When a consumer chooses to buy

With all kinds of choices, what makes a consumer choose one
product over another?

Do they base their decision on meeting a specific need with specific requirements? Or are there other components to the sale? For example, customer loyalty, positive experience.....what is the driving force behind the sale?

In complex buying arenas, research has shown that there can be up to one hundred and sixty different criteria used in getting a decision out into the open.

Crumbs just notice that you are an Xerox Agency - I worked in sales for Xerox for a couple of years before moving into Management both in the UK & Overseas in the Middle East. Xerox still have wonderful training and tools for selling and discovering clients needs. There is social media, reports founded on research and lots more.
As a sales account manager how are you doing it at the moment. ARe you using SPIN?
All the best

I will start the Xerox training next week. I've just recently swithced careers from computer programming to sales. I'm sure SPIN is still the technique. It is awkward but proves to be valuable. I'm doing very well so far. I work for an Agency of Xerox as an account manager/sales representative. Seems it may have been similar to your old position. I feel like I'm in my skin with this position... I'm ready to make a difference and I have a lot energy to put toward it.

Thank you Craig.... this is exactly the response I needed. Makes the most sense to me. It is so true.

Thank you Leanne.. this is very helpful as well. I'm new to outside sales and I'm excited about learning all I can.. it is truely my calling.

customer buy actually benefit when he choose to buy. benefit may be convenience, economy, gratification, or opportunity driven motives. that is the key to make them buy.

There may be an expressed need or even an unexpressed need. However the majority of all buying decisions are based on emotions as that is where all information is first gathered within the brain and then filtered to the neo-cortex. A good resource is Why Choose This Book by R. Montague.

My 3 buying rules may help you:
1. People buy from people they know and trust.
2. People buy first on emotion than justify that with logic
3. People buy on value unique to them.

The third rule is what, in my opinion, keeps many sales from not happening. However this third rule allows for additional opportunities of new products and reinventing older products to enhance value such as vinegar which continues to provide new housecleaning solutions.

The answer depends on who the Consumer / Buyer is. A common theme is that consumers "Hire" products and services to do a job, following are my thoughts on how different consumers make decisions to buy,:
1. Many consumer goods customers actually "Hire" products to do specific jobs, which opens the doors for producers to develop innovative new products that disrupt the competition and deliver better value to the customer.
2. Consumers of manufactured products mostly buy on price first and then value. However with more complex manufactured products, consumers will also "Hire" products and buy more on value.
3. Consumers of services will buy in different ways depending on the service involved, but more critical, complex services drive decisions based on perceived value and consumers definitely "Hire" service providers.

It depends on the context of the purchase.

1) Research has shown that when people are in a retail environment that is overloading them with stimuli/ items to choose from, impulsive purchase behaviour is stimulated. Primary emotions are involved here. Stores use this phenomenen with stuffing lots of items together with huge sale signs on top, etc.

2) People buy products that benefit their personal concerns and therefore provoke positive emotions with them. When products harm personal concerns, negative emotions are experienced with a product. Personal concerns can be to gain status, social acceptance, certain religious convictions, to give importance to the environment, etc., etc. As these emotions are a result of what in psychology is called an 'appraisal', we talk about secondary emotions.

The field that studies the role of emotions in product experience is called 'emotional design'. You can find more about this field on www.design-emotion.com or www.desigandemotion.org.