Are companies spending their money in the wrong place? The Internet has turned the way consumers pay attention upside down. Also, the Internet has revolutionized the economics of marketing and has made many of the traditional strategies and structures of this field obsolete. For example, in the not too long ago, the car buyer would leave the available options one by one to reach the option that best meets his criteria. The seller would attract him to his offers and the sale would be made, and the relationship between the buyer and the seller and the manufacturer would usually end after the purchase.
But today, consumers act in a confused way in their relationship with their favorite brand. They communicate with many brands through new media channels that are beyond the control of manufacturers and sellers or even beyond their knowledge, evaluate a changing set of them, and often expand this set before narrowing it down. they give. After purchase, these consumers may pursue the issue in a determined and persistent manner, promote or criticize the products they have purchased, participate in the development of brands and challenge or shape their meaning and concept. Consumers still want clear promises from the brand and the products they value.
Abandon the myth of the funnel.
In the famous funnel metaphor, the buyer starts the shopping process with several brands in mind and regularly evaluates them to reach a final choice. His relationship with the producer and seller ends here. Companies have traditionally used paid media to advertise at a few well-defined points in the funnel to create awareness, capture attention, and ultimately drive a purchase decision. But this myth cannot show the variable nature of consumer interest.
Consumer decision making path
David Court et al. proposed the consumer decision path as a different perspective on how consumers connect with brands. Their research showed that today’s consumers, without using the traditional method of systematically reducing their options, go through a four-step path, which is formed by much more repetition of steps and fewer steps being removed. The four steps include: reviewing brands, evaluating them by asking peers, reading reviews, etc.; purchase the desired product; And it is enjoyment, support and attachment.
Review: The buying process begins with a set of options that the consumer prefers; Products or brands come to mind by appearing in advertisements or in store windows, encountering them at a friend’s house, or other stimuli. In the funnel model, the consideration stage contains the most brand options; But today’s consumers, faced with an onslaught of media and a shower of choices, often reduce the number of products they initially consider.
Evaluating: An initial set under review is often expanded upon by obtaining consumer information from peers, critics, vendors, and the brand and its competitors. They usually add new brands to the collection and as they get more information, they discard some of the main options and change their selection criteria. Their access to vendors and other sources of information shapes their subsequent choices more than the pressure of marketers to convince them.
Marketers often overemphasize the “check out” and “buy” steps along the way, and allocate more resources than necessary to create awareness through advertising and sales promotion.
Shopping: Consumers are increasingly delaying their purchase decision until they are actually in a store and, as we will see, may simply give up at this location. Therefore, the point of purchase, which takes advantage of positioning, packaging, availability, pricing and sales interactions, is always a strong point of connection.
Enjoy, support and create a bond: After the consumer purchases and interacts with the product and acquires online connections, a deeper bond with the product emerges. According to the results of a study by the Mackenzie Institute, more than 60% of consumers of facial skin protection products conduct online research about the product after purchase, a link that is completely missing in the funnel model. When consumers are satisfied with a purchase, they verbally support and promote it, create a basis for others’ evaluations, and revive brand credibility. Of course, if the consumer is disappointed with the brand, he may cut his ties with it. But if this bond becomes strong enough, he enters the “Enjoy-Support-Buy” cycle, which completely eliminates the “Review and Evaluate” steps.
New media has made more room for the “evaluate” and “support” steps. Marketing investments that help customers participate in the search evaluation process and then spread their positive opinions about selected brands may be just as important as creating awareness and driving purchase. If consumers’ bond with a brand is strong enough, they will make a repeat purchase without going through the previous stages of the decision path.
Source: Harvard Business Review