1 Communication and Consumer Behavior

1.1 Consumer Behavior

Consumer behavior is a branch which deals with the various stages a consumer goes through
before purchasing products or services for his end use.
The study of consumer behavior explains as to:

Why and why not a consumer buys a product?

When a consumer buys a product?
How a consumer buys a product?

During Special occasion (Eid or Puja or Christmas Day) the buying tendencies of consumers
increase as compared to other months. In the same way during Valentines week, individuals
are often seen purchasing gifts for their partners. In that time people buy gold ornaments such
as ring, chain, and bengals for their closet one. The main catalyst which triggers the buying
decision of an individual is need for a particular product/service. Consumers purchase
products and services as and when need arises. But for the gold sometimes desire works more
than need.

1.2 Communication
Communication is the act of conveying information for the purpose of creating a shared
understanding. Its something that humans do every day. The word communication comes
from the Latin communis, meaning to share, and includes verbal. Although this is a
simple definition, when we think about how we may communicate the subject becomes a lot
more complex. There are various categories of communication and more than one may occur
at any time. The different categories of communication are:
Spoken or verbal communication: Face-to-face, telephone, radio or television or other
media. Suppose your friends talk with you about a new design of gold ornaments and you
influenced by her and purchase those ornaments.
Non-Verbal Communication: Body language, gestures, how we dress or act - even our
scent. Suppose you see a billboard where a model wears some gold ornaments and there is a

slogan that Wear gold and look beautiful. So here the jewelers company influenced you to
consume gold by their billboard.
Written Communication: Letters, e-mails, books, magazines, the Internet or via other
media. Suppose you see in the magazine that a model is wearing a well designed gold
ornaments which is selling in off so it influenced you to buy gold or you see in newspaper
that the price of gold decrease now so you think before the price rise again you busy some
gold bar which can be lies on investment.

1.3 Communication Channels

Communication Channels is the term given to the way in which we communicate. There are
multiple communication channels available to us today, for example face-to-face
conversations, telephone calls, text messages, email, the Internet (including social media
such as Facebook and Twitter, radio and TV, written letters, brochures and reports to name
just a few.
Choosing an appropriate communication channel is vital for effective communication as
each communication channel has different strengths and weaknesses. For example,
broadcasting news of an upcoming event via a written letter might convey the message
clearly to one or two individuals but will not be a time or cost effective way to broadcast the
message to a large number of people. On the other hand, conveying complex, technical
information is better done via a printed document than via a spoken message since the
receiver is able to assimilate the information at their own pace and revisit items that they do
not fully understand. Written communication is also useful as a way of recording what has
been said, for example taking minutes in a meeting.
So for the gold the effective communication source can be billboard, a TVC where a model or
actress is endorsing this jewelry.

1.4 The communication process (Basic Model):

|
___________________________Feedback________________________|

Sender - Sender can be your friends, relatives or Jewelry Company for this gold
consumption.
Message - The message could be buying new design gold, buy gold from the specific jewelry
or buy gold because the price of the gold is increasing. Here the message credibility is most
important because if the message is irrelevant then people will not show willingness to buy
gold. Credibility of informal source and formal source both are so much important.
Formal source could be newspaper or consumer repots and informal source can be relatives,
neighbor and friends. The informal source also plays an Opinion Leaders role here because
there word-of-mouth can be motive a person to buy gold.
Channel (Medium) - Channel or medium could be newspaper, magazine, billboards,
internet, TVC etc. Sometimes marketer can use direct marketing by giving direct mail to the
consumer. Here a jewelry company can take their customers information when they are
buying and after that they can inform then via direct texting or messages about their new
design or new item. If a business choose improper channel to send the message then they will
fail to send the message to their receiver.
Receiver - Here receiver is the gold buyer.
Feedback - The feedback of the message will be buying gold or not. If the massage and the
channel of message are proper then it will influence the gold consumer to buy gold if he or
she has enough resource.

1.5 The target audience

If marketers want to target the audience then they have to keep in mind that the consumer
must be economically solvent which relies on demographic segmentation (income,
occupation) and also sociocultural segmentation which includes social class and culture and
sub-culture because every class people has not enough money to buy gold frequently in our
country. So when the marketers market gold they have to be more market conscious. They
have to also analyze the personal characteristics of the consumers and their involvement in
the product. If marketers can find those things successfully then they can sell gold easily.

2 Culture
Culture plays a big role in purchase process. Every society has its own culture. If we define
culture then Culture is the sum total of learned beliefs, values and customs that serve to
direct the consumer behavior of members of a particular society. The beliefs and value
components of our definition to refer to the accumulated feelings or priorities those
individuals have about things and possessions.
Our report topic is Gold Consumption and we and to show that how gold increase a
persons status and how a person can make safe investment by investing in gold. In our
country we can see that most of the female use huge amount of gold ornaments in any
occasion or program. In this case a belief works in their mind that if they wear gold
ornaments then their status will increase in front of the people which are very traditional in
our society. People will think she is too much standard and she belongs to a good class of the
society. So our mothers and sisters usually purchase gold ornaments frequently whether its
price is high or low. But now where the price of gold is increasing in a high rate so the beliefs
of the people is changed little bit. Now they think if they buy gold now then they will be a
gainer and it also maintain their status too because the price of the gold is increasing not
decreasing. Wearing gold also create values for a woman. When she wears gold ornaments it
is accepted by all and many of her friends ask her about the price of that ornaments and the
design.
In our country gold consumption is so much high because every woman buys gold for
themselves and for their daughter too. Some people buy gold bar for future use which can be
part of investment. Wheatear the price of the gold is increasing people buy gold more so the
consumption of gold is more today. So now people think in two ways if they purchase or

invest in gold now then it will be helpful for their future and it will also maintain their status.
One more traditional trend is giving gold to bride in her wedding this culture is learned. This
trend is going year over year. If the father of bride is not able to give that much gold to her
daughter, it will be the prestige fact for him. It is also a part of our culture. So now days our
family tries to give a good amount of gold ornaments to our sisters or daughters to maintain a
good status in front of the grooms family. It is also a prestige issue for groom families too
because when a man is going to marry, he has to give some ornaments for the bride. So if you
are not able to give her gold that means you are not that much economically solvent. So this
will reflect in your marriage life. In some cases wife gives pinch to her husband when they
are quarrelling. In some case our close relatives give us gold ring or chain in our wedding or
birthday. Our relatives and family members give us gold ornaments in various occasions such
as wedding, birth of a new child in the family, birthday, wedding anniversary etc. And by
giving this they are maintaining their status in front of us and it lies on The Rokech Value
list because your terminal value is maintaining your status and your instrumental value is
giving gold to your closet one.
And in VALS framework an investor of gold can be lies on THINKERS (Thinkers are
mature, satisfied, comfortable and reflective. They tend to be well educated and actively seek
out information in the decision making process. They favor durability, functionality and value
in products) because they are purchasing gold because of its increasing price. So they have
enough resource and they can predict the value of gold that is why they are investing in gold
by purchasing gold ornaments or gold bar.
Gold is also a symbol of luxury because you can see gold ornaments is purchased by most of
the rich and upper middle class people. They think gold is a part of their luxurious life and
their status. So gold is another symbol of their richness.
In our report we are playing role of participant observers (i.e., they become active
members of the environment that they are studying) because we are examining how gold
increases peoples status and how can we make a safe investment by purchasing gold.

2.1 Reasons why People Buy Gold

Though gold has several applications or uses, the main reasons why Indians take to gold are

Gold is considered an equivalent for liquid cash: Gold is highly liquid and portable as a
Security or Asset. It can be converted to cash anytime when an emergency arises and is
considered a friend in need.
Gold is considered as Status Symbol: Especially in this subcontinent gold symbolizes
wealth. In Bangladeshi weddings the gold the bride brings in show her family's status and
wealth and forms part of the dowry given to bride. It is believed that a bride wearing 24k gold
on their wedding to bring luck and happiness throughout the married life.
Gold is a very good investment: Gold is an asset which has consistently increased in value
and thereby considered as a safe and secure investment. Gold is considered an effective
diversifier which helps to reduce portfolio risk.
Gold is considered as a good gift item: It's precious and worthy across all cultures and
times. The gold jewelry is given as gifts during weddings, festivals and other special
occasions.
Great Ornamental Value: Who can resist gold Ornaments? Women of every age and time
have always loved wearing gold ornaments. Moreover, Gold Ornaments are never out of
fashion. It also may be remembered that Wedding rings are also traditionally made of gold to
mark a long lasting relationship.
Great value as Heirloom: Gold jewelry is something which can be passed down from one
generation to the other as ancestral property.
So this culture is passing on generation to generation over the time.
The relationship of gold within the culture and the behavior of the consumers as they go
about their purchasing activities suggest that gold-buying is ritualistic. It is a social action
that engages people with consumption. In turn, cultural values are reinforced through the
meanings that gold brings to the society. Its significance is not diminished by issues such as
price because the purpose for gold-buying, and thus the ritual, permeates the culture to
reinforce identity (Luna and Gupta, 2001). For this reason, gold-buying can be isolated as a
ritualistic behavior that, when explored, furthers understanding about the consumer society
while contributing to knowledge about how the society is constituted and sustained.

3 Consumer Motivation
Consumer motivation is an internal state that drives people to identify and buy products or
services that fulfill conscious and unconscious needs or desires. The fulfillment of those
needs can then motivate them to make a repeat purchase or to find different goods and
services to better fulfill those needs.
When its about gold the motivation works as maintaining status and looking beautiful.
Women buy gold consciously and unconsciously. When their need get fulfill they again
purchase gold ornaments because of latest design.

3.1 Hierarchy of Needs

Consumer motivation is linked to Maslow's "hierarchy of needs." According to this model,
motivational drivers have different levels of importance. The most common needs are
physiological and concern basic survival--the need for food, shelter and safety. Higher-level
needs include social ones (for relationships and love), esteem needs (recognition and status)
and self-actualization needs (fulfillment of self). According to Maslow, an individual must
meet lower-level needs before being motivated to fulfill higher-level needs. Here purchasing
gold lies on esteem needs and self actualization need for women because they have to
maintain their status in front of people. If its about investment then it lies on when a woman
has lot of gold ornaments and she again purchase only for her self fulfillment.

3.2 Motivational Levels

Depending on how important a purchase is to an individual, his motivational levels may vary
from low to high. Influences include familiarity with the purchase, status factors and overall
expense and value. Where fulfillment rewards are low, as with groceries, motivation levels
are also relatively low and involve little decision-making behavior. Conversely, with a
complex, risky and emotionally-charged process such as buying a new house, the drive to
achieve the "right" result is high. Motivational level for the purchase of gold is high because
it is expensive. So before invest in gold a person will think about it.

3.3 Motivational Behavior

The behavioral aspect of consumer motivation concerns the actions someone takes before
purchasing and consuming goods or services. A person might do a lot of research--evaluating

alternatives, testing and sampling--before making a selection. She might decide to buy
something based on which goods or services most closely meet and satisfy motivational
wants and needs. Marketers aim to gain the most impact and eventual sales by linking their
products and services to clearly defined consumer needs and by understanding what
motivates people to buy. Womens will evaluate ornaments design before purchasing it and a
person who is investing he will looking for the information about the golds price.
3.4 Motivational Influences
Motivational levels differ greatly between individuals and are influenced by many external
variables. These include the social value of making the "right" decision, beliefs about brands
and alignment of brand values and personal values. If other people are involved in the
decision, their motivation also affects the behavior of the primary consumer. Here
motivational influencer can be friends, family members, neighbor and also brand value of the
jewelry shop to take decision to purchase gold ornaments.

3.5 Conflicts in Consumer Behavior Motivation

Consumer behavior is motivated by thoughts, feelings and beliefs. These motivations can
persuade a person to make a purchase, refer a service or choose a competitor's product. Each
consumer's decision can be influenced by his awareness of a brand, his immediate
environment or his actions with relation to the product. Awareness, environment and actions
are important to understand, because they are the foundation of influence and conflict in
consumer behavior motivation. Marketers and business developers need to consider these
elements to reduce the effect of conflicting motivations, create value for the consumer, design
effective marketing communication campaigns and generate profitable solutions. So for the
gold jewelers they have to be more loyal to their customer by giving pure gold. If they failed
they will loose customer trust and fail to catch the market.

3.6 Conflicts in Consumer Environments

A consumer's environment can include any related factor she perceives about her
surroundings. This can be as simple as the design of the store or product packaging, price
information, the brand name or advertisement. A consumer's environment can also include
comments from other customers, website designs or even social expectations. Environments
carry a lot of weight influencing conflicts in consumer motivation to make a purchase, and

marketers need to understand that environments can stimulate different consumers to take
different actions.
For example, jewelers may try to motivate consumer purchase behavior through promotions
or attractive advertising. However, a customer's motivation may be influenced by a friend that
expresses a negative experience with the product. In addition, poor customer service may
discourage a customer from purchasing, regardless of her need for the product.
In much of Asia, the Middle East, the Bangladeshi and the Indian subcontinent, gold is the
best possible protection against upheaval, both political and economic. For men and women
throughout the developing world, gold is still one of the most liquid and widely accepted
forms of exchange, quite simply the most efficient store of value they possess.
There are certain qualities of gold that make it a desirable investment option. Some of these
being:

The ability of gold to insure against instability and protect against risk.

Has universal acceptance.

Provides liquidity.

Deep cultural affinity with gold purchase

Gold is unique, however, because it is not necessarily a cherished possession. Cherished

possessions carry reminiscences about life and create a personal and durable sense of
identity (Price, Arnold and Curasi, 2000, p 187). When gold is purchased with the intention
that it will be passed to children, daughters in particular, at some future date, the attachment
is never solidified because arguably, it is never fully acknowledged as ones own.
Generally, respondents agreed that it is not a must to buy gold during special occasions.
Some said that if they do buy gold, it is only for a wedding occasion. They also said that, for
such special occasions like weddings or special festivals like Eid that we have. We prefer to
buy during special festivals, and we need to buy during weddings. It is a must to buy during
these occasions.

Again some respondents say that, buying gold during traditional or customary festivals is not
necessarily part of their consumption pattern. Because in Bangladesh, we already have these
big sets [of jewelry], we dont have to precisely go and buy when there is an occasion. During
weddings, we might make gold sets but usually we dont go and buy them since we already
have big gold sets. We dont keep buying it all the time. We usually buy it once and use them
over several occasions.
Some respondents said that their gold purchases depended on the financial budget that they
set for the year. In conversation, these women were very casual about their purchase
behavior. They said they do not buy gold when it is an occasion-specific event. Rather, they
prefer to buy once a year and the time depended on their mood as well as their casual visits to
gold shops. Again some say that they do buy gold before going on summer vacations to visit
relatives.

3.7 Discussion
It is apparent that gold is a valued possession in Bangladeshi culture. It is given artifact status
by virtue of its traditional and cross-generational significance. Quantity and frequency
appeared to be influenced by the amount of gold received at marriage. Many respondents
referred to the custom of receiving large gold sets at marriage and as a result, they repeat
wear these items through cultural and traditional events rather than purchase new.
Investment was mentioned as a key reason for purchase. Respondents with daughters said
that they buy gold with the intent of passing it to their girls which was a more relevant
concern than buying for investment.
As previously established, gold has artifact status within the Bangladeshi culture thereby
assuring that ritual vitality is well-defined.
4

Consumer influence of innovation about Gold consumption:

As we know that for the consumption, we need to consume some items and that would be
happen when we influence by someone. The power and importance of personal influence are
captured by agency executive: Perhaps the most important thing for marketers to understand
about word of mouth is its huge potential economic impact. The process by which one
person (the opinion leader) informally influences the consumption actions or attitudes of
others who may be opinion seekers or opinion recipients that is called Opinion leadership.

Its also known as word of mouth communications. A person who informally gives product
information and advice to others is called Opinion leader. An individual who either actively
seeks product information from others or receives unsolicited information is called Opinion
seeker. The person who receives an opinion offered by another person is called Opinion
receiver.
Our report on Gold consumption and consumers and there we give you an idea about that
how consumers influence for gold consumption. We know that the consumption of gold
produced in the world is about 50% in jewelry, 40% in investments, and 10% in industry. So
in our country jewelry is the first ranking of gold consumption, second investments and last
industry. Female users are highly influence by the opinion leaders. There female can be
opinion seeker and also opinion receiver. Investors are also influence by the opinion leaders.
This opinion leader can be family members, friends, neighbor, and celebrities and also be a
stranger. Example:

A woman decides that she needs a new jewelry sets which she saw from a neighbor.
A person shows his friends investments and his friends suggest him to purchase gold

for the future consumption.

People gift jewelry in the marriage ceremony or marriage anniversary or someones
birthday which is also influence by others who can be relatives or strangers.

Opi
nion
Rec
eive
r

Opi
nion
Lea
der
Opini
on
Seeke
r

4.1 Opinion leadership process for the Gold consumptions

and consumers:
Credibility: Opinion leaders are highly credible sources of information because they usually
are perceived as objective concerning the product or service information or advice they
dispense. Opinion recipients achieve best interest from opinion leaders because they receive
no compensation for the advice. For the gold consumers they are thousands likely to act on
the basic of a friends or colleagues recommendation. Family members and relatives can also
influence like a credible opinion leader for gold consume.
Positive and negative product information: Marketers always provide favorable
information for their brands. But opinion leader always provide both favorable and
unfavorable information for the consumers. For the gold purchase opinion receivers suffer in
confusion. Because there are 18 carat, 22 carat & 24 carat gold in the market and only
opinion leader can provide best information about this. They also provide gold current price
in Bangladesh. Last 10 days gold price are:

Gold Price/oz

Gold Price/gram

04/01/13

124,497.23

4,002.68

04/02/13

123,236.63

3,962.15

04/03/13

121,424.34

3,903.88

04/04/13

120,098.75

3,861.26

04/05/13

122,758.09

3,946.76

04/08/13

122,889.45

3,950.99

04/09/13

123,355.91

3,965.98

04/10/13

122,043.32

3,923.78

Information and advice: Opinion leaders are the source of both information and advice.
They may simple talk about their experience with a product, relate what they know about a
product or more aggressively. They advice consumers which one is best and which should be
avoid. For the gold consumes opinion leaders provide some information and advice like;

Which of several carats is best for gold: 21 carat, 22 carat & 24 carat
How to best use of gold: jewelry for women, investment for future and also

industrial products
Where the shops: Amin Jewellers
Gulshan-2, Tel: 8820698, 8820696, 8812347 Govt. New Market, Tel:
8614137, 8619732 73, Baitul Mukarram, Tel: 9555873-4, 9551390 77, Baitul
Mukarram, Tel: 9555871, 9559302
Apan Jewellers
B-2, Mouchak Market, New Circular Road Dhaka, Tel: 9333698, 418157
Aupurba Jewellers

D7, Mouchak Market, Dhaka, Tel: 9331592

Who provide the best service: Amin Jewellers provide the best service
because they have sufficient outlets and also their own website which helps
consumers to choose best design.

Opinion leadership is category specific: Opinion leadership tends to be category specific

that is opinion leader often specialized in certain product categories about which they offer
information and advice. Gold maker can be the specialized as an opinion leader and he can
prove best information and advice.

Opinion leadership is a two way street: Opinion leadership is a two way street, example
consumers who are the opinion leaders in one product related situation may become opinion
receivers in another situation. If a person purchase gold by influencing opinion leader on the
other hand that person who is opinion receivers can play as a opinion leader by influencing
other for another products.
Multistep Flow of Communication Theory: A revision of the traditional two-step theory
that shows multiple communication flows: from the mass media simultaneously to opinion
leaders, opinion receivers, and information receivers; from opinion leaders to opinion
receivers; and from opinion receivers to opinion leaders. By this consumers can purchase
gold or gather information from mass media and opinion leaders.

Step 3

Adopter Categories: A sequence of categories that describes how early (or late) a consumer
adopts a new product in relation to other adopters. The five typical adopter categories are
innovators, early adopters, early majority, late majority, and laggards. Some gold designs
which is more expensive for its design. For this some consumers purchase that design when it
comes in market and otherwise some consumer take consume it lately.

Adoption Process: The stages through which an individual consumer passes in arriving at a
decision to try (or not to try), to continue using (or discontinue using) a new product. The five
stags of the traditional adoption process are awareness, interest, evaluation, trial, and
adoption. Gold consumers who have interest in gold jewelry, they evaluate that design and
trail it. By using that process a consumer adopt it.

5 Decision Making on Gold Consumption:

Gold Consumption increase the status of people as its hold the traditional cultural values and
create the opportunity of future investment. Therefore, it is very much important for every
individual to make a right decision while purchasing gold from different alternative brand
(maker or seller) also considering the different attributes of gold.

5.1 Levels of Consumer Decision Making:

The degree of information search is range from very low to very high. It actually depends on
consumers product involvement. As gold consumption falls under high involvement
consumption, so extensive search for information is required. It also depends on whether
consumer established the criteria for evaluation or not.
Extensive Problem Solving: When consumers have no established criteria for evaluating the
specific brand from many brands at that time lots of information needed to make a subset of
brands for better judgment. In case of the gold consumption, consumers need lots of
information to establish a set of criteria for the perfect evaluation alternative gold sellers.
Limited Problem Solving: When the criteria for evaluation is established, just need some
additional information for fine-tuning. At that time, limited problem solving is required.

When the gold consumers already have established criteria at that time they will seek for
some other necessary information.
Routilized Response Behavior: When consumers have better experiences and have wellestablished criteria at that time they usually review what they already know. When consumer
knows many things about the gold consumption behavior, they do not eager for more
information. What they know is enough.

5.2 Four Views of Consumer Decision Making:

The surveys conducted by us on various people who are related to gold consumption. The
result from that survey gives us proper view of consumers gold consumption. Results from
the survey show the high impact of economic view on gold consumption. Result also gives
priority to economic view on gold consumption. The consequences of each view of consumer
decision-making on gold consumption are discussed as follow.
An Economic View: The most important aspect of decision making on gold consumption is
an economic view of consumers. As we based our hypothesis on future investment
opportunity of gold, so it is better to make economic based decision that will reflect the
awareness of alternatives, correct ranking of each alternatives, and identify the best
alternatives.
A Passive View: In case of gold consumption, passive view is not a right choice. As gold is
high involvement product so it is better to avoid it. The conducted research on gold
consumption also gives the result against the passive view of consumer decision making.
A Cognitive View: This one is quite common view while purchasing gold. When the
consumer of gold is not so much aware of alternatives at that time, they want to gather more
knowledge about different alternatives. Then they tent to create preference and conviction
about some specific brands.
An Emotional View: Emotion plays a significant role while purchasing gold. In Bangladeshi
traditional culture, emotion holds strong value and meaning on consumers mind while
making decision about gold consumption. Survey shows the affects of emotional view on
buyers decision-making.

5.3 Input of Consumer Decision Making:

This is the beginning of the Consumer Decision Making Model. This part consists of external
influences, which are firms marketing efforts and socio-cultural environment. Socio-cultural
environment is already described in the previous sections.

5.4 The Process of Consumer Decision Making:

The consumer decision-making process constitute of need recognition, prepurchase search,
and evaluation of alternatives. Every consumer of gold must have to go through that process
to make perfect decision while purchasing gold through various alternatives.
Need Recognition: Need starts from the problem. There are two need recognitions styles,
one is actual state and another one is desired state. In case of gold consumption, Actual State
will be the one when someone needs to have better economic situation, as there is increasing
opportunity of future investment of gold. Desired State will reflect the eagerness to increase
the status by adopting the valuable traditional culture related to gold also including golds
future investment opportunity.
Prepurchase Search: At first, consumer tent to have internal search means search on ones
own previous memory. If there is no sufficient, helpful experiences than consumer have to do
external search. As gold consumption is very much high risk consumption so the information
search will be complex and extensive. In case of Bangladesh, internet search while
purchasing gold is not so much familiar as compare to other countries. Therefore, personal
and impersonal information source can be so much helpful while purchasing gold. As per the
study of consumer, family members and relatives are very much trustworthy as personal
prepurchase search where as famous lifestyle magazine articles are very much helpful as
impersonal prepurchase search.
Evaluation of Alternatives: When consumers do the evaluation of alternatives they go
through two steps. First, they develop the evoked set that reduces the alternatives and then
they go through certain criteria to evaluate each brand known as consumer decision rule.
Both steps are discussed as follow.

Evoked Set: The evoked set refers to specific brands a consumer considers in making a
purchase. While purchasing gold consumer will consider some specific gold seller as evoked
set from huge available alternatives or sellers. Finally, from evoked set one specific seller will
be chosen.

Chosen
Product

Consumer Decision Rules: Consumer decision rules have been broadly classified into two
major categories Compensatory and Noncompensatory. The Noncompensatory also have
been extended to three categories Conjunctive Decision Rule, Disjunctive Decision Rule, and
Lexicographic Rule. There is another simplified rule called Affect Referral Decision Rule.
Compensatory:- In case gold consumption, this is a kind of decision rule where a consumer
of gold evaluates each gold seller in terms of each relevant attribute after that gold consumer
selects the seller who achieved the highest weighted score.

(Attributes)

Brand - A

Brand - B

Brand - C

Brand - D

Price

Design

Quality

Guaranty

Total:

32

34

30

28

Noncompensatory:- In case gold consumption, this is a kind of decision rule by which

positive evaluation of a gold seller attribute does not compensate for a negative evaluation of
the same gold seller on some other attribute. As we are focusing on the best decision made by
consumer that is the why we are considering Lexicographic Rule where consumers will first
rank gold attributes in terms of importance, then compare gold sellers in terms of the
attribute considered most important.

(Attributes)

Rank

Cutoff Point

Quality

Guaranty

Price

Design

In contrast to Compensatory and Noncompensatory consumer decision rules, Affect Referral

Decision Rule represents the simplest of all rules where consumers of gold make a choice
based on their previously established overall ratings about the gold sellers.

5.5 Output of Consumer Decision Making:

The objective of this part of the consumer decision-making model is to increase the
consumers satisfaction with their purchase. Purchase Behavior and Postpurchase Evaluation
are the main tools of this method.
Purchase Behavior: There are total three types of Purchase Behavior: Trial purchases,
Repeat purchases, and Long-term commitment. After conducting the research on consumer,
we find that many of the consumers are fond of repeat purchases while purchasing gold.
Because it is very much important to be a brand loyal in the case of gold consumption. Being
a brand loyal gives them the security and confidence in gold quality and guaranty, which are
the top ranked attributes for them. Some of them are also willing to give long-term
commitment for gold consumption.

Postpurchase Evaluation: This is a kind of crucial situation for the consumers of gold
because in this stage consumer wants to feel that they make a right and perfect decision,
which we called Postpurchase Cognitive Dissonance. In this stage, every consumer creates
positive, negative, or neutral fillings about the particular or specific brand.