John is shopping for ingredients to make an apple cobbler, which he always brings to his family's annual reunions. when he looks for honeycrisp apples, the variety he usually uses, he finds the supermarket bin to be empty. the produce clerk tells john that the supermarket is out of honeycrisp apples, but that another location several miles away just received a fresh shipment that morning. john then notices that the store has an appetizing selection of gala apples, and decides that they might work for his cobbler as well. what stage of the consumer decision process does this action represent?a. need recognitionb. purchase decisionc. information searchd. evaluation of alternatives

The consumer decision process is a comprehensive process that consists of various actions consumers take through multiple stages to arrive at a specific buying decision. Since each consumer has different needs and wants, the process varies for each. However, there 5 common stages in a general consumer decision process.

(1) Need Recognition

(2) Information Search

(3) Evaluation of Alternatives

(4) Purchase Decision

(5) Post Purchase Behavior

Now that we have identified the common consumer decision process, lets look at each option in the question and understand how they are right/wrong.

Option a: This option is wrong because the need recognition stage occurs when a consumer determines their exact need and requirement. So in given example, this stage was represented when John went shopping to purchase the required ingredients. John knew what he wanted and why he wanted it at this stage.

Option b. This option is wrong. The information stage is where the consumer continues to obtain information about the products that can serve their requirements. John knew what he was looking for so this information search stage was not exactly witnessed.

Option c. This option is correct. The purchase decision is made when all of the stages, except the post purchase behavior stage, has passed. In our example, John reached this stage when he had decided that the gala apples at the store would work as an ingredient for his cobbler. At this point he had decided to go with the gala apples and thus his purchase decision was made.

Option d. This option is wrong. Evaluation of alternatives is when the consumer compares and contrasts competing products and brands on the basis of several factors including price, utility, perception, feedback, value, accessibility etc. This stage was when John found out that the other location was several miles away and considered whether the gala apples would work instead or not. This stage ended when john decided to go for the gala apples rather than going to the other supermarket to buy honeycrisp apples.

Therefore, option c. is the correction answer.