Why does one consumer consider a product or service a need? What turns a need to a want? Do the costs outweigh the benefits in the mind of the consumer? What will the value be determined as; high, low, or somewhere in between?

For this assignment you will write a paper as follows: choose a product or service and describe in detail the consumption process as described on page 5 of your text book.

Introduction

In this paper I would like to discuss different stages of consumption process in relation to a decision being made to buy a broadband internet connection. A customer looks at different factors when he/she makes a decision to buy a product or service. On the other hand, marketers try to target the customers by exploiting these factors and try and make a purchase to the customer. In this paper, I would be looking at the consumption process of a broadband internet connection from a consumer’s and a marketer’s perspective. Following is a step wise description of the consumption process of a broadband internet connection.

Pre-Purchasing Issues

At this stage the consumers might be thinking of a need that might have been raised to acquire a broadband connection. On the other hand, the marketers would be looking to bring in the attention of the customer a broadband connection from a certain company.

Consumer’s Perspective

We could suppose that a person had moved to a new city and to remain in contact with his/her family on skype, a broadband connection is needed. The consumers would think of different option before a decision is made. The consumers would call different companies, would browse internet on mobile phone to look for broadband service providers in that area. The consumer might call other people for an opinion about different service providers and their comparative quality.

Marketer’s Perspective

The marketer would be placing their ads in the newspapers and television. They would have place their advertisement on internet so that these ads are responsive to mobile phones. They would have trained customer staff who are able to convince that their services are better than their competitors.

Purchase Issues

The consumer would be noticing the manner he is dealt by the broadband companies when a purchasing decision is in progress while the broadband marketer would try to make the purchasing process smooth and easy.

Consumer’s Perspective

The consumer would call different broadband companies. He/she would be assessing the information that has been provided about the broadband connection. He would also be assessing the telephone or online customer’s services. Different consumer would show different behaviors while making a purchasing decision. Some would not go into details while others would keep thinking for a longer time before they can make a purchasing decision.

Marketer’s Perspective

The marketers use advertisement that stress on the importance of family and how a person can stay connected to them while being away from them. They would be offering broadband speed that provide uninterrupted video chats.

Post-Purchase Issues

After a broadband connection is acquired, a customers would be assessing the speed and other factors related to the quality of the broadband connection while the marketers would be trying to know how they can make their service better so that the consumers becomes a long-term customer.

Consumer’s Perspective

The consumer would be using the broadband internet to for video chats with family and friend. He/she would also be using the internet for other leisure and professional purposes. If the speed of the connection remain a good level and constant, he/she would remain a loyal customer and suggest the company to others.

Marketer’s Perspective

The marketers would be contacting the consumer for a feedback. Different surveys would be conducted with open and closed ended questions (Reja, Manfreda, Hlebec & Vehovar, 2003). to assess the satisfaction level of the broadband consumer. This feedback would be contributing to the future marketing and broadband services of the company.

Conclusion

I would like to conclude that the consumption process is not a simple process. The consumers follow their own process that convers a want to a need and hence a purchasing decision. On the other hand, the marketer have their own perspective and they try their best to depict a want as a need and hence influence the purchasing decision making.

 

 

References

Reja, U., Manfreda, K. L., Hlebec, V., & Vehovar, V. (2003). Open-ended vs. close-ended    questions in web questionnaires. Developments in applied statistics, 19, 159-177.