ABSTRACT
Traditionally, consumer researchers have viewed consumers as engaged in a conscious, logical decisionmaking process with five steps: (1) problem recognition, (2) information search, (3) alternative evaluation, (4) purchase, and (5) postpurchase outcomes. This chapter takes a broad view of this decision process as well as short-cut variations on it that occur either when consumers are less involved in decision making (DM) and/or have much prior information on and experience with DM for a particular product.
