Buying decisions : Emotional and Rational (2024)

By: Diksha Dolas

We all love shopping! Whether it is spending your Sunday in grocery shopping or finally getting that smartphone after saving your multiple salaries! We sometimes think too much before buying anything whereas sometimes we simply swipe our credit cards and get what we want! Decision making becomes an important factor while purchasing anything. Let us look at an example, when we go grocery shopping we always end up buying things we don’t necessarily “Need”. Whether it is a packet of newly launched noodles or buying a full bunch of folders of various colors after going to a stationary store.

But how often do we question ourselves if we really Need that one expensive bag with only 1 pocket “for showoff” or a bag that costs a fair amount of money because it serves multiple purposes?

Luxury and Need are 2 different aspects and one should maintain a decent balance between both the two. Decision making depends on what you need and what you want. It depends on one’s emotional decisions and rational decisions . It depends on what kind of a product you’re purchasing, the time period you’re purchasing it at, how durable the product is and etc.

The decision making process is the process where the consumers identify what their needs are and thus, what and how they can make the best deals of what they are buying. To understand all of this in depth, let’s take a run through the 2 types of decision making processes.

A) Emotional decision making

B)Rational decision making

A) Emotional Decision Making :

Decisions cannot be made solely on the basis of logic because they might have their own advantages and disadvantages. Therefore, emotions kick in to guide people and inform them about how they can make decisions. Emotions are very important for choosing, they take charge of what we do and how we behave. They have the potential to change and mend our thought processes.

Human beings give keen attention rarely and brands make the best marketing strategies in a way that consumers will engage more. For example, we often get notifications like, “Hurry! Only one left in stock! Grab it before the deal ends!”

These emotional promotions of products are what makes us buy them. We make emotional purchases because we either like something or want something. They can include apparel, shoes, accessories, luxury products, and anything our personal tastes our desires revolve around. These purchases are more impulsive since we do not do a lot of calculation for buying a pair of sneakers for say!

B) Rational Decision Making :

Rational purchase is not a luxury or a want; it is a necessity. The consumer makes a rational purchase after all the survey and analysis; if the product is going to be a long term investment, if the current time is the best time to buy it, etc. For example, we will buy an apartment or a piece of land not because it is at an amazing price. If that’s the case, won’t we buy two instead? Probably not. These are the long term investments which 10 years down the line from now; will definitely add to your income if rented and invested wisely. Their prices will double and you will not regret buying them in the first place. This is called a rational purchase.

After making a purchase, we often ask ourselves questions like

Will I regret it? Should I have waited for the prices to drop down? Or Did I make the right choice?

Again, it depends on what the product is and how much you are investing in it. But make sure that you are keeping a balance between your “Needs” and your “Wants” and life will look organized like never before!