information while extending their network of friends and communities. The purpose of this research is to explore the impact of customer-to-customer interactions to customer decision-making process in life insurance in the context the online-offline marketing communications effort of marketers. Customer engagement is adopted to discuss the engagement of life insurers to customers and the drivers to the interaction of customers. This research focuses on customer decision-making process concerning customer acquisition path in the context of Indonesia's life insurance business. The questionnaire were distributed to respondents through online survey platform, targeting those non-individual life insurance policyholders as potential prospective users. Results concluded customers gathered a range of information on life insurance and conducted interactions with other peers, however offline marketing communications continued to be dominant aligned with the poor financial literacy and inclusion rate. Customer decision-making process was also determined by the results of customer-to-customer interactions and brand options as well selections were part of this journey. This research offers a proposed direction of cohesive online-offline marketing communications effort to facilitate the engagement and interactions of life insurers and customers given the empowered customer-to-customer interactions. Keywords: Customer Acquisition, Customer Decision-Making, Customer-to-Customer Interactions, Life Insurance, Digital insurance

The Distribution Channel Preferences in Purchase Decision-Making of Backpacker Hostel Customers

The research aimed to find the correlation between distribution channels to each purchase decision-making process in hostel buying. This research was quantitative research using questionnaires to gather the data from 349 respondents. Linear regression analysis was used to analyze the data to find the correlation between each variable. The result shows that Online Travel Agent (OTA) has a significant and positive relationship to every purchase decision-making process. Then, go-show has only a significant and positive correlation in the purchase decision step. Meanwhile, the company’s website has a significant and positive relationship to purchase decision and postpurchase behavior steps. Last, the travel agent has no positive correlation to any of the customer decision-making process. Based on those facts, OTA remains the first choice of customers in terms of hostel buying.

Machine learning method for cosmetic product recognition: a visual searching approach

A cosmetic product recognition system is proposed in this paper. For this recognition system, we have proposed a cosmetic product database that contains image samples of forty different cosmetic items. The purpose of this recognition system is to recognize Cosmetic products with there types, brands and retailers such that to analyze a customer experience what kind of products and brands they need. This system has various applications in such as brand recognition, product recognition and also the availability of the products to the vendors. The implementation of the proposed system is divided into three components: preprocessing, feature extraction and classification. During preprocessing we have scaled and transformed the color images into gray-scaled images to speed up the process. During feature extraction, several different feature representation schemes: transformed, structural and statistical texture analysis approaches have been employed and investigated by employing the global and local feature representation schemes. Various machine learning supervised classification methods such as Logistic Regression, Linear Support Vector Machine, Adaptive k-Nearest Neighbor, Artificial Neural Network and Decision Tree classifiers have been employed to perform the classification tasks. Apart from this, we have also performed some data analytic tasks for Brand Recognition as well as Retailer Recognition and for these experimentation, we have employed some datasets from the ‘Kaggle’ website and have obtained the performance due to the above-mentioned classifiers. Finally, the performance of the cosmetic product recognition system, Brand Recognition and Retailer Recognition have been aggregated for the customer decision process in the form of the state-of-the-art for the proposed system.

Slogans, brands and purchase behaviour of students

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to extend the understanding of the influence of slogans (e.g. “Dare for More”) on brand awareness and purchase behaviour of students.Design/methodology/approachData were collected thorough 34 in-depth face-to-face interviews with university students, using the customer decision process model as an approach.FindingsThe authors’ research confirmed that conciseness, rhythm and jingle are key features strengthening customers’ recall and recognition, both being moderators of slogans’ power. The role and influence of slogans depend on the stage of the customer decision-making process. Key influencers remain product quality, popularity and price, but appropriate and memorable slogans enhance products’ differentiation and sale.Practical implicationsThe authors’ findings deliver a particular justification for marketers not to promise young consumers too much through slogans, as this leads to too high expectations adversely influencing their post-purchase feelings. During the information search, slogans can create or strengthen or weaken the willingness to buy the advertised product, depending on the slogan, thus emphasising the need for care over slogan design and use.Originality/valueThis research expands the understanding of slogans and brand awareness from the perspective of their impact on purchase behaviour. The results revealed that the model approach to shopping behaviour does not confirm the belief that slogans influence consumers the most during the phase of Evaluation of Alternatives. Slogans provide a reference point for young consumers to decide whether they are satisfied or dissatisfied with their purchase during the post-purchase phase and provide information during the information search phase. The authors’ results add to the literature in terms of the criteria determining consumers’ recognition and recall of slogans.

THE EFFECT OF RELIGIOSITY, BRAND IMAGE AND WORD OF MOUTH ON CUSTOMER'S DECISION TO APPLY FOR INSURANCE PT PRUDENTIAL UNIT SYARIAH

This study aims to analyze the effect simultaneously and partially between the variables of Religiosity, Brand Image, and Word of Mouth on the customer decision process in applying for prudential sharia insurance. This research is quantitative. The data used are primary data by distributing questionnaires to 100 respondents and secondary data obtained by conducting a literature study. Sampling was done by using a quantitative purposive sampling technique. The data analysis method uses multiple linear regression. The results of this study indicate that there is a simultaneous influence on the variable Religiosity, Brand Image, and Word of Mouth on the customer decision process. The results of this study also indicate partially that Religiosity, Brand Image, and Word of Mouth significantly influence customer decision processes. The results of the determination show that the customer decision process can be explained by the variable Religiosity, Brand Image, and Word of Mouth by 31.1%. This means that there is a 68.9% (100% -31.1%) variance of the dependent variable explained by other factors not included in this study.

Are Australian TV Advertisers Aware of Evolving Online Information Search Patterns?

The viewers' response to television advertising has changed dramatically over the past years. Search visibility of advertisers has become of paramount importance to ensure that communication messages are followed up appropriately, and that the specific brand is considered in the customer decision-making process. This paper examines the effectiveness of communication campaigns that include TV advertisements. Specifically, it determines if, and to what extent, the advertisers of selected Australian TV advertising campaigns are visible in full-text searches on Google for a variety of relevant keywords. The visibility of advertisers is measured as the number of keyword searches that result in a high ranking on the search engine results page, average ranking, and site visibility. The results revealed notable differences in the visibility of advertisers in searches. Enhancing their visibility represents a challenge for companies striving to optimise the delivery of their communication message(s) across the entire spectrum of traditional and online media.

Personalized Market Basket Prediction with Temporal Annotated Recurring Sequences

Nowadays, a hot challenge for supermarket chains is to offer personalized services to their customers. Market basket prediction, i.e., supplying the customer a shopping list for the next purchase according to her current needs, is one of these services. Current approaches are not capable of capturing at the same time the different factors influencing the customer's decision process: co-occurrence, sequentuality, periodicity, and recurrency of the purchased items. To this aim, we define a pattern Temporal Annotated Recurring Sequence (TARS) able to capture simultaneously and adaptively all these factors. We define the method to extract TARS and develop a predictor for next basket named TBP (TARS Based Predictor) that, on top of TARS, is able to understand the level of the customer's stocks and recommend the set of most necessary items. By adopting the TBP the supermarket chains could crop tailored suggestions for each individual customer which in turn could effectively speed up their shopping sessions. A deep experimentation shows that TARS are able to explain the customer purchase behavior, and that TBP outperforms the state-of-the-art competitors.