What Is Involvement and How Marketers Can Influence Consumer - Case Study Example

Red Bull Consumer Involvement Introduction Consumer involvement refers to the extent of importance a consumer attaches to a certain product which influences a consumer behavior and decisions when purchasing products. It can also be defined as It varies with age, sex , occupation and income. Consumer involvement varies depending on the type of product and consumer lifestyle and preferences. Generally consumer involvement is higher for expensive products such as cars, homes or if a product is of significance to them e.g. energy drink for athletes. Consumer involvement depends on the product nature and consumer psychology. There are certain factors which influence customer involvement such as: personal, product and situational factors A marketing strategy is a company’s approach that joins all the organization’s goals into one plan. It can also be defined as a process that allows a company to concentrate its resources with the greatest opportunities with the aim of achieving competitive advantage and increasing company sales at the same time satisfying customer needs. A good marketing concentrates on the right product mix and is developed from market research. It is the foundation of a good marketing plan. Marketing encompasses ensuring the right product gets to the right place at the right time and cost with most proper promotional activities. Red bull has been able to develop the most appropriate marketing strategy by using the following concepts so as to ensure consumer involvement. Red Bull ensures customer engagement through sports, heroism and ideals by sponsoring sports and music activities. Also they use viral clips which depict feats of heroism and athleticism from athletes who consume the drink. Red Bull relied more on word of mouth marketing. It has been able to develop a brand image by designing their can to be eye appealing and making the can look more youthful. Red Bull has used blue and silver trucks with a big can mounted on the trucks. They gave out free samples of the drink to club DJ’S and people in short of energy on the streets as a way of promoting their brand (Sicher, 2011). The main objective of my paper is to discuss the elements of print media and its impact on consumer behavior. Also in this paper I will discuss the theories of consumer behavior and how they have been used to improve consumer involvement. Company Background The Red bull energy drink was founded in early 1980’s by Dietrich Mateschitz. He was the one behind the creation of the red bull formula as well as the unique marketing concept. In 1987, red bull was sold in its country of origin for the first time. The products of red bull are: Red Bull Energy Drink, Red Bull sugar free, Red Bull Energy Shot and Red Bull Cola. Red Bull Company produces the leading energy drink in the world. It constitutes 70% the world market share of energy drinks. The target market is young groups of people between the ages of 18-35 with active lifestyles such as sports people although the formula began as a famous tonic for blue collar workers in Thailand. In 1992 red bull’s supplies expanded to Hungary and Slovenia. On March 1994 it was launched in Germany. By June it occupied a quarter of the sports drinks market share. Red bull was introduced in the U.K in 1994. In 1997 the product was launched in the United States focusing on four states (California, Oregon, Texas, and Colorado). It sponsored sports movements such as Freeskiing competitions and Flugtag. In the U.S it created a special appeal to white collar job workers and young people who were exhausted after a long working day. Also consumers could use the drink to mix with vodka drink .Red Bull also sponsored a decaying school in the New York known as Red Bull Music Academy. In 1998 the beverage world reported sales of more than 300 million cans. By 1999 the drink was sold in more than fifty countries leading to total sales of 600million and 1 billion cans globally. To date Red Bull is accessible in more than one hundred and sixty five countries and more than thirty five billion cans of Red Bull have been ingested (RedBull, 2012). Literature Review: Consumer Involvement Product involvement   Product involvement involves measuring a consumer's interest and commitment to a particular product Bettman (1979). For example if a consumer loves red bull they will have a high product involvement since they will never consider buying other products. If a product is expensive the product involvement is higher although some inexpensive products also have high product involvement e.g. hair shampoo. When a product involvement is high the consumer tends to be loyal to that product. Advertisement involvement Advertisement is all about promoting a company’s product and services with the aim of creating a brand identity and increasing sale. Different companies use different techniques so as to achieve growth. The techniques used are print media e.g. magazines and newspapers. The effectiveness of print ads depends on the popularity of the media and the location of the print ads. Other techniques used are use of television, radio and internet. How Marketers can influence consumer involvement Marketers can influence consumer by changing consumer attitudes through tactical communication . They can use communication models such as Interactive Communications Model which considers that consumers have different choices to chose from and the ability to chose the messages to process. Marketers can use attractive celebrities to advertise their products and make the advert look attractive so as to ensure consumer involvement. Also they can sponsor evets such as sporting events where they can distribute their products. This will give marketers a chace to interact with cosumers and listen to their views. Also by advertising through the word of mouth on the streets will influence cosumer ivolvement sice they will be aware of the existence of the product. This ca be doe through road shows and promotional offers. Consumer Behavior Theories Consumer behavior is the psychological processes that customers undergo in identifying needs, coming up with solutions to these needs and deciding whether to purchase a product Assael( 2007). Customer behavior theories are used in business so as to optimize marketing strategies and increase sales Assael( 2007). These theories focus on how customers make use of their money, what causes them to spend more cash and how their expenditure should impact planning and strategies of producers. One of the most common theories is the theory that customers tend to behave in a rational manner. Consumers want to get value from the product and at the same time spend least amount of money on it. This theory affirms that consumers are not likely to spend all their cash at once without saving though they do not save all their money since they have to spend on basic commodities. The second theory is that customers have tastes and preferences which influence the purchase of a certain product. Income can also influence this theory in that one spends depending on their budget. Price is the mostly used consumer theories since most businesses believe that low prices encourage consumers to buy a product although it’s never the case. Another theory is the theory of Exposure which states that consumers are likely to purchase a product they have seen before or heard of through social media, adverts and friends. A product they understand. Theories of Social Status Consumers tend to purchase based on their social class. A consumer can buy an expensive brand of vodka/energy drink without being able to differentiate it from other brands. A consumer may not purchase cheap drinks since they believe it’s for the lower class and they don’t belong there so they end up purchasing expensive products Assael( 2007). Elements of print advertisements. Header/Title: This is a short title of a product that attracts a reader's attention and explains the offer being provided Bettman (1979). The ad communicates key benefits such as a discount sale or duration of the offer. It points out a problem that the reader has and at the same time it points out a solution. The title is the strongest element of the print ad since it determines if the viewer will continue reading the advertisement. Image The horse image of the advertisement triggers curiosity on the viewers and communicates what the reader will learn if they read the print ad. Colored images used in the ad increases the impact of the ad as compared to black and white print ad Assael(2007). Body This is the main section of the print ad which elaborates on the title Assael( 2007).. It should be organized well and should have sub-titles so as to make it easier for the reader to understand the information being communicated. This element helps consumers understand the product they want to purchase. Call Action The call action directs the reader to perform a specific action for example contact the product supplier for more information or visit the product store Assael( 2007). The call to action has to create a sense of urgency by using phrases like “call now”. The call action has an impact on consumers in that it drives consumers to purchase a product even if they never intended to. Contact Information This includes the contacts of the business which the viewer can make use of to get the offer. It should include a lot of information as possible so as to make it easy for the viewer to locate the business. This part includes the company info of a name, email address and cell phone number. Advertising Review The literature review can be linked with the prit ad by practically applying the cocepts of the literature review such as the prit media elemets ad. For example the title of my ad has a header which captures the attention of viewers. The image as an element of print ad creates awareness of the red bull brand. Also the image of a horse rider and a can of red bull on a print ad is of relevance since it signifies the energy acquired after consuming the drink. The ad uses bright colors such as red, yellow and blue to attract viewers. The image chosen should have relevance to the product. The logo is saturated which makes the red bull brand to be recognized.Also the colours used in the print ad are bright thus creating curiosity on views and making the ad more attractive. Conclusion To sum up , the results from this study shows that the kind of print ad used has an important impact on consumer behaviors. There are also other influence of consumer behavior such as attitude, feelings , income and one’s lifestyle. These characteristics determine if a consumer will purchase a certain product. A good print ad will always present a product to new eyes. Also social class ifluences consumer behavior in that consumer feel as if they belog to a certain class if they purchase expensive products. It is the role of the marketer to chage of the marketer to change consumer attitude towards a certain product and be able to persuade them why they sholudpurchase the markters product brand. References Assael, H. 2007. Consumer Behaviour. New York: Houghton Mifflin. Anderson, J. R. (1983). A spreading activation theory of memory. Journal of Verbal Learning and Verbal Behavior, 22(3), 261-295. Bettman, J.R. 1979. The Journal of Marketing 43(2):37-53. American Marketing Association. RedBull.2012.Available:http://www.redbull.com/cs/Satellite/en_INT/Company-figures/001242939605518?pcs_c=PCS_Article&pcs_cid=1242937556133 Hoyer,W. D. and D. J., Maclnnis. 2010. Consumer Behavior. 5th ed. 177-178. Mason: South-Western. Lin, P.C. and Yang, C.M. 2010. Impact of Product Pictures and Brand Names on Memory of Chinese Metaphorical Advertisements. http://www.studywell.library.qut.edu.au/ppoint_files/CITINGANDREFERENCING_QUTHarvardStyle.pdf. (assecced August 29, 2010). Sicher, J. 2011.Top-10 CSD Results for 2010. 59(5), Available at: www.beverage-digest.com Rifon, N.J., Choi, S.M., Trimble, S.C. and Li, H., 2004. 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