Consumer Response on the New Product of Hugo Boss Company - Research Paper Example

Introduction Normally, marketing research on consumer behavior is more imprudent than proactive. Hugo Boss, the developer of Hugo Boss fashion enterprise drawn in this research expressed vividly how consumer behavior that is generated by new brand affects success in marketing of products in an organization. According to Stewart Clegg, Martin Kornberger and Tyrone Pitsis (2005), new product brand in the market normally bombshells the customers such that the product will develop fresh needs rather than satisfying the existing needs of the consumers. Thus consumer behavior research will merely focus on the past attitude of the consumers towards the product but extrapolating the trend of the new product. Hugo Boss Company has built its existence in the market for over 70 years. Though there was a change in ownership, Hugo Boss Company has not withdrawn from its operations at any point since men and women wear products has supported company’s existence in the market. Currently, the company is operating under 460 fashion products in the global market. These products have diverse manufacturing locations like Poland, Turkey, Italy and USA. For instance recently in the year 2010, the company launched two new brands, Boss Orange and Boss green for men as well as for women. Men brands in this case need to be promoted in order for the company to gain competitive advantage over the others in the market. The company will in turn have to come up with an appropriate marketing mix to market its product effectively. Fredrik Nilsson and Birger Rapp (2005) together with other researchers’ best identified that a good customer behavior developed by marketers is very vital when it comes to strategic analogy and integrated control of products consumptions by the consumers. New initiatives on the side of products and service should be developed to meet consumers’ current needs in the market. However, Hugo Boss Fashion Company has to meet the current needs of the consumers by producing new brands as fashion books which they don’t manufacture at the moment. Actually, fashion books go hand in hand with fashion design as needed by most of men and women in the world. Customers’ challenges towards the new product in the market In most cases, advance in technology normally bears a challenge to consumers when it comes to purchasing new products from the manufactures hence leaving them with a great dilemma of adopting the new product or maintaining the previous product (Geng Cui, Wenjing Bao and Tsang-Sing Chan, 2009). This perhaps may enhance coping strategies by the consumers to deal with uncertainties of the new product. According to Geng Cui, Wenjing Bao and Tsang-Sing Chan (2009), consumer behavior is subjective and is challenged by perceptions, attitudes, culture and groups that have impacts on different individuals. Thus, these effects pose challenges to individual purchase decisions. Positive consumer issue on purchase decision during adoption process 1. Good timing of stated intention which affect perception. In group individual situation, consumers to a newly stated product in the market, in this case fashion books in Hugo Boss Company, the purchase of the products by consumers should be heterogeneous since most of the consumers vary in time of purchase according to construal theory. According to this theory, consumers give time of intention a comparative weight for adoption decision. There is a difference between those consumers making up their mind for the product within a short period and those that they give themselves time so as to adopt good attitude towards the product (David Lyle Alexander, 2008). Merging the two situations therefore we formulate a hypothesis that giving timing of a stated intention of a product perhaps will give time a number of consumers to have a comprehensive feasibility on the product and later their attitudes are motivated by their temporal perspectives. 2. Newness index of a new product in the market forecasts the attitude that will lead to purchase of this product by consumers. This index predicts those consumers who have rightful intentions of purchasing the new product (fashion book) as soon as it is launched in to the market. How dose this predict positive attitude of consumers towards the product? From the research, the values that will be used to give rightful predictions are those adopted from independent respondents (consumers) who are very willing to purchase the product. This index of analysis should be guided by four agreements from the consumers which include, adopting strategy, relevant tradeoffs, admit of change of behavior by consumers and predictions of new benefits from the product (David Lyle Alexander, 2008). Negative consumer issue on purchase decision during adoption process The research has the aim of emerging a scrupulous insight of how the four drivers of consumer behavior acknowledged by both marketers and economists may affect the situations when it comes to consumer decision making on the new product to the market. The research began with interviewing four of the consumers from Germany on the new product (fashion books) instigated to the market and their responses were documented. Later, literature review was adopted from behavioral economists and marketers so as to integrate together interdisciplinary evidence that explain consumers’ purchase decision on the product. 1. Who decides on the purchase of the new product? It can be individual, family, group or enterprises. Sometimes there is an eruption of compromised situations during decision making when acquiring a new product in the market in group situations. Michael R. Solomon, Lisa Duke Cornell and Amit Nizan (2011) admitted that individuals have limited time to think about every purchase in an organization. Thus, the decision made by appointed committee on purchase may not consider the behavior of an individual in the same organization. This act will affect one or two individual in the organization since they are confident on the product that has been purchased thus they behavior develop a negative perspective towards that product. Basing Hugo Boss Company on the new product (fashion books) they may launch, market assessment should be done comprehensively to avoid cases of losing customers due to compromised decisions. As indicated by Michael R. Solomon, Lisa Duke Cornell and Amit Nizan (2011), five stages of decision making process are very important during group purchasing, and when these stages are taken into consideration very well, there will be limited or no cases of compromised situations at all. 2. Illogicality of technology which has examined consumers experience on the new product in the market has elevated quite some negative issues regarding consumer behavior on purchase decision during adoption process. Hossein Bidgoli (2010) argued that consumers generate negative perception (love-hate relationship) towards new advances on either the product or service thus arousing negative reactions. Therefore, for successful initiation of new brand (fashion Books) to the market, Hugo Boss Company should evaluate the mode of technology that it will be using during ad and promotion of the product such that at any point, the technology used will not affect consumer behavior during adoption process. For a while, a company may lack acceptable methods of promoting a product to the consumer and this may lead to poor perception by consumers. Thus, this situation will require the company to adopt post-acquisition coping strategies, for instance, delaying advanced product, so as to allow effective adoption process by the consumers (Hossein Bidgoli, 2010). For any marketer in a competitive market should comprehensively evaluate the needs of the consumers, understand their attitudes and nature their behavior in order to enjoy market advantage over the other competitors in the market. Specifically, it is important to understand product’s life cycle in the market such that any information passed to the consumers is filtered and will not affect their purchase power at all (Hossein Bidgoli, 2010). Consumer response on the newly product in the market As stated before, four of the consumers in the target market (men and women of Germany) of which two of them were men and the other two were women was interviewed. The objective of the research was finding the magnification of how perception, attitude, group/family, and culture affects consumer behavior during adoption process of a new product to the market. Before commencement of the research these key concepts were taken in to consideration: Purchase decisions of consumers perhaps are made habitually controlled by individual emotions or behaviors of other consumers in the market or environment. How the information is presented relating to the product more or less affects the attitude of the consumer which will in turn transfer the effects to purchase decision. Consumers are heavily predisposed by other people either indirect influence or direct influence. For instance, seeing friends purchasing the new product is a direct influence while persuasions by sales persons are a direct influence to consumers. Products makes statements about person’s identity in the market and how this person would like to be after using the new product brought to the market by the marketers. From the research it was found that four distinct croups in the product cycle affect the issues of adoption process of the consumers, that is; perception, attitude, group/family and cultural influences of adoption process. These include exploration, of the new product, ads about the new product in the market, the mode of shopping on the new brand and full insight of the product. During the survey, respondents were requested to respond to set of questions on five levels of conformity and variance on the new product to the market each linked to exploration habits, information seeking, and perception of the product that can possibly influence purchase decision of consumers in the market. Results From the two men that were interviewed for the reason of this research, it was found that the majority of men tend to be more proactive when it comes to search of information about the new brand in the market. This is much supported by the research of Tammy C. Whitlock (2005) who argued that men are more attracted to different sources of product information as magazines, internet sources, television shows and even from the books stores of fashion design. The most accelerating factor that was found which tends to make men more fascinated to fashion is the technology in the post modern world. The following was recorded from the first respondent in the process of information search: He gets the market information about the new product through the major search engine (Google or yahoo) which in this case is not a satisfying factor that perhaps convinces the consumer during purchase decision. According to Tammy C. Whitlock (2005), books are purely the firm sources that guide a consumer to make good decisions on purchases. It provide both understanding and convincing aspects of the product that will make the consumer change or rather adopt to the new product in the market. As the research narrowed down, the first respondent depicted a common assumption that male perception on the new brand is basically developed by technology advances in the internet. It is not that we don’t have books in the internet, perhaps most of the fashion books are in the data base thus it will be easy for consumer to access the current fashion style. The second respondent was 30 year old man. The main aim of interviewing him was to understand the aspect of attitude on the process of adapting to the new brand in the market. This was his responses; First we should become conscious that attitude is a developed tendency to respond to a product again and again in a positive or negative way (Tammy C. Whitlock, 2005). It’s a multidimensional concept which consists of cognition, influence and conation (habit objectives). The second respondent was an out shopper from Metzingen town in Germany how go to the Hugo Boss company for boutique shopping because of competitive prices and limited parking space from other fashion companies within the region. It was found that he developed a positive attitude towards the company due cultural reputation of the company to the public. Cultural differences between firms affect differently determinants on apparent consumer benefits (Tammy C. Whitlock, 2005). Thus, the second respondent gave a vital information on how culture of an organization can impact on the attitude of consumes which will thereafter develop consumer behavior in the competitive market. The third respondent was also a man with his family who came for shopping in the company. He was with his two children, a boy and girl with their mother. This interaction was meant to give comprehensive findings on how family and group would influence consumer behavior in the process of adapting new product in the market. According to Geoffrey Paul Lantos (2010), the main intention of evaluating such kind of consumers is to identify potential consumers in the segmented (target market), to expand the psychographic elements of these potential consumers and to examine adoption process to the new brand. This was the response therefore; There is always emotional effect from kids that would make the parent’s (man) purchaser decision on the product. This is more of a pressure since the father himself may not be ready to purchase the product, but due to influence from the children, he ends up deciding to acquire the product. This case happens especially when a company launches a new product hence the kids will want to know what this product is all about so as to compare different tests and preferences (Geoffrey Paul Lantos, 2010). The respondent also admitted that the intergenerational influence that results from sharing of brand preference among family members also leads to change in consumer behavior. Recommendations These recommendations will be very vital when it comes to development of marketing plan for the new brand brought to the market by the manufactures. For the case of Hugo Boss Company, where it is recommended that they initiate the new brand (fashion books) into the market, the following need to be considered: The company should make clear the general objectives and goals and develop a strategic role played by the new product (fashion books) for the purpose of gaining a competitive advantage over the others in the market. The research of Kenneth B. Kahn (2011) pointed out that new brand development perhaps define corporate strategy of the organization that will make it (enterprise) gain competitive advantage in the market. The research was later supported by Markov process model which explains how the current state behavior affects the future adoption process of the product. Every respond from the consumer develop a strategic role of the product thus consumer issues should be matter of concern if at all it will raise whichever needs that may need fulfillment. The strategic role of the product should build a flexible environment that will sustain any commotion developed by consumers. Apparently, new product in the market usually is associated with uncertainties and anxiety possession. Thus it is strongly recommended that whatever role new brand play in the market, it should be flexible in that if at all there will be any uncertainty, consumers can easily shift from the product without bringing in any commotions. For instance, changing technology alter organization’s new products where by the information carried in the new brand (fashion books) may not contain what is actually in the business premises. In this case therefore, consumers may be tempted to disbelieve the company’s information thus changing their perceptions on the new brands that will at once be brought to the market. The organization should always be prepared to the change required in development of new product. Robert Gravlin Cooper (2006) affirmed that to overcome any resistance, the background of management, leadership, cross-functional teams and products winners should be firm. Sometimes the how success is perceived is easy but it may be difficult to reach. Thus, the whole management of Hugo Boss Company should work as a team and give all the necessary needs for the development of the product. Launching a new product will not be enhanced effectively when part of management is absence in the strategy since it requires an understanding of significant pathways in an organization. The enterprise should build a strong team that supports decisions made by consumers during purchase process. The system should capitalize on product choice harms, molding those harms and establishing imperative variables in the process. All the problems should be passed through an optimized procedure to give a fine decision on the strategy. Further, decision making from data should be integrated with supports team of the product to enhance an absolute marketing plan. Robert Gravlin Cooper (2006) understood that test marketing is the first step towards execution of new product in the market. It is sturdily recommended that marketing plan is tested prior to launching of new product into the market. In this case, the organization is concerned with the uncertainties of the new brand that will need consumer coping strategy on behavior. Thus the approach will be achieved effectively only if careful attention is taken during launching of the new brand to the consumers hence modifying any consumer behavior if at all it will arise. For a successful adoption of new brand (fashion book) to the market, Hugo Boss Company should launch new product program to implement the required changes for success. Various responses from the consumers in the target market are quite enough to make proper plan for adoption process. The four respondents in the research may not be enough to make this program, but with increase in demands, it will create a chance for the company to come up with the market plan for the new brand. Conclusion Generally, with the help of a research, one can predict consumer behavior in the market for the new product. Different surveys help marketers to understand the value-impact of a new product in the market and thus different company uses these responses when it comes to market plan for the fresh brand to the market. Hugo Boss has displayed a reasonable approach in identifying potential consumers for their new brand in the market. Four participants’ responses were used in the research to analyze the impact of new brand on consumers’ behavior in the market (German). Perceptions, attitudes, family/group and cultural aspects are the issues that were realized to have changed the consumers’ behavior in the market. The report as well discussed on how each aspect of satisfaction from the product develops a sustainable life cycle of the new brand in the market. Later recommendations on how to develop a sustainable competitive advantage in the market was made. Reference Alexander, D. (2008). Learning, Thinking, Buying, Using: Contextual Effects on Consumers' Adoption of Really New Products. Duke university: ProQuest. Bidgoli, H. (2010). The Handbook of Technology Management: Supply Chain Management, Marketing and Advertising, and Global Management. California State University: John Wiley and Sons. Clegg, S., Kornberger, M. and Pitsis, T. (2005). Managing and organizations: an introduction to theory and practice. London: SAGE. Cooper, R., G. (2006). Winning at new products: accelerating the process from idea to launch. London: Addison-Wesley. Kenneth, B., K. (2011). Product Planning Essentials. University of Illinois: M.E. Sharpe. Lantos, G., P. (2010). 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