Ch. 6- Consumer Decision Making

Understanding the consumers and their behavior is part of the formula for a company surviving in a market. The consumer has the choice to buy, not buy or go with the alternative. This in general is considered in the five step consumer decision-making process and it’s important for any company, just as Porsche, to be conscious of.

Need recognition is the first stage in the five step process. In general, the need of a car lies in the hands of the person. Whether they need a car or not, if the question came about, what would your dream car be? You would get and immediate answer. This instant knowledge of their dream car would be established through what is called the external stimuli. External stimuli would be a recommendation from a Porsche owner, a Porsche advertisement or the brand being associated with someone famous (Jerry Seinfeld, Ralph Lauren). These all serve as influences from an outside source that could affect your decision making.

The second stage is information search. Once the consumer recognizes the want or need they search for more information about the product. The consumer at this point has a few ways to go about finding more information whether it be external, internal or both. In regards to Porsche there is a mix of both types of information searching but the most prevalent method is the internal one. Most Porsche owners part of the “car enthusiast club” and have had interaction with the brand personally. Porsche owners are quite the loyal bunch and remain true to the company. In contrast, when a consumer is using the external method it is through a friend, family or public source.

Once all the information is gathered, the consumer prepares to make a decision. To help with a proper decision the consumer may also evaluate alternatives. Porsche has positioned itself in the car industry has a historical and Luxury/performance based brand. The “car enthusiasts” buy what they know can perform the best and that has longevity. For Porsche, this helps dwindle the evaluation of alternatives for their potential consumers.

Next within the process is purchase. Porsche has had a rather GREAT first quarter in sales and seem to be improving.

Lastly, when a consumer makes a purchase they assume certain outcomes, preferably a positive one, with that product. The only way the expectations are met comes from whether the consumer has been satisfied or not. This aspect of the process would be considered the post purchase behavior. According to the numbers and statistics of the sales mentioned in previous posts, I can firmly say that the consumers are satisfied with the Porsche products.