Final answer:
The business buyer has to make the fewest decisions when involved in a straight rebuy. Such a repurchase decision involves minimal uncertainty because of prior experience with the product and the supplier. Concerning imperfect information, the degree varies based on the type of purchase and can affect satisfaction and choices.
Step-by-step explanation:
The student's question relates to the types of purchasing decisions made in a business context. The correct answer is (c) straight rebuy, as this type of purchase decision involves the fewest decisions by the business buyer. In a straight rebuy, a business reorders an existing product or service from a list of acceptable suppliers without checking for new options or reevaluating suppliers. Since there is an established relationship and prior experience with the product, there is less uncertainty involved, and therefore the process requires fewer decisions.
When comparing different types of purchases, the degree of imperfect information varies and can affect the consumer's satisfaction and decision-making process. Imperfect information refers to the gaps between what a buyer knows and what there is to know about a product's quality, value, or other attributes. If we consider other purchase scenarios:
- Buying apples from a roadside stand likely involves relatively low imperfect information since the buyer can easily assess the quality of the apples.
- Buying dinner at the neighborhood restaurant also has a relatively low degree of imperfect information, as the restaurant's reputation and the buyer's previous experiences provide useful information.
- Buying a used laptop at a garage sale would generally carry a high degree of imperfect information because it’s challenging to assess its condition and history for potential issues.
- Ordering flowers over the internet for a friend in a different city could have a moderate to high degree of imperfect information, depending on the reputation of the florist and any reviews available online.
In making these consumption decisions, individuals are driven by utility—the satisfaction or benefit they expect to receive from the purchase. The process is characterized by considering happiness, costs, trade-offs, and ultimately choosing what provides the highest personal satisfaction.