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The consumer decision-making process has been an obvious field of interest for marketers since people figured out that there was a routine of events during the progression. The social wave of marketing has made McKinsey as well as others aware of the change from such flat marketing practices to more layers that lie in a consumer’s decision. People are more aware and informed and they absolutely have to be more engaged in the overall experience of buying a product. This world is social and now every part of our lives from what we eat and wear and do also has to be notable to our networked society.

One way that social media is effecting the traditional funnel method is that the initial consideration set has begun smaller because of information overload initially and has grown to include almost double the amount of brands considered as they actively seek more information. Consumers are now so eagerly seeking all the information they can find in order to make a well educated purchase that it is now more important to offer them the information they need, exactly where they are looking for it. Not so much shoving information down their throats hoping they might remember the taste later, but lightly spreading the information over a wide variety of mediums in an attractive manner. Consumers are in charge (or at least they think they are) and as marketers it is important for them to feel that way, and it is our job to guide them along that path with all the information they need to make a great purchase, of your product.

Post purchase actions are becoming a large part of the decision making journey, one persons past experience is becoming prime information for the next persons initial search. Reviews and blogs are driving the passive loyalists to become more active loyalists. It is not only enough to like a product and guarantee a repeat purchaser, now it matters what that customer is doing post purchase, who they are telling and how they are telling them. 70% of people now admit to reading reviews before they will ever consider buying a product. Encouraging satisfied customers to write about your product or to write a review or check in at a location is the desired post purchase dedication that every company wants.

The Kinsey report states basically that now there is a large shift in the buying process for consumers. They are no longer chasing down a certain product after weighing through numerous stores and commercials and such, but now they are gathering mass amounts of information and interaction from their computers, often before ever leaving the house. This means that there is more time for marketers to create an interactive relationship with each consumer in the beginning phases, but also providing more time to enter the decision process along the way through newly introduced mediums.

Google says it better than I can, watch this 2min vid: