Consumer Decision Making 

The first step is to recognize a problem or a need. In my case I need to find an Italian restaurant to get food from. The second step is to search for information and I will research Italian restaurants in Salt Lake City, Utah. The third step is evaluation of alternatives and I think that means that I will compare the Italian restaurants I find. 

I know my need/problem so that means I can move on to the second step. I searched up “Salt Lake City Italian Restaurants” then I scrolled down and found Yelp. I looked at a few restaurants based on their pricing and reviews. Then I decided to look at Google reviews. I checked out one of the two ads while also looking at the others that weren’t ads. The ones that weren’t ads had the same ratings as those that were ads. 

After reading a couple reviews that were good I had to make my decision. I picked Stoneground Italian Kitchen. Their rating (4.5/5) and the reviews from people made me choose it. They have one of the most google reviews compared to others. Stoneground Italian Kitchen has 810 google reviews which includes first time customers and local guides. Local guides really make an impact because they know the place and for them to leave a good review is persuading. The customers also recommend foods that they enjoyed/loved. 

Chelsea Nelson, a Local Guide left a review saying,“20 years laters and still one of THE BEST Restaurants downtown! Everything we ate tonight was Divine!! The Pork Tenderloin was my favorite though!” Just like that review by Chelsea, many others also left pleasing reviews. What I liked about reading the reviews was that they recommended their favorite food plate. 

Beth Johansen said, “A waitress told me the lasagna there was the best she’s ever had. That seemed like a rather lofty statement to me, but she was totally right. I’m going to remember that lasagna for a very long time- it was the perfect blend for everything. Tangy, chewy, saucy, carb-loaded heaven in a bowl.” This review in particular made me choose lasagna as my food choice. Before reading that review I saw that others also loved the lasagna the restaurant made. 

I realized that the consumer decision making process is important to know and that the reviews are really helpful to making a choice. After reading people’s love for the lasagna I looked at the menu and I saw the price. The price for homemade pasta, lasagna, is $24.00. I will judge the price until I taste the lasagna. But I have high hopes that it will turn out to be good because of  the amount of reviews that were convincing. I think my preferences might compare to different consumers by the past experiences I have or don’t have compared to those who do have the experience that I don’t have. Like if I’ve never tried lasagna from a lot of other places then I won’t really know if it’s the best pasta I will ever have.