Consumer Marketing - High Involvement and Low Involvement Purchases - Assignment Example

Consumer Marketing Introduction Vigneron & Johnson (2004), that luxury goods continue to be popular and continue to be purchased despite the problems brought about by the economic recession. This is largely to the fact that branded products bring prestige to their owners, aside from providing the functional utility. According to Strach & Everett (2006), the perceptions of consumers with regards to luxury brands are influenced by the degree of commonality that are usually associated with brands that are mass produced and marketed, independent of whether the luxury brand or mass produced brand is the dominant corporate vehicle. In this paper, the researcher shall discuss ‘high involvement processing and low involvement processing,’ which are two factors related to the field of marketing. The point of this essay shall be to identify which processing method is likely to be activated during the purchase of a luxury car. With the help of some of the marketing models, this writer hopes to present a thorough analysis of consumer marketing and its processes. According to Silverstein & Fiske (2001), the luxury market is a significant segment in today’s marketplace. The increase in the consumption for luxury goods is due to a variety of social forces and business factors. Consumers are in a heightened state of emotionalism, thereby leading him/her to purchase more goods or services that not only satisfy physical needs, but also emotional needs as well. The convergence of these two components has lead to the rise in luxury goods consumption. On the other hand, manufacturers now have the capacity to produce more goods that almost equal the demand of the consumer. High Involvement and Low Involvement Purchases When a consumer is highly involved with the purchase and there exist significant differences between brands, complex buying behaviour occurs. Such behaviour can be described to be complex when there are higher risks involved, characterized by significant financial commitments. Another characteristic of a high involvement purchase and complex buying behaviour is when the large differences among brands or products require the buyer to know a significant deal of information regarding the product to be purchased. Thus, when buying a luxury car, marketers have to thoroughly inform the consumer with detailed information about their potential purchase. This entails informing the consumer about the category of that the car belongs to, its important attributes, special features and so on. If marketers are to influence the purchasing decision of the consumer, then they should also motivate their sales staff to influence final brand choice. On the other hand, dissonance-reducing behaviour occurs when the consumer is not able to spot significant differences between brands. In the case of the luxury car industry, when two cars have the same features but differences in price, the consumer is likely to experience dissonance that occurs when he/she notices that other brands would have been just as good, if not slightly better in some aspects. If the consumer finds himself/herself in such a buying situation, then he/she will seek information or ideas that justify the original purchase. Low Involvement purchases consist of two types. The first one refers to habitual buying behaviour, when the consumer’s involvement in the act of purchasing is too low since there are slight differences between brands. Consumers in such instances usually do not form a strong attitude towards a particular brand, and familiarity is probably the only reason why he/she selects it. For instance, in the luxury car industry, if the consumer has friends who have bought AUDIs, the consumer is more familiar with the brand and chooses it because it is familiar and promotion regarding the brand is repetitive. In such instances, consumers can, with minimal effort, learn the relationship between a brand and a product class. Thus, in such cases, it is the responsibility of marketers to try to make their product more involving. Thus, if more and more AUDIs are being purchases primarily out of habit, another car brand can be introduced such as BMW, for instance, and consumer involvement can be increased by raising awareness of the car’s special features. The Elaboration Likelihood Model The Elaboration Likelihood Model is one that addresses the attitudes of individuals, it being the one responsible for making decisions and behaving in a certain manner (Petty et al. 1999). Organizations have invested vast amounts of resources in order to create positive consumer attitudes towards their products and/or services. According to the ELM theory individuals are expected to consider or possess persuasive communication abilities. This refers to the communication strategy that aims to change attitudes towards an object of entity with the intention of forming positive attitudes. Attitudes are said to be positive when it improves an individual’s ability to function in the environment he/she belongs to (Petty et al 1991). The ELM theory consists of two routes of persuasive communication. The first is the central processing route which refers to the high level of motivation possessed by an individual and the ability to process the core elements of a persuasive message being broadcasted by a company or an organization. This type of attitude is one that is considered to be persistent resistant to change and more predictive of behaviour. The other route of persuasive communication is the peripheral route which is characterized by the individual utilizing cues imbedded in messages as input for the decision making process. Thus individuals who use the peripheral processing route are those who do not deeply consider the core message of the communication. On the contrary, they form an attitude that is based on contextual elements of the message. Such contextual elements could refer to how the message is presented by a salesperson or the reputation of the endorser of a product and/or service. The attitudes that are formed through this second route are less persistent less resistant and less predictive of behaviour than their centrally processed counterparts (Haugtvedt & Petty 1992). Thus, in the luxury car industry, the ELM theory comes into play when the consumer encounters advertisements or promotional strategies to promote a certain car brand. Depending on how convincing and how persuasive the advertisements and promotional strategies are, the more influence it has on the consumer’s behaviour. Fishbein Model of Theory of Reasoned Action The Theory of Reasoned Action was established by Martin Fishbein and Icek Ajzen, which refers to the study of both behaviour and attitude. There are apparently, three general constructs under this theory. These are behavioural intention, attitude, and subjective norm. Based on the theory, an individual’s behavioural intention is guided by two factors and these are the person’s attitude towards the behaviour and the subjective norm. In order to gather a clearer idea of behavioural intention, it is best to think about the strength acquired by an individual in order to form a special behaviour. Miller (2005), has defined each of the three components of the Theory of Reasoned Action Model. According to him, attitudes refer to an individual’s sum of beliefs about a particular behaviour. It is these beliefs that enable the person to evaluate a certain behaviour. Subjective norms on the other hand, refer to how a person’s social environment can influence him/her to behave in a certain manner. In addition, the individual’s beliefs and opinions also contribute to influencing behavioural intention. Finally, behavioural intention itself can be described to be a function of not only subjective norms but also attitudes towards a behaviour, both of which work together to predict actual behaviour. Thus, when it comes to purchasing a luxury car, the buyer’s attitudes about luxury cars is weighted down. This leads to the buyer’s intention to buy the car, in turn leading to the actual behaviour itself of actually purchasing one. The AIDA Model First introduced by Elmo Lewis, AIDA is an abbreviation for Attention, Interest, Desire and Action. According to this marketing model, when consumers are aware of the existence of a new product and/or service, they should be interested enough to want to know more about the features or benefits of the product/service being sold to them. Companies can then be said to be effective in their marketing strategies if they are able to encourage their consumers to desire their product and/or service. The final stage is action, which refers to the actual purchasing of the product and/or service (Drypen, 2009). According to Chakraborty (2009), the AIDA model was later developed into the Hierarch of Effects Model, abbreviated as HOE. The new modification of the AIDA model to the HOE model is based upon the process involved in a consumer’s decision making process. Thus, according to the HOE, there are three components that make up the model and these are Cognition, Affect and Behaviour. Cognition refers to the thinking process where perceptions and desires are building up in the minds of the consumers regarding a particular product and/or service. Affect, on the other hand, refers to the immediate reaction of these consumers upon finding out more about the product and/or service. Behaviour, on the other hand, refers to the actual act of purchasing the product and/or service, after making final decisions about it. According to Koekemoer & Bird (2004), the concept of the AIDA model and the HOE model is that of the learn-feel-do sequence. This sequence is one that requires communication in order to raise awareness and change attitudes before the consumer will even consider making the purchase. In the case of buying a luxury car, these marketing models are appropriate since the consumer has a high involvement with a product category, one that is perceived to have differentiation. Thus advertising strategies and communication strategies in order to market a luxury car is not only meant for making the car visible in the consumer’s consciousness, but rather to convince the consumer to actually purchase the car. Gordon (2008) states that such models are necessary, especially for advertisers and marketers so that they would be able to carefully craft out their marketing strategy. In the luxury car industry, where innovations are not only common, but are necessary for profit success, consumers need to know first and foremost that an innovation has been created, so that this may be understood fully. In addition, if the consumer is to have knowledge about a possible solution, then he/she must have sufficient knowledge about the car and recall the information gathered in order to understand and appreciate the potential benefits that can be gained from the innovation. For instance, previous years have shown that a large number of consumers did not understand the importance of carbon dioxide emissions. Thus, innovations that involved carbon dioxide emissions did not achieve the success that it should have. According to the model, in order for a consumer to really appreciate a product or service, it is important that he/she has knowledge of and understands the existence of innovation and how it can be put to good use. The success of a company and its marketing strategies depends on the behavioural change of customers that require the occurrence of behavioural innovation and product innovation to occur simultaneously or almost at the same time. This way, every aspect of the innovation process may be used to stimulate the learning ability of the consumer. After identifying objectives for the learning capabilities of the customers, companies can consider and optimize the different ways by which the customers have a relationship with the company, in terms of their decisions and purchasing habits. Thus, companies can then determine how learning objectives can be achieved through various communication mediums such as the Internet, personal sales, advertising and the like. The Role of Motivations, Needs and Wants Maslow (1943), is well known throughout history for designing a hierarchy of needs, which is basically a model for examining the motives and the necessities of people. According to his theory, the foundation of his pyramid model consists of the physiological needs of people, which consists of water, food and sleep. The next priority would include the need for safety, followed by the feeling of belonging and the feeling of being loved. The top most section of the pyramid model would consist of the individual’s self-esteem, which must be satisfied. Based on Maslow’s theory, these basic needs are required for the sustainability of human life, which have the possibility of being negatively or positively affected by environmental components. While the physiological needs, the need for safety and the need of being loved and the sense of belonging all fulfil deficiency needs, the need for the improvement of one’s self-esteem satisfies his growth needs. Once these needs are fulfilled, then the individual can finally reach the condition of self-actualization. This condition is characterized by a sense of awareness, integrity and achievement of full potential (Maslow, 1999). Based on this theory, consumers are motivated to first satisfy his/her needs before the wants. Once the basic physiological and safety needs are met, consumers are free to meet their belonging needs by establishing social relationships with their loved ones, such as their family and friends. Developing their self-esteem comes when they are being thought of as unique and special. Once people have met their belonging needs, they seek to gain their self-esteem by distinguishing themselves in a manner different from others. In the luxury car industry, one of the main reasons why consumers desire luxury cars is to be different from other individuals. In this light, marketers have to tap into the needs and the wants of their consumers, in order to ensure that any marketing strategy implemented would be a success. The purchasing process occurs when a consumer is aware of a need. This awareness stems from an initial source felt physiologically, such as hunger, or can be influenced by an external source such as marketing communications and through collaterals such as magazine advertisements. Awareness of such a need motivates the consumer to search for information about options with which he/she can satisfy the need. This is incredibly reminiscent of high involvement processing, when the consumer decides to gather as much information about a product or service before actually purchasing it. This information can come from a number of sources, such as commercial sources, personal sources and even the consumer’s past experience of the same product or service. Once alternatives have been identified through consultation of these sources, consumers are able to evaluate their options and they shall pay particular attention to those attributes that the consumer considers are most important. The following step has to do with consumer satisfaction, once the consumer decides to actually go through with the purchase. Undoubtedly, if the consumer is satisfied with his/her previous purchase or experience, then he/she is likely to purchase again from the same company and is also more likely to provide positive feedback about the experience. This then enables the company to draw in more consumers who are willing to purchase. The opposite is then true for consumers who are not satisfied. In the luxury car industry, for instance, if the consumer does not encounter a positive experience while using the car, then it is highly likely that the consumer will not purchase from the same company again and may even provide negative feedback about the product to other potential consumers. This is the reason why in car industries in general, companies continue to communicate with their customers after a purchase in an effort to influence satisfaction and positive behaviour post-purchase (Fill, 2006). Conclusion The main philosophy of marketing is putting emphasis on the satisfaction of consumers as the means for gaining new consumers and retaining loyal ones. Thus, when it comes to consumer marketing, companies are urged to carefully and continually gauge the expectations of their target market. Of course, companies are expected to be consistent in their keeping up and meeting these expectations, so as to secure business development and generate more profit for the company. In addition, the company’s positive reputation is maintained and improved. In this paper, the researcher has discussed the different models that deal with consumer marketing, with the emphasis being on marketing luxury cars to consumers. From the information gathered, it can be seen that communication between the company and the consumer is the core requirement for successful marketing to occur. Information has to be relayed between the marketer and the consumer in order to transcend to positive thoughts, and ultimately to the actual purchase itself. Being persuasive through marketing strategies is also one of the best ways to win over consumers, although influencing the consumer’s behaviour takes preparation and good communication skills. However, positive post-purchase satisfaction and consumer loyalty, as well as the new consumers that can be gained, are ultimately worth all the hard work. References Chakraborty, D. (2009) AIDA model and its successors: the advertiser’s tools. Retrieved on November 25 2009 from http://ayushveda.com/blogs/business/aida-model-and-its- successors-the-advertiser-tools/ Drypen (2009) The AIDA model to convey communication objectives. 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