Factors Affecting Customer Purchase Decisions in Restaurants

Introduction

The concept of buyers’ decision has received much attention from consumers, representatives, and sellers in the recent past. Consumers have to make the right purchase decision depending on the nature of the goods and the needs they have to satisfy. Various factors such as personal attributes, economic, culture, psychological marketing mix, functional and economic factors. The nature of goods and services plays an essential role in determining the behavior and action of buyers throughout the purchase process. However, despite the difference like products, the steps of purchasing are standards and they apply in the buying process. Moreover, the phases include problem identification, searching information, evaluating alternatives, purchasing decisions and post-purchase behavior (Frasquet, Mollá, & Ruiz, 2015) However, the steps do not apply uniformly across all products and to enhance understanding the buying behavior involved in three items will be considered.

                                                Category One

Soft drinks are fast foods that are needed to serve a short term, and thus it does not require much information search or evaluation of alternatives. Many soft drink brands are routine commodities that are known to consumers. A buyer is aware of the various brands of soft drinks and is loyal to one depending on taste and preference. For example, consumers are particular when it comes to Coke and Pepsi and does not require any background search to determine which item to buy. Therefore, in purchasing the soft drink, I do not involve many pre-purchase activities since only a choice depending on personal taste and preference needs to be made in this category(Lay-Yee, Kok-Siew, & Yin-Fah, 2013). In making the purchase decision, I did not take much time comparing prices or in serving for other information regarding quality and meeting customer expectation. I am conversant with the type of soft drink I consume, and thus I just paid the correct amount in the vending machine. Subsequently, I am used to consuming favorite beverages, the taste has not changed and it has been working well for me in the past, hence, I did not carry out any post-purchase activities regarding expectation, quality and meeting specifications.

                                                  Category Two

Buying dinner in a nice restaurant requires preparation since it has to meet the expectation of friends. For example, it is essential to evaluate among alternative restaurants regarding interior décor, space, price of food and drinks, classification, review status, and location of the restaurant. The choice of a restaurant will depend on the purpose of dinner with a friend. Accordingly, if it is a business meeting we might need a quiet environment in which we can facilitate decisions, but in my case, it was a graduation preparation event and thus we chose Sweetgrass restaurant, great food, good background music, and fantastic atmosphere that could meet the mood of the people. Sweetgrass is located in Biloxi, Mississippi, and it is easily accessible and met the needs of all of the participants. In making the purchase decision, I compared the prices of various restaurants in the area and settled on the one that maximized the value of the team that was organizing the graduation ceremony. The motivations and belief of the consumers were core in making the purchase decisions (Mirabi, Akbariyeh, & Tahmasebifard, 2015). Subsequently, the satisfaction of my friends was core, I later asked them about their perception of the restaurant regarding the quality of food, and services offered. The aim was to establish whether they received the value for their money to guide in making future purchase decisions’ found that they were excited as the experience surpassed their expectations.

                                                  Category Three

A high-end fridge is a sensitive gadget since it has to meet the need of the users regarding durability, functionality, and longevity. As a result, I made a consultation with third parties regarding the favorable brand in the market. It is recommended to seek advice from third parties and thus read a lot of product review from affiliate marketers’ blogs. I used the marketing research information to compare different brands of the refrigerator before I settled on the best one that met my specifications to avoid purchasing a refrigerator that did not meet my required specifications or one that had bad reviews. Accordingly, when making the actual purchase, I scrutinized all the details to make sure that it matched the description I read on product reviews (Jang, Prasad, & Ratchford, 2012). Moreover, I also checked for warranties and guarantees to ensure that I was paying for the right commodity and that its quality and safety is assured. In the post-purchase activity, I closely monitored the functionality of the refrigerator to detect any deviation from descriptions and expectations. However, the refrigerator functioned properly, and I ended recommending the brand. The final decision and purchase was the KitchenAid KRMF706EBS, 36 Inch Wide 25.8 Cu. Ft. Multi-Door Refrigerator with In-Door-Ice System and Platinum Interior Design, priced at $ 3,394.30.

                                                      Conclusion

The factors affecting purchase decision differ depending on the nature of goods or services being consumed. Personal factors such as taste and preferences affect the purchase food such as soft drinks. On the other hand, psychological attributes and economic factors affect the decision to seek services in restaurants. Accordingly, people require a serene environment that aligns to the theme and atmosphere being discussed by the team members. Moreover, the buying of durable commodities requires extensive market research to ensure that the good has the right features to serve the intended purpose. It is important to consider the various phases of decision making to ensure that the correct item is selected and to guide future purchases.

References

Frasquet, M., Mollá, A., & Ruiz, E. (2015). Identifying patterns in channel usage across the search, purchase and post-sales stages of shopping. Electronic Commerce Research and Applications, 14(6), 654-665.

Jang, S., Prasad, A., & Ratchford, B. T. (2012). How consumers use product reviews in the purchase decision process. Marketing Letters, 23(3), 825-838.

Lay-Yee, K. L., Kok-Siew, H., & Yin-Fah, B. C. (2013). Factors affecting smartphone purchase decision among Malaysian generation Y. International Journal of Asian Social Science, 3(12), 2426-2440.

Mirabi, V., Akbariyeh, H., & Tahmasebifard, H. (2015). A study of factors affecting customers purchase intention — Journal of Multidisciplinary Engineering Science and Technology (JMEST), 2(1).5