Moving is always a very tiring and stressful event, but moving to another city, that’s a whole different situation. I had recently moved to Salt Lake City Utah and one evening after realizing that I was hungry, I had a sudden yen for Italian food. After identifying that need, I realized I had a problem. I was not familiar with the eating places in the area so I had no idea where to go for good food. So now to satisfy my need I needed to search for information as to my best options.
Before I started my search, I had to decide, do I want fancy cuisine or should I just settle for casual fare. What I did know was that I wasn’t feeling the need to get dressed to sit in a restaurant therefore I was going to do takeout. My solution, the internet. Whatever I found would help determine which way I’d go on my meal type. I decided on a system, I would check yelp and write down the restaurants that had more than four stars. Then I checked three more sites to help me evaluate alternatives. There were three that fit the bill, so as I wanted pasta, I just checked the reviews listed under each eating place that pertained to pasta meals. I made my decision based on three factors, cost, as I wasn’t looking to find myself paying more than sixty dollars, the hyped good taste (of course), and whether they did takeout or not. It came down to two choices, Sicilia Mia and Valter’s Osteria. Sicilia Mia won out because in addition to it being said that the chef was an authentic Italian, a few patrons who claimed they lived in Italy rated it right up there. Oh, it was also much cheaper.
The Consumer Decision Making process is one that is relevant no matter what the consumer has in mind to purchase, the buyer behavior remains the same. They start out by needing something then move on to the next stage of gathering information to obtain it. Whether the need is food or a television set information as to the quality of the item is key. It can stem from research or from word of mouth. Based on the alternatives the buyer will need to have a basis on which to choose then make that choice to fulfill that need. There is a fifth stage in this process called post purchase evaluation where it deals with the customer’s feeling of satisfaction or not.
At this point, it becomes obvious that everyone is different and no two consumers will have the exact standards. Each has different forms of motivation, and demographics also play a role in decision making. There are also cultural differences and different experiences that make an impact. Maybe if I knew people in the area I might have been advised differently and gone somewhere else. The fact that I was looking to make my purchase with cost being a factor, not everyone will have that problem and will instead choose to go to Valter’s Osteria.
