Consumer Decision Making

         For all types of consumers, purchasing an apple product, such as the Mac, may be a difficult task especially when when there are other options, such as the PC. Even though Apple is known for there superior products, most consumers take other non-apple products into consideration. But once consumers go through the Consumer decision-making process it makes there decision much easier and simpler.
         The first step in the consumer decision-making process is need recognition. As mentioned in the book, Need recognition is triggered by an Internal or an External stimuli. In this case, an example of an Internal stimuli can be a bad experience with a PC virus, which may lean a consumer towards buying a Mac over a PC and an example of an external stimuli can be from an Apple commercial comparing a Mac to a PC.
         The second step is Information search, the Apple website, which is an example of an external information search, is the perfect source for searching information on the different types of mac, apple has to offer. Another way consumers search for information is through internal information search, which may be from a past experience the consumer had with a apple product. The most loyal apple consumers are the ones who buy the latest and newest apple products based only on internal information.
         The third step is Evaluation of alternatives, which help the consumer make a decision. This is usually done by evaluating and comparing alternatives based on the consumer's internal and external information either from stored memory or from outside sources.

         Once all three steps are carefully thought out, it is time for the consumer to Purchase. Before the purchase the consumer must decide whether to buy, when to buy, what to buy, where to buy, and how to pay. But because Apple products have always been good at exceeding expectations, it shouldn't be difficult for the consumer to decide.

          Finally, when buying a products, consumers expect certain outcomes from the purchase. How well these expectations are met determines whether the consumer is satisfied or dissatisfied with the purchase. These determination is called Post purchase behavior.