PRESTON UNIVERSITY Mutahir bin yousaf 1611-208-002 Muhammad jameel 1611-209-002 Abdul ghani

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT We would like to thanks Sir, for giving us such an opportunity to stand in front of you all and to throw light on Search and evaluation .

Thank you sir .

Topic Search and evaluation

Mutahir
Search The Information search process Pre purchase search: Ongoing search Internal search: External search: Types of information Sources of information Amount of external search activity Perceived risk: Dealing with risk:

Muhammad jameel
The information evaluation process Evaluation or choice criteria Reducing the range of alternatives: Evaluating alternatives: Decision: Noncompensatory decision rules: Disjunctive rule: Conjunctive decision rule: Lexicographic rule: Compensatory decision rule:

Abdul Ghani
Marketing implications Studying the information search process: Determining sources of information: Warranty card: In Depth search: Decisive effectiveness: Contributory effectiveness: Ineffective: Influencing the consumers evoked set: Measuring evaluative criteria: Determining the importance of criteria used by consumers: Determining consumers evaluations of brand criteria performance: Determining consumers cue usage: Influencing consumers Evaluation: Altering cue characteristics: Altering information value:

Search and evaluation Search To make a thorough examination of; look over carefully in order to find something; explore.

Evaluation evaluation as a systematic survey of values or features of a given programme, activity or an object, taking into consideration the adopted criteria to enhance, improve or understand them better.

The Information search process The first step in the consumer decision making model is the need recognition. Only after realizing a problem, a need or a demand, consumers begin searching for information that will solve their problem or satisfy their needs or demands. Steps Of Information search process Pre purchase search: Consumers engage in pre-purchase information seeking when they have identified a product need and are seeking information that will enable them to make better decisions and increase the probability of satisfaction with purchase outcome

Ongoing search In ongoing information search consumers undertake search without a specific problem. For example there may be consumers who are crazy about motorcycles. They may or may not own the vehicle but may be interested in any information on motorcycles

Internal search: Internal search involves the consumer identifying alternatives from his or her memory. For certain low involvement products, it is very important that marketing programs achieve top of mind awareness. For example for fast food restaurants; thus, the consumer must be able to retrieve ones restaurant from memory before it will be considered.

External search: For high involvement products, consumers are more likely to use an external search. Before buying a car, for example, the consumer may ask friends opinions, read reviews in Consumer Reports, consult several web sites, and visit several dealerships. Thus, firms that make products that are selected predominantly through external search must invest in having information available to the consumer in neede.g., through brochures, web sites, or news coverage.

Types of information 1) About the existance and availability of different products and services: This type of information is required by a person when he is very less aware about different varieties of product or services of some specific product category E.G want to purchase television but dont know what type of eg LCD, LED Plasma tv of which company samsung, L.G etc

2) Information required in forming evaluative criteria: Here information is required by the person in accordance to his/her needs ,taste etc to set certain standards to evaluate different products or services E.G 60 inch screen, black colour, with waranty, within 90,000 thousand Rs

3) Information about characteristics of alternatives: Here the person seeks as much information as he can about all the alternative products so then he can finally compare those alternatives and selects one e.g LG 60" (152cm) Plasma TV, Model: 60PA6500, 1920 x 1080 pixel resolution, HD Digital Tuner, 1yr warranty. Includes: Widescreen, Full HD Display, USB Connector, Full HD Input. 98703 Rs

Samsung 60" (152cm) 3D Plasma TV, Model: PS64E550, 1920 x 1080 pixel resolution, HD Digital Tuner, Includes: Widescreen, Full HD Display, USB Connector, 3D Display, Internet Connectivity, USB Recording, Web Browsing, IPTV. 158103 Rs

Sources of information 1) Marketer- dominated sources: Here the person gets information from salesperson, packaging, advertising, company website etc

2) Consumer sources: here the person gets information from friends, relatives, family members and all those who are interpersonal communications not under the control of the marketer

3) Neutral sources: Here the person gets information from mass media, government reports and publications from independent product testing agencies etc.

Amount of external search activity The easier it is to acquire relevant information, the less necessary is an extensive external search. If consumers realize that relevant information can be obtained quickly, they are unlikely to engage in a high-energy, time-consuming, external search

Factors influencing the amount of external search 1) Market conditions: Availability of information, number of alternatives available, and the location of outlets are among the most triggering factors. a) Price differences between brands are greater b) Style and appearance are perceived to be quite important c) It is suspected that substantial differences may exist between product alternatives.

2) Buying strategies: Consumers mainly adopt various strategies to reduce external search and the factors are: a)Store loyalty b)Buy the product which already someone is using in their social circle. Under the influence of manufacturer promises of money back guarantee etc

Individual factors: The amount of external search is affected by the persons own characteristics a)Greater market experience with a product is associated than a lower degree of external search. b)The subjective costs associated with the search, including time spent and anxiety while searching c) Persons ability to move in search of information d) His or her level of education the lower the level the lesser he will conduct external search.

Situational factors: a)Urgency of a need b)Special opportunities available within certain time period c)store condition being crowded or not

Perceived risk: Consumer may Perceive risk in relationship to information acquisition and processing constructs such as word-of-mouth behavior and opinion-leadership, as well as to overt consumer behaviors such as new product adoption, store/brand loyalty, and modes of shopping

Situations influencing risk: Some of the major situations are a) First time purchase of a high cost product b) Uncertainty regarding which alternative to take c) When buying for some other person

Types of risk: There are six types of perceived risk: Functional - Will the product perform as I expect? If the customer is buying sweet corn, this means, "Will this corn be as good as what I remember from last year or what I had last week?" If the customer is buying petunias, the risk is, "Will they make my garden look the way I want it to look?"

Physical - Can the product hurt me, my children or my pets? The use of pesticides in the production of food crops is frequently the concern here, but ornamentals that bear poisonous fruit can also be a concern. Social - What will my peers think? If customers are buying sweet corn to eat in the privacy of their home, the risk here is low. If they buy petunias and plant them in the front yard and petunias are socially out this year, it's like having a big sign in your yard for five months saying, "geek lives here".

 Psychological - Am I doing the right thing? This can be a strong motivator in plant sales for the environmentally concerned or an impossible obstacle for the truly paranoid. Financial - Can I afford the purchase? This is not a major problem for most people buying sweet corn or petunias. It is a major obstacle for customers consider-ing a specimen plant or flowering trees that may cost $60 to $100. Time - How much time and effort may I expend to make this purchase?

Dealing with risk: some of the ways to reduce perceived risk are 1) Endorsement; 2)Brand Loyalty; 3) Major Brand Image; 4) Private Testing; 5) Store Image; 6) Free Sample; 7) Money-Back Guarantee; 8) Government Testing; 10) Expensive Model; 11) Word-Of-Mouth.

The information evaluation process As the consumer is engaged in search activity he or she is also actively engaged in information evaluation: Evaluation or choice criteria: Here consumer sets choice criteria to evaluates a brand on the basis of his choice which he has set as standard for comparison like of plasma tv in which the consumer will evaluate all the characteristics of the brands on the standards of his choice criteria e.g price, colour, warranty etc.

Reducing the range of alternatives: In this step during evaluation of brands the consumer will drop the brands which are not up to the mark of his choice criteria like the price of Samsung is above of his affordability so he will drop that and compare LG with other brands and then drop more brands which are not up to his standard in this way very less alternatives will be left to choose from

Evaluating alternatives: The consumer keep going on evaluating alternative unless he has two or three alternatives are left in which he is confused to choose because all are upto the mark of his choice

Decision: finally the consumer will choose one product which he thinks is best and in accordance with his choice criteria by following certain decision rules which are Noncompensatory decision rules: A type of consumer decision rule by which positive evaluation of a brand attribute does not compensate for (i.e. is not balanced against) a negative evaluation of the same brand on some other attribute. There are three noncompensatory decision rules.

Disjunctive rule: A noncompensatory decision rule in which consumers establish a minimally acceptable cutoff point for each relevant product attribute.

Conjunctive decision rule: A noncompensatory decision rule in which consumers establish a minimally acceptable cutoff point for each attribute evaluated. Brands that fall below the cutoff point on any one attribute are eliminated from further consideration

Lexicographic rule: A noncompensatory decision rule - consumers first rank product attributes in terms of importance, then compare brands in terms of the attribute considered most important.

Compensatory decision rule: A type of decision rule in which a consumer evaluates each brand in terms of each relevant attribute and then selects the brand with the highest weighted score

Marketing implications Studying the information search process: For the marketer to understand how consumer works on information search process so he can make available the kind and quality of information which consumer seeks the marketer first has to understand about the sources of information used by the consumer

Determining sources of information: Some of the sources through which marketer can get some information about the consumer are: Warranty card: Marketers can use waranty registration cards to get information about the consumer information search activities but it is limited it only tells place of purchase of a product, date of purchase of product but many questions are left unanswered

In Depth search: One of the best method to determine sources of information of consumers is by doing in depth research in which most prominent method is by developing a questionnaries to ask specific questions How did you learn about this new product Why did you decide to buy this brand With whom you have shared the information about this brand Where else you have found the information about this brand

Determining source influence: For the marketer to understand the influence of information sources on brand purchase intentions and fulfillment several steps of analysis are required. One typology for comparing various information sources are: 1) Decisive effectiveness: The consumer evaluates this source as having a major impact on the decision process

Contributory effectiveness: The consumer evaluates this source as playing a specific role in the decision process, although it is not among the most important sources. Ineffective: This source is considered as having no particular role in the decision process

Influencing the consumers evoked set: The consumer compares the brands and products that are in their evoked set. The evoked set refers to the number of alternatives that are considered by consumers during the problemsolving process. How can the marketing organization increase the likelihood that their brand is part of the consumer's evoked set? Consumers evaluate alternatives in terms of the functional and psychological benefits that they offer. The marketing organization needs to understand what benefits consumers are seeking and therefore which attributes are most important in terms of making a decision.

Measuring evaluative criteria: For the marketer to develop a successful marketing campaign he has to understand of what criteria consumer uses in their decision making process 1) Determining which criteria are used by consumers: By directly asking consumers through questionnaires. Through group discussions

 Through exploratory survey Through online blogs

Determining the importance of criteria used by consumers: A direct method for researching this could involve the use of rating scale, method whereby consumers would be asked to evaluate each criterion on a six point scale ranging from perhaps unimportant to important. Another approach would be to use a semantic differential with pairs of adjectives characterizing the criteria, such as high price, and low price.

 A third approach involves what is known as a constant sum scale, in which respondents typically allocate 100 points across the evaluative criteria according to their judgment of each ones importance.

Determining consumers evaluations of brand criteria performance: Select samples of consumers and give them sample of products and then ask them how they will evaluate it on performance criteria

Determining consumers cue usage: The marketer must understand the consumers cue usage in his/her decision making Three product cues that have been found to be the most important in consumers ratings of product quality: physical appearance : Physical appearance of the product is important for the consumer and it becomes more important if the product is costly

 brand : some customers are very much brand conscious in purchase decisions for a number of products Several studies have shown that consumers use high status or well-known brand names as indicators of apparel product quality

 price : Price is important to consumers because it represents the sacrifice necessary to obtain goods. Perceived price may be described as the consumers judgment of the acceptability of the products price and is largely dependent on the consumers expected price. In other words, consumers generally have a preconceived acceptable price range

Influencing consumers Evaluation: If the product is not well accepted in the market then the marketer have to change its position in the customers mind. Altering cue characteristics: Making product packaging more eye catching Changing the price of the product according to the mind set of its target market

Altering information value: Rather than changing characteristics of a cue it may be possible to change the way consumers evaluate a product Changing the message type like surf excel has done by spreading a message dirt is good when others are saying dirt is bad by doing this surf excel has successfully made a unique position in consumers mind