Decision Process The decision process that a consumer is going through can be d evided into five stages: problem

recognition, information search, evaluation of altern atives, purchase decision, post-purchase evaluation. Not all decision processes lead to a purchase and not all consumer decisions d o include all five stages. First of all, the de cision is made to solve a problem of any kind. Regardin g sun cream it would be protecting the skin against the sun in order to avoid a sunburn. Fo r this, information search is carried out. The consumers catch up o n how to protect they skin against the sun and what may be the best protection f actor if they choose sun cream as the best solution for the problem. This leads to the evaluation of alternatives and in many cases also a cost benefit-analysis is made to decide which product and brand image will be suitable and can take c are of the problem adequately. The consumer could for example either use a sun care product from a well known brand like NIVEA or use a cheaper product from a no name brand. Thereafter the purchase is made and the product is used by the co nsumer. The constant use of the sun cream leads either to satisfaction or dissat isfaction of the consumer, which leads to repeat purchases, or to the rejection of the sun cream. Influences on the Decision Process Of course there are a lot of factors that can influence the decision pro cess of costomers. One can distingwish between internal and external variables. Internal variables are fators such as personality, perception, previous experien ce, motivation and attitudes. Whereat external variables include environment , c ulture, social class, society, family, group influences and situational factors. All these factos also play an important role regarding the decision process of buying suncream. For example, there is a big contrast betwe en awareness and usage of sun care products between men and women. Men prefer mo re convenie nce whereat woman enjoy more luxurious sun care products. The skin s ensibility is also an important issues. The skin type applies to children, as we ll as adults. However children s skin is far thinner than adult s ones and its repair m echanism is not yet fully developed. As a result they require extra protection a nd sun screens that are specifically developed for their skin. Nowadays we can choose f rom a wide range of sun creams, lotions and sprays targeted at differen t climates and to users with different skin types. Someone with fair skin may b e well protected with a SPF (Sun Protection Factor) 20 product when being in Eng land, but if they were in Barbados they would need SPF 40. (There are also sun care products that support the natural tanning of the skin. If a consumer for instance make previous experience that it s skin needs very long u ntill it is tanned he or she can buy suncream that on one side provides reliable sun protection and on the other supports skin s natural tanning.)