Ch. 6 - Consumer Decision Making

Walking through any department store, it is hard not to come across a Lancome counter. But what makes people stop by and purchase their very first or their favorite product from Lancome? Before purchasing a product from Lancome, the buyer goes through a consumer decision process which all of us go through in order to consider every important aspect of a potential product. The first and most important stage of the process is need recognition, that is, where the consumer recognizes what product is able to meet their needs. The customer has needs and wants which are influenced by internal or external stimulus. For example, an external stimulus such as a recommendation appealing to the good quality of a moisturizer can increase the likelihood that the moisturizer will be purchased.

An example of a strong external stimulus is Lancome's Elite Rewards loyalty program which seeks to increase customer acquisition and retention.

Naturally, when customers  recognize a need, they look for specific information about it. People have many opportunities in order to find valuable information regarding a cosmetic they are interested in. One way of searching is internal information search such as looking at previous experience with a product. Personally, I think this is a very reliable method if you don't want to make a mistake with the purchase decision. Lancome's clientele usually return to purchase more cosmetics. An example is Bienfait Multi-Vital Day Cream which  enjoys a very good reputation among customers who often return to purchase more of the product. A different way of searching for particular information about a product is external information source. Customers review opinions and reviews available from nonmarketing-controlled source, such as those which we can read on web forums, blogs or consumer opinion sites, to get a sense of how others view a product. Second form of external information search is marketing-controlled information source, such as mass media advertising. Lancome spends a great amount of money to advertise its products well and to provide reliable information about its product. In addition, Lancome's famous faces like Julia Roberts,Penelope Cruz or Kate Winslet, make Lancome a trusted brand and their products more desirable. 

Another stage of the consumer decision process is the evaluation of alternatives. This stage is where customers evaluate all the advantages and disadvantages of the product one more time before making a purchase. Usually, Lancome's clientele rely on the information made available by the mass media or base their decision on the quality of and information provided by customer service. It looks like Lancome greatly meets its clientele's expectations. According to Forbes magazine, the brand's sales were up 10% in 2012.