Post Purchase Behaviour - Definition, Importance, Steps & Example
What is Post Purchase Behaviour?
Post Purchase Behaviour defines the overall reaction and response of a customer after buying a product or service. Generally after a product purchase the buyer can either be happy and fine or can regret the purchase altogether. In this case the customer undergoes post purchase dissonance.
The modern customers have lot of options to express their post purchase feelings and reactions. Customers can use social media, reviews and other means to immediately recommend or complain about a product.
Importance of Post Purchase Behaviour
Understanding the customer behaviour after a sale has been made is very very important. Many organizations tend to ignore the post purchase behavior of a customer as the sale has already been made but what is important here is that if the customers are not happy then the probability of repeat business would reduce significantly. Repeat business is one of the parameters on which a business can sustain for a long term. The post purchase dissonance can impact the brand image and the overall sales in the market due to poor word of mouth. If the customer is happy after a purchase, they would not only come back to buy again but also they would recommend the product to others as well helping the brand and sales further.
Aftermarket support is very important these days to counter post purchase behavior dissonance. There is still some time in which the customer issues can be resolved. If a customer complains about an issue and it is resolved, it would still keep the customer happy and give the brand another chance. This is only possible if it was due to temporary issue or defect. If the customers in general are not happy with the core product quality and features, then the overall customer satisfaction would be very low and the perception and brand image would suffer.
This dissonance can be due to:
1. Large number of alternatives
2. The other alternatives have better features
3. Performance of the product
4. High financial commitment towards the product but derived value is less
5. Low durability of the product
These factors should be addressed in every possible iteration to make products better and reduce the chances of dissonance.
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Steps to improve the post purchase behaviour
Many companies now focus on the customer even after they have bought the product so that the customer can consider the brand again in future. The entire customer relationship management is based on this.
Below are some of the steps which can be taken to improve the behaviour
1. Proper Customer Service and Support Channels
In case the customer needs to understand or talk to someone about the product after buying, the company should provide clear channels like contact center, knowledge, service portals etc. so that customer can contact in case an issue arises. This way customer would have a clear path to take in case there is some issue in the bought product or service. Sometimes the issues can be minor and easily solvable through support
2. User Manual and Knowledge Portal
Proper product documentation, manual should be provided with product especially which require high involvement like vacuum cleaners, cars, appliances so that customer can refer them to resolve an issue. A help portal can go long way in resolving issues automatically
3. Returns Management
Customers should be assured that in case the product is not working as per their expectations they can always return it. The company should clearly define the processes in case of return so that the experience is good in case the customer chooses to return.
4. Understand the customer feedback
It is very important to understand what the customers are saying about the products and services. A company should try to gather feedback from customers and use it to improve the products so that next time, less number of customers are dissatisfied.
Post Purchase Behaviour Example
A customer buys a new toothpaste in the market which claims to have great taste and experience. After using, the customer doesn’t like the taste and feels the previous brand was much better, this will then cause dissonance. The customer will then not buy the product.
Hence, this concludes the definition of Post Purchase Behaviour along with its overview.
This article has been researched & authored by the Business Concepts Team. It has been reviewed & published by the MBA Skool Team. The content on MBA Skool has been created for educational & academic purpose only.
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