Understanding Customer Purchase Behavior: Needs and Decision-Making Process (Full Transcript)

Speaker 1: Why do customers buy? Imagine you are at home and feel thirsty. You want something fresh to drink, maybe you just drink tap water, nothing special. Now imagine you are on a romantic date in a bar, would you drink tap water again? Maybe not. You might want something romantic for this special occasion. The question is, why don't you have the same drinks, just tap water on both occasions? Well, because on each occasion, your needs are different. On the first occasion, you are thirsty, it is a physical need for your body. On the second occasion, you are not really thirsty. Feeling romantic is a psychological need to satisfy your mind. Let's go back to the question at the beginning, why do customers buy? They buy to fulfill their needs, for example, the need to drink something. But because behind the drinking, there are different needs, that's why they buy different products. The first step in the buying process is to recognize you have a need. And also determine what kind of need, thirsty or romantic. The second step is to search for solution information, it's stored internally. You scan your memory and try to remember the last time you used some products. Information search can also be done externally, for example, by searching on Google. The third step is to evaluate the available options. You consider 5 brands and choose one based on certain criteria, for example, this brand can provide the highest satisfaction, or it is my favorite, or I choose it because they are having promotion. The fourth step is straightforward, buy the selected brand. The fifth and final step is to use the product and evaluate it. This evaluation is stored in your memory for the future when you feel that need again.