Editing Buyer decision process (section)

{{Short description|Decision-making process used by consumers}}
{{about|consumers' purchasing decision processes|industrial or business purchasing decision-making|Procurement#Decision-making}}
{{More footnotes needed|date=June 2010}}
{{Original research|date=March 2021}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=February 2025}}
{{Marketing}}
As part of [[consumer behavior]], the '''buying decision process''' is the [[decision-making]] process used by consumers regarding the market transactions before, during, and after the purchase of a [[Good (economics)|good]] or [[Service (economics)|service]]. It can be seen as a particular form of a [[cost–benefit analysis]] in the presence of multiple alternatives.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Engel |first1=James F. |last2=Kollat |first2=David T. |last3=Blackwell |first3=Rodger D. |date=1968 |title=Consumer Behavior |edition=First |location=New York |publisher=Holt, Rinehart and Winston}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last=Nicosia |first=Francesco M. |date=1966 |title=Consumer decision process marketing and advertising implications |location=Englewood Cliffs, NJ |publisher=Prentice Hall}}</ref>

To put it simply, In consumer behavior, the buyer decision process refers to the series of steps consumers follow when making choices about purchasing goods or services, including activities before, during, and after the transaction.

Common examples include [[shopping]] and deciding what to eat. Decision-making is a psychological construct. This means that although a decision cannot be "seen", we can infer from observable behavior that a decision has been made. Therefore, we conclude that a psychological "decision-making" event has occurred. It is a construction that imputes a commitment to action. That is, based on observable actions, we assume that people have made a commitment to effect the action.

Nobel laureate [[Herbert A. Simon]] sees [[economic]] decision-making as a vain attempt to be rational. Simon claimed (in 1947 and 1957) that if a complete analysis is to be done, a decision will be immensely complex. Simon also wrote that peoples' information processing ability is limited. The assumption of a perfectly [[Rationality|rational]] economic actor is unrealistic. Consumers are influenced by emotional and nonrational considerations making attempts to be rational only partially successful. He called for replacing the perfect rationality assumptions of [[homo economicus]] with a conception of rationality tailored to cognitively limited agents.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Forest |first1=Joëlle |last2=Mehier |first2=Caroline |date=September 2001 |title=John R. Commons and Herbert A. Simon on the Concept of Rationality|journal=Journal of Economic Issues |language=en |volume=35 |issue=3 |pages=591–605|doi=10.1080/00213624.2001.11506392|s2cid=155308332 |issn=0021-3624}}</ref> Even if the buyer decision process was highly rational, the required [[product information]] and/or knowledge<ref>{{cite news |last1=Millward-Hopkins |first1=Joel |last2=Kause |first2=Astrid |last3=Bruin |first3=Wändi Bruine De |last4=California |first4=University of Southern |title=Even concerned consumers don't know which food choices have the lowest climate impact |url=https://phys.org/news/2020-03-consumers-dont-food-choices-lowest.html |access-date=4 November 2022 |work=phys.org |language=en}}</ref> is often substantially limited in quality or extent,<ref name="978-0-262-03492-0">{{cite book |last1=Sarokin |first1=David |last2=Schulkin |first2=Jay |title=Missed Information: Better Information for Building a Wealthier, More Sustainable Future |date=26 August 2016 |publisher=MIT Press |isbn=978-0-262-03492-0 |page=100 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8toPDQAAQBAJ&pg=PA100 |language=en}}</ref><ref name="guardtransparency">{{cite news |last1=Arratia |first1=Ramon |title=Full product transparency gives consumers more informed choices |url=https://www.theguardian.com/sustainable-business/blog/full-product-transparency-life-cycle-consumers |access-date=4 November 2022 |work=The Guardian |date=18 December 2012 |language=en}}</ref> as is the availability of potential alternatives. Factors such as cognitive effort and decision-making time also play a role.<ref name="guardtransparency"/><ref>{{cite journal|last1=Young|first1=William|title=Sustainable Consumption: Green Consumer Behaviour when Purchasing Products|journal=Sustainable Development|date=2010 |volume=18 |issue=18|pages=20–31 |doi=10.1002/sd.394 |hdl=10059/1015 |url=http://eprints.whiterose.ac.uk/77341/7/SD%20young%20et%20al%202008.pdf}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=d’Adda |first1=Giovanna |last2=Gao |first2=Yu |last3=Tavoni |first3=Massimo |title=A randomized trial of energy cost information provision alongside energy-efficiency classes for refrigerator purchases |journal=Nature Energy |date=April 2022 |volume=7 |issue=4 |pages=360–368 |doi=10.1038/s41560-022-01002-z |bibcode=2022NatEn...7..360D |language=en |issn=2058-7546|doi-access=free |hdl=2434/922959 |hdl-access=free }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Huettner |first1=Frank |last2=Boyacı |first2=Tamer |last3=Akçay |first3=Yalçın |title=Consumer Choice Under Limited Attention When Alternatives Have Different Information Costs |journal=Operations Research |date=1 May 2019 |volume=67 |issue=3 |pages=671–699 |doi=10.1287/opre.2018.1828 |issn=0030-364X|hdl=10419/178629 |hdl-access=free }}</ref>