The Grocery-Store Purchase Situation - Essay Example

The Grocery-Store Purchase Situation When a pet owner goes to a grocery store, it is customary to shop for a pet food brand alongside with the other grocery products the pet owner decides to buy. So, the pet owner usually has a list of things to buy, where the pet food brand of choice is included. Let us go back to the decision making process of the pet owner before she lists down the pet food brand of preference in its shopping list. First, she recognizes either a problem or an opportunity. Perhaps she is checking the stocks of grocery items that she plans to buy, and finds out that she is running out of food for her pet. There she recognizes the problem, where the decision-making for the purchase of pet food starts. Depending on her level of involvement in choosing the brand of pet food, as well as the perceived risk of the decision outcome will determine how she would deal with the problem. If she is not actively involved in searching for information to solve her problem, this is what is more likely to happen: perhaps she would first look into the evoked set, those brands which she knows well and are choices for her to meet this problem. In any way, her decision would only be based on a small set of brands that she knows, aside from her loyalty brand for she is not actively involved in searching for information to solve her problem. Perhaps, it has been the custom for her to buy a certain brand of pet food, and she sees that her pet is very satisfied with it—so she just buys another pack of that brand. Since the brand meets her expectation, she continues to buy it and writes it down on her shopping list. She has just taken the ‘habitual path’ of brand decision-making in this case, as the purchase decision is out of habit. There are other instances where this kind of decision-making varies. This buying out of habit may be stopped by different factors, which includes: an enticing advertisement about a competitor product which makes her think of trying it, then she puts that brand in replacement of the other on her shopping list; or she by the time she gets to the isle, she finds that a competitor product has an attractive sales promotion that entices her to buy; or she sees a new brand that offers the same functional benefits and nutrients that are offered in her loyalty brand, which is in the stack and makes her think of trying it and sees if her pet would like it. Because her brand decision for the pet food depends on the relevance and risks associated with the decision—whether or not she’s involved in searching for information to solve the problem, her purchase will depend in any way with the benefits peripheral to the product. Any amount of enticing advertisement, attractive sales promotion, elegant packaging, etc can make her shift from her loyalty brand to a different brand if the perceived risks are not that great on her part as a pet owner. The specialist-pet-store purchase situation If we look at the specialist pet store purchase situation, we may ask—when and why does a pet owner go to such a store to buy pet food? Certainly not for convenience’s sake, because most of these specialist stores range from “small stores run by pet loving hobbyists, to smart independent out of town outlets that are ‘destination shops’ both for their specialist range and for the opportunity for dad to show the kids the birds, fish and other animals which are sold there.” From the very purposes these specialty shops serve, we can see that it is not the same as buying a brand out of being part of the shopping list. When pet owners visit these sorts of specialty shop, aside from buying a pet food, they have other purposes in mind. It may be that in those purposes, buying pet food is the least. However, by the time an opportunity or a problem arises when a pet owner is within the specialty store, such leads to a decision of having to buy pet food that is different from buying from the grocery store. The difference lies in the number of additional factors that can influence the decision of the pet owner. In a specialty store, apart from the advertisements that are previously heard, and in-store displays and sales promotions, there are people whom the customers or pet owners can interact with. Here, a specialist’s or store owners’ comment can matter more than any amount of advertising or in-store promotions. Here, the specialist or the store owner, being seen as an authority on matters concerning pets, can provide a small chatter with the customer about things like pet food. Recommendations from these store owners are highly valued by the pet owners, and the fact that they are in a specialist store all the more makes a difference. In a specialist store, if the opportunity or the problem arises concerning pet food, there is a person whom the customer can talk to and ask about certain options and opinions. While the customer or pet owner is not actively seeking information, which allows her to just choose among the brands it personally considers if she buys in the grocery store—a small chatter with the store owner of the specialist store can provide her those information she otherwise would not have known. Even a small amount of information about the different brands of pet foods she has not known before will broaden her choices as regards her pet’s needs, which can alter her decision of buying her loyalty brand. The main apparent difference between the two purchase situations. The main apparent difference between the two situations is the process between identifying an opportunity or a problem, and coming up with a decision to buy a certain brand. Obviously, in the first situation, since the pet owner is not actively searching for information about the alternatives she has to find a solution to the problem or opportunity, she is limited to the knowledge that she has about a small set of brands, the set that is called the ‘evoked set.’ Whenever she has some petty questions about any of it, she would not bother to look and bother herself of it if it is not entirely relevant to her, or there are no apparent perceived risk that are significant to making the decision. In the second situation, even when the pet owner is not actively looking for information to solve a problem or an opportunity concerning the brand decision of a pet food, a small chatter with the store owner can give her a lot of information she has never known before about the different brands. This knowledge, which comes from the store owner of the specialist store, gives more weight than any amount of advertisement of in-store sales promotion or elegant packaging. This gives way to a lot more alternatives, or a different view regarding the various brands that is part of her evoked set. This knowledge eventually has some influence over her decision to purchase a certain brand. 2. Discuss how the principles of relationship marketing may be applied in the pet food market and how marketing communications can contribute to this. The marketing philosophy emphasizes a consumer-centric approach to a business operation. According to Kotler and Armstrong in their book Principles of Marketing, it is more costly in the long run to acquire new customers than maintain profitable relationships with old ones (2004). Also, according to them, it is cheaper to offer new products to these old customers than to offer new products to new customers—which has a significant economic effect on how a company conducts its operations. This also signifies that a brand decision where a new customer decides to try a brand is just the start of the relationship, where repeat purchase is the desired behaviour in the long run. In order to retain customers and encourage repeat purchase of the brand, maintaining a healthy relationship with them, through marketing communications is necessary. These specialist stores, which are a new way to reach the target customers, provide more opportunities for marketing communications. While the creation of brands delves more now with the synergy of benefits a brand offers. Aside from the functional and emotional benefits, process and relationship benefits are benefits that contribute most to the creation of a brand. This creation of new channels to distribute the product leads to increase in number of ‘touch points’ where the essence of a brand can be reinforced. By utilizing personal interactions between store owners and customers, relationship benefits of the brand can further be included in the benefits a brand can offer. Relationship marketing is about utilizing a constant, two-way dialog with the customer. By establishing relationships between the brand and the pet owners through people, in this case the store owners, a brand can be valued more. At the same time, brand owners or manufacturers can hear from the customers through these store owners which give feedback about the attitude, perception, wants, or even the profiles of these customers. This sort of a two-way dialog can lead to the creation of knowledge about how to better serve these customers, and eventually strengthening the relationship between brand owners and customers in order to satisfy and in turn retain them. Through marketing communications, this two-way dialog can be maintained which will result in a healthy relationship between the two parties—the very principle of relationship marketing in order to retain profitable consumers in the long-run, once they are already acquired. This has serious economic contribution to the manufacturers as regards the costs of acquiring new customers versus retaining profitable ones and maintaining healthy relationship with them are measured. Another relevance of this in relationship marketing and marketing communications is seeing the store-owner as another ‘influencer’ which can contribute to the decision-making process of an individual. These store owners, being owners of specialist stores can be viewed as opinion leaders who can be considered an authority as for the source of knowledge about a brand. They can help in the marketing communications process through public relations—which will help disseminate information about a brand, or creating a buzz about the brand in order to influence purchase. 3. Discuss how the ‘Elaboration Likelihood Model’ of how marketing communications works may be applied to the pet food market. (If there are different situations or applications these should be discussed.) According to Tom Duncan in his book Principles of Advertising and IMC, elaboration “refers to the degree to which customers think about a message and relate the information to their own lives as they make purchase decisions” (2005, p. 144). The elaboration likelihood model tells us that a brand decision depends on the whether a message is taken through the cognitive route, or the peripheral route depending on the relevance of the product, involvement of the consumer in the decision, and the apparent and perceived risks of coming up with a certain brand decision in a purchase situation. By looking at the pet food market, we can see that the purchase situation for a pet owner usually takes the peripheral or indirect route to a decision-making. The reason for this, is that unless a customer is actively involved in searching for information to solve a problem or meet an opportunity, as it actively evaluate alternatives because the perceived risks or the consequences of the decision is significant—the peripheral route, or the route that delves with the cognitive analysis of the message. Since elaboration is about how the message is being processed by an individual, depending on its involvement in the decision-making process and the risks involved, marketing communications’ task is to come up with the following: identification of the route to target for a given purchase situation, what message to provide the individual with, and what message factors can be utilized to appeal to this route. In the first situation in the grocery store, the brand decision is taken through the peripheral route. For a first-time customer buying pet food in the grocery store, the decision to buy can be determined either by an enticing advertisement, attractive sales promotions, catchy in-store displays or elegant packaging. The factors that seem to stimulate the senses rather than give information, as basis for the decision are factors that are utilized by the peripheral route. Marketing communication, in this situation can use such factors to encourage trial among the first-time consumers of the brand, or to encourage shifting from a competitor brand. In the second situation, while involvement is still low and a marketing communications message can be processed through indirect route, there are chances when information about certain brands are given to consumers through specialist pet stores. Because of this information, customers are forced to move through the central route, along with the peripheral route while processing the messages. This implies that marketing communication in the pet food market should provide messages that appeal to both the central and the peripheral routes. By identifying touch points, or points where the customer comes to interact with a brand, a brand owner can identify the relevant messages to the customer and see if the interaction will result in either central or peripheral processing of the message. Through this, the brand owner can identify how a message can be processed, then give a relevant message that the customer will absorb to come up with a decision. Marketing communications in the pet food market can come up with messages that appeal both to the central and peripheral routes of message processing of customers, only just to varying degrees. In touch points such as advertising, in-store activities, and on-pack offers, Nestle Purina can emphasize a message that appeals to emotions, as well as other factors such as the senses in order to feel good about the product—this feeling can be a factor that could lead to a brand decision. On the other hand, in touch points where the customer can be more engaged or involved so as to facilitate processing of more information—such as the petcare line, the website, Purina e-newsletters, consumer database, and personal interaction with store owners in specialist stores—Nestle can come up with a message that appeals to the cognitive route. By providing the consumer that shows about a brand being the more rational choice, along with the good feeling toward it—a brand decision could be made which is the one of the ends of marketing communication, being the start of maintaining a relationship with a consumer. Bibliography Bartol, K., Martin, D., Tein, M., & Matthews, G. 2001. Management: A Pacific Rim Focus. McGraw Hill Company, Australia. Duncan, T. 2005. Principles of Advertising & IMC. International ed. Philippines: McGraw-Hill. Kotler, P., & Armstrong, G. 2004. Principles of Marketing. 10th ed. Philippines: Pearson Education Asia Pte Ltd. Pickton D., & Broderick A. 2002. Integrated marketing communications. Philippines: Pearson Education Asia Pte Ltd. Robbins, S. 2005. Organizational Behavior. Philippines: McGraw-Hill. Read More