Public Relations in Media and Cultural Contexts - Essay Example

Public Relations in Media and Cultural Contexts: Consumer Behavior Introduction The purchase of goods and services over the internet are associated with a high level of sensitivity as far as trust and privacy are concerned (Burkolter and Annete, 2013, p.3). According to Bacchetta, Benhima and Kalantzis (2014, 49), the foreign exchange market is among the fastest growing markets on the internet; in this regard a large number of individuals continue to engage in this market on a daily basis. The online foreign exchange market is associated with the trading of currencies with a view of taking the advantage of appreciation and depreciation of various currencies in order to make profit. While the number of clients has increased, the number of brokers has also grown in the recent past (Bacchetta, Benhima and Kalantzis, 2014, 50). In an attempt to engage in the forex market, I learned various characteristics that are associated with consumers while purchasing items over the internet. In particular, I learned my personal character as far as an online purchasing is concerned. In the foreign exchange market, the seller of services is recognized as a forex broker while consumers are known as the retail traders. It is common that individuals are reluctant to make online purchases due to fear of leakage of their private information to other individuals and lack of trust on companies to deliver the quality of services and goods they promise, as well as the methods of money transfer. The Analysis of My Consumer-Behavior in the Light of Buying the Online Services Figure 1 Markets.com Online Foreign Exchange Services Source: Markets.com, 2014. My decision with respect to choosing the best broker was characterized by a number of questions regarding the methods of payment and safety, the security of my information, and obtaining the best price and services. While evaluating my consumer behaviors, I attempted to relate my online-purchasing behavior when I resolved to choose the services of markets.com. I decided to choose markets.com as my forex broker despite the large number of brokers in the market. It is with respect to the choice of markets.com that I endeavor to reflect on my consumer-behavior as far as the online purchasing is concerned given that I needed a company which would pay my profits without taking into considerations other factors that may affect negatively my income. Additionally, it would be significant to evaluate my behavior of dealing with a company that would not disclose my personal information to a third party, as well as the concerns of the methods of payment (Bhatia and Jain, 2013, pp.5-17). Ching (2012) provides a Technology Acceptance Model which shows the intention-attitude behavior with respect to predicting the acceptance of a certain information system. The author indicates that the acceptance of a certain information systems is based on the user’s perception about the usefulness and easy of using that system. I will show how I perceived about the usefulness and easy of using the markets.com trading platform. The trading platform is one of the most difficult online tools among a majority of the foreign exchange’s clients. Although the trading platform can assist an individual in performing various functions, such as executing the sell and buy orders, as well as creating the pending orders and performing the take-profit and stop-loss levels, a number of individuals still trust the old fashion of calling a broker when placing an order. I reflected on the usefulness of the trading platform as far as my consumer-behavior is concerned. I noticed that as opposed to calling the broker to place an order, the online trading platform ensured that I am able to perform instantly various functions. This feature gave me an edge as far as trading the currencies are concerned. For instance, I would take advantage of news to place my orders quickly and benefit from the movements that are caused by fundamentals. Ching (2012)shows that when a consumer is likely to experience an optimal benefit when using a certain information system, there is a likelihood that such individual would be attracted to use the system. On the other hand, Ching (2012) speaks about the easiness of using an information system. The features that were available on the markets.com trading platform were relatively easy to use than those of other companies. For instance, the use of different colors on diverse menus and icons available on the platform makes it easy to execute various tasks. However, the easy of using the company’s trading platform was influenced by the company’s promise to training; I was trained how to use the trading platform. The training I experienced from the company was detailed and clear in relation to the services of other companies. Chuchinprakarn (2013, p.2) believes that training can boost the ease of using an information system. Ching (2012) provides that the attitude of using of an information system is influenced by perceived usefulness and ease of using it. The ease and usefulness of a given system may then trigger the intention of using that system; the final stage is using the system. The scenario discussed shows that my intention to using the markets.com trading platform was influenced by ease and usefulness of the trading platform. Aung (2013, p.6) established the conceptual framework of consumer behavior and online shopping which suggests that the internet purchasers are influenced by five factors. Among the factors which influence the online buyers as far as the online purchases are concerned include the perceived level of risk, the traditional and online mouth communication, the attitude of a consumer towards the online shopping, the marketing factors, such as price and promotion, and the consumers interaction with sellers. I would explain these characters in relation to my decision of preferring markets.com to other companies. Firstly, Bashir (2013, p.14) believes that the level of risk as far as experiencing the creditworthy company is concerned is fundamental. For instance, I was afraid of depositing money to a company that is likely to direct that resource to other uses or altogether steal the money. With respect to the level of risk, I was also concerned about a company which is likely to increase their spreads during the volatile periods of the market in order to experience significant profits at the expense of a customer. Additionally, I was of afraid of companies which manipulate the trading platforms in order to benefit from the customer’s money. In this respect, I found that markets.com was associated with low level of risk given their reasonably tight and fixed spreads. The risk of investing in the company was also reduced by the fact that they were able to respond to my queries quickly. The information provided denotes that I am a consumer who is risk averse and would endeavor to obtain online services that are associated with low level of risk. My consumer-behavior denotes that unlike the Generation Y which is associated with a high level of risk as far as the online purchasing is concerned, I am more associated with the behavior of Generation X; Generation X, which relates to individuals born in 1960s and beginning of 1970s, are more risk averse with respect to the use of internet (Ching, 2012). Although I was born in 1980s, I seem to be more associated with the old people who are more sensitive about the aspects that are associated with internet, especially when money is at stake. As a result, I love researching for more information on the internet than relying on insufficient information with a view of reducing the internet risk. Ching (2013) also provides that the traditional and online word of mouth communication is important. For instance, I learned about the credibility of markets.com on the internet; various forex reviewing sites cited that markets.com is one of the best companies with respect to various aspects, such as tight and a fixed spreads, training clients, predicting the market, quick and quality respond to queries and availability of bonus (Markets.com, 2014). The availability of such services influenced my behavior of choosing markets.com. This shows I’m also influenced by the word of mouth communication as far as choosing a broker is concerned. However, unlike other individuals who rely on a single review, my character is associated with the ability of researching various reviewing sites on the internet to obtain substantial information on the best broker, which would lower of the risk of losing money since the trading of currencies is characterized with a high level risk of significant losses, including the loss of the entire capital. Thirdly, Ching (2013) pays attention to the marketing factors, which include price, product and promotion. The practice of searching for various products offered, the prices and promotion was evident in my process of choosing a broker. For instance, I paid attention to the products that are available on the markets.com trading platform; I realized that they offered various instruments, such as oil, silver, gold, a large number of the pair of currencies and international stocks (Markets.com, 2014). The availability of these features attracted my attention of choosing markets.com as my broker. This indicates that I am individual who love diversifying; as a result, I would choose a company that is associated with a large number of products as opposed to limiting to a few numbers of products. With respect to price, I realized that their spreads are relatively tight; I was eager to invest in a company that takes less profit while providing excellent services - markets.com offers a fixed spread of three pips. The preceding information shows that I am price sensitive (Fagerstrom, 2013, p.335). Ching (2013) believes that companies with low prices are likely to benefit via the internet sales due to the tendency of consumers comparing prices of different online companies. Promotion was also evident in my process of obtaining the services of markets.com; for instance, the availability of 50% bonus attracted my attention to trade with markets.com (Markets.com, 2014). Consumer interaction with sellers is also viewed to be important as far as online trading is concerned. For instance, I was able to interact with employees of markets.com on various platforms. One of the employees, Adams White, interacted with me over the phone for a lengthy period before my investment in the company. I was always encouraged by Adams to invest in markets.com since there are many benefits, including bonuses and free training. He would ring my phone on a weekly basis and talk for more than ten minutes; in this regard, I developed trust about the services of markets.com. Additionally, I was able to interact with the markets.com’s employees via the online chat room. My questions were answered satisfactorily; the conversation augmented my confidence in markets.com. As outlined by Ching (2013), I believe that that interaction between the sellers and consumers influence the decision of an employee to seek the services of a company. Joey (2013) observes that lack of privacy is one of the factors that discourage a large number of consumers from participating on online shopping. He adds that an attitude of an individual with respect to trust also influences the decision of purchasing the internet services and products. I would show that chose markets.com after taking into consideration the aspect of trust and privacy. With respect to the process of choosing the broker I would trade my money, I made sure that such company should be trustworthy and able to secure my personal information. I normally receive a large number of emails from unknown sources; I realized that my personal information, such as email, was shared by various organizations and individuals whom I did not provide my private information. The preceding statement indicates that although earlier I provided my personal information to certain individuals, those people did not seek my consent when they shared the information with other partners for the purpose of advertising their products. Blythe (2013) notes that individuals are concerned about the secondary use of their private information other than the company they are dealing with; according to various internet reviews about the secure companies, markets.com is recognized as the safest company. Additionally, I developed trust with this company because of the large number of positive comments and reviews on various sites regarding the services of markets.com. I was able to develop trust about the services of markets.com because of the chat room’s services. This company responds to an individual question quickly; this aspect increased my level of trust about the company. Similarly, the relatively short period of interaction with this company increased my level of trust about their services. For instance, the company promised to provide bonus to my account once I deposited money; the company responded quickly to my deposited account. I was able to believe about the future delivery of their promises. The above scenario indicates that I seek the services of online sellers that I trust in every aspect of their services. Currently, I do not think of shifting to a different company; this is due to the fact that there are a large number of brokers who embezzle clients’ funds; with respect to the experience of my friend who lost his money to a forex broker which was not genuine, I am considerably careful about depositing money to a broker. I research consistently about the trustworthy of various brokers via a range of sites which verifies the credibility of brokers. For instance, in one of the review sites, I noticed that markets.com is registered with the Cyprus exchange, a regulating body which oversees a company’s performance and their adherence to the established rules and regulations (Markets.com, 2014). I noticed that a large number of companies normally exploit consumers by increasing the spread while trading to earn unacceptable large levels of profits at the expense of a client. Conclusion An individual stands a chance to interact with employees of markets.com via chat rooms and other platforms. I interacted with Adams White over the phone for a lengthy period before investing my money in markets.com. I was frequently encouraged by Adams to invest in the company due to host of benefits, including bonuses and training. His frequent calling and reassurance of my profits and bonus enhanced my trust for markets.com. I also believed my private information would not be shared with a third party; this indicates my behavior which is associated with love of privacy and trust, as well as researching on alternatives to experience quality service at a reduced price. However, more researches and evaluation need to be done with respect to my consumer-behavior. A further examination of online behavior relating to the purchase of services can provide a richer understanding of the scholars’ works that are associated with the consumer-behavior (Tatlilioglu, 2014, p.150). Despite of a further research, I believe that markets.com is the best broker. List of References Aung, M., 2013. What Makes Online Shoppers Different from Non-Online Shoppers in Thailand. Martin de Tours School of Management and Economics, [online] Available at: [Accessed 9 August 2014]. Bacchetta, P., Benhima, K. and Kalantzis, Y. 2014. Optimal Exchange Rate Policy in a Growing Semi-Open Economy, IMF Economic Review, [online] Available at http://web.a.ebscohost.com/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?sid=07a112f5-730e-4cff-8943- 15eaa607ffd9%40sessionmgr4004&vid=0&hid=4109 [Accessed 9 August 2014]. Bashir, A., 2013. Consumer Behavior towards Online Shopping of Electronics in Pakistan. Seinajoki Business School, [online] Available at: [Accessed 9 August 2014]. Bhatia, M. and Jain, A., 2013. Green Marketing: A Study of Consumer Perception and Preferences in India. Electronic Green Journal, [online] Available at: http://web.a.ebscohost.com/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?sid=7e7f06f7-8273-4384-a4ff- 2fa3a6d39778%40sessionmgr4002&vid=0&hid=4109 [Accessed 9 August 2014]. Blythe, J., 2013. Consumer behavior. London: SAGE. Burkolter, D. and Annete, K., 2013. Online consumer behavior and its relationship with socio- demographics, shopping orientations, need for emotion, and fashion leadership. Journal of Business and Media Psychology, [online] Available at: < http://journal- bmp.de/2011/12/das-verhalten-von-online-konsumenten-und-dessen-beziehung-zu- soziodemographischen-und-den-faktoren-%E2%80%9Ashopping- orientation%E2%80%98-%E2%80%98need-for-emotion%E2%80%99-und- %E2%80%9Afashion-leade/?lang=en> [Accessed 9 August 2014]. Ching, C., 2012. Online Group Buying: Critical Factors Affecting Generation Y’s Online Buying Attitude of Fashion Accessories. The Kong Polytechnic University, [online] Available at: [Accessed 9 August 2014]. Chuchinprakarn, S., 2013. Application of the Theory of Reasoned Action to Online Shopping. Knowledge Center, [online] Available at: [Accessed 9 August 2014]. Fagerstrom, A., 2013. On Motivating Operations at the Point of Online Purchase Setting. The Psychological Record, [online] Available at: [Accessed 9 August 2014]. Joey, G., 2013. The Theory of Planned Behaviour and Internet Purchasing. Internet Journal, [online] Available at: [Accessed 9 August 2014]. Markets.com, 2014. Markets.com, [online] Available at [Accessed 9 August 2014]. Tatlilioglu, K., 2014. A Research Towards To the Determination the Factors Effecting the Consumer Behavior and Trends (The Sample of Bingol University). International Journal of Academic Research, [online] Available at: [Accessed 9 July 2014]. Read More