Hierarchy of effects

It represents a series of steps that affect customer decisions while purchasing a product or service.

The hierarchy leads to a decline in the number of customers as one moves down the sequence.

Each marketing campaign progresses in six stages, where the customer moves from being unaware to becoming an informed buyer. 

The first step is awareness, where the prospective buyer realizes the product or service through advertising channels or word of mouth. 

• The second step is gaining knowledge about the offer through communication. 

• The third stage is to develop liking or inclination where the customer finds the product or service users and plans to invest in such products or services.

• Preference is the fourth stage, when the buyer shows interest in buying from a specific brand as they eliminate all the other competitive offers from their wish list. 

• Conviction is the stage when they desire to get it.

• The sixth stage is a purchase when the customer finally pays for it. 

• These stages indicate the hierarchy of effects. Firms adopt different methodsnitor, maximize directions, and generate sales. 

• Monitoring is a method that provides ways to take action to help make informed decisions.

• If many customers get stuck at a stage or during the flow out from the pyramid, the model can be used to identify the problem.

• Maximizing directions is the level where the firm gathers data related to awareness, liking, preference, and conviction that helps in decision-making. 

The six stages come under three main categories related to consumer psychology – 

Cognitive is the thinking stage, where the consumer accumulates more information. Then they evaluate the product compared to competitive options available in the market. 

In the Affective stage, they develop an inclination or liking for the product.

The conative stage indicates when the consumer compares the pros and cons and determines their preference.

Also, there can be nonfinancial factors in capital investment decisions. 

Sales do not directly measure or provide data to evaluate a campaign’s success or related finance and marketing.