I have taken on the task of researching the city of Salt Lake City in Utah. While this is a place I have never been to. This research will give us an understanding on how Consumer Decision Making plays a big role in a buyer’s thought process when choosing products or services. To this process, there are 5 stages which are, Problem Recognition, Information Search, Alternatives Evaluation, Purchase Decision, and Post-Purchase Evaluation. 

I began by googling Italian restaurants in Salt Lake City in Utah. This is where Information search comes into play. Because this was a place I have never visited and wasn’t familiar with, I also went to Google Maps to help me look at the reviews and photos of the area. My top options were Bucca di Beppo Italian Restaurant, Caffe Molise, and Olive Garden. This is where the Alternatives Evaluation comes into play. 

Starting with Bucca di Beppo which had a rating of 4.2 which is not bad at all. That is nearly 5 stars. It was also pretty affordable as it only had two dollar signs next to it ($$). Caffe Molise had a rating of 4.5 which compared to our first option it is higher. It is also pretty affordable and has only two dollar signs. Our third option which is Olive Garden, has a rating of 4.4 which is also not bad and only one point lower than our second option. In finding the perfect dining that fits my standards, I am looking for a restaurant that offers not only great food, but also great customer service and scenery as I want my experience to be enjoyable.

Ultimately I had decided to go with Caffe Molise. This is where the Purchase Decision stage comes into play. The reason I chose this as the restaurant I would like to dine at is because most of the reviews were positive about people talking about how the food was great but also about how their customer service was up to par. If there so happened to be a bad review, they always replied and offered to make it up to them which is a good business ethic to take note of. They also had an outstanding interior which really gave the feeling of a cafe, yet provided italian food which I thought was pretty cool. In addition to that, they also had beautiful outdoor dining. 

Who knew there were so many stages of just coming to a decision on something. Personally I feel like it is good to recognize these stages as it gave me a better understanding on Consumer Decision Making and made me realize the things I should take into consideration when deciding on a product or service.