Why We Buy, the Science of Shopping - Essay Example

Running Head: Marketing Introduction: Marketing is an oft conceived word used in our daily life. It is a normal word which may often be found as a part of our day to day conversations, and has more to do with the approach then the execution of a business idea. It was first explained by the American Market Association as an “activity”. Later the definition was elaborated and modified to involve the various institutions and processes employed for making, communicating and delivering products which are of value to the stakeholders-customers, clients, partners and the society at large. The term was derived from the original meaning which taken literally meant simply going to the market to shop or to sell goods and services there. Marketing has grown by leaps and bounds today. It is a creative industry that has expanded down to various genres such as advertising, distribution and selling. Customer base is figured out, their needs and aspirations realized and the relevant product developed accordingly. Future predictions and the expected turn the market is to take is often analyzed through various forms and types of Market research. Brand is not only a name, a logo, a tagline but above all a promise. The promise made to serve the customers well by creating value to them is what a brand is. It is an image/perception built in the customer minds based on how the brand serves them. People belonging to different demographics react differently to a single brand; their differences are based on various variables like price, quality, quantity, and the like. In- depth interviews were also taken with two customers in order to extract the various attributes and to know the basis of the differences in opinions. Later, two customer’s buying habits were observed, in a grocery store to see how the brand is positioned in the minds of two different people. Interview Analysis: For the purpose of the qualitative research, surf excel (detergent) was taken as the brand. This brand falls under the category of variety seeking buying behavior; people may not remain very loyal to the brand, and may switch to the other detergents, for the change. Surf excel should provide differentiated and varying services to its customers from giving price offs, to convenient packaging and the like, so that it becomes the market leader and enters the category of habitual buying behavior. This product is for the B2C markets. The various questions that were asked involved customers’ frequency of washing clothes, which detergent they prefer, how much do they wash branded and unbranded clothes, how do they take good care of the branded ones, how do they perceive surf excel, what changes could surf excel bring upon, how can surf excel improve its imagine and the like. The people who were interviewed belonged to different demographics in terms of age, income groups and locality. From the research, it was analyzed that variables like price, fragrance, advertisement and packaging caused the two customers act differently to surf excel. According to one customer, surf excel should reduce the price right away to see a lot of buyers flocking to buy the surf excel. While the other belonging to high income group believed that surf excel has a reasonable price and is well suited for the needs of all the customers present. Advertisement also plays an important role in the brand’s positioning it in fact is the foremost thing that an organization should properly plan and that too according to the place the brand wants to set in the customer’s mind. The main purpose of the advertisement is not to make the customers buy the product right away; it is rather to make them recall the brand while standing in the aisle of the market with a piles and piles of different competing brands set. One of the customers even though appreciated the way surf-excel advertises it products, however complained that the whole port folio of the product is still unknown to him and thus surf excel needs to improve its advertisement content. The customer also believed that surf excel should include celebrities and known people, so that they exert a social influence on the customers with their personalities. While the other customer believed that the idea of not promoting the brand through the opinion leaders does also convey a message that is, the detergent is for the common people like all of us. Observational Analysis: While observing the purchasing habits of the people in a local super market, it turned out that majority of the customers bought surf excel because the brand covered approximately 40 % of the shelf and that too on the customers’ eye level. The other thing that was noticed, was that a customer was also influenced by other customers’ preferences, the brand that one customer had in his cart exerted an influence on the other customer’s buying behavior. Customers that appeared to be belonging to lower income groups, bought the other brand and not the surf excel, which clearly depicts that the brand needs to lower its price to suit well for all income groups. Differences in packaging were also the basis of the customer’s buying behavior. Consumer needs: Given our target audience, their life is always on the move. They would not be willing to walk that extra mile to take this product. They would prefer it, if it’s easily available in their nearest outlets. There is a lot of consumer thinking and involvement in this product. They would rather by the brand at their most frequented grocery store of going through the hassle of locating it through special stores. Surf excel was the front shelf brand in almost all shops, be they of A category, B category or C category. However, buying preferences varied dramatically in different income groups. For consumers, belonging to the upper middle class and top class, this was the most preferred brand. It made sense too since it is slightly more expensive compared to the other brands. However, for the lower tier and the lower middle class segment of the market, this was not the most preferred brand owing to its high price. They believed they would rather get away with brands like Bonus which are cheaper and belong to well known names such as Unilever and Procter and Gamble. It was also observed that Surf Excel’s biggest competitor was Brita. However, most people who had been using Surf Excel found little incentive to switch over to Brita. The brand itself, thus commands, good consumer loyally. Consumers who have already been using this prefer don’t prefer to switch over to other brands of the stature. An interesting observation was a rather preferred purchase of sachets and economy packs instead of the jumbo sized boxes of this detergent. When piqued further, it was found, this was to avoid wastage of the detergent by home maids. For every time they would sit down to wash clothes, they would be handed the newly launched middle sized sachet so that the jumbo sized packets are not subjected to misuse. Most of the women who brought this detergent would seek both a stain remover as well as whitener in the same detergent. This also turned out to be one of the primary reasons behind their purchase of this product as most other competitor brands, turned out promised either of the two cherished and prioritized features and not both. Because of limited price differences between this brand and competitor brands, and a huge variety available out there, however the vulnerability of the brand and potential threat cannot be ignored either. Works Cited JWT. Marketing Practice. 15 April 2007. 28 Jan 2009 . Story, Louise and comScore. ""They Know More Than You Think" (JPEG) "To Aim Ads, Web Is Keeping Closer Eye on You"." 10 Mar 2008. Ny times. 01 Mar 2009 . Underhill. Why we Buy, the science of shopping. NY: Simon and Suchter Press, 1999. Read More