Scope of Consumer Research

Consumer behavior research is conducted for every phase or dimension of the consumption process:from before the purchase takes place(when the consumer first becomes aware of the need),to the search and evaluation of product alternatives(ranging from simple to extensive information search),to the actual purchase decision(including such factors as product and brand choice,store choice,and method of payment),to after the purchase take place(through any period of uncertainty,satisfaction,dissatisfaction repurchase,or further search in the market place). In other words,consumer behavior research is carried out on pre-purchase behavior,on actual purchase behavior,and on post-purchase behavior.

THE NATURE OF THE MODELING APPROACH

A model is a simplified representative of a real phenomenon. This representative of phenomenon may be internalized,that is,it is within the person's mind and no other person can see it;it may be verbal-e.g"consumption is a function of income;it may be expressed algebraically _e.g."C=(Y)"; or it may be represented pictorially,as in the case of a map.

 In whatever form a model is expressed,its key or main purpose is to simplify by including only those aspects of a real phenomenon that are of interest or relevance to the model builder. This is why it is possible for there to be number of totally different models of the sample phenomenon. In other words, two people looking at the same phenomenon can represent it in two completely different ways.

All marketers,in collecting,analyzing,and interpreting data,use models of some form. They may be intuitive,or based partly on fact and partly on past experience. Most commonly they will be internalize(I.e.within their minds),and therefore not capable of begin used by others. For this reason it is almost impossible to test their validity in a scientific accepted way.