The SiriusDecisions B-to-B Buying Decision Process Framework

Decisionmaking is a cognitive process defined by psychologists as the selection of a course of action from multiple alternatives (e.g. what to eat, where to shop). John Dewey, the pragmatic philosopher and psychologist, introduced the first decision process framework for consumer buying in his book How We Think, which was published in 1910. Since then, Dewey’s framework has been adapted many times, but the five basic stages of consumer decisions remain the same: problem/need recognition, information search, evaluation of alternatives, purchase decision and post-purchase behavior.