Consumer Decision Making - A Personal Review

INSPECTION OF THE CONSUMER DECISION MAKING FROM MY RECENT PURCHASE

- Sanstita Banik

 

 INTRODUCTION ABOUT CONSUMER BEHAVIOUR 

The study of psychological, physical, and social acts that people take when they purchase, use, and discard goods, services, concepts, and behaviours is known as consumer behaviour. In other words, the study of consumer behaviour focuses on how customers decide what to buy and the variables that either support or impact their choices. There are various cultural, social, psychological, personal and economic reasons that affect a particular decision making thus affecting the consumer behaviour in the end. There are various models based on the factor of consumer behaviour that helps us understand tricks to know about consumer decision making. My last purchase was washing machine from LLOYD, a Havells brand. Fast Moving Electrical Goods (FMEG) company Havells India Limited has a very significant global footprint. A wide range of products, including Industrial & Domestic Circuit Protection Devices, Cables & Wires, Motors, Fans, Modular Switches, Home Appliances, Air Conditioners, Electric Water Heaters, Power Capacitors, and Luminaires for Domestic, Commercial, and Industrial Applications, are all dominated by Havells, who enjoys an enviable market share. Havells has opened 4 outlets within its own wing namely LLYOD, Reo, CrabTree and Standard. Lloyd is known for its durable and feature-full products such as air conditioners, washing machine, LED televisions, refrigerator, dishwasher, etc. In 1956, Fedders Lloyd established a joint venture with Lloyd's to begin operations in India. 

 INTRODUCTION ABOUT LLYOD: 

The company stands up to its tagline: “Live the Future”. It was launched in the year 1956 under the bigger brand called Havells and has been flourishing ever since then. It has been rewarded as the leading FMEG in India. The consumer durable business (CDB) of Lloyd Electric and Engineering was purchased by Havells India, one of India's top producers of branded electrical goods, for an enterprise value of Rs 1,600 crore, giving them a foothold in the $15 billion consumer appliances industry. After LG and Voltas, Lloyd is the third-largest player in the room air 3 conditioning market. In addition to air purifiers, inverter air conditioners, portable air conditioners, dry coolers, ultra-modern air conditioners, ultra-HD technology LED TVs, washing machines, chest freezers, refrigerators, room heaters and other small appliances, Lloyd Electric has expanded its line of branded products. The successful chart of Lloyd and the trust that customers have on Lloyd made me buy a washing machine from the brand. 

ABOUT THE CONSUMPTION BEHAVIOUR 

Based on the last purchase, there were various factors that influenced my decision making towards the purchase and consumption of washing machine. The reason behind purchasing the product was that I had recently shifted to a flat and going for laundry every week was not pocket-friendly. Thus, my flatmates and I decided to go for a washing machine and do a bill split for the total amount. I had zero experience of buying a washing machine before thus and same was the case with my flatmates. Therefore, we consulted our parents who have much more experience and views on this topic. All that we had in mind was a set budget that was decided unanimously by all four of us. The budget was set at Rs. 20,000. First things first, we had to look for the size of the washing machine. Since, we had to keep it in our balcony area, it better not be a huge one. Thus, we settled the matter to a medium sized washing machine possibly a top-load one. Next up, we had a discussion on either buying a new washing machine or to rent a second-hand washing machine from a secondary dealer. Our parents told that if the second-hand washing machine does not work then the money invested will go in vain and it would be worthless. Therefore, we mutually decided to buy a fresh commodity. After sorting up with the budget at Rs. 20,000, we started looking for various brands for our commodity that falls in our budget line. I personally started looking for the product on various e- commerce apps like Amazon, Flipkart because I knew it would be at a discounted price rather than the shop centre in my city. We started selecting certain products on the apps. But our parents suggested to go and buy the product in person as for online stores, after a period of time, when the product stops working or faces any issues, return or refund may not be possible. Therefore, it is advisable to buy it from a shop where we will have more reliability and advantage. 

The next thing that we had to decide was the brand. We had taken in suggestions from friends, cousins and parents regarding which brand can fulfil our requirements.  A lot of them suggested companies like LG, Samsung, Sansui, Godrej, Voltas, Havells, Whirlpool, Panasonic, etc. Out of all, the maximum votes went to Havells and LG. This may be because in each of our home the products from these brands were in use since a long time and had won the trust of the customers. Now the next thing to keep in mind was the availability of maximum features within our own budget. We wished for a fully automatic washing machine so that we have less burden of doing things. We went to the Havells showroom to look for our most potential purchase. Finally, after selecting and eliminating products we got our hands on one of the top-load washing machines by Lloyd at a price worth Rs. 17,900. It was already under our budget yet we went for bargaining and bringing down the price up to Rs. 15,000. That was howsoever not possible in the end. Thus, we fixed the price and completed the transaction at Rs. 15,716. The factors that influenced my decision was consumer taste and preference pattern, price, budget, brand, and my personal checklist for the product. The affordability criteria also play an important role in the purchase of the commodity. The latest trend also matters a lot. The social acceptance has a lot of point of reference. The consumer prefers those commodities that gives them the maximum amount of contentment and multiplies their utility out of the consumption. The basic trait of a healthy mindful consumer is to compare the price range of even the pettiest item of consumption and being in their limit of budget. The whole idea behind purchasing a durable commodity like furniture or electronics is to have guarantee of longer duration and accessibility for the commodity. Before selecting a commodity for purchasing, we tend to ask the customers who already uses it so as to get feedback. This tells us how important is consumer taste and liking patterns in terms of economics. The environment also stands up to our need requirements. 

HOW PRODUCERS INFLUENCE CONSUMER BEHAVIOR 

First thing that all producers keep in mind is to gain customer trust that would add onto their sales. When we went in to purchase the washing machine, my flatmate's parents and the salesman immediately bonded due to same language that they share. This made the bargaining process easier, which in the other hand also led my flatmate to look for fridge from the same store, because now the trust was built. 

CONCLUSION

 As I conclude my discussion of consumer consumption patterns and decision-making, I'd want to point out that a logical consumer would always seek the most information possible before deciding to buy a certain good, even if it's just a cup of coffee. He or she will first consider the cost, then their financial limitations, before turning their attention to the ability of the good to satisfy their needs. Future pricing predictions are also crucially important. Even the urgency has a key component. If there is a need, the customer will purchase the item at any price that is put out. However, if the buyer is not in a hurry for the product, he will take his time to complete the transaction. As a result, the consumption that was just purchased and the variables that affected my selection are detailed above. 

REFERENCES

1. Havells India | Leading FMEG Company | Shop Online. (n.d.). Havells India | Leading FMEG Company | Shop Online. https://www.havells.com/ 

2. Shyam, A. R., & Barman, A. (n.d.). Havells acquires consumer biz of Lloyd Electric for Rs 1600 cr. The Economic Times. https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/industry/indl-goods/svs/engineering/havellsacquires-consumer-biz-of-lloyd-electric-for-rs-1600-cr/articleshow/57233192.cms

3. Rennie, A., & Protheroe, J. (2023). How people decide what to buy lies in the “messy middle” of the purchase journey. Think With Google. https://www.thinkwithgoogle.com/intl/en-gb/consumer-insights/consumer-journey/navigating-purchase-behavior-and-decision-making/