The Engel Kollat Blackwell (EKB) Model of Consumer Behavior

The Engel Kollat Blackwell Model of Consumer Behavior  was created to describe the increasing, fast-growing body of knowledge concerning consumer behavior. This model, like in other models, has gone through many revisions to improve its descriptive ability of the basic relationships between components and sub-components.

The Engel Kollat Blackwell model describes consumer behavior as a 4-step decision-making process involving problem recognition, information search, alternative evaluation, and purchase decision. The model also considers how external factors like culture, social class, and reference groups as well as internal factors like motivation, personality, and knowledge influence the consumer’s decision journey. A key feature is distinguishing between high and low involvement purchases based on perceived risk.

The Engel Kollat Blackwell Model of Consumer Behavior or  consists of four distinct stages;

1. Information Input Stage:  At this stage the consumer gets information from marketing and non-marketing sources, which also influence the problem recognition stage of the decision-making process. If the consumer still does not arrive to a specific decision, the search for external information will be activated in order to arrive to a choice or in some cases if the consumer experience dissonance because the selected alternative is less satisfactory than expected.
2. Information Processing Stage:  This stage consists of the consumer’s exposure, attention, perception, acceptance, and retention of incoming information. The consumer must first be exposed to the message, allocate space for this information, interpret the stimuli, and retain the message by transferring the input to long-term memory.
3. Decision Process Stage:  The central focus of the EKB model is on five basic decision-process stages: Problem recognition, search for alternatives, alternate evaluation (during which beliefs may lead to the formation of attitudes, which in turn may result in a purchase intention) purchase, and outcomes. But it is not necessary for every consumer to go through all these stages; it depends on whether it is an extended or a routine problem-solving behavior.
4. Variables Influencing the Decision Process:  This stage consists of individual and environmental influences that affect all five stages of the decision process. Individual characteristics include motives, values, lifestyle, and personality; the social influences are culture, reference groups, and family. Situational influences, such as a consumer’s financial condition, also influence the decision process.

It can be seen that many of the elements of the EKB model are similar to Howard Sheth model of consumer behavior, however the structure of presentation and relationship between the variables differs somewhat.

The Engel Kollat Blackwell Model of Consumer Behavior  incorporates many items, which influence consumer decision-making such as values, lifestyle, personality and culture. The model did not show what factors shape these items, and why different types of personality can produce different decision-making? How will we apply these values to cope with different personalities? Religion can explain some behavioral characteristics of the consumer, and this will lead to better understanding of the model and will give more comprehensive view on decision-making.

The EKB model tries to explain clearly the interrelationships between stages in the decision process and the various variables. They attempted to relate belief-attitude-intention. An attempt was made to define the variables and specify functional relationships between the various constructs. However, the model fails to adequately explain as to how each of these influences consumer decision making. Critics argue that there are too many variables; these have not been defined; the model is vague and complex; and the validity of the model has been questionable. The model was revised in the 1990s and proposed again as the Engel, Blackwell and Miniard (EBM) model.