Consumer Behaviour of The Alternative Company - Essay Example

The Alternative: Company Profile The Alternative is a fast food chain which will conquer the major cities in Australia. Consistent with its this restaurant is an alternative to major food chains by offering a healthier product line. The Alternative will be the addressing the growing concern for fitter food options especially in figure and image conscious individuals. Instead of the traditional fat laden burgers and meat pies offered by fast food industry players, The Alternative will provide great-tasting low-calorie salad, burger with white meat patties, and fat-free meat pies. Instead of the high calorie, carbonated drinks, The Alternative will offer refreshing fruit juices. Target Market In order to find the appropriate target market for The Alternative, this paper will be using the hybrid segmentation approach called demographic and psychographic profiles. In terms of demographic factors, it was found out that individuals in different often reveal different reasons why they look for healthier options. In the case of individuals within the 18-34 age brackets, being fit and healthy is consistent with their desire to look good. Within the 35-54 circle, the desire shifts as a way to deal with stress. The 55 above groups see it as medical-physical therapy. Looking at these age groups, The Alternative wants to focus on the 18-34 age brackets whose primary intention is to watch their weight and figure (). A part of a healthy lifestyle is an equally healthy diet unavailable in other fast food chains with their fat and calorie-laden offerings. Psychographic factors are also essential considerations. It should be noted that fast food chains often project bad images by providing unhealthy foods like burgers, meat pies, and carbonated drinks. However, consumers are often left with no choice especially if they have a fast-paced lifestyle. Fast-foods are often linked and preferred for their convenience and easy accessibility and perfect for people who love "fast service." The Alternative hopes to cater to this market segment. It is irrefutable that a lot of people, especially university students and young professionals often have less time to prepare their own food and would willingly grab a quick bite from fast food chains. However, these busy individuals also desire to be healthy in spite of their lifestyle. Thus, an alternative food chain would be perfect for them. The Alternative would cater to busy university students and young professionals aged 13-34 who desire to look good by eating healthier food options served in fast food chains. Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs: Revealing the Motive Looking Maslow's hierarchy of needs, food is categorized at the lowest level of the pyramid together with other physiological needs like air, water, sleep, and clothing. Following these needs are safety needs, love and belongingness, and status or esteem needs. Although food is generally classified a physiological need, The Alternative will design a marketing mix which will not only project its product offering as a way to satisfy this lowest necessity but also the higher ones specifically love and belongingness as well as esteem needs. In the discussion above, it is already clarified that what The Alternative will be serving is the segment which primarily desires to "look good." Thus, the motive underlying the establishment of the fast-food chain goes beyond the mere satisfaction of the appetite and the physiological need to the fulfillment of love and belongingness and esteem needs. The Alternative will not be only offering healthy foods but healthy lifestyle which is needed to look good. Offering low calorie, healthy foods will help individuals to maintain their weight and figure, enhance the beauty of the skin, and fights harmful substances which causes physical imperfections. Having a good image and figure irrefutably translates to gaining love and belongingness, especially now that social acceptance is often based on how a person looks like. Having shapely legs, nice built and well-proportioned figure helps an individual to be accepted and admired in the community. In turn, this affects the individual's sense of fulfillment. Human has this innate need to be respected, to self respect, and to respect others which we call esteem needs. For an individual, this may mean captivating others through physical beauty. This need is also often addressed by the individual's ability to gain acceptance and love. Thus, having a healthy lifestyle and good figure which translate to gaining love and belongingness also satisfies the need to be admired and respected. The Alternative will hope to achieve the aforementioned motive by implementing a consistent marketing mix. The fast-food chain's will not focus on offering products like low-calorie salad, burger with white meat patties, fat-free meat pies, and fruit juices but will emphasize on "The Alternative lifestyle." The Alternative lifestyle will be one which helps its customers achieve their goals of looking good as well as their ulterior desire to be accepted and earning the admiration and respect of other people. Consistent with this lifestyle is the creation of a healthy menu which will be mainly comprised of vegetable and fruit salad with light dressing, white meat patties and meat pies, and fruit juices. To help the customers watch their calorie intake, the food chain will also specify the amount of calories of each food in its menu. As the company is not only offering physiological need, prices will be set relatively higher that other fast-food change in order to emphasize a different image. The stores will be distributed in major cities like Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane where the targeted clientele are found. Each outlet will be designed using minimalist architecture while the interiors will be hip to suit the age group. Marketing Mix Understanding customer's personality traits and self image is imperative for The Alternative in coming up with an efficient marketing mix. This is even more important in order to craft promotional activities which aim to attract a specific market and retain customers. The need for The Alternative to examine and gain an in-depth insight in the specific characteristics and personality of its target market is crucial in developing its product line, designing advertisements and promotional activities, creating the proper ambiance in its outlet, as well as charging the appropriate price which is consistent with the image it wants to project. This section will examine the personality traits and self-image embodied by The Alternative's target market. University students and young professionals that prefer to dine on fast food chains can be generally characterized as those who live busy lifestyles which do not allow them to prepare and consume food at home. In terms of locus of control (LOC), these individuals are seen to be more inclined of having an internal LOC or the ability to control and influence the outcome of their own actions and personal abilities. These individuals believe that by living a healthy life, they can significantly control their figures. Being conscious of their images and looks implies that The Alternative's target market is essentially customers who have high self monitors (SM). As high self monitors, these customers are brand conscious and are very concerned on the approval of society on their image. They are very conscious on how to enhance their looks and appearance. The Alternative's target market is also very sensitive to their self image. Thus, they have a definite picture of their actual self-image as well as their ideal self-image. Wanting to bridge the gap between the actual and ideal self image means modification or maintenance of their lifestyles. These consumers are also aware they can alter their selves to become what they want to be. In this case, the customers' ideal image is someone with a perfect figure. Geared with all this significant information on target market's personality and self-image, The Alternative will want to craft a marketing strategy which will be very appealing. To address the target markets tendency of having an internal locus, The Alternative will seek to promote its product offerings online. The company believes that it will be beneficial as university students and young professionals are familiar and even adept in using new technologies like internet. Being high self monitors, The Alternative will establish as a hip and trendy fast food chain. This will satisfy the customer's clamor for social acceptance. Thus, The Alternative's products will be positioned as high-end commodities and will be priced higher than ordinary fast food offerings. This product's image and positioning as well as the pricing strategies are expected to work together in order create an "alternative" for figure conscious individuals. This can be enhanced by creating a cool and trendy ambiance in its outlets. The Alternative will be a minimalist restaurant promoted by models with perfect physique. Creating a Positive Perception It is irrefutable that The Alternative will not gain the approval and acceptance of its target market if it fails to create a positive perception on the products that it offers. As with other business organizations, The Alternative needs to portray a definite image to its target market. In short, the company should be able to find a place and occupy a specific position in the customers' mind. In line with this, the company needs to choose within a wide array of perception concepts. The Alternative would be using symbolic positioning concepts in order to create a positive image in the mind of its clientele. As discussed above, the main market would be university students and young urban professionals who are very much concerned maintaining and gaining their good looks. The Alternative will position itself for "self-image enhancement, ego identification, belongingness and social meaningfulness, and affective fulfillment (Positioning 2006)." The fast food company, as stated above, will not emphasize on offering products like burger, salads, and juices but on offering "The Alternative" lifestyle. Thus, the company's product will be identified with a healthier and fitter lifestyle. Together with this, the company will position itself as a mode for ego identification and a tool for which an individual can be accepted in circles. The Alternative lifestyle is an access through which individuals can unleash the beauty in them in order to gain belongingness and social meaningfulness. The image of The Alternative can further be enhanced by using beautiful and attractive image models in its advertisements. The fast food chain can be endorsed by well known and fit celebrities which will communicate a more vivid and effective positioning in the market. It can also team up with other business organizations like gyms and fitness centers. This will boost the image of The Alternative and capitalize on the strength of other companies. The company will also possibly find more market figure conscious individuals often work-out in gyms and fitness centers. The company can be a symbol of healthy living by ensuring that it consistently delivers the products that it promised its clientele. Making sure that the company is offering healthy food by revealing to customers the calorie content of its product line. This will give its target market the knowledge of their calorie intake as well as other nutritional information. With this, customers are ensured that they do not go beyond their calorie requirements. The Alternative will also gain a definite position in the market by having a specific unique value proposition. This will be expressed as a motto: The Alternative-Healthier Options for people on the go. This value proposition will encapsulate the company's mission. This motto will accompany all promotional efforts of the company like print and television ads, and online advertisement. The company will also establish its own website where it can get feedback and orders from the customers. The client will also be able to know the promos offered by the company and can download tips on healthier living through the website. Conclusion The success of a product is often tied on how well it understands its customers and creates a set of strategies to fulfill and satisfy these needs. This is the utmost function of a business organization to provide the specific needs of its clientele. The Alternative is a fast food chain which will answer the concerns of university students and young urban professionals to look good. The fast food style of the restaurant will give them the convenience and accessibility of a fast food chain without the fats and calories. In doing this, understanding the target market's behavior becomes a priority to be able to craft an efficient marketing mix. References Positioning 2006, Retrieved 01 July 2006 from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Positioning_(marketing) Read More