At the beginning of my buyer decision-making process, the problem I needed to fix was finding a restaurant that I could see myself eating at. Given specific criteria, the restaurant had to be in Salt Lake City, Utah, which was a place that I had never visited. I have always loved Italian food so it was important that even though I couldn’t try the food it had to look good.
After realizing what I had to look for in a restaurant, I took to Google to research and narrow down my options. I came across quite a few, “Cafe Molise”, “Olive Garden” and “Stanza Italian Bistro and Wine Bar.” These stood out to me specifically because they didn’t seem too expensive, in this scenario I would most likely be going with friends and paying. Due to this, I didn’t want the restaurant to be out of budget. When I went onto each of their websites I saw the interior of these restaurants looked cozy, atmosphere is important to me when it comes to eating out. On the maps, “Stanza Italian Bistro and Wine Bar” and “Cafe Molise” were close to each other meaning I could get to the other one easily.
When I came to the realization that these were my top three choices I had to narrow them down. Cafe Molise had a beautiful interior and exterior which reminded me of restaurants in my hometown, Stanza Italian Bistro and Wine Bar was equally as beautiful but the prices were double compared to Cafe Molise. Then Olive Garden while I’m sure the taste of the food wouldn’t differ from other ones I have gone to meant that I would like it, it also wasn’t anything new or exciting. Cafe Molise would be my pick if I were on a trip to Salt Lake City, Utah. This is because the restaurant’s prices are fair, the ambiance of the establishment was cozy and inviting, and because the other restaurants were lacking in other aspects making me choose this cafe as my first choice.
At the end of this process I realized that while the buyer decision-making process isn’t always easy, it is very normal before making a purchase or picking a restaurant to eat at to subconsciously go through these steps in your head. Someone making comparisons in their mind is very normal behavior and as I was researching I found myself jumping to conclusions like, “This restaurant is too expensive” or “The outside of this place doesn’t seem appealing.” The conclusions made themselves just by looking at photos. If the other consumer was not able to “research” the restaurant and only heard by word of mouth their opinion may change based on that. There are many aspects that go into what the consumer is thinking and what they will end up purchasing.
