Decision-Making Process of Attending an Event
When deciding whether or not to attend an event, a person has traditionally gone through 5 steps to decide whether they want to go. The first step is “problem/need recognition”, the second is “information search”, the third is the “evaluation of alternatives”, then there is the “purchase-after behavior”, and finally “post purchase behavior after”. Information search is perhaps the most important step out of these. People will find all the relevant information needed to see if and how the event will satisfy his or her needs. However, one new variable that has affected this decision-making process is the Internet. The latest developments in social media have impacted the way we make decisions. Specifically, for the “information search” step, search nowadays has been heavily influenced by peer influence. Social advertising platforms like Facebook, or Twitter are directly impacting the way we gather information about events. This change has also effected information based reasoning and direct-benefit reasoning.
Information based reasoning refers to one making a decision based on if they think people know an event is going to be entertaining, and direct-benefit reasons refers to whether there is a direct benefit for one to attend an event. With the creation of social advertising platforms like Facebook, and Twitter, it makes it a lot easier for people to perform the “information search”. By looking at event pages on Facebook, people are immediately able to use information based reasoning or direct-benefit reasoning to decide whether they want to go.
http://www.eventmanagerblog.com/decision-making-process/