When consumers decide on one brand over another, that decision takes place in a moment of choice.
Intelligent consumers, unlike impulse buyers who act on a whim, base their buying decisions on various factors. Most consumers research and compare products before investing any money in them. They look at reviews of the company and products. They compare products and/or services side by side to weigh and compare different options and benefits.
When a choice has been made, it is then that a consumer learns whether that particular product or service was the right choice. Sometimes it is, sometimes it isn't.
There was a time when my husband and I had major electrical problems in our home. We woke up and the power was out in our house. We found that it wasn't due to outages in the area; it was due to an electrical problem in our home.
We called electricians in the area. Some said they could come next week, some could come later in the week. One company said they could come that day. We did our research and couldn't find a bad review of any of them. Of course, we needed our electrical issues resolved as soon as possible, so we went with the company that could come immediately.
That turned out to be a bad decision.
The electricians who came to our house not only did not solve the problem; they, in fact, made it worse. On top of that, they charged us an enormous amount of money for the "work" they performed. Of course, we disputed the bill and negotiated it. But that is not the point.
That particular company could have resolved our electrical issues very easily, but didn't. Moreover, we had to call another electrician to fix not only the existing problems, but also the problems the first electricians created. We learned that we had a breaker wire that was burned and could have caused our home to burn, if not repaired.
Needless to say, we will never use the first electrician again, and will highly recommend the second to others.
Buyers must always question whether the results from the moment of choice were beneficial. Did the purchase satisfy the consumer's needs and expectations?
To help potential buyers arrive at a moment of choosing your product or service, it is vital to create advertising messages that make yours stand out over others. Reviews of your products and/or services can be very helpful. Consumers do read testimonials.
During the time in which consumers make choices between different products or brands, two conditions apply, according to C.R. Clark of the Institute of Applied Economics, writing in the journal Quantitative Marketing and Economics. The product must form a vital part of a consumer's set of choices and the consumer must prefer one product over all others in the set of choices.
Consider this. If a consumer is aware of your competitors' products, but not aware of yours, you must make them aware of your product so that it becomes part of their set of choices.
Advertising helps to make consumers aware of the existence of your products; however, your advertising must convince consumers of the quality of your products.
At the end of the day, what happens after the moment of choice is most important. Your company has the duty to make sure your products and/or services are living up to your customers' needs and expectations. If they are, you will have a repeat customer and will be given a glowing reference.
Helen Roush is Vice President, Communication Sciences at Paperitalo Publications. She can be reached by email at helen.roush@taii.com.
For more information on Paperitalo Publications, feel free to contact:
Curt Gifford
cgifford@taii.com
770-367-4823
Helen Roush
helen.roush@taii.com
937-403-8602
Jim Thompson
jthompson@taii.com
678-206-6010
