An Introduction to AISAS: Five Things You Should Know About This Customer Journey Framework

Introduced in 2004 by Dentsu Inc, one of the largest Japanese advertising agencies, AISAS is a model of customer behaviour that helps businesses understand consumer behaviour which aids them in their product marketing and promotion.

What is AISAS?

AISAS is a concept described by the acronym for Attention, Interest, Search, Action, and Share. The AISAS model helps explain consumer behaviour processes.

Before AISAS, communication was limited to a one-way flow because only companies could address their customers. However, with the advent of the internet, social media, and networking sites, mutual or two-way communication between companies and consumers has become possible.

As communication methods have changed, it has become necessary for companies to pay more attention to mutual communication when it comes to marketing. For this reason, the AISAS model was created. For example, when consumers want to purchase a product, they usually read several product reviews before making a decision or an actual purchase. After buying the product, they are likely to share their evaluation, thoughts and feelings, in the form of a product review, on either social networking sites or the product-listing page itself.

The AISAS model can be summarised as follows:

1. Attention: getting to know about the product or service.
2. Interest: knowing that the product or service has some benefit for them.
3. Search: searching for the product and reviews on the internet.
4. Action: purchasing if the product has good reviews.
5. Share: sharing feedback about the product with others.

It is evident from AISAS that companies need to understand the consumer behaviour process and utilise these results in their marketing efforts.

Understanding the AISAS model from an example

To understand the AISAS model in more detail, we will use the example of how a product, “Product A”, sells in the market. The actions that a business needs to take to address each step of the AISAS process are as follows:

Attention

Attention is the stage where customers learn about the product or service. Usually, customers recognize products through web adverts, commercials, social media, newspapers, etc. To shift from the attention to the interest phase, it is essential to know your target market, and to highlight how your product or service stands out from its competitors.

In the case of “Product A”, we will assume that the target market is female office staff in their 20s. Assuming that mass marketing would be difficult due to budget constraints, we will be using Instagram ads only, as that is one of the more popular social networking sites for women in their 20s.

Interest

In the interest phase, the customers recognize that the product or service has some benefit for them. Even if the consumers see the product in commercials or online adverts, the product will not interest them unless it helps solve their particular worries or concerns.

To get the customers interested, businesses need to pay attention to the following:

• Craft marketing copy highlighting how the product or service will benefit the customers.
• Create a unique, eye-catching design that catches the attention of customers.
• Portray a storyline that customers can identify with.

In our example of “Product A”, we will adopt a catchphrase that appeals to our target customers to attract their interest.

Search

In the search stage, the customers use search engines or social media/networking sites to look at reliable reviews and product information. To appear before the customers, businesses need to implement SEO and SEM measures, and collect and highlight product reviews on their social media sites.

In the case of “Product A”, since the target was women in their 20s, we will assume that this particular market segment reads reviews on social networking sites. So naturally, our company will be more active on a social media platform and will set out measures to collect and highlight reviews for their new potential customers.

Action

The action phase consists of the purchasing stage. To prevent customers from leaving, businesses must ensure that their website or landing page is user-friendly, with an easy checkout process. Although these steps are often overlooked, optimising the payment method and checkout process can help in securing conversions.

In our example of “Product A”, we will assume that the target customer group searches online on the website where they can purchase the product. For this reason, we will create a landing page with an easy single-form, one-click checkout process.

Share

In the sharing phase, the customers who have purchased the product or service leave a review for other potential customers. The more reviews you have, the more authority the product will have, and the more information your potential new customers will have access to.

In our example of “Product A”, we can make the product packaging attractive and easy to open so customers can enjoy a good first impression and leave a product review easily. In addition, we will be offering an incentive of a free gift once a review has been posted.

AISAS can be also be used to create a customer journey

Customer journey is a visualisation of a customer's behaviour from the first interaction to the purchase and even beyond. Since the AISAS model also reflects consumer behaviour, it is very similar to a customer journey map. However, they are not the same. The difference lies in the size of the target market. While the customer journey "visualises" the consumer behaviour that has been reduced to a certain persona, AISAS is a general representation of customer behaviour. For this reason, creating a customer journey framework with the AISAS model as a concept is a common way of using it.