Re-thinking McKinsey Consumer Decision Journeys

I've read a few articles and posts recently on the non-linear nature of the customer journey and the inadequacy of the traditional funnel. This includes an excellent post and WARC article from Marc Binkley . After re-reading the original McKinsey & Company article on The Consumer Decision Journey , (essential reading) it may be time to re-think the McKinsey model slightly. Something like this:

So why re-think this model

The original artcicle by McKinsey makes some great points and is well worth reading. If nothing else it highlights the futility of traditional 'funnel thinking' with regard to consumer journeys. However, there are just a few reasons to re-think the McKinsey model for strategy and marketing decision-makers:

1. Triggers can be positive and negative; they can lead to consideration or an early exit from the journey.
2. There are exits to consider. Journeys are not always completed. Consideration of exists is a critical process in the journey. Understanding the reasons exit decisions are made can be as, and sometimes more informative than continued progress through the rest of the journey.
3. Loyalty or re-purchase is not guaranteed. As the original article says there are different kinds of loyalty, passive and active loyalists and opportunities to interrupt the 'loyalty loop'. It important to emphasise this and consider recent evidence that would suggests 'loyalty' isn't what we all used to think it was and consumers are a lot more promiscuous that we assumed.

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