Share. LinkedIn. Facebook. Twitter0“I am not a product of my circumstances. I am a product of my decisions.” – Stephan CoveyThe speed of technological advancements has heralded an era where consumers are bombarded with new offerings of products, services, and even new types of work. Hyper-connectivity and the mobile workforce have made it even easier for consumers to switch products or services and for employees to move from one company to another.The digitalization of business has pushed the demand for companies to transform in order to keep up with the intense competition. Making smart, informed decisions at the right time is critical for a business, ultimately impacting its bottom line.
Although the benefits of technology are clear, the latest research by SAP and Oxford Economics, reports that only 55% of executives are making data driven decisions – and only 43% in real-time!Decision-making in the digital ageTimes have changed and the decision-making process in the new age is entirely different from the past and significantly more challenging. I see this along the following three dimensions:- Businesses today need to be agile and react in real-time in order to compete in the dynamic digital economy.- The influx of data can either make or crush strategic decision-making.- Repercussions of a bad decision can now be even more damaging in today’s highly transparent world.Technology as a simplifierTechnology can help to improve business agility and aid people to make the most informed decisions for their unique business requirements.- Cloud Analytics solutions: Reporting in the past meant massive Excel spreadsheets or PowerPoint decks.
May 21, 2019 In summary, managing decision making in the digital age requires at least seven key concepts:. Rebalancing the physician-patient relationship to a more equal footing, moving from the didactic to the partnership approach in terms of style. Digital transformation requires operational agility from organizations which reaches into decisions and decision making. In general, decision making has already moved to more agile environments such as WhatsApp and other instant messaging application which have made the overall communication more informal and unstructured.
However, the cloud-based solutions available today can integrate all sources of data to provide a single source of truth, allowing people to access information in real-time and react to changes instantly. With access to instant and data-driven insights at their fingertips, executives are able to improve their decision-making significantly based on real-time and factual information, enabling immediate and precise action.- Machine Learning: In fact, without being realized by many, machine learning has already begun to be a part of working life, making daily business decisions much faster.
Downloadable Resources.If marketing has one goal, it’s to reach consumers at the moments that most influence their decisions. That’s why consumer electronics companies make sure not only that customers see their televisions in stores but also that those televisions display vivid high-definition pictures. It’s why Amazon.com, a decade ago, began offering targeted product recommendations to consumers already logged in and ready to buy. And it explains P&G’s decision, long ago, to produce radio and then TV programs to reach the audiences most likely to buy its products—hence, the term “soap opera.”Marketing has always sought those moments, or, when consumers are open to influence.
For years, touch points have been understood through the metaphor of a “funnel”—consumers start with a number of potential brands in mind (the wide end of the funnel), marketing is then directed at them as they methodically reduce that number and move through the funnel, and at the end they emerge with the one brand they chose to purchase (Exhibit 1). But today, the funnel concept fails to capture all the touch points and key buying factors resulting from the explosion of product choices and, coupled with the emergence of an increasingly discerning, well-informed consumer. A more sophisticated approach is required to help marketers navigate this environment, which is less linear and more complicated than the funnel suggests. We call this approach the consumer decision journey. Our thinking is applicable to any geographic market that has different kinds of media, Internet access, and wide product choice, including big cities in emerging markets such as China and India. We strive to provide individuals with disabilities equal access to our website.
If you would like information about this content we will be happy to work with you. Please email us at:We developed this approach by examining the purchase decisions of almost 20,000 consumers across five industries and three continents. Our research showed that the proliferation of media and products requires marketers to find new ways to get their brands included in the initial-consideration set that consumers develop as they begin their decision journey.
We also found that because of the shift away from one-way communication—from marketers to consumers—toward a two-way conversation, marketers need a more systematic way to satisfy customer demands and manage word-of-mouth. In addition, the research identified two different types of, challenging companies to reinvigorate their loyalty programs and the way they manage the customer experience.Finally, the research reinforced our belief in the importance not only of aligning all elements of marketing—strategy, spending, channel management, and message—with the journey that consumers undertake when they make purchasing decisions but also of integrating those elements across the organization. When marketers understand this journey and direct their spending and messaging to the moments of maximum influence, they stand a much greater chance of reaching consumers in the right place at the right time with the right message. How consumers make decisionsEvery day, people form impressions of brands from touch points such as advertisements, news reports, conversations with family and friends, and product experiences.
Unless consumers are actively shopping, much of that exposure appears wasted. But what happens when something triggers the impulse to buy? Those accumulated impressions then become crucial because they shape the initial-consideration set: the small number of brands consumers regard at the outset as potential purchasing options.The funnel analogy suggests that consumers systematically narrow the initial-consideration set as they weigh options, make decisions, and buy products. Then, the postsale phase becomes a trial period determining consumer loyalty to brands and the likelihood of buying their products again.
Marketers have been taught to “push” marketing toward consumers at each stage of the funnel process to influence their behavior. But our qualitative and quantitative research in the automobile, skin care, insurance, consumer electronics, and mobile-telecom industries shows that something quite different now occurs.Actually, the decision-making process is a more circular journey, with four primary phases representing potential battlegrounds where marketers can win or lose: initial consideration; active evaluation, or the process of researching potential purchases; closure, when consumers buy brands; and postpurchase, when consumers experience them (Exhibit 2). The funnel metaphor does help a good deal—for example, by providing a way to understand the strength of a brand compared with its competitors at different stages, highlighting the bottlenecks that stall adoption, and making it possible to focus on different aspects of the marketing challenge. Nonetheless, we found that in three areas profound changes in the way consumers make buying decisions called for a new approach. We strive to provide individuals with disabilities equal access to our website.
If you would like information about this content we will be happy to work with you. Please email us at: Brand considerationImagine that a consumer has decided to buy a car. As with most kinds of products, the consumer will immediately be able to name an initial-consideration set of brands to purchase. In our qualitative research, consumers told us that the fragmenting of media and the proliferation of products have actually made them reduce the number of brands they consider at the outset. Faced with a plethora of choices and communications, consumers tend to fall back on the limited set of brands that have made it through the wilderness of messages.
Brand awareness matters: brands in the initial-consideration set can be up to three times more likely to be purchased eventually than brands that aren’t in it.Not all is lost for brands excluded from this first stage, however. Contrary to the funnel metaphor, the number of brands under consideration during the active-evaluation phase may now actually expand rather than narrow as consumers seek information and shop a category. Brands may “interrupt” the decision-making process by entering into consideration and even force the exit of rivals. The number of brands added in later stages differs by industry: our research showed that people actively evaluating personal computers added an average of 1 brand to their initial-consideration set of 1.7, while automobile shoppers added 2.2 to their initial set of 3.8 (Exhibit 3). This change in behavior creates opportunities for marketers by adding touch points when brands can make an impact.
Brands already under consideration can no longer take that status for granted. We strive to provide individuals with disabilities equal access to our website. If you would like information about this content we will be happy to work with you. Please email us at: Empowered consumersThe second profound change is that outreach of consumers to marketers has become dramatically more important than marketers’ outreach to consumers. Marketing used to be driven by companies; “pushed” on consumers through traditional advertising, direct marketing, sponsorships, and other channels. At each point in the funnel, as consumers whittled down their brand options, marketers would attempt to sway their decisions.
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This imprecise approach often failed to reach the right consumers at the right time.In today’s decision journey, consumer-driven marketing is increasingly important as customers seize control of the process and actively “pull” information helpful to them. Our research found that two-thirds of the touch points during the active-evaluation phase involve consumer-driven marketing activities, such as Internet reviews and word-of-mouth recommendations from friends and family, as well as in-store interactions and recollections of past experiences. A third of the touch points involve company-driven marketing (Exhibit 4). Traditional marketing remains important, but the change in the way consumers make decisions means that marketers must move aggressively beyond purely push-style communication and learn to, such as word-of-mouth and Internet information sites.