Why Customers Buy

The people who study consumers tell us customers go through a very predictable sequence of events each time they make a decision to buy a product or service. The process may be brief, as with low value or impulse purchases, or quite protracted. The steps are basically the same. Understanding the customer's thought process can enable us, as retailers, to help customers make the decision to buy.

The decision to buy begins when a potential customer receives a stimulus. A stimulus is a cue or drive meant to arouse or motivate a person to act. A stimulus can be social, physical or commercial in nature.

Social cues are as simple as a neighbor saying, "Did you see the mums at Ashley's Farm Stand? They are beautiful." This is often enough to prompt the potential customer to see first-hand what the mums look like. From the retailer's perspective, this is word-of- mouth advertising. It comes from satisfied customers who feel they received a quality product, at a fair price, from a caring business. This stimulus can be negative. If the neighbor says, "I went to Ashley's to look at mums and could not find a place to park." or "Nobody waited on me," the potential customer may not visit your retail stand as a result.

Physical stimulus happens when our physical senses are affected. I am hungry; I want food. I have a craving for fresh strawberries, tomatoes or sweet corn; I go looking for them. Again, the retailer's reputation for selling fresh, high-quality produce makes his/her business the likely destination for the customer. The retailer can intensify the physical stimuli by providing samples.

Commercial cues come from the retailer's advertisements, signs, displays, point-of-purchase materials or salespersons. A newspaper ad announcing that you have 10,000 mums in full bloom will surely prompt potential customers to come and look. A simple pile of pumpkins or sign, stating "Silver Queen sweet corn," can have the same effect. Make sure you deliver what you promise. Don't advertise 10,000 mums in full bloom, because you hope some will be flowering by the weekend. Remember word-of-mouth advertising.

When customers receive the stimulus, they become aware of their problem. Research tells us these problems fall into two categories: 1) recognition of a shortage--I had tomatoes. I ate them. I need more. or, 2) unfulfilled desires--I have never grown hydrangeas before, but I see them in bloom as I drive through town and would like to have one. New technology falls into this category, too. New vegetable or flower varieties, self-watering planters or a computer program to design your garden could all be unfulfilled desires.

Once the customer is aware of the problem, he/she begins an information search. What product or service will solve the problem? What are the characteristics of alternative products? Here is where the retailer makes or loses the sale. Knowledgeable salespeople and plenty of signs identifying products and how to use them, enable the customer to evaluate the alternatives and come to the decision to purchase. Be accurate and objective in describing your products or services. Chances are you sell all the alternatives so it is most important that once the customer chooses the product, it performs as you said it would.

The customer's concern does not end with the decision to purchase. He/she almost immediately begins to reevaluate the product or service. "Did it perform as I expected? Was I treated as a valued customer?" If the customer is satisfied with the reevaluated purchase, you have a loyal customer. More purchases will follow. If he/she is not satisfied, you likely will not see the customer again.

Each time a purchase is made, your customer is going through this process. At any step, if the necessary information is not available, the process stops. Each time a purchase is made, your business, your products and your employees are being evaluated. Only quality products, objective, useful information and courteous service every time will keep the customers coming back.

by David Seavey and Otho Wells, University of New Hampshire Cooperative Extension

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