Marketing Communication - Consumer Culture and Behaviour - Assignment Example

Consumer Culture and Behaviour Table of Contents Part 1: Research 2 Newarke House Museum 2 New Walk Museum and Art Gallery 5 Part 2 Analysis 7 Marketing Communication 7 Consumer Behaviour 9 Reference Group Influence 11 Conclusion 15 References 17 Bibliography 20 Appendix 21 Introduction The Newarte House Museum and The New Walk Museum are situated in Leicester, United Kingdom. The two museums come under the Leicester City Council under the category of Leicester Museums and Galleries. The museums in Leicester City promote the art and the culture of UK. Events are organized to promote the traditional as well as modern and popular cultures are explored through the museums. Not only the people of Leicester is benefited by these museums as people from different regions of UK and the world who come to visit the museum gets the feel of art and culture of the region (Leicester City Council, 2010). Part 1: Research Newarke House Museum The Newarke Museum and garden includes the Museum of the Royal Leicestershire Regiment. In order to know the history of Leicester and the Regiment of Royal Leicestershire in the 20th Century, the visit would be quite beneficial. The Skeffington and Wygston’s Chantry House are the two historic houses that make Newarke Museum. The museum has lots to offer from the decades of 1950’s and 1970’s. Along with these, also there are cinema experience, compilation of toys commencing from Tudor to present day and a dedicated area for the children to try various games in the area. Also, it comprises of the dedicated community galleries that convey the story of “Moving Here” and that of Settling in Leicester (Leicester City Council, 2010). The museum is situated at a walking distance of ten minutes from the Leicester City Centre close to De Montfort University’s city campus. The restoration of the museum was funded by Heritage Lottery Fund with a staggering sum of one million pound and an additional 250000 pound each from the Royal Leicestershire Regimental Association and Leicester City Council (Leicester City Council, 2010). In the year 1511, William Wygston, the then richest citizen of Leicester built the Wygston’s Chantry House. In the year of 1547 Chiantis were abolished and it became urban gentry’ house. It is the only Elizabethan gentry’ house in Leicestershire that is still present in the current day. Around the year of 1583, Sir Thomas Skeffington had built the Skeffington House. Over the years the original one room stone building was altered and made bigger. In the following years, many people have altered, extended, lived, and used these buildings (Leicester City Council, 2010). Newarke House Museum is host to a variety of galleries e.g. “The Panelled Room: An Evening in 1645”. It was built in the year 1583 and is the oldest part of the portion of Skeffington House. There are lot of historical furniture and shows that make the clients or visitors fill the atmosphere of 1645 during the English Civil War (Leicester City Council, 2010). “The Leicester, My Home”, is the place that gives ideas of the local people who stay in the city. It represents the place that the people of Leicester belong. It is the place where many people feel that they have lived in and for many others it is just like a place of stay. The places display changes to show how different communities have made Leicester their home (Leicester City Council, 2010). “The Moving Here” gallery conveys about the people who have come from different parts of the world and made Leicester as their home. It has many different stories of the people coming in the city and their story of settling in and around Leicester (Leicester City Council, 2010). Toys and Games Gallery is the one which holds the toys that have been played by various ages of kids. The games and toys that generation of children have played with and the changes that have under gone over the years are presented here. This section is important as because the games and toys changes from country to country and becomes the part of the lives of the children (Leicester City Council, 2010). The “Growing Up” gallery is all about the changes and the discovery. This is the place where people have created their identity. Learning and playing enhances our knowledge around our surrounding. So, exploring “Growing Up” gallery is about the people of Leicester people that they have experienced various other domains like music and fashion from different period of time and places (Leicester City Council, 2010). Since 1896, at “The Flicks” galleries, a night out at the picture has been part of Leicester life, the year when fast moving show came to the city. It provides the pictures of 1950’s and shows how Leicester has changed over the time (Leicester City Council, 2010). The section of ‘Meet Daniel Lambert’ gives the view of the famous personality of Leicester. The history of this person has been provided with the way of gaining popularity and admiring as a national character. This section gives view of the cloths, furniture and personal items that he used (Leicester City Council, 2010). The gallery of “An Evening In” is about the living room experience style of the 1950’s and the 1970’s. It depicts people’s hardship and how they survived in those decades. It shows how the living room of the people have changed from the decades to the present days (Leicester City Council, 2010). The Street Scene part offers the history of the street of Wharf Street area of Leicester in the 1940’s. It provides the opportunity to view the shop that was present in 1940 and the sound of the market place of those times (Leicester City Council, 2010). The Museum of The Royal Leicestershire Regiment reflects the campaigns, acts of bravery and the life of a soldier. It provides the environment of the First World War trench with sound effects. The museum is surrounded by English garden (Leicester City Council, 2010). New Walk Museum and Art Gallery New Walk Museum is located within the New Walk city area. The museum contains the various collection which have developed and grown over the past 160 years and is presented with the help of Literary and Philosophical society. This museum has inspired many people like Sir David Attenborough and Lord Attenborough (Leicester City Council, 2010). The museum has a wide range of variety in collection of cultural and natural world. The program exhibitions describe the work from the collection and touring exhibition from the National Museums. The art gallery presents the work of both modern and old masters work by Francis Bacon and Hogarth (Leicester City Council, 2010). The “Meri Rail” section portraits the Indian Railway. It portraits the life of the people those were depended upon the Indian Railways. The “Space Age” section explores how space has become the part of life through literature, television, culture and merchandises. The “Contemporary Art Society” shows the selected works that is gifted by the society (Leicester City Council, 2010). The “Leicester and Leicestershire Photographic Society” is joined to give different views of the society. Jenny Grevatte, the national artist has presented his painting and is exhibited in this section. The museum is in the process of exhibiting a key project inspired by works in the museum collection (Leicester City Council, 2010). The “Last Impression” section portraits the Islamic world. The photographs are presented from the British Library and the British Museum. The “Artist Rooms” section portraits the art work done by the famous German artist “Gerhard Richter”. The Ska with Laurel zone provides the information of the Godfather of Ska, Laurel Altken originator of Ska music. He was the person to bring music genres to popularity in England (Leicester City Council, 2010). The Rosalind Nashashibi section provides the information of the black and white film maker who gives the slice of British life in an unfamiliar way. The section “Open 22” portraits the art work by artists from across the East Midlands (Leicester City Council, 2010). The art gallery permanently exhibits the Wild Space, The Mighty Dinosaurs, Leicester shire Rocks, Ancient Egyptians, the Art Galleries and World Arts. The Wilde Space is about the biodiversity. It shows about different species and habitats. The Mighty Dinosaurs is about the awesome fascinating creature. It gives more information upon the Rutland dinosaur and Barrow Kipper (Leicester City Council, 2010). The Leicestershire Rocks presents the rocks that have been present over 600 million years. It provides views of different fossils and different colours and qualities of minerals. The Ancient Egyptians section provides an opportunity in coming close to the ancient Eqyptians that lasted for more than 3000 years. The displays are in an interactive position with tunnels showing the life, death, mummies, coffins and treasures. The “Art Gallery” shows the human being’s world through art form. The “World Arts” gallery provides inside into the human being creativity and skill gone changes across the world (Leicester City Council, 2010). There are certain galleries or event that has taken place in the city in the museum but has been close now like that of the Art of Sports, the nanoq-flat out and blue some story of the polar bears. The Craft and Design section portraits the famous designers of the late 19th century and early 20th century. The section of Living Guru - the holy Sikh Scripture provides information on the living spiritual guru. The animated adventure section provided the opportunity to get animated process from the story boards to post production. The section of “Memories and Dreams of Life and Light” shows the story of three people who travelled and made Leicester as their home. The Shell Wildlife Photography portraits the story of endanger species and certain moments are captured and shown in the gallery (Leicester City Council, 2010). Part 2 Analysis Marketing Communication The proper communication about the promotion of the two museums can be done through advertisement, publicity and public relation. The best way that the museums can be promoted is through public relationship. It will improve or maintain the market value of the museum, help in creating or improving brand recognition. It will aid in creating a favourable climate for future image. It will help in educating or providing necessary information to its clients. The public relation will help in creating competitive advantage over the museum. To increase the promotional efficiency it is important to develop the public relationship in a positive way (Sceulovs, & Sarkane, 2010). The museum is the source of information, through various postings in the website of the museum, it provides the information and the promotional activities are done. The message regarding the events and promotion of different category of galleries is communicated through the museum as well as the City Council helps in doing so. This message is transmitted through internet in the museum web pages, through different promotional activities. This attracts the people of the city as well as people from different regions to pay a visit to the museum. The museum needs to analyze the consumers and their offerings of different categories of gallery for the promotional activity. The museum should design the gallery in a way to attract more visitors from various places. The promotional strategy should promote different category with additional information on the segment in giving brief about the gallery so that visitors are interested and pay a visit to the interested gallery. The message that is communicated in the promotional activity needs to be conveyed properly with an appropriate meaning so that the consumers can connect to it aptly. The transmission media for the museum is the internet and the council of the city for promoting the activity and the events that represents the museum. The affectivity of this marketing communication can be understood if there is an increase in the foot fall of the visitors. The awareness of the museum and its content is extended in the entire region and other places. The relationship management will provide better opportunity in maintaining a positive and a good relation with the museum and visitors to make repeat visits. Consumer Behaviour Consumer behaviour is very difficult to judge or to find out as the tastes and preferences of consumers change frequently. The behaviour can be judged through the response of the consumers to the marketing efforts that a company undertakes. There are certain factors like cultural, social, personal and psychological that affects the consumer behaviour. To trigger the consumer, the offerings of product, price and place should be in such a way that it aids in attracting more consumers towards the museum. Most of the consumers want and desire for any service or product is due to values and perception that individual holds. The museum needs to create the environment of the gallery to attract the consumers as per their perception and make them feel the environment which they present. The social factor plays a major role in consumer behaviour as people tend to form groups may be through membership or through reference, family influence and through other factors. The group has influencing power on the individual buying behaviour and as a whole the members of the group are affected. So, groups should be targeted with different kinds of offering to attract them as a whole and bring in more visitors with various kinds of offerings. Personal influence acts as an important factor in consumer behaviour. The influence that an individual has from the family, occupation, economic situation, personality and self concept affects the buying behaviour. The lifestyle, opinion and interests decide the consumption pattern of an individual. The occupation and the economic situation affect the most when it is related to earnings. The New Walk Museum and The Newarke House Museum need to recognize the requirements of the consumers i.e. what are the consumers actually looking for. This will brief about the requirements of the people and as per such product offerings need to be made. The information of the market will provide the idea of the consumers which help the museums in making strategy in making the place more attractive and luring for more visitors. Customer (Visitors) Satisfaction The consumer satisfaction level can be judged from the behaviour of the consumer i.e. how they get affected from their perceptions, learning, attitude and motivation. As per the observation as on 12/02/2010, the sound effect that was present in the gallery that presented the market, there were better sound effects to perceive the visitors about the market. There were sounds of laughter, music and different other integral parts showing the relationship. This effect of sound helps in perception of the visitors to understand. To make it feel lively, the touching sensation was also present. The scenario at the museum was made more believable by the ambience which was created. A real picture of any place can be provided if the visitors get a hand in experience of the existing amenities of the museum. This helped the visitors to imagine and create their own perception about the various things they viewed at the museum. As per different visits and observations, it was found that the gallery had different things to offer and the environment too which made the visitors more attractive and gave the differential taste of the gallery. The Newarke House Museum has different category of galleries and arts to offer and The New Walk Museum and Art Gallery has different stocks to offer to the people. Both have certain special categories to offer which makes them both different. There are certain temporary shows that take place in both the gallery providing the consumers different offerings so they get new things to observe in the field of art and culture. The different offerings and the show of culture and the feel of 70’s, 80’s and 90’s presentations provide the visitors different taste towards such shows which helps in maintaining the satisfaction among the visitors. Everyone wants certain changes to suit their taste so the galleries do by providing different temporary shows. The consumers are satisfied by the environment as seen in the observations from the sound effects to feel sensation to the environment that is provided by the museum in satisfying the visitors in all the aspects. There are certain factors which will need to be changed to increase or maintain the satisfactory level of the consumers. Reference Group Influence Reference group influence is termed to be the highest influence that affects the consumer behaviour in any kind of situation. Group concept provides the understanding why people as individuals do not behave differently when in group. The group behaviour needs understanding so that they are properly targeted with the offerings that the group prefers. The reference groups are mostly conformed by the social network of an individual: family members, colleagues, inspirational figures and family members and this aids in formation of brand association that mould the psychological presentation of a consumer that it has on its self. The presence of social network are evident and it influences the cross culture. The reference group has been identified as the vital variable in the marketing for the consumption of huge public services (Lodato, 2006). There are two factors that affect the reference group namely the brand and the product decision. The New Walk Museum and The Newarke House Museum management need to identify the two factors. The brand image of the museum need to be evaluated to build a good image of the brand that people feel should be associated with it. Brand name affects the psychology of the consumers and it is the association of the company and the consumers. This will help in relationship building with more consumers. The brand makes the market more competitive and attractive. The product decision is affected by the price and offerings that an individual has already experienced. The satisfied individuals will refer to other people for availing the service or the product. This reference or word of mouth marketing will bring in more consumers from their social contacts or network of the satisfied consumers. The focus needs to keep satisfied each and every individual so they act as an instrument in referral marketing and aid in bringing more visitors to the museum. The brand image and the product offerings attract increased number of social groups who are affected through referral marketing and psychological impact upon the group. In this kind of marketing for the museum, higher degree of group referencing is more effective than brand building. Part 3: Recommendations The New Walk Museum has different galleries to offer in different categories of art and culture. The venue of this museum is just ten minutes walking from the City Centre and Leicester train station and also it is easy access to pedestrian of New Walk. The place location is important for better communication purpose with the museum. The location is the beneficial feature of this museum which will help in easy access to the people. Being easy access to the museum the management need to promote the locality or easy accessibility to the museum. More the people are aware of the place; more will be the inflow of visitors to the place. With the tight economical condition, it is not possible to renovate the entire gallery as it will add up the cost. If the galleries that attract more visitors need changes, first preference should be given to it. After completion of it, if the budget permits the other gallery to be renovated that needs attention, should be repaired to make those equally attractive as other galleries. The people and the process make the difference along with product, price, place and promotion offerings. The people’s involvement in making the visitors satisfy will enhance the overall process. The involvement of people will provide much information as well as make the visitors feel delighted because of the personal assistance. People of the museum will enhance the quality of the service and tend to generate a better relationship between the visitors. Ultimately this will act as a referral marketing tool in bringing in more visitors. The relationship building with the visitors is possible with the active participation of the people in the museum. The process or the layout structure in touring the museum should be developed in a way that the visitors can link each and every thing. There should be a link from one gallery to another gallery. The monotonous way of presentation should be avoided. The process should be attractive and should form a combination to keep the visitors in suspense so that it makes the visitors more curious. This will make the whole picture interesting and attract more visitors through reference. The process should be kept changing from time to time for breaking the monotony and involve new ways to bring the culture and art towards the visitors. This will increase the visitors as well as their satisfaction level. The Newarke House Museum is different in offerings of the entire gallery when compared to the New Walk Museum. It has different form of art to represent to the people. The special advantage this museum has is the English Garden around its surrounding. The area has a rich and interesting history to offer. The museum offers the history of fights that were fought in UK. The area should be promoted as it has rich culture and holds the history with the English Garden touch in it. As per the product offerings, it has many zones or galleries to provide to different kind of visitors. The public relationship must be developed through the involvement of the management people so that the visitor needs are identified properly and as per such different strategies are introduced in increasing the satisfaction level for enhanced performance of the museum. The promotional activity needs to be made more effective to attract more visitors towards the museum. The promotional strategies need to be developed as per the need of the existing and the prospective clients. This will increase the satisfaction level of the visitors. Promotional activity comes with the cost but then within limited budget it is possible to do certain activities in a smaller way. When the inflow of consumers will increase, the revenue will also increase and budget can be extended too. The format of presentation needs to be changed so as to break the monotony of the presentation. Different innovative ways need to be developed in the way of presentation to make it more attractive so that new visitors are also forced to visit the museum. The visitors analysis is must to develop more business. The number of visitors per day needs to be recorded and also the types of the visitors and the region they belong to. The values and the factors that drive the consumers need to be analysed. This will provide the factors and as per such the management need to make strategy to trigger the consumer. The product popularity needs to be determined and used as a promotion tool to bring in more consumers. Consumers’ needs and wants keep varying and so a track of the changing wants are to be recorded to know the changes in the trends and act as per such changes in terms of product offerings and promotions (San Diego State University, 2009). Conclusion The Newarke Museum and The New Walk Museum both have the positive aspects and are different in offerings. They have various special galleries to offer with various art and culture to be presented. Both are present in the same council and have various history, art and culture to be provided. The increase will be possible with the help of right kind of promotional activity to benefit both the museum as well as the society. The Council has previously provided help in renovation but the contribution should also be from the members of the Council. References Leicester City Council., 2010. Leicester Museums & Galleries. The Galleries. [Online] Available at: http://www.leicester.gov.uk/your-council-services/lc/leicester-city-museums/museums/newarkehouses/the-galleries/ [Accessed August 11, 2010] Leicester City Council., 2010. Leicester Museums & Galleries. Leicester Museums & Gardens. [Online] Available at: http://www.leicester.gov.uk/your-council-services/lc/leicester-city-museums/museums/newarkehouses/ [Accessed August 11, 2010] Leicester City Council., 2010. Leicester Museums & Galleries. New Walk Museum & Art Gallery. [Online] Available at: http://www.leicester.gov.uk/your-council-services/lc/leicester-city-museums/museums/nwm-art-gallery/ [Accessed August 11, 2010] Leicester City Council., 2010. Leicester Museums & Galleries. New Walk Museum & Art Gallery - Permanent Exhibitions. [Online] Available at: file:///D:/ab_kh/project_report/project_report/10.08/Leicester%20City%20Council%20-%20New%20Walk%20Museum%20&%20Art%20Gallery%20-%20Permanent%20Exhibitions2.htm [Accessed August 11, 2010] Leicester City Council., 2010. Leicester Museums & Galleries. New Walk Museum & Art Gallery - Exhibition Archive. [Online] Available at: file:///D:/ab_kh/project_report/project_report/10.08/Leicester%20City%20Council%20-%20New%20Walk%20Museum%20&%20Art%20Gallery%20-%20Exhibition%20Archive3.htm [Accessed August 11, 2010] Leicester City Council., 2010. Leicester Museums & Galleries. Exhibitions. [Online] Available at: file:///D:/ab_kh/project_report/project_report/10.08/Leicester%20City%20Council%20-%20Exhibitions1.htm [Accessed August 11, 2010] Leicester City Council., 2010. Leicester Museums & Galleries. Space Age: Exploration, design & Popular Culture. UK Gov. [Online] Available at: http://www.leicester.gov.uk/museums/ [Accessed August 11, 2010] Lodato, M. W., 2006. Management The Process. The Primary Management Activities and Their Relationships. [Online] Available at: http://www.bptrends.com/publicationfiles/02-06-WP-ManagementasaProcess-Lodato-2.pdf [Accessed August 11, 2010] Sceulovs, D. & Sarkane, E. G., 2010. ELECTRONIC TOOLS FOR COMPANY’S PRESENCE, IDENTIFICATION AND MARKETING IN E-ENVIRONMENT: THEORY AND PRACTICE. Communication Theory. [Online] Available at: http://www.ktu.lt/lt/mokslas/zurnalai/ekovad/15/1822-6515-2010-775.pdf [Accessed August 11, 2010] San Diego State University., 2009. Consumer Behaviour. ROHAN Academic Computing. [Online] Available at: http://www-rohan.sdsu.edu/~renglish/370/notes/chapt05/index.htm [Accessed August 11, 2010] Bibliography Buttle, F. Relationship marketing: theory and practice. SAGE, 1996. Cant, C. M. & Et. Al. Marketing Management. Juta and Company Ltd, 2009. Rentschler, R. & Eva, R., 2002. Museum Marketing Research: From Denial to Discovery? Bowater School of Management and Marketing Deakin University. [Online] Available at: http://neumann.hec.ca/artsmanagement/cahiers%20de%20recherche/Rentschler.pdf [Accessed August 11, 2010] Schultz, D.E. & Et. Al. Integrated marketing communications. McGraw-Hill Professional, 1993. Wernerfelt, B., 1996. Efficient Marketing Communication: Helping the Customer Learn. Journal of Marketing Research. [Online] Available at: http://web.mit.edu/bwerner/www/papers/EfficientMarketingCommunication-HelpingtheCustomerLearn.pdf [Accessed August 11, 2010] Warnaby, G & Et. Al. Relationship Marketing: A Consumer Experience Approach. SAGE Publications Ltd, 2010. Appendix The Visits to the Museum Dates of Museum Visit Observations details 12/02/2010 There were observations done based upon the vision, taste, touching and smelling in the market gallery. 26/02/2010 The second visit was conducted and due observation was taken on various different aspects. 25/03/2010 The observation was conducted at five in the afternoon. It reflected the afternoon section of the market. 29/03/2010 The visit was done on Monday, a regular day for the business in the market like the previous observation. 6/5/2010 It was a different visit to the gallery as winter season was prevalent. The observation was different and depicted how the market operated in the winter season. Read More