Introduction
Every time a person is confronted with the opportunity or responsibility to purchase
services or goods, five steps including problem recognition, information search, evaluation of
alternatives, purchase and post purchase evaluation are involved. Options, even in the simple
realm of personal hygiene each play in integral part of a consumer’s buying behavior. Toothpaste
for example causes the buyer to become involved in critical analysis, determining whether the
purchase will involve routinized, limited, or extended problem solving.
After looking through several articles and case studies, I decided to study the consumer
decision making process of toothpaste. Consumers often engage in limited problem solving when
buying toothpaste because a buyer may buy it occasionally and may have little information on
the product. Buying toothpaste requires a moderate amount of time for information gathering,
even if a person is unfamiliar to the market. Although toothpaste is generally viewed as a
commodity in United States, developing nations such as Bangalore, Ludhiana, and Vietnam have
limited financial ability for such purchases and use. The first article analyzed the consumer’s
ability in Bangalore to use toothpaste on a daily basis. The article also evaluated the differences
in product availability for each brand. The second article stressed the greater importance between
consumers and brand loyalty. The final article focused on toothpaste brand longevity among each
brand. The following analysis demonstrates information on the consumer decision making
process involved toothpaste purchase.
Analysis
There are several influences that affect the decision process. When looking for
toothpaste, two major concepts that I would like to focus on are physiological influences’ and
social influences’ when purchasing toothpaste. Physiological influences tend to impact a buyers
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perception, motives, learning and attitudes and is generally an internal factor in decision making.
Perception varies across each city since buyers are in different stages of the consumer buying
decision process. For example, “Many people [in Bangalore] still clean their teeth with
traditional products like Neem twigs, salt, ash, tobacco or other herbal ingredients” (Ludhiana
28). Other cultures have progressed in the buying decision, and have recognized the problem of
poor oral hygiene. As a result, they have investigated relevant information to evaluate the
alternatives prevalent with different brands of toothpaste.
Attitudes also vary depending on the price and ease of access of a particular toothpaste
brand. If a brand of toothpaste is not easily accessible, consumers will have a pessimistic attitude
when evaluating the brand as a viable market competitor. For example, consumers’ in India were
more likely to buy the major toothpaste brands since the product was available in both urban and
rural areas. In contrast, the smaller local brands had more difficulty selling a specific brand of
product due to the lack of both notoriety and access. “This goes to show that there is still scope
for further improvement in the marketing and advertising campaign for the two Indian brands to
make them competent with the market leaders like Colgate and Close-up” (Saha 31). As Colgate
and Prepsodent continue to advertise their product through an aggressive marketing strategy
promoting availability and access, they maintain a positive brand image.
In contrast, social influences tend to impact the consumers’ buying behavior through a
person’s culture, reference groups, social classes or media and are generally viewed as an
external factor in decision making. For example, in India and Vietnam, consumers are most
likely to use toothpaste are people between the ages of 18 to 30 who have attained education
beyond high school. Studies indicate that although this age group understands the benefits of
maintaining proper oral hygiene through brushing their teeth, they tend to be influenced more by
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professional athletes, a family doctor, or a peer leader. These reference groups have the ability
to exert influence over a first-time buyer and make a substantial impact when purchasing a
product. “Based on [Ludhiana’s] study, parents are influencing more for buying toothpaste then
friends, spouse, kids and self-decision. So reference groups are also influencing the consumer in
decision making” (Vani 11).
Media can also influence the consumer buying decision process. “Advertising may
directly influence a consumer’s brand evaluation through such cues as celebrity endorsements
and music, even without providing any explicit information” (Vani 11). As technology becomes
more innovative, buyers in rural areas have the ability to connect with more developed urban
areas where toothpaste is used more frequently. Advertising has become more competitive in
promoting products through mediums such as the internet, television, and radio. Rural areas in
India are being urbanized which also leads to growing information access and availability.
Although I found these articles interesting, there are several questions left unanswered.
First, I would like to know the specific time that each study occurred. The source gave the date
of publication but did not specify how current the information was of the population survey.
Second, I would like to see how information in Central India would differ when compared to
Ludhiana (North India) and Bangalore (South India). Overall I was impressed by the amount of
data taken in each survey and how the data pertained to the consumer buying decision process.
One recommendation that I would like to make is that each of these sources need to target adults
between the ages of 18 to 30. Their surveys indicate that a vast portion of people who are
continuously buying toothpaste (who may brush their teeth up to three time a day) are in this age
group.