Buyer Behavior and Branding - Essay Example

Buyer Behavior and Branding Name Date Course Buyer Behavior and Branding Introduction Buyer behavior entails the processes that individuals or group are involved during the selection, securing or disposing of products for the purposes of satisfying their needs. The buyer behavior plays an important role in determining why the buyers purchase certain products. Organizations therefore need to understand the buyer behaviors for the purposes of ensuring that they are able to meet the needs of the customers. Several factors also influence the buyer behaviors and hence the need for business organizations to fully understand the factors that influence the buyer behaviors. The buyer behavior for different products is usually influenced by different factor. Yoghurt is one of the common products in Melbourne Australia. Different yoghurt stores are in place for the purposes of stratifying the needs of the customers. Yo-get-it is a market leader in the frozen yoghurt industry in Australia (Yo-get-it, 2014). The frozen yoghurt bars are usually sold on self-service basis and it depends on the size that they want. The customer decides the size that they require as there are no fixed sizes or price. It is also important to note that the company has put into considerations the aspects of buyer behavior. The paper thus discuses the buyer behavior concepts with regards to the operations and products of Yo-get-it yoghurt store. Discussion The buyer behavior in the yoghurt industry is important for the companies during the process of making decisions to attract the customers (Kohlbacher, et al, 2012). Initially, most of the yoghurt was sold in a specific size for and the prices were fixed. However, this was not convenient to the customers as it led to wastages. Some of the customers only ended up consuming half of the size that they had bought and disposed the rest. This was wastage on the part of the customers as it was not a true reflection of their money. Yo-get-it was able to understand the buying behaviors of the customers and it also established that most of the customers were being inconvenience and did not get the value for their money. The buyer behavior was important for the company in terms of coming up with the business idea. The company introduced self service frozen yoghurt store and the customers controlled the size of the yoghurt bar that they required. This played an important role in ensuring that the customers were satisfied. Learning the buyer behavior is important in ensuring that the customers are satisfied with the products of the company. The ability of the company to satisfy the customers through understanding their buyer behaviors played an essential role in ensuring that the company emerged the market leader (Muhamad & Mizerski, 2010). It is also important to note that the brand image of an organization is dependant on the buyer behavior. Yo-get-it has therefore been able to gain competitive advantage due to its understanding of the buyer behavior. It is also important to note that a business can only be successful when it understands the needs of the customers. The buyer behavior is usually influenced by several factors like cultural, social and personal factors. According to the black box model, the buyer behavior is also influenced by the interaction of stimuli, buyer characteristics, decision process and buyer responses. The marketing stimuli are usually planned by the companies while the environmental stimuli are based on the social, political and economic factors (Ellis, et al, 2012). This means that the company has to play some role in influencing the buyer behavior. Yo-get-it is usually involved in advertisements for the purposes of influencing the buyers to purchase the products of the company.The social factors also influence the buyer behaviors. The price of the product of the company is affordable to the customers. This is because the buyers can purchase the frozen yoghurt on a self service basis and also based on the amount of money that they have. This is because the prices are not fixed and a buyer can purchase the product for any amount although the size will change. Problem recognition is one of the factors that influence the purchase decision of the customers according to the theory of black box. The product of the company solves the problems of the customers in terms of the size of the size and price of the product. The attitudes of the customers towards the product have also been positive and hence the purchase decisions of the products by the customers. The availability of information with regards to a product is also important in influencing the purchase decision of the buyers. The sources of information are usually internal and external and they play an important role during the decisions making process of the customers (Southey, 2011). The internal source of information is the memory of the buyers which involves the customer experience. The experience of the customer with regards to a certain brand is important in influencing their decisions. At the company the experience of the customers is usually enhanced since its self service and the customers are free to make their purchase depending on their needs. The enhanced experience of the customers has positive impacts on the abilities of the buyers to purchase the products. Providing high quality services is thus important in influencing the customer decision and hence their buying behaviors. The external sources of information for the customers include the commercial and public sources. The information regarding the products of the company can be available at the internet and also through advertisements. The use of social media is also an important source of information with regards to the products of the company (Smith & Zook, 2011). Social media plays an important role in creating an interaction between the customers and the company. The information regarding Yo-get-it can be obtained from the social media like facebook and twitter where the company is actively involved in the interactions with the customers and hence influencing their decision to purchase its products. The availability of adequate information with regards to the products of a company can influence the behaviors of the buyers. The word of mouth is an important source of information and it plays an important role in influencing the buyer behavior. Word of mouth involves the transmission of information from one individual to the other. This source of information is important depending on the experience of the customers. Opinion leaders also play an important role in the spread of information through the word of mouth. Yo-get-it also involves the celebrities and influential people during the process of providing information through the word of mouth. The buyer behaviors can be influenced by word of mouth from the opinion leaders (Newell, et al, 2011). It is also important to note that the word of mouth may be positive or negative depending on the experience of the customers. In the case of negative word of mouth, a company may end up loosing customers. However positive word of mouth has a positive effect on the ability of a company to attract customers and this in most cases is due to high quality of services. The personal condition of a buyer influences how they spend their money. This means that the price and affordability of a product is important in influencing the buyer behavior. It is important to note that the product of the company can be purchased at different prices depending on the needs and personal conditions of the buyers. This is has played an important role in influencing the buyers and encouraging them to purchase the products of the company. An effective promotional strategy is also important for an organization in terms of creating awareness with regards to its products. During the promotion process, selective exposure is important in terms of determining the messages that the buyers can expose themselves to. The promotion of the company is usually at capturing the attention of the customers. Selective attention also involves the messages that the buyers will pay attention to. The promotional strategies of the company are designed to meet the attention of different customers and hence its effectiveness. The consumers usually interpret the promotional messages depending on their comprehension. The cultural beliefs of the customers, attitudes, experience and motives also play an important role in influencing their understanding of the messages (Foxall, et al, 2011). The company always considers such factor at it fully understands the concepts of buyer behaviors. It is through the understanding of the buyer behaviors that the company has been able to influence the customers to purchase its products. Selective retention is also an important aspect of a promotion and it determines the ability of the consumers to remember certain aspects of the products. Influencing the buyer behavior is a complicated process and it requires a detailed understanding of the buyer behaviors. The company usually uses the internet in most cases for the purposes of carrying out its promotions. This is also considering that most of the targeted customers usually use the internet on a daily basis. Promotional strategies should therefore consider the buyer behaviors in order for it to work. The buying behaviors can be divided into 5 different stages which involve the problem recognition stage, searching for information, exploring the possibility of alternatives, the choice to purchase the product and the actual purchase of the product. It is thus important for an organization to understand all the stages for the purposes of understanding the needs of the buyers. The product of Yo-get-it has been designed to meet the demands of the buyers by understanding the different stages of the buyer buying behaviors. According to Zipf’s law, the buyers usually purchase products that are considered the best brand in the market (Meehan & Wright, 2011). This has played an important role in promoting the products of the company in the market. The company is the market leader in Australia and this has influenced the buyer behavior leading to the customer loyalty. According to the buyer behavior theories, people are usually motivated and influenced to buy or use products in order to be consistent wit what other people do. In the yoghurt industry in Melbourne, most of the buyers usually purchase the products of the company for the purposes of ensuring that they are consistent with the pother buyers. This is because of the belief that the products of the company are of high quality and it satisfied the needs of the buyers. The fear of deviance is a factor that influences the buyer behaviors. Since the products of the company is usually purchased by most people, the fear of deviance influences the purchase decisions of most of the buyers. The understanding of the buyer behavior is important can be used to further improve on the competitiveness of the company although it is considered a market leader. The understanding of the buyer behavior can be used by the company for the purposes of improving on its promotional strategies. This will also be useful to the company in terms of determining the target market for its products and hence increasing the number of customers. A feedback loop is also important in creating a more detailed understanding of the buyer behavior (Wright, 2012). The company can use the feedback information from the customers for the purposes of making improvements with regards to its product and hence meeting the demands of the customers. The concepts of post-evaluation purchase are also useful in developing a deeper understanding of the buyer behavior. The understanding of the buyer behaviors will also be important for the company in terms of ensuring that it has adequate information with regards to the cultural issues that may affect the consumption of a product. Cultural taste is a factor that affects the consumption of products like frozen yoghurt. However, with the availability of adequate information, the company will be able to understand and meet the needs of different customers. Customer satisfaction will also be attained by the company through the understanding of the concepts of buyer behaviors. The company will be able to maintain competitive advantage through an understanding of the buyer behavior. The innovativeness of the company will also be enhanced for the purposes of meting the demands of the customers. Conclusion In conclusion, it is evident that the buyer behavior plays an important role in determining their decision to purchase certain products and services. Yo-get-it Company has been able to be achieve success due to its understanding of the buyer behavior. The company has put in place measures to ensure that the demands of the customers can be met through understanding the buyer behavior. The promotion strategy is important but it has to be in line with the buyer buying behaviors for it to be successful. The buying behavior of the customers can be divided in different stages which an organization must understand. An organization can gain competitive advantage through understanding the buyer behaviors. It is also evident that the company can be more innovative if it understands the buyer behavior. The company can continue maintaining competitive advantage through an understanding of the buyer behavior. List of References Yo-get-it, 2014, About Us, Retrieved on 26 September 2014 from, Muhamad, N, & Mizerski, D, 2010, The constructs mediating religions' influence on buyers and consumers, Journal of Islamic Marketing, 1(2), 124-135. Ellis, S, et al, 2012, The effect of buyer behaviors on preferred customer status and access to supplier technological innovation: An empirical study of supplier perceptions, Industrial Marketing Management, 41(8), 1259-1269. Newell, S, et al, 2011, The effect of personal relationship and consultative task behaviors on buyer perceptions of salesperson trust, expertise, and loyalty, The Journal of Marketing Theory and Practice, 19(3), 307-316. 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