Sellers, businesses or service providers should not leave buying decisions to chance. Those who analyze and evaluate both the types of buying decisions and the phases in the buyer decision process can influence the buying behavior of customers and control it through targeted marketing. Buying decision depend on cultural-social, individual, financial and psychological criteria and factors, depending on the category, situation and person. Nevertheless, they can be divided into essential phases in B2C and B2B situations as well as in e-commerce and stationary retail.
Which phases are involved depends on the phase model used to illustrate the customer journey. The five-phase model according to John Dewey and the Consumer Decision Journey (CDJ) according to McKinsey are among the most established marketing models.