Huawei Ideos Mobile Phone's Analysis through Indifference Curve Theory - Essay Example

? Consumer behavior Introduction Though alike, consumers are unique in themselves; they have desires and wants which are different from one another, and they have different spending patterns and use manners. The marketer assists to satisfy these desires and wants through products and services offering. The marketer uses different marketing strategies in order to win the hearts of consumers For a company to sustain, participate and thrive, it is essential that the marketer sees these needs and wants, and supply products and services more successfully as compared to the other competitors. A broad yet thorough understanding of consumers and their consumption patterns are crucial for an organization to thrive in the environment. Consumer behavior is an interaction of various factors that affect the process of consumption, within the buyer’s themselves and in the world that they hail from. Schiffman and Kanuk, 2007 establish consumer behavior as that behavior that consumers present when searching for, purchasing, evaluating and disposing of products which they think will satisfy their needs (p3). Consumer behavior may differ from one consumer to another, from one moment to another and from one environment to another. Consumer behavior describes the motives and judgment that lie behind purchasing decisions and the patterns through which purchasing is . In addition, it clearly explains the way that consumers undertake before making buying decisions. In this case, the product of choice is the Huawei Ideos mobile phone, and analysis will be using the Indifference Curve Theory a. This theory was developed by Alfred Marshall, and it describes how consumers spend their income on individual products so as to achieve the greatest satisfaction level. However, this analysis is will not be limited to the indifference curve concept. The other concept that helps in understanding the consumer decision making process is the Utility Theory which proposes that buyers make purchasing decisions considering the anticipated results of their decisions, and in reality they are as rational decision makers with self interest (Schiffman and Kanuk 2007, Zinkhan 1992). Howard came up with the first consumer decision-model in 1963 (Du Plessis, Rousseau Et al.1991) The Theory of Buyer Behavior. The model was enhanced further in 1969 by Howard and Sheth to get the ‘Theory of Buyer Behavior’ (or Howard and Sheth Model) (Howard and Sheth 1969). It gives “a complex incorporation of a wide range of social, psychological and marketing effects on consumer selection into a consistent set of data distribution” (Foxall 1990 p.10). The authors concern was in developing an all-inclusive model that could be used to assess a wide range of buying situations, and as such the term ‘buyer’ was more than ‘consumer’ so as not be left out business purchases (Loudon and Della Bitta, 1993). The Huawei Ideos mobile phone is by Google. It is with many unique featured such as 4.3 Mega pixels camera, internet, wifi, creates a portable wifi hotspot, long battery life, sync services and supports a wide range of application. The price of the phone is about $95 and it was preferred for the lower and middle income earners. NEED RECOGNITION At this stage, the customer feels that he/she wants a mobile phone due to its various benefits including calling, messaging and internet services it has to offer. According to the indifference curve approach, the consumer realizes that he/she requires a given product based on its utility, which is the ability of a good or service to fulfill a human want. Therefore, the consumer chooses to purchase the mobile phone in order to satisfy calling, messaging and internet needs. The indifference curve concept uses the marginal utility concept which is a change in utility arising from a change in consumption. Therefore, the consumer’s decision to buy a phone shows an increase in profitability since the consumer is not contented with that the consumer is presently using and therefore the choice of Huawei Ideos phone was bound to improve my utility. SEARCH OF INFORMATION Upon realizing what he/she wants, the consumer has now to look for information on that product based on what the product has to give him. The mobile phone industry is competitive in nature, and there are many sellers who offer different brands of mobile phones such as Nokia, Samsung, IPhone, Sony Erickson and LG, which are with different features and specifications. Therefore, it is the responsibility of the user to choose what he/she thinks will fully satisfy his need based on the information collected from diverse sources such as the internet and also visiting the various sellers and distributors of the product. The information on the Huawei Ideos phone was readily available as opposed to other brands in the market. Google Company liaised with a leading telecommunication company called Safaricom. The choice of this company by Google was a tremendous boost to them since the company has the majority of telecommunication users in the country. The company made information on the mobile phone highly accessible through short messaging services, through their website, using billboards, and through the mass media such as local television and radio stations. PRE-PURCHASE EVALUATION OF ALTERNATIVES. When the client has gathered enough information from the various sources, he/she takes a look at the various alternatives that he/she is going to find. The buyer carries contrasting among the various brands of mobile phone based on various factors such as cost, features, battery life and what other people say about those different products. In some cases, mobile phone companies and technology firms offer consumers a chance to test and evaluate the various products in stock with the support of sales people and this enables the buyer to get a real assessment of various alternatives at hand. This will ensure that the consumer will be able to buy what he/she will give him/her maximum enjoyment. I conducted my pre-evaluation studies by visiting different showrooms of other telecommunication companies in the country. This gave me a chance to compare and contrast the Huawei Ideos mobile phone with other established brands in the market. In my evaluation, I considered a wide range of factors. Price Noticeably, this is the most significant factors the average buyer considers when buying a cell phone is the value of the phone. This is first and foremost because this is the only confirmed expenditure linked with buying a cellular phone. All consumers want to find a cell phone they want inside their within budget. According to the utility theory, (Richarme, 2007, Persky,1995) refer to humans as an economical man while he or she is making spending decisions because people usually wants to maximize utility by the use of least effort. In this case, the buyer needs to purchase goods that he/she cannot pay much for while purchasing the mobile phone, yet he wants to obtain maximum benefit. The mobile phone was extremely and fit budge to other brands in the market and forgetting that it offered the same services and features like other brands in the market To make it even better, Safaricom company has a reward system whereby as one uses airtime, one gets some points which accumulate. It gives a chance to redeem these points for the mobile phone. This is a strategy that has kept the company above other market players in the market. Handset The phone itself is undoubtedly an essential situation in which cell phone a customer wants. Even if consumer is satisfied with the system or cost number are make exclusion for cell phone actually wants to have. Most of the younger consumers fancy having custody lustrous fashionable phone. That is the reason why the way it looks and heaviness of a cell phone are at the top of the mainly salient features list. In this case, I opted to enquire from some of my friends who had bought on the durability and reliability of the phone. There was positive feedback that the phone’s durability and reliability was excellent. Multimedia Capabilities One of the least a client considers when planning to buy a mobile phone is the multimedia functionalities. The ability to send photos via text messages and or view TV on a cell phone is of some significance to the most of consumers. It is a fact that many people are willing incur lot more for devices if it includes privileged entertainment features Thus, cell phone manufactures are continually trying to develop the speed with which information is downloaded, videos are , and how the applications are . The Huawei Ideos mobile phone according to my observation had many unique features as compared to other brands in the same category. The Consumer's mind Although the brainpower of the consumer is by description an in-house rather than an out-house construct, it is in large extent by preceding external factors. A person's mind-set towards consumption, wish for this or that product, willingness to pay out varying amounts of money, and what expectations for the consumer familiarity are all influenced by background and earlier experiences, and they will all affect what that person prefers to purchase or not to purchase. More time-bound aspects, such as feelings, feelings of relaxation or being hurried, and good judgment of individual financial safety will also have an effect on spending choices. In the psychodynamic approach put forward by Sigmund Freud (1856-1939) (Arnold, Robertson et al. 1991) and Stewart (1994), they say consumer behavior is by biological factors through instinctive forces or drives which come into place outside of the conscious mind. As opposed to the information that I had collected it was time for me to think of what I wanted. This inner voice combined with my expectations was key in deciding whether to acquire the Huawei mobile phone. Competition The accessibility of contending products has a consequence on consumer choices. If a consumer needs a product, and only one present, there are extremely high chances that the buyer will buy that product. The higher the intensity of competition, the unsure any certain purchase is. This factor is by the addition of different factors such as quality, trendiness, fashion, and price of a product. All of these elements interact so as to generate enormous arrays of choices from which consumers must choose the one most suitable for themselves. The distribution company is to have a track record of providing better mobile phones in the market. Due to this notion the phone was just another brand that competed intensely with other leading brands in the market since about eight of ten people had the phone. Demographics This is an area that advertisers and marketers put most of time into studying. A person's age, race, social and economic status, locality, political sentiments and cultural preferences will all influence what is. By understanding what items are to what demographics, marketers can more precisely identify their advertising attempts and increase their profit margin. Most demographic traits are things outside an individual's power, yet tastes and consumption selections are by these traits, seldom without the consumer's awareness. Being a youthful person, fashion and the trend was key to me as I could now identify and interact with other people of my age. This is because the features that the phone was offering were up to standard and trendy too. PURCHASE When the consumer decides to purchase a given product, he/she has that strong conviction that he/she is going to have value for his money. There are many of factors that dictate the purchase of mobile phones. In a recent newspaper, Liu (2002) studied the various factors that consumers consider before buying a given brand. The research showed that consumers have two distinct attitudes towards brands: attitude to the phone brand and network attitude. The decision on what to purchase was influenced by new technology features and phone’s capabilities. POST-CONSUMPTION EVALUATION It is in this stage that he tries find whether the mobile phone device that the consumer bought was actually what he expected. He may consider the various capabilities that the phone has and compares to the information he had previously gathered. During this stage is particularly critical especially for both the consumer and the producers or sellers of the product. Upon, may be with. If the product is good as per the consumer’s expectations, the consumer should the need for another product from that brand arise then he/she would gladly go back to the organization so as to get the desired satisfaction like the one from the previous one, then this will be a significant advantage to the suppliers since consumer confidence has . However, if the consumer is not happy, then the company loses consumer confidence and the consumer will never purchase a product from that brand again and hence in this case the company loses. The marketing strategy is doing well if consumers can spot a need which an organization’s product can satisfy and, gives the best way out to the problem. For a winning strategy, the marketer must put more weight on the product/brand representation in the mind of the consumer. Place the product according to the customer’s wants and dislikes. The coincides with the preferred image of the intended market sells well. Sales are essential and sales prone come about if the preliminary consumer scrutiny was accurate and matches the decision making process of the consumers. Contentment of the buyer immediately the sales have been made is key for the consumer to purchase several times. It is more advantageous to preserve accessible customers, rather than trying to acquire new ones. Having bought the mobile phone, I had a chance to evaluate and confirm whether the mobile phone was providing wanted. It offered even more features and services and if another mobile phone need arose, I would buy it from the same brand. The Safaricom company also provided an opportunity to have the phone repaired or exchanged with another if it failed to function as expected. The company in conjunction with Google provided an extended warranty period of one year. DIVESTMENT This is the last stage of the consumer decision making process. At this stage, the consumer disposes off the previously held products, in this case mobile phones since the old ones could not satisfy the current needs of the consumer. According to the indifference curve approach, which is based on the law of diminishing returns, as the utility of a product increases, the consumption of the products also increases. However it reaches a given point where the usefulness of the product reaches a maximum and will eventually start decreasing. It is at this point that the consumer disposes off the old products since they are no longer useful to them. The consumer will also do away with the new cell phone if its performance does not cater for his or her needs as per the consumer’s expectations. This terrible picture of the organization he the product from, the consumer loses confidence with the brand and never again do another purchase in the organization. Again, it has been noticed that consumer tends spread to the news how lousy the product of the given company and the company loses many consumers. Having acquired the mobile phone, it was a chance for me to dispose the old mobile phone by selling it to a friend who thought that the phone was better as compared to what he was using. However, in case where the Huawei Ideos Phone could not satisfy my expectations, then I would have sold it to willing friends and definitely purchase another phone from another brand. Conclusion As this research has revealed, a number of diverse ways to discussing consumer decision building can be used. The area is a question to continuing dynamic research, and it is that new approaches still lie unknown providing a potentially loaded area for learning. With a few outstanding exceptions, the function of moral principles, social accountability and self-sacrifice have been mostly overlooked by the models and theories reviewed. However, research attempting to slip in such considerations that would make a prominent role. The consumer decision making is influenced various decisions discussed. These factors are unique and vary consumer the other considering the environment they hail. However, at times consumers do not follow the decision making process in situations where the consumer impulse buying. For further research, scholars should try to develop models that could be used to help in describing the impulse buying process of goods and services. In addition, my experience I got from purchasing the mobile phone revealed a number of marketing strategies that the competing telecommunication companies were using in order to gain more customers. However, the strategies employed by Safaricom were unique and this made it to have an upper hand in closing sales as compared to other companies in the country. . References AJZEN, I., 1991. The theory of planned behavior. Organizational behavior and human decision making, 50, 179-211 Azar, O.H. (2011) “Do Consumers Make Too Much Effort to Save on Cheap Items and Too Little to Save on Expensive Items? Experimental Results and Implications for Business Strategy” American Behavioral Scientist 55 (8); 1077-1098 Evans et al (2009) Chapter 1: Consumer Motives and Values Evans et al (2009) Chapter 2: Consumer Responses to Marketing Actions: 1 Exposure, Attention, And Perception Ajzen, I (1991) “The theory of planned behavior” Organizational Behaviour and Human Decision Processes 50; 179-211 Evans et al (2009) Chapter 5: Consumer Demographics AND Chapter 6: Consumer Psychographics Evans et al (2009) Chapter 7: Social Group, Tribal and Household Buying Influences AND Chapter 8: Culture and Subculture Oyserman, D. (2009) “Identity-based motivation: Implications for action-readiness, procedural-readiness, and consumer behaviour” Journal of Consumer Psychology 19(3); 250-260 Lynch, J.G. and Srull, T. (1982) “Memory and attentional in consumer choice: concepts and research methods.” Journal of Consumer Research 9; 18-37 Evans et al (2009) Chapter 9: New Product Buying AND Chapter 10: Repeat, Loyal and Relational Buying Evans et al (2009) Chapter 12: Consumer Misbehavior AND Chapter 11: Data-Based Consumer Behaviour Meyvis, T. and Cooke A. (2007) “Learning from mixed feedback: Anticipation of the future reduces appreciation of the present” Journal of Consumer Research 34; 200-211 Read More