EXPLAIN HOW MARKETERS CAN INFLUENCE CONSUMERS AT EACH STAGE OF THE LOGICAL FLOW MODEL

The logical flow model is a series of sequential steps that a consumer goes through when buying a product. The different steps are Problem recognition, external search, evaluation of alternatives, product choice and post purchase evaluation. Purchase decision differs therefore the amount of effort we put for each steps will differ accordingly, that’s why some of the steps are more important than others. Sometimes the decision making process is done automatically, this is when usually little information is needed, some other time purchase decision can be real hard, this usually for an important purchase like for example a house. Purchase decision is nowadays more and more difficult in view of ‘consumer hyperchoice’ (Solomon, Bamossy, Askegaard, Hogg, 2010). The logical flow model should be well studied by marketers so as to understand how consumers get the information, which criteria consumers use to make product or service choice, so that they can find more ways to influence the consumers. ‘companies [will] then develop products or services that emphasize the appropriate attributes, and marketers can tailor promotional strategies to deliver the types of information consumers are most likely to desire, via best channels, and in the most effective formats. ‘ (Solomon et al. 2010). This is not as easy as consumers simply do not go through all the steps of the logical flow, therefore it’s important for the marketers to be able to influence consumers during any of the steps of the logical flow. Now I will explain all the different steps in detail, while saying how marketers can influence the customers at each step.
PROBLEM RECOGNITION
As per Solomon et al., 2010, ‘Product recognition occurs whenever we see a significant difference between our current state of affairs and some desired or ideal state’. To go from current state to a desired or ideal state there is definitely a problem to be solve, it can be a big, a small, simple or complex problem. One of my actual problems for example is that I need a good music system, which could play music from my iPhone and iPad, this problem came when I saw my neighbor playing music from his smart phone on his music system. We can say that this problem came on its own; however marketers can influence customers by making them see problems that they are not seeing or did not think about. For example loans with lots of advantages, like free processing etc. In my case I never thought of buying my own house as I did not have the money for it till the day, my bank did a an advertising about a promotion for home loan, where I could save money by having free process and where I will had a free solar powered water heater. Well often to influence the consumers at the problem recognition stage, marketers give free sample of products, free tasting/testing or give rewards to encourage the buying of their products and services

EXTERNAL SEARCH
After recognizing the problem, consumers will look for information to solve the problem. This is very important as it help to do the best decision. Information can come internally or externally. Internally, that is from what we already know, for example I know that to play my iPad or iPod on a music system, it can be done by Bluetooth, USB and docking, what I know also is there are different voltage, however the sound is the more important characteristic for me. External search is information that we will find from advertisements, friends, internet etc… According to Andreasen (1968) there are five main types of information sources used by consumers: impersonal advocate, impersonal independent, personal advocate, personal independent and direct observation / experience.
Impersonal advocate:
The information come from mass media advertising (tv and radio commercials, newspaper and magazines advertising and point of purchase displays. This is where marketers can influence the most the consumers, this by making sure of what they communicates and how. Making sure the adverts touch the right segment and having the position they want it to have. They can try different way to attracts more the public in general so that they are kept in their mind. For example Sixt rent a car, which is a worldwide car rental company, with the head office base in Germany, make use of humour as per the SIXT president in France, to differentiate them. May be they will have legal issues but on the other side it was funny and did no harm, it could just help in better positioning of the brand. As per daily mail, ‘An advertising campaign mocking the 5ft 5ins stature of the former French President Nicolas Sarkozy has caused a scandal in France. The posters by car hire firm Sixt urge customers to rent a small Citroen C3 hatchback, with the slogan, 'Be like Madame Bruni, take a small French model'.
But Sixt president in France Jean-Philippe Doyen said: 'These advertisements are entitled to be funny and we need to inject a little fun into our business after such a difficult period experienced by many of our clients.'

Impersonal independent:
The information comes from consumer reports or technical report on the product. These reports are very common and useful when buying online. For example I live in Zambia, where quality clothes are very expensive, thus I do most of my clothes purchase for me and my family on – line on Laredoute.fr. It’s nice to see comments of other consumers on the article, it help me a lot in my choices as there is no physical contact with the product. The marketers can also encourage comments from customers by giving reward, this help in influencing other customers. For example Hayes and Jarvis, which is a tour operator in UK, encourage all customers to give feedbacks on their holiday experience for a chance to win a trip to the same country they visited.
Personal advocate:
Information obtains in the store by a sales assistant or store manager. This is very important that information given to the consumers is up to their expectation as it reflects their quality of service and it’s a way for them to build store loyalty. For example in my search or information before buying my music system, we went in some stores. We walk through the shop to spot the different model available and saw one that I am interesting with, We then approach one of the sales assistant and start questioning him. We ask him some technical question like how many watt it is but he was unable to answer. We ask about testing the system so as to hear the sound quality, which is one of the most important characteristic for this purchase, but they took so much time to switch it on that we got bored and decided to leave. We now feel like don’t want to go there again.
Personal independent:
This is to find some information by trying to remember what brand a friend or neighbor uses or will ask the members of the family, the close friends or the colleagues. Remember that my willingness to buy a new sound system came when I first saw my neighbours sound system, therefore we asked him where he bought it and he answered back to say that it was an online purchase and gave us the website. Of course first thing we check the website but as it was no more available we check eBay and the same was available but unfortunately they do not do delivery in Zambia. Marketers can influence consumer by using loyal customers in such a way that they influence their friends. For example The HSBC premier promotion for offshore banking: ‘Introduce your friends and colleagues to offshore banking with HSBC Premier and, for each referral, you'll be rewarded with £500 to share’.

Direct observation/experience:
This is to get the willing information by asking for a product demonstration, trying the product before buying, reading the info on the package or rely on past experience. For example I choose to use Huggies brand for diapers for my baby boy from my past experience. This was the diapers that I really could leave my elder daughter in for a whole night, without any leakage. Marketers use direct observation and experience in for example hypermarkets where a product can be introduce through demonstration (Merchandising)
EVALUATION OF ALTERNATIVES
After having the required information, now it is the time to compare several products or Brands and make a choice. It is sometimes easy and sometimes difficult to make a choice all ‘[depends] upon the decision –making process we are using’ Salomon et al, 2010). It depends if it is an extended problem solving or if it is a habitual decision. For extended problem solving there will be a need to choose from different alternatives whereas for a habitual decision there might be no need to consider any alternatives. As per Solomon et al (2010), there are 3 sets of alternatives; the evoked, the inert and the inept. The evoked set is the ones that are already in the mind of the consumers and those products which are more noticeable in the retail market. Inert set are the ones that cannot be considered at all they may be too expensive or of very bad quality. Whereas the inept set are those alternatives that the consumer know about but will not considerate. To be able to influence the consumer marketers need to have their product in the evoked set of alternatives. For a product to be in the evoked set of alternatives it should accepted and likes already as it is introduce in the market. ‘For consumers’ unwillingness to give a rejected product a second chance underlines the importance of ensuring that it performs well from the time it is introduced’ Solomon et al, 2010. For marketers to be able to convince the consumers they should position the product well and right so as to have maximum consumer. Like Lucozade which was position before as a drink for sick people was reposition as an energy drink to attract more customers. However the marketers should be careful not to position the product in a category that it can have a bad effect on the sales. Example Pepsi co introduces Pepsi a.m and positioned it as a coffee substitute. ‘’ The company did such a good job of categorizing the drink as a morning beverage that customers would not drink it at any other time, and the product fail.’ Solomon et al, 2010.

PRODUCT CHOICE
Once alternatives are evaluated there is a need to choose one product. ‘Decision rules guiding choice can range from very simple and quick strategies to complicated processes requiring much attention and cognitive processing.’ Salomon et al (2010). Choice can be influence by collected informations, prior experience with the product or similar ones, belief and loyalty to brand, opinion created by advertising and information got at time of purchase. There are lots of features to evaluate and determinant attributes are the features we actually use to differentiate among our choices. Some will care about the social responsibility of a brand the quality of products. As per Solomon et al (2010) ,marketers can play a role in educating consumers about which criteria should be used as determinant attributes’, they say it is a result of procedural learning in which a person goes a series of cognitive steps before making a choice for example identify important attributes, remember if competing brands differ on these attributes etc.. As per Solomon et al (2010) for a marketer to recommend a new decision criterion effectively, their communication should convey three pieces of information:
1)It should show that there are differences among brands on the attribute.
2) It should give a decision rule, like for example (deciding among competing brands), then use the attribute as criterion
3)it should convey a rule that can easily integrated with how the person has made this decision in the past. Otherwise recommendation will be ignored as requires too much mental effort.
POST –PURCHASE EVALUATION
The product or service will of course be evaluated by the consumer after purchasing. They will check their choice satisfaction, and if product met their expectations. After sales service is very important for the marketers as encouraging the unsatisfied clients to complain will help to discover any problem and rectify them. Good comments are also welcome as it can be used in next advert to influence other consumers.

CONCLUSION
Consumer decision making is a central part of consumer behavior, the way we evaluate and choose a product will vary according to its importance, for some products much effort will be used and for others no effort at all. Decision is actually composed of different stages that the logical flow model, it actually consists of 5 steps of which Problem recognition, external search, evaluation of alternatives, product choice and post purchase evaluation. We have seen how Marketers can try to influence the customers at each stage. However ‘research in the field of behavioural economics illustrates that decision making is not always strictly rational’ Solomon et al (2010), therefore the degree of influence from marketers may not always be achievable.
REFERENCES:

HSBC website available on: http://www.expat.hsbc.com/1/2/hsbc-expat/services/hsbc-premier/recommend-a-friend Mail on line - News (2010, April 28th) ‘'Be like Madame Bruni, take a small French model': French car firm Sixt mocks President Sarkozy's height in ad’ available on http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1269196/French-car-firm-Sixt-mocks-Nicolas-Sarkozys-height-ad.html#ixzz2MGrcRWxt

Solomon.M, Bamossy.G, Askegaard.S, Hogg. M (2010), ‘Consumer Behaviour , A European Perspective ‘, Prentice Hall, Europe