Consumer Decision Making Process - Sony Playstation 4 Console

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Another factor influencing the decision would be the information promoted by Sony through advertising and promotions such as the games in the bundle pack with the consoles. Sony claims that the PS4’s performance is ten times that on the PS3 (Rivington & Broughall 2015). Sony made PS4 as the ultimate choice for people who want to play games. Most people want to see themselves as gamers even if they aren’t. This sense of status and acceptance is important to meeting a person’s social and self esteem needs (Lamb 2013).

Once deciding on the PS4, the consumer’s final choice would be the colour and whether to purchase certain games or accessories, this would come down to their personal preferences and their personal needs.

STAGE 5: PURCHASE EVALUATION

After purchasing a product, a consumer beings to evaluate their purchase, looking at the advantages and disadvantages of the product. The consumer is hoping to use new information they are gathering through their interaction with the product to reinforce their positive ideas pre-purchase. A consumer can develop cognitive dissonance if the product purchased does not meet their expectations during this interaction (Lamb 2013).

With the choice of the PS4, this can come from difficulties with seeing who is online to play with and interacting with friends during game play. The speed, frequency and duration of upgrades performed to the system can interfere with the console usage (GameCentral 2014). Not meeting these expectations could lead to disappointment. This may send consumers in the future to competitors especially if they have previously had a trust relationship with them.

Another influence on evaluation would be around price- if the consumer pre-ordered a console to ensure that they would have it on release, they would be dismayed if they found that shortly after release the price dropped significantly. This would impact upon the consumers future decisions in regards to pre-ordering or waiting to purchase the product some time after it has been released.

In dissimilarly to this, the consumer would be satisfied by a variety of factors including approval from peers; the feeling of being a part of a group and elitist through ownership and successful game play. This would provide positive reinforcement to the post-purchase evaluation. Due to this, the consumer may decide to purchase Sony’s next playstation console.

CONCLUSION

In conclusion, this report illustrates the key thought processes a consumer would make to purchase a PS4 console. It has been shown that consumer purchase decisions are based on an array of factors such as peer, status and internal motivations. The PS4 sleek design and focus on game play shows that it is a compact high performance unit and distinctive from other gaming consoles which draws customer attention and maintains it through to sales. The continued success of the PS4 relies upon utilising of this decision making process to translate it into continued sales growth.

REFERENCES

GameCentral 2014, Why I regret buying a PS4. Metro, viewed 6th August 2015, http://metro.co.uk/2014/11/15/why-i-regret-buying-a-ps4-readers-feature-4949162/#ixzz3i4o5CrVN>.

Irving M. 2014, Why Sony's PS4 opted to focus on gamers. Technology Spectator, viewed 6th August 2015, http://www.businessspectator.com.au/article/2013/11/29/technology/why-sonys-ps4-opted-focus-gamers>.

Lamb C. W. 2013, MKTG2, 2nd edn, Cengage Learning, Melbourne, Australia.

Rivington J. & Broughall, N. 2015, Sony PS4 Review. Techradar, viewed 6th August 2015, http://www.techradar.com/au/reviews/gaming/games-consoles/sony-ps4-1131803/review>.

Rogowsky, M. 2014, Dear Sony, Here's Why So Many People Are Buying The PS4. Forbes, viewed 6th August 2015,

http://www.forbes.com/sites/markrogowsky/2014/08/21/dear-sony-heres-why-so-many-people-are-buying-the-ps4/>.

Stuart, K. 2014, Why has the playstation 4 been so successful. The Guardian, viewed 6th August 2015, http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2014/aug/22/why-has-the-playstation-4-been-so-successful>.

UK Essays 2013, Influences On The Consumer Decision Process Sony Playstation Marketing Essay. Viewed 6th August 2015, .

Usher, W. 2014, Sony Has Spent $59 Million On PS4 Ads In Five Months. Cinema Blend, viewed 6th August 2015,

http://www.cinemablend.com/games/Sony-Has-Spent-59-Million-PS4-Ads-Five-Months-64964.html>.