An example of the decision making process - the iPhone 4S

I am a hugely loyal Apple brand consumer. I got the iPod Nano about a week after it came out, the iPhone 3G the day it came out, and now am a proud owner of the new iPhone 4S. Granted I don't have a Mac or an iPad, I still concede that all of Apple's products are technologically and aesthetically superior to all of its rivals (yes, even to the beloved Wake Forest edition ThinkPad). That being said, my buying journey for the iPhone 4S had some similarities and differences from the models we studied in class (traditional and McKinsey's). Let's explore my experience further.

The traditional consumer decision-making process begins with problem recognition. In my experience, I completely skipped this initial stage. Because I was following blogs and announcements about the release of the newest generation iPhone since mid summer this year like it was my job, I knew that the iPhone was going to be released on October 14^th – I also knew that you would be able to preorder it on October 7^th. And so at 12:01 am on October 6^th, I preordered the brand new iPhone 4S for $199 plus some tax, and thus commenced the anticipation until pick-up day on October 14^th began. So looking back at my purchase, I never really experienced a moment when I ‘realized’ that I had a problem which needed to be addressed or a ‘trigger’ that made me want the phone. I already had a phone (a functioning blackberry as a replacement for my dead iPhone 3G), I simply just decided that I wanted the newest and best technology out there – which the iPhone offered.

The next step in the traditional model is familiarity, which is similar to the first step in McKinsey’s consumer decision making journey, initial consideration. In this phase the consumer uses the knowledge they already have of brands or available word of mouth type info from friends and family members to narrow down the options for their consumer decision. I was persuaded mostly from my friend to consider the iPhone 4S as a realistic choice for a new phone. He was also an Apple junkie, and he hyped up all of the new features of the iPhone that really sealed the deal for me (such as Siri, the new voice-recognition technology that allows you to verbally tell the iPhone commands). Another variable working here was my longstanding familiarity with Apple. As I said before, I’ve had a number of Apple products in the past that I have been very content with, therefore my loyalty with the brand was extremely high. 

Next in the models are the information search/active evaluation stages, where the consumer goes out to search for information on the product category to help them with their decision. I didn’t really search for information on products outside of the iPhone, but I did definitely put in due research on the new iPhone 4S. I looked into blogs about the new features of the phone, read up on critics’ analyses of the phone, and also searched YouTube for videos about the phone. The YouTube video really won me over; it showed several characters using the new Siri technology to set reminders for plans, verbally text friends, and basically just act as a personal assistant. After seeing that video, there was really never any looking into any other alternatives (I skipped that traditional stage); I had made up my mind that the iPhone 4S was for me.

So I bought the iPhone. Like I mentioned earlier, I preordered the phone in the first minute of October 7^th online. That was pretty much my moment of purchase/product choice experience. More important is the outcome/post-purchase experience. When I finally went to the store to pick up my new phone, I was giddy with joy. I took the phone home with a smile on my face and immediately began playing with all of its new features. I was also immediately loyal to the new phone and Apple once again – I swore to the phone’s functionality of the voice recognition technology to all of my friends (although it didn’t always work), and I even convinced a couple of my friends that they needed the phone, so they too ended up buying one. The point is, I had now become a walking advocate for both the phone and Apple in general.

So, as you can see my experience buying the new iPhone was very similar to both the traditional and McKinsey versions of the consumer decision making process, with the only difference really being my skipping of the problem recognition stage and also not really considering any other brands except for Apple’s iPhone. But what I found most intriguing in my experience as a consumer insight was the overwhelming power that friends can have on your purchase decision. My Apple-junkie friend singlehandedly sold me to the idea that the iPhone was the only real competitor in the new phone market. It wasn’t the expert opinions, the blogs, or the professional critic reviews, but rather the information and steadfast confidence in Apple from a trusted friend that sold me. In turn, when I got the iPhone, my converted confidence and trust in Apple as a brand helped to persuade two of my friends to buy the phone as well. One can only assume, given the trend at hand, that those two friends will convince their friends, who’ll convince their friends, who’ll convince their friends, and so on and so forth into the foreseeable future – that is, of course, until Apple comes out with a newer, even better iPhone.
-Patrick Szawara