Consumer decision making: process, level and style 127
product has been fulfilled and who is especially
attracted by the additional benefits and lower
prices offered at this stage. Of course, the first
adopters may also be rebuying at this stage and
are also pleased to endorse the enhanced
brands as they become available. But they are
no longer highly involved. Nor are those who
now buy for the first time more than moder-
ately involved. This latter group may have had
a long decision period prior to buying; since
first hearing of the innovation and perhaps
dismissing it as some kind of newfangled
gadget that is clearly not for them, they will
have become gradually accustomed to its mer-
its. It will have begun to be obvious in the
homes or garages of their neighbours, in the
soaps on television, in the stores and show-
rooms in which they browse for and buy other
products. All these consumers are likely to be
only moderately involved in the product field;
after all, its familiarity has removed many of
the attractions of being first to own it and it has
become more of a necessity than a luxury. Their
awareness and evaluation of the product will
have come about almost unconsciously as it has
slowly been legitimated through the positive
experience of others. Their decision process
appears to be a curtailed version of that shown
in Figure 6.1 because they have gradually
formed brand attitudes and intentions without
being aware of doing so. The first adopters
have done this by using the product and
judging its performance; the latest adopters
have done so vicariously and informally. Nei-
ther group has to form detailed conceptualiza-
tions of the product and where it fits into the
overall repertoire of products among which
they choose. They have gradually formed their
ideas of what the product is, what it does and
how it relates to other products: at most, they
have to compare a new brand in this product
field in terms of the dimensions that are
important to them (see Howard, 1989).
Finally, as the product field enters its
maturity stage, many manufacturers have
moved in to the market place, introducing
numerous variants of the original innovation.
Each of these ‘new’ versions can be described
simply as continuous. The product has become
commonplace; its capabilities and limitations
are known, its risks are minimal and its price is
as low as it is going to get. The least well off
members of the community can afford it and
there is no special social kudos attached to
owning it (indeed, there may even be ridicule
for not owning it). Everybody has one. The very
ubiquity of the product means that there is no
reason for most consumers to show anything
but the lowest level of involvement with it.
Those who now buy for the first time have
acquired a lot of knowledge about the product
field, even if they have not studied it in an
involved way. But they hardly have a high or
even moderate level of involvement with it.
Nor do those earlier adopters who now
repurchase the item routinely. The routine
buying process that is usual at this stage
involves no more than an awareness of the
brand’s identity, its membership of a known
product class and, for repeat buying, a favour-
able evaluation of how well it has served the
consumer. Involvement may be high at the
product level as particular situations evoke
strong feelings of needing the item: as Otker
(1990, p. 31) points out, ‘Shampoo can be more
important to a teenager on a Saturday evening
than anything else in the world’. But the brand- as long as it is an acceptable member of the
product class – is far less important.
Consumers’ decision styles
Consumers bring distinctive personal approa-
ches to problem awareness, search, evaluation,
decision and post-decisional activities. These
differences have far-reaching implications for
such features of marketing management as
market segmentation, new product develop-
ment and marketing communications.
Psychologists use the term cognitive styleto
refer to the manner in which individuals make
decisions and solve problems (Guilford, 1980;