Consumer Behavior Building Marketing Strategy - Literature review Example

? Marketing - Purchase Decision & Consumer Behaviour 20 July Items 3X Yogurt Cost $12.00 Seller Bulla Dairy Foods Time spent on making the decision This was an impulse decision as I just happened to be passing by, and thought I should buy my favourite yogurt. Effort put into decision making process Low involvement Substitute products or competing brands Despite there being an endless list of other alternative brands of the same product, I did not consider any other as I have always liked the yogurt from Bulla Dairy Foods. Issues which contributed to choosing the brand and buying the product I have been using this brand for a long time, and I seem to like it. I always buy yogurt which I take when I feel like eating something during the day. Date 21 July 2013 Items 1X Non-stick frying pan Cost $204.00 Seller Kleenmaid/ Compass Capital Partners Time spent on making the decision One month Effort put into decision making process Low involvement Substitute products or competing brands This decision was not made in light of the brand of the product. I only needed a non-stick pan for doing my frying. Issues which contributed to choosing the brand and buying the product I needed a non-stick frying pan, and a friend suggested this particular brand to me. Date 21 July 2013 Items 2X Temptin Chocolate biscuits Cost $24.00 Seller Dick Smith Foods Time spent on making the decision None/ Impulse buying Effort put into decision making process Low involvement Substitute products or competing brands There are a number of both substitute products as well as a number of competing brands. These include the Tim Tam biscuit brand among others. Issues which contributed to choosing the brand and buying the product This was an impulse buying, which was not determined by any brand or utility considerations. I do not have any considerations for candy brands and buy any brand. Date 21 July 2013 Items A bottle of Aglianico red wine Cost $395.00 Seller Brown Brothers Milawa Vineyard Time spent on making the decision None/ Impulse buying Effort put into decision making process High involvement Substitute products or competing brands There are a number of many brands from which I could have chosen. Issues which contributed to choosing the brand and buying the product I preferred buying this particular wine of bottle because it has been part of the family pride. I have used this wine for a long time because it has been used by my family. My bad experiences with other brands of wine every time I try others also influenced me to want to buy this brand because of the guarantee that I would like it. Date 22 July 2013 Items A bottle of cologne Cost $216.00 Seller Hugo Boss Time spent on making the decision Impulse buying Effort put into decision making process Low involvement Substitute products or competing brands Substitute products for this item include deodorants, perfumed lotions, etc. There are also a myriad of similar brands from which I could have chosen. Issues which contributed to choosing the brand and buying the product There are a number of things which made me buy this product. One such is the fact that a friend of mine suggested it, and I took the advice. Date 21 July 2013 Items Air Wick room freshener Cost $24.00 Seller Air Wick Time spent on making the decision One day Effort put into decision making process Low involvement Substitute products or competing brands There are a number of many brands from which I could have chosen. Issues which contributed to choosing the brand and buying the product One of the factors which led to me buying this product is its utility, that is, its ease of use and the fact that it can be used for a number of functions. A friend of mine also recommended the product, and I therefore tried it. At the supermarket, the product was also on a sale offer, which also encouraged the decision to buy the product. Date 23 July 2013 Items Cake Cost $125.00 Seller Darrell Lea Time spent on making the decision 1 week Effort put into decision making process High involvement Substitute products or competing brands There are a number of brands from which I could have chosen. Issues which contributed to choosing the brand and buying the product The purchase of this product was based on past experiences with regard to this product. I have used it for some time and I believe that it is one of the best products. At the same time, since the cake was a gift for another person, I also had to consider the needs of the other person, and I knew this would be the cake she would want. This is the one who introduced this cake to me in the first place. Date 24 July 2013 Items 1X Pair of Sneakers Cost $225.00 Seller Blundstone Time spent on making the decision 1 month Effort put into decision making process High involvement Substitute products or competing brands There are a number of many brands from which I could have chosen. Issues which contributed to choosing the brand and buying the product There are a number of reasons why I purchased this product. To begin with, it is a product which I have been using for some time. Secondly, there was a new model released, and I had to try it because it looked very good. Date 24 July 2013 Items Guitar Cost $400.00 Seller Maton Guitars Time spent on making the decision 2 months Effort put into decision making process High involvement Substitute products or competing brands There are a number of many brands from which I could have chosen. Issues which contributed to choosing the brand and buying the product The decision to buy this product was inspired by a friend who recommended it. I did not have an idea about which is the best guitar and I had to depend on someone who is more versed with guitars. Date 24 July 2013 Items 3X Jean Trousers Cost $160.00 Seller Lowe Menswear Time spent on making the decision 2 months Effort put into decision making process High involvement Substitute products or competing brands There were a number of brands from which I could choose. Issues which contributed to choosing the brand and buying the product The decision to buy this product was inspired by a friend who recommended this product. I did not have an idea which is the best guitar and I had to depend on someone who is more versed with guitars. Date 25 July 2013 Items 2 Books Cost $205.00 Seller Angus & Robertson Time spent on making the decision 1 week Effort put into decision making process High involvement Substitute products or competing brands There are a number of bookstores around the town. Some of them were considered, but this one was chosen based on the fact that the bookstore was near. Issues which contributed to choosing the brand and buying the product Location of the bookstore made it easier for access as I was going about my business. There are other factors such as the fact that I have always bought my books here. My decision to be buying my books here is based on the fact that the members of the sales staff are very friendly and very supportive. The process of selecting a book from the shelf is also very easy as is the process of checking out. Other factors include the fact that this bookstore is always stocked with all types of books and are therefore hard to find a book that is not available in the shelves. Nominated product Date NA Items 1X I Pad Cost $450.00 Seller Apple Inc. Time spent on making the decision 2 months Effort put into decision making process High involvement Substitute products or competing brands There are a number of computer tablets in the market which I can choose from. Issues which contributed to choosing the brand and buying the product Of all the computer tablets in the market, Apple’s I Pad is always of the best quality. In this regard, it is the brand which I will consider above the others. Analysis I am a 30 year old male who is fond of buying fancy things. I have a part time job and do not have another form of income. I am not married and live with a friend. I have a high regard to common and proven brands when buying more expensive things or items which will last longer such as electronics and clothes. However, for short-life products, I do not consider brands too much. At the same time, for the more expensive goods and goods which are supposed to serve for a long time, I plan a lot before buying the product. This is not the same for the short-life and less expensive items such as food in which case I buy on impulse without planning. For the products which I do not have a specific brand which I can trust, I depend on advertisements for the buying of the various items. Advertising as Prabakaran (2012) says is one of the oldest methods of marketing which still remains relevant in the modern world. Given the above list of items bought, there are a number of factors affecting the purchasing decision process. These include: Brand According to Peter and Olson (2010), consumer behaviour drives marketing strategy. Samli (1995) also seems to have the same position in this matter. In this regard, businesses must consider this when marketing their products (Hawkins, Mothersbaugh, & Best, 2012). Marketers understand the importance of a well recognised brand when it comes to having a stronghold in the market. This is because as Kotler et al (2009) argues, brands are the gateway for potential customers as well as the tether that holds existing customers. This is very evident in the above chronicle of purchases as consideration for brands was eminent when purchasing the various products. As Kardes et al, (2010) say, people seem to trust brands because they have either used them in the past or because other people use them. In this regard, the more common a brand is, the more people will buy it (Hoyer & MacInnis, 2008). The above information provides very strong evidence for the need for branding. Old brands seem to get credibility from the consumers who will then spread the popularity of the brands. This is why branding has become a very big issue with regard to the modern marketing (Pride & Ferrell, 2011). Growth curve of products As Solomon (2007) argues, in marketing it is necessary to understand the need to monitor the growth curve of the individual product. From the information provided, it is clear that the individual bought some products because there was a new design by the firm selling the product. Firms must understand this and try their best to ensure that they always redesign their products (Wells & Prensky, 1996). Reinventing the product design is a way of refreshing the market and making sure the brand is able to keep up with the rest of the competitors in order to maintain its place in the market. Failing to reinvent the products and the product design can lead to the product becoming obsolete and the buyers may want to buy them anymore. This would then mean that the product will not be able to manage the pressure from the other competing products in the market (Huddleston & Minahan, 2011). Marketers should therefore be able to connect well with the customers in order to have the customers liking the brand (Hubbard, 1990). Learning from the others Customers are the biggest billboard any business can have (Howard, 2009). As Belch and Belch (1985) argue, when people are not sure about which brand to buy, they will seek opinion from their friends and neighbours. This can also be seen in the above log of personal purchases (Mooij, 2010). The log indicates that information about the product was sought for from other individuals when I did not have the right information about the product. This also confirms the consumer behaviour theory which identifies a process by which an individual buys a product (McGreggor, 2012). Marketers, as Jobber (2009) indicates, must understand the intricate details which affect an individual’s purchasing decisions. According to the black box theory of consumer behaviour, individuals identify the problem they want to solve and from this point start looking for the solution to their problem (Wright, 2006). At this stage, the individual is looking for information about the available products which can solve their problem or rather, which will serve their need. In the log above, there are several instances where the advice was sought from other people in order to know which brand to buy. This fulfils the process of the back box because the buyer identified the problem (need for a certain product), searched for information then decided which brand and which product to buy. Other influences The purchasing decision of a consumer as Noel (2009) and Lamb et al (2011) say is also affected by a myriad of other factors such as the demographics of an individual. The psychographics, the emotions and beliefs as well as feelings of an individual also contribute to the decision making process (Best & Coney, 2005). These factors seem to be present in the decision making process of the purchases list above. For instance, it is evident that some of purchasing decisions were based on emotions and feelings which may have nothing to do with the utility of the product. For instance, when buying a bottle of wine, I did not only consider the brand but also considered other issues such as family history on the usage of the particular brand. The bottle of wine was bought because it had always been bought by the family. This indicates that emotions were present in the decision making process and there were considerations of some feelings for the brand without considering the utility of the brand. At the same time, there are some of the factors which are very useful in making the purchasing decisions. These include the demographics such as the age, gender and other personal demographics (Close, 2012). According to Robertson & Scott (1984), age and gender is a major factor defining the individual’s choice with regard to various purchasing decisions. This, according to William (2009) and Samli (2012), is an important issue which any marketer should consider in order to make sure that that they are able to access the consumers in an efficient way. In this case, there are two important instances where the individual’s demographics may have influenced his purchasing decisions (MacNamara & Venton, 1990). With regard to these factors which affect the consumer behaviour, businesses can be able to look at the various ways in which they can enhance their market stronghold (Rowlings, 2013) and (Ferrell & Hartline, 2010). For instance, since emotions and feelings are great influencers of some purchasing decision processes, it is necessary for any business to be able to know how they can use this to access the market. This is what all marketing professionals should be able to understand and use as a way to advance their brand because as Nutting and White (1990) say, it affects how successful the marketing plan will be. As Jacobson (2009) says, brands which seek to use this avenue as a way to access the market are in most cases very successful. Big brands such as Barclays Bank have been very successful in using this as a way to advance and market their brands. For instance, Barclays Bank has for instance been sponsoring the most popular football sports league in the world and this has made it the favourite brand by so many football lovers. In this regard there are a number of people who are likely to become customers of Barclays bank regardless of the utility of the brand to them. 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