This set of steps is hierarchical and suffers from the limitations we
discussed in Chapter 4. We know that involvement, for example, is an important variable in consumer decision making and that the involvement
level varies with product category, affecting how people make brand decisions. In other words, the process consumers go through in making a purchase varies between low-involvement and high-involvement purchase
decisions (see Figure 5.7). Note that with low-involvement situations,
there is little or no information search and the decision may be more of an
impulse purchase. In contrast, high-involvement products and decisions
use the traditional information-processing approach, which invites more
information seeking and careful consideration of decision factors, such as
quality or price
Post-purchase evaluation is the last step in the rational process. As
soon as we purchase a product, particularly a major one, we begin to
reevaluate our decision. Is the product what we expected? Is its performance satisfactory? This experience determines whether we will keep
the product, return it, or refuse to buy it again. We referred to cognitive
dissonancein the discussion of satisfaction and this is also an important factor in the post-purchase evaluation step. Many consumers continue to read information even after the purchase, to justify the
decision to themselves. Guarantees, warranties, and easy returns are
also important for reducing the fear of a purchase that goes wrong