The decision-making process

Decisions are made every second of every day. What influences us to make these decisions?  

Steps in the decision-making process

1. Problem Recognition-This step incorporates the theory of cognitive dissonance.  Cognitive dissonance is known as a state of tension, a separation from reality and what we want to see^[1].  If you decide you need a new car, then you will be in a state of cognitive dissonance.  Through analyzing your situation, you see that you need something that you do not have.  This is what motivates us to act; we wish to relieve the tension between the two opposing states of reality and where we want to be. Once you recognize the problem, you can move forward and try to remedy the situation^[2].

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2. Information Research-When you realize there is a problem, you need the information to be able to solve it.  You then survey our environment around you to try to formulate a solution to the issue you are facing^[4].  This can take many forms, anywhere from recalling information you have heard about a similar situation, asking opinions from the people around you, or actually researching the issue.  When considering consumer buying decisions, it is often times not a long process.  The information research can be deliberate (e.g., researching different brands and models of vehicles online), or it can be more passive (e.g., responding to long-time conditioning, such as brand advertisements or commercials)^[5].  

However, people are not always rational when considering an alternative to choose.  Several things can influence information research, such as variety seeking, mental accounting, and hyperopia.

 ^[6]   Variety seeking occurs when a person wants to branch out from their usual decisions.  People thinking in this way often times will buy a brand or product they do not like, simply because it is different than their usual buying behavior^[7].

Mental accounting is framing a problem so we can see gains or losses.  A lot of the time it will involve irrational judgments about sunk cost in a situation, and it not a fair assessment of the issues at hand^[8].

  ^[9]   Hyperopia is a medical term for far-sighted people.  When you focus on the future too much, you do not take into account the true information that is valuable for the present decision^[10].

3. Choosing an alternative-Once you identify your problem and research it, you have to choose from your list of alternatives.  We use evaluative criteria to decide what we should do.  Evaluative criteria are the standards that we use to judge the benefits of each choice^[11].  If it is difficult to choose because all of the options have similar benefits, we then look for determinant attributes, which are certain features that we can use to pick a specific product.  People make consumption choices based on many different factors, including potential benefits, brand reputation, and familiarity with the product ^[12].  Quick decisions are often made using heuristics, general mental guidelines that can heavily influence our decisions ^[13].

The decision-making process is always influenced by changing inputs and new information.  Even if we have just made a decision, the process starts again every time we face a new problem.