General Discussion Areas – Your task is to audit the choice process.
• Who is the decision-making unit?
• Who bought the product or service?
• Identify all those who played a role in the decision process. What role did they play?
What motivates the purchase?
o What problems did the product/service solve? What functions would it facilitate?
o What attributes seemed important? Characterize the decision.
• Was it a first time decision? A review of a previous decision? A casual decision? Was the amount of deliberation appropriate to the decision?
• Characterize the decision-making process.
• What triggered the process?
• Was there an information search? How was the search conducted? How much information was collected? What sources were used? When in the process was information gathered?
• How many alternatives were evaluated? Why those?
• How was the final choice determined? Where does the consumer buy?
o Why there?
Which came first: where to buy or what to buy?
General Discussion Areas -Your task is to audit the relationship between the customer and the product/service.
• How would you describe the consumption experience?
• How often is the product used or consumed? Who uses it? When? Where? How often? What feelings and opinions surround the consumption experience?
• What type of relationship does the customer have with the product or service?
• How long has the relationship been going on? How has it evolved and changed over time? What terms best describe the relationship: good, bad, mixed, ambivalence, dependency, casual, partners, exploited, exploitative, good friends?
• What kinds of things have gone wrong in the relationship?
With your product – are there ever any stock outs, unavailability of parts or service, inappropriate communication, quality lapses, violations of norms or expectations or values? If so, does that change anything in the consumer behavior pattern?
• What positive surprises have occurred?
With your product – Is there a pattern of exceptional service, welcome communication, performance above expectations, affirmation of values.
• Is the customer generally satisfied or dissatisfied with the product or service?
• What factors influence the level of felt (dis) satisfaction? How were expectations formed? Did the product exceed them or fall short? How?
What is the meaning of this product or service to the customer?
• How does the product fit into the consumer’s life? What role does it play?