In general, the buyer passes through five distinct stages in taking a decision for purchasing a particular commodity.

These stages are:

1.

Need Arousal
The buying process starts with need arousal. A need can be activated through internal or external stimuli. A need can also be aroused by an external stimulus such as sight of a new thing in a shop while purchasing other things. There is two-fold importance of need arousal stage to a marketing man.

First the marketer must identify the drive that might actually or potentially connect to the product class or brand and make the buyer feel that the product can satisfy the drive, he feels, and It also helps recognize that the need levels for the product fluctuate over time and are triggered by different cues. The marketer can arrange cues to conform better to the natural rhythms and timing of need arousal.

2.

Information Search
After need arousal, the consumer tries to solve it and gathers the sources and information about the product. Depending upon the intensity of need, it produces two states of individual. The first state is called heightened attention when the consumer becomes more receptive to the information regarding the item he needs. If a consumer needs to purchase a television, he will pay mere attention to TV ads and the remarks made by friends and associates about TVs.

If need is more strong, the person enters a state of active information search and he tries to collect more information about the product, its key attributes, qualities of various brands and about the outlets where they are available. There are four consumer information sources. (i) Personal sources (family, friends, neighbors etc.) (ii) Commercial sources (advertisements, salesmen, dealers). (iii) Public sources (mass media, consumer-rating organizations). (iv) Experiential sources (handling, examining, using the product). Identifying the information sources and their respective roles and importance calls for interviewing consumers about the sources of information and can use the findings to plan its advertisements.

3.

Evaluation Behavior
After collecting the information, the consumer evaluates the alternatives. The product is judged mainly on a mindful and rational basis. Different considerations form the part of judgment such as product attributes, importance, weights, brand image, utility function for each attribute, and attitude etc. After evaluation of various alternatives, he takes the decision to buy.

4.

Purchase Decision
Evaluation behavior leads the consumer to form a ranked set of preferences. Normally a consumer buys the article, he or she likes most but there are three more important consideration for taking the buying decision: (a) attitude of other such as of wife, relatives, and friends, (b) anticipated situational factors as expected family income, expected total cost of the product and the expected benefits of the product; (c) unanticipated situational factors as looks or manner of the salesman or the way business is carried on.

5.

Post Purchase Feelings

After buying and trying the product, the consumer will feel some level of satisfaction or dissatisfaction and level of satisfaction depends very much on the expectation and the product's perceived performance. If the product matches up to his expectations, the consumer is satisfied; if it exceeds, he is highly satisfied; and if it falls short of expectations, he is dissatisfied.

Participants in the buying process

There are the following different roles that persons can play in a buying decision: 1. Initiator: The initiator is a person who first suggests or think of the idea of buying the particular product. 2. Influencer: Influencer is a person who explicitly or implicitly has some influence on the final buying decision of others. Students are influenced by the advice of the professor while taking a decision to purchase a book. Here professor is the influencer.

Participants in the buying process . . . .

3. Gatekeeper: Gatekeeper is the person who manages the information provided to the influencers and deciders. 4. Decider: The decider is a person who ultimately determines any part or whole of the buying decision, i.e., whether to buy, what to buy, how to buy, when to buy or where to buy. Children are the deciders for buying the toys, house lady for kitchen provisions, and head of the family for durable or luxury items.

Participants in the buying process . . . .

5. Buyer: The buyer is the person who actually purchase. Buyer may be the decider or he may be some other person. Children (deciders) are the deciders for purchasing the toys, but purchases are made by the parents. 6. User: User is the person who actually uses or consumes the services or products. 7. Maintainer: Maintainer is the person who maintains the product.

The marketer's task is to study the buying process and its main participants and their role in the buying process. He should initiate all of them to make the purchases of his product at different stages and through different strategies.