Marketing and Process of High Involvement - Essay Example

At the present time, more and more people have different thoughts about buying products. For example, in order to get iphone5s, people are willing toqueue up overnight in advance. In different countries, people have different decision-making thoughts. If we take toothpaste as an example, it is convenient for people to buy it from a supermarket or from other shops when they need it. People make quick choice about buying the products. The two examples given above show the diverse consumer behavior. The definition of consumer behavior claims that it involves some sort of interaction between affect (emotion, specific, feelings, moods and overall evaluations) and cognitions (interpretation of the environment to create meaning which guide behavior), behavior, and environmental events (Baker, 1976). This essay is about my buying process of high involvement and low involvement goods with the personal and social influence. In terms of high involvement products, I think that the iphone5s can be considered as a high involvement good. I bought the iphone5s two months ago. According to Jobber (2010), if a purchase involves some products of high value, the consumer spends much time trying to evaluate the product. I believe that the iphone5s is a high involvement product. Therefore, I kept researching about the phone for many days. The buying process begins with the problem recognition stage. With regards to the concept of problem recognition, Jobber (2010, p.111) states that the existence of differences between the ideal and the present situation is necessary for problem recognition. As for me, I had an iphone4s before. However, I really wanted to buy a new mobile phone. Obviously, the desired situation was more than the present situation for me. Information search is the second step. Consumers can get information from a variety of ways. According to Lindquist and Sirgy (2009), at different phases of the consumer decision process, consumers make use of different types of information search. There are many main types of information search some of which include pre-purchase search, post-purchase search，ongoing search, and internal and external information search. I adopted two information searches that were directed information search and external information search. The directed information search belongs to pre-purchase search. I reckon that I will buy an iphone5s but I need to get support from my mother. On the one hand, as for pre-purchase search, I assume that the ‘Apple’ brand is more suitable for me as compared to other brands, such as, blackberry and Samsung. I am also skilled in using the ios operating system. I had a conscious and clear objective to find a series of information. Therefore, I spent a whole afternoon to find information about the phone which included price, quality, color, and performance of the model on the Internet. Because the Internet sources include lots of information about the iphone5s, the Internet advertisements can be especially effective for encouraging current customers to buy (Maclnnis and Hoyer, 2008). My friend recommended me to buy an iphone5s because it includes a new function that is fingerprint identification. Moreover, it is convenient for people to operate the iphone. My friend also told me that the color is not just black and white and that it also has a golden color that people really like. Thirdly, evaluation of alternatives is of great importance to the whole process. Lindquist and Sirgy (2009) give the definition of the alternative evaluation according to which consumers compare and distract different solutions about the same problem that comes from market in this process. In the process of the alternative evaluation, decreasing the conscious set to a smaller set of brands for serious consideration is the first stage for buying the products that consumers seriously want to purchase (Jobber, 2010, p. 114). Therefore, I investigated the most famous brands of mobile phones because I think that unpopular brands are inferior and have some functionality issues. Attitude towards buying a brand is based upon a set of beliefs about the brand’s attributes. The attributes have tremendous effects on the information of attitudes. However, some customers also consider the opinion of other people. The extent of the collection formed by the normative beliefs of these outside influences play a significant role in approving or rejecting a purchase decision (Jobber, 2010, p. 114). I remembered that when I chose iphone, I found that this brand has many benefits and huge value. For example, when I used iphone4s, I felt that the mobile phone changed and enriched my life. I became able to communicate easily with my friends and download different games. The function is also there in the iphone5s. Therefore, I have a strong desire to continue using this brand. Furthermore, my mother also favored me as she is also an iphone user. She thinks that iphone would be a wise choice for me. As far as the choice criteria are concerned, there are four types of choice criteria: technical criteria, economic criteria, social criteria, personal criteria. As for technical criteria, the iphone5s is convenient for most of people due to the size of the mobile phone. The style is very special compared to other brands. I especially like the looks. As for economic criteria, the price is reasonable. As for social criteria, the social belonging is high for this brand. According to PC news (2013), Apple sold 9 million iphone5s more than iphone5c. This shows that the demand of the iphon5s is much stronger than the iphon5c. The gold-colored iphone5s has become a hot good as it sells quickly in many stores. Many people prefer to buy an iphone5s as a new mobile phone to use. As for personal criteria, I have special emotions for this brand as I am satisfied with the working of iPad and imac that I already have. I always supported the process of evaluation which consequently made my purchase intentions clear. I purchased an iphone5s from a store. Next, I did the post-purchase evaluation of the decision outputs. I gave my phone high appraisal in many aspects. For example, the quality is greater than other mobile phones. The service of maintenance also makes me feel satisfied. In conclusion, I consider that I made a rational decision to buy an iphone5s. I buy mobile phones once in two years because mobile phone is an expensive commodity. I am a student now and I do not have enough money to buy it in short intervals. Apart from this, I spent one week to find some information about the iphone5s. I bought the iphone5s that is influenced by personal. There are six personal influences, which are information processing, motivation, belief and attitudes, personality, lifestyle, and life cycle (Jobber, 2010, p.123). I was influenced by two factors that were motivation and belief and attitudes. As for motivation, when people buy a product, the aim is that it should meet the requirements. If the requirement arrives at a certain extent, it becomes motivation. I used the iphone4s but the appearance of the mobile phone went out of shape because of which I wanted to a new mobile phone Motivation for me is that I want to get a new mobile phone, so I choose to buy a new one. As for belief and attitudes, a belief is a thought that a person holds about something (jobber, 2010). Consumers set up the belief about products and by these beliefs they create the brand image. By contrast, the brand image becomes the attitude that consumers have. I bought iphone because I believe it to be one of the best mobile phones. The belief is formed by knowledge or fame. Meanwhile, there are four social influences on consumer behavior, which include culture, social class, geo-demographics, and reference group. I am affected by one of these factors, which is the reference group. The definition of the reference group indicates that a group of people influence consumer behavior and attitudes (jobber, 2010, p.133). There are two types of reference group, which include membership and aspirant groups. The membership groups say that people make face-to-face communication with friends and family. The aspirant groups say that communication occurs in abnormal occasions. I am also influenced by the membership group. An example of this is that my friends told me the advantages of the new iphone5s and suggested me to buy it. As far as buying toothpaste is concerned, it is a low involvement product for me. According to Assael (1998), consumers do not think that low involvement products are essential for them. The need recognition is the first step in buying low involvement products. I want to buy new toothpaste because I do not have it now. As the next step, information search will occur. I will not do information search to buy which brand of it because it will waste my time. I just want to choose the brand I like the most. Evaluation of alternative is the third step. Two weeks ago, I went to supermarket to buy the toothpaste. I saw a lady promoting the Colgate toothpaste. She was saying that if you use Colgate, the teeth will become much white and will produce good smell. Gaining awareness by advertisement and sales promotion is very important in deciding whether to buy a product or not (Jobber, 2010, p. 116). When I listened to the lady, I decided to buy it. I do not seek information because I get it passively. The choice criteria for the Colgate toothpaste are economic criteria and emotional criteria. To start with, economic criteria includes price. It is obvious that the cheap price of toothpaste is the first choice criteria. Next one is the emotional criteria. Colgate is an old brand that most of the people like to use. When I use this toothpaste, it makes me feel comfortable. The forth step is buying the toothpaste. The last step is the post-purchase evaluation of the decision. Compared with other brands, Colgate is of superior quality and the price is also affordable. The process of service is especially makes me feel satisfied. I am influenced by both personal and social factors. The information process occurs when choosing to buy toothpaste. I use selective exposure to decide which brand I should buy. Compared with other brands, Colgate delivers good quality to consumers. The color and smell also influence my interpretation. The toothpaste is blue in color which is cool and refreshing. The smell has a positive effect on the health of its users. As for social effect, I am influenced by the reference group because I saw my father using and appreciating this toothpaste. To sum up, the essay describes the buying process about a high involvement product, which is iphone5s and a low involvement product, which is toothpaste. The essay includes the description of the purchase process of these two products based on my own consumption experience. I bought the iphone5s because I am influenced by both personal factors, which are motivation and belief and attitudes and social factor, which is reference group. As for toothpaste, I am influenced by the personal factor, which is information process and the social factor, which is the reference group. . References Albanesius, C., 2013. Apple iphon5c, 5s sales top million in first weekend. Available from: http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2424696,00.asp Assael, H., 1998. Consumer behavior and marketing action. New York: South western college. Baker, M, J., 1976. Marketing theory and practice. London: Macmllan press. Hoyer, W, D., 2008. Consumer Behavior. China: China translation and printing services. Jobber, D., 2010. Principles and practice of marketing. Maidenhead: McGraw-Hill Education. Lindquist, J. and Sirgy, J, M. Shopper, buyer, and consumer behavior. Available from: https://www.atomicdogpublishing.com/BookDetails.asp?Session=9322102E-4B4D-4725-905C-10CA0BC0C640&BookEditionID=206 Read More