My level of involvement as a consumer
When it comes to buying equipment for my baking business I tend to be highly involved.
If applying Solomon, (2018) and his description of different types of percieved risks, and applying them to my purchases, I arrive at the following decisions:
Buying larger more expensive items such as stand mixers, cake decorating tools, etc, carry monetary risks as it's a big investment for the business.
In addition to this they carry functional risks, as they have to work consistently over multiple uses, which in turn, ties in with the monetary risk, as if a product is expensive, I would expect it to last longer than a cheaper and poorly made alternative.
As well as these risks certain products I use which cannot be easily recycled are disposable piping bags. I use these because they save me time in the long run as they can just be disposed of once they're finished being used, compared to the reusable ones which need to be washed and dried after each use, and are very difficult to get 100% dry.
Looking at this it is fair to say this purchase carries social and psychological risks to a certain degree. Customers might not be thrilled about the piping bags and their environmental impact, in addition to this it can lead to concerns over how the business will be viewed by consumers, who carry ethical and environmental decisions in high regards.
In terms of the Ladder of Loyalty (Egan 2011, cited in Aka et al., 2016).
I would class the majority of my purchases for supplies for my cake business as repeat purchases, in addition to being an advocate for my local bakers supply centre. This is because of the level of exceptional customer service that I have received in the past from them. As well as the quality and reasonable price of supplies.
Solomon, M.R. (2018) Consumer Behavior: Buying, Having, and Being, 12th edn, Harlow, Pearson Education Limited.
Aka, D. O., Kehinde, O. J., and Ogunnaike, O. O. (2016) ‘Relationship marketing and customer satisfaction: a conceptual perspective’, Binus Business Review, vol. 7, no. 2, pp. 185–190 [Online]. DOI: 10.21512/bbr.v7i2.1502 (Accessed 10 December 2021).