Packing up your life and belongings is a difficult task to do. However, moving to Salt Lake City, getting to know it, exploring it, and being involved in its culture were exciting events. I was over a hard day of arranging my apartment, when my body started losing energy and it needed to be recharged with some food. I haven’t had the chance to cook that day, so I decided to satisfy my need by ordering a tasty meal from an Italian restaurant located in the city.
Studying marketing the first thing that came to my mind was to apply the buying process stages in order to start the satisfaction. First of all the process started in recognizing that there is a problem, I was hungry, and that the need warrants some action. Usually, people act in resolving a problem upon two factors: (1)looking at what they have and what they need, and (2) the importance of the problem. Of course, the problem was important because I was hungry, but I did not have too much money, and I needed specifically an Italian tasty, and consistent meal.
After recognizing the problem, and being conscious of my budget limit, I started to search for information. Since I didn’t know the area, where I moved, very well, the most helpful tool to look for an Italian restaurant was Google search. During my research, my main preferences were to have Pasta Bolognese, a large portion, to have it delivered, and to receive it in less than 30 minutes. I was very curious what the searching system would provide me, since I was in a new place. However, if there was nothing that matched my requirements, I already had some information about restaurants that can be found all over the U.S, based on my past purchasing and consumption experience.
Entering all my preferences in the filter section of the search engine, many cool restaurants with good reviews came up, but the few that matched every preference inserted in the filter were: The Old Spaghetti Factory, Cucina Toscana, and Olive Garden Italian Restaurant. So, this was a moment to evaluate these alternatives and make a choice that meets my financial and psychological requirements.
After much evaluation between the alternatives at some point, I decided to choose The Old Spaghetti Factory. Several factors influenced my purchase decision from this restaurant. Other than it met all my preferences, the restaurant offered a discount opportunity since it was my first purchase from them. Also, they did not have any delivery fee which was very convenient for my budget, and what I really liked was that they sent a free cake as dessert, called Cannoli. Overall, I was very satisfied with the restaurant’s benefits, taste of the food, fast delivery, and especially the “cannoli” made me happy. I’m considering ordering again and again from The old Spaghetti Factory.
Applying the decision making process to my needs made me realize that Restaurant owners intensively pay attention to the market exchange. Also, they pay attention to the buyer/customer behavior. In fact, looking at some statistics in the Restaurant industry’s revenue, there was an increase thanks to their understanding of the market. Being able to recognize buyers’ needs&wants helps the market exchange operation to achieve success.
Although the decision making process is a quite standard process, there are no two people who make their decision the same way. In fact, organizations are always developing themselves in order to provide service for every customer with different preferences. My preferences would compare to other consumers with different factors such as personal factors, situational factors, psychological factors, and social factors. These factors are beneficial for the consumer and for marketers at the same time. Consumer gets what he wants, and needs, while marketers, analyzing the consumer’s behavior, satisfy their preferences for a profit.
