Understanding consumer decision-making in adopting wild venison: a suggested framework

South African venison is new to many South African consumers and retail outlets. Although it is a natural, healthy red meat alternative, it still has very low sales. The marketing of venison can be enhanced if marketers understand the individual decision-making processes that consumers engage in when contemplating accepting or rejecting the product. By incorporating selected aspects of some classical consumer decision-making models with the findings of a survey of 300 consumers, a five stage framework depicting the typical processes potential adopters of venison pass through while deciding whether to buy venison on a continuous basis, was developed. The external and internal forces that influence each of these stages are also discussed.