Is the Purchase Funnel Always Accurate?

Today in class, we analyzed the consumer Purchase Funnel. We made connections to where different social networks fall in the funnel as well as where promotional mix elements would go. This conversation about the funnel got me to start thinking about my personal experiences.

The articles we read for class suggest that Facebook and Twitter are at the top of the funnel and relate to your initial awareness. In my personal experience with Facebook, I do not think I've ever seen a Facebook post one of my friends wrote about a brand and have it spark my interest about something so much that it led me to search for information or pursue it. Yes, seeing brands on Facebook makes me knowledgeable and aware that they exist, but its a rarity that I'll see a post regarding a brand and then think about buying something from them. If I'm looking to buy a product, it's typically because I have a need for it. For instance, I need a new water bottle because my Camelback just broke (frown face). I didn't go on Facebook to browse or become aware of different water bottle brands- I went to Amazon immediately. This also goes against what we talked about in class, because Amazon is at the bottom of the funnel.

What I'm getting at, is that I'm starting to think that consumers' decision making and purchase funnel experiences are extremely subjective and different for every individual. My experiences with AIDA and purchasing things are always very different- especially depending on what kind of product I buy. I think that high involvement purchase decisions require much more thorough research and searching online than a low involvement purchase, like my water bottle for instance.

This makes me wonder- is looking at social media in relation to the purchase funnel only valid if it is a high involvement consumer situation? Are consumers more likely to seek information on social media platforms if they're highly involved, or will they just use the information presented to them as the starting point when buying things? Our class discussion has left me with a lot of questions about the model. Like I've found myself saying over and over again, I am questioning everything we've been discussing, because marketing seems so subjective. One of my professors instilled in my mind that "the only generalization you can make about advertising is that there are no generalizations to be made about advertising" (I think Stephanie touched upon this in her prep questions a few weeks back). This concept seems to hold true for marketing too, as all generalizations made about it can definitely be questioned/argued.