Aspects of Marketing - Assignment Example

ASSIGNMENT LIST of Table of Contents Table of Contents 2 References 12 Question 2: Risks in purchase process, type(s) of risk were involved, minimizing risks: Purchase behaviors and decisions can be analyzed from various perspectives based on the behavior and intention of the consumers. The risks involved in the purchase decision making mainly focuses on the aspect of appropriate need assessment by the customers (Bottomley & Doyle, 2008). Apart from this, other risks such as financial concerns, changes in the product aspects are also included in the risk factors for a purchase decision. One of my recent experiences of purchasing a product made me aware of the risks that are associated with the process of purchase decision making. The product I wanted to buy was a portable speaker which I can carry with me while travelling. In order to select my product, I laid down a set of criteria which can help in my decision making process. Based on the technical requirements, the product should have a minimum impedance of 4 ohms for ensuring the quality of the output of the speakers. The speakers should also have a frequency response of 180 Hz to 20 kHz and the battery life of the speakers should be a minimum of 8 hours. After I performed a research on the nearby electronic stores and direct showrooms of the preferred brands (Sony, Sennheiser, JBL, etc), I came to know about the price range of the products that suits with my preferable product specifications which was around £35-£70. My preferred budget was somewhere within £50. Within the specified range, I observed Sony speakers were the most eligible products that met my requirements. Moreover there were speakers from other brands also which were cheaper and also fulfill my criteria. This created the risk in my purchase decision as I was not able to decide whether I was spending too much on my product based on brands. In order to reduce the risks, I started gathering information and feedbacks from other users, friends and family regarding the selected product types. The information gathered helped in framing my purchase decision and deciding on the brand that fulfills my needs. Question 3: Unsatisfactory experience with a company, emotions and dealing with the situation Customer services and customer expectations may not always go hand-in-hand. In order to evaluate the influence of improper customer service on the consumer behavior and decisions, I interviewed one of my friends named Andrew for narrating his experience of any unsatisfied customer service. Andrew’s experience is based on the service structure of a well known mobile brand Blackberry. Andrew had purchased a Blackberry phone model Z30. When he made the purchase, the company had offered a free headset which will be delivered within 6 days of the purchase, provided the customer registers his phone on the company website within the next 24 hours. After purchasing the phone, Andrew was trying to register himself, but to his dismay he found that the website has been kept down for maintenance purposes. As a result, Andrew was not able to register within the specified time and lost the offer of the free headset (Bowman & Gatignon, 2010). Andrew communicated with the customer service of the company for informing the problem he faced but the customer representatives were not ready to provide the headset offer. Andrew considered this as a fault on the part of the company and was not happy with its customer service process of the company. Based on his experience, Andrew reflected that the customer service policies of the company were not suitable and fair. He felt that he was treated in an unethical manner and hence was not able to avail the offer. It can be observed that the decisions of Andrew were made not on the basis of service quality of the customer service representative, but on the entire brand. While this was one of most dissatisfying experiences for Andrew, he took the opportunity of sharing his experience on the online platforms. Thus, it can be observed that customers prefer to share their misfortunes while conducting any transactions which can further hamper the brand reputation of the firm (Beck, 2010). Question 7: Product Advertisement The product selected for the development of magazine advertisements is Ariel Washing Powders which is a product of P&G segment. However, in order to maintain their top position, Ariel needs to constantly engage in enhancing consumer brand awareness (Harrell, 2008). Promotional activities are one of the most commonly used techniques for managing the brand development process. The magazine ads are also an integral part of the promotional activities of the organizations and this will be implemented for creating an advertisement for new products of Ariel (Lowrey, 2007). The aim of the ad will be to highlight the most used products of Ariel to their existing customers and also develop an emotional relationship with them. The ad will be supported with a simple tagline that can reflect the core value of the organization and at the same time also highlights the benefits to the customers. The above given magazine ad has focused on the emotional contents of the customers. As Ariel is a product related to laundry, the characters have been framed with different clothes which also reflect a happy and smiling family. The colorful background is provided because Ariel is used for washing white as well as colored clothes without harming the fabric or the color of the clothes. The tagline of the ad is also correlated with the psychological aspects of the customers and promoting a sense of togetherness. The tag line has been framed in a simple manner which is closely associated with the everyday lives of the customers and can be related with their needs easily. Question 8: Personality Profile for a brand The brand considered for this question is Samsung Mobile phones which I have been using since the past 4 years. In order to develop a personality profile, I have selected the model which I use i.e. Samsung Note 2 Smartphone. Traits of Product Gender Age Education Level Income Traits Price £299.99 Any 20+ Graduate £1500-2000 p.a. Affordability Multi-Media Features Any 20+ High School _ Interest towards photography and music Business features Any 25+ Graduate or higher £1500-2000 p.a. The phone can be used as a portable computer with most of the apps running smooth and the high end processor of the phone also reduces the glitches in the run time. Handling Any 20+ High School £1500-2000 p.a. Although the phone has corning gorilla glass and a metal body, the phone is not resistant to hard scratches or falls and needs to be handled carefully. 8.1 Judging the features and the service structure provided by the selected product and my personal needs, I feel that this product has been able to fulfill most of the needs and expectations. I can use the phone for performing my academic researches and also use it as a medium of entertainment. I feel that I am satisfied with the price and service of the product and have high value for me. 8.2 Samsung as a brand has been developed by focusing on the mass consumer segment. They have always tried to design and launch products which are related to the needs of the mass consumers (Alvarez & Casielles, 2008). The pricing process of the products is kept in at par with the market standards so as to attract consumers. On the other hand, the marketing process of Samsung is developed on their product features. Their aim is to help the customers understand the value and benefits of their products and services (Hart & Ellis-Chadwick, 2000). 8. 3 I feel that perceptions regarding a brand are generated by the requirements of the customers which differ in various terms. For instance, I myself selected Samsung because of the leveled pricing process and also the high end features of the product whereas, other people may enjoy only the multimedia features of the phone and thus our perceptions will differ despite being brand loyal customers. Also the aspect of brand loyalty depends on various factors such as the core values, corporate social responsibility and other business functions of a brand (Bearden & Teel, 2007). 8.4. The personality traits of the consumers help the marketing managers in deciding on the target customer group and the strategies that have to be employed in the marketing processes of the firm in order to position the brand in the consumer’s perception (Carpenter & Fairhurst, 2009). Question 10: I am engaged three Facebook group and one Twitter group (as most of my contacts are not present in Twitter). These groups comprise of my school mates, my cousins and my college friends. I mostly like to follow the information regarding the current events and the psychological updates and post which reflects various emotions of the people. This shows that I like to gather new information and stay updated as well as evaluate the psychological concerns of my group members. Question 11: Internet Search and Celebrity endorsements Lionel Messi is one of the most searched and followed celebrities of the world. He is a sports personality and is listed as 45 on the list of top 100 celebrity endorsers. Apart from his skills on the play ground, Messi has also established himself as an apt endorser of products (Baker, Nancarrow & Tinson, 2009). The key chain of products being endorsed by Messi includes sports products, travel and tourism, charity and sports drinks itself. The primary brands which are involved with Messi are Nike, Turkish Airlines and Gatorade. Considering the nature of work, it can be observed that Messi has selected products and services related to his field of work and justified his endorsement options. Messi has appeared in over 40 ads in the last 6 years that represent variety of services and products from the sports industry (Emerick, 2010). Apart from this, Messi also takes part in domestic campaigns and events for raising funds for charitable organizations. These activities of Messi are not only related to the products and services brands but also to promote the soccer superstar as a brand himself (McDonald, 2006). One endorsement which I would like to criticize is that of Turkish Airlines. The ads of Turkish Airlines mainly reflects the executive class service structures whereas, Messi is known as the people’s player and hence the endorsement has not been able to generate the expected outcome for the company. Question 12: Website promotion The website that I would like to consider for this task is Amazon.com. Amazon is an e-retailer and has also developed a wide spread platform for reflecting various products. The product that I would like to mention is Nikon D5100 Digital SLR camera with AF-S 18-55 mm VR Lens. This product is available in the website of Amazon. The camera has been posted in the opening page that reflects camera products and camera accessories. Amazon has posted many pictures of the camera from various angles in order to highlight all the buttons and lens specifications. Also, the price of the product has been mentioned in a big and bold font which can be easily seen (Coviello & Winklhofer, 2008). Another important aspect of the page is the delivery information given just below the price information of the product. Customers can directly check the delivery time of the product by Amazon and take quick decisions. The specifications of the product has been given specific and clear bullet points which also describes the technical features of the product along with the extra benefits that can be availed upon if the product is purchased from the website. Over all, the webpage provides fulfilling information of the product (Eggert & Ulaga, 2006). However, Amazon could have added some pictures taken with the concerned camera for highlighting the quality of the product to customers who have limited knowledge regarding the specific range of cameras. I would like to agree that the presentation of the products by a website also influences my brand preference to some extent. The information that I gather from the website will help me in framing my brand perceptions and brand positioning. Question 13: Cultural Assessment of a student I have interviewed a student from India named Rajesh Mehta for fulfilling the requirements of this question. India is a country with many religions and a diverse cultural background. Rajesh is Hindu by religion and is of Punjabi ethnicity. I enquired Rajesh on the five aspects of the cultural dimension model developed by Hofstede which has been presented in the following table: Traits of Cultural Dimension Response of Rajesh Mehta Power Distance Power distance is high in our community, the social status of the families decide the power and authority they enforce over others. The background of the family also influences the power distance but the current conditions of a family are seldom taken into account. Because of high influence of castes, the power distance is high. I personally feel that power distance should be reduced and equality has to be promoted for building open space for creative and innovative ideas. Masculinity Masculinity has to be reduced in the corporate and social sector as female empowerment is needed for a balanced development of the society. Individualism Teamwork is one of the primary aspects of the work process of the contemporary work culture of the business firms. However, my personal view is that teamwork also creates barriers in development of individual skills and hence I like to support individualism. Uncertainty Avoidance I have been taught from my childhood to take up challenges and risks for developing my strength and personality and face the world. I think my attitude towards risks and uncertainty is mainly influenced by my ethnic background. Long-term Orientation As stated above, I believe in risk taking and performing. My vision is to survive the day and then move on for facing the next challenge. The concept of long term planning is not my cup of tea. I don’t want to worry about a feature that I don’t know I would rather like to live the present with all that I have. Question 14: Advertisements that use reference groups: The use of reference groups can be seen in the development of the sports ads where different clubs are referred to for developing the products of the company. For instance, Samsung uses British Soccer Club Chelsea for promoting themselves (Bowman & Gatignon, 2010). Another interesting reference group is the use of fictional characters for promoting kids products. Hostess Twinkles and Fruit Pies also used the DC and Marvel Comic characters such as Batman, Superman, Iron man, Spider Man, etc for promoting their products (Bowman & Gatignon, 2010). The target customers were children which justifies the selection of the reference group of the company. Question 15: Encouraging impulsive or unplanned purchase In order to motivate impulsive reactions and purchase decisions from the consumers, marketers focus on providing incomplete information to their consumers which creates curiosity among them and hence they purchase the products and services (Horstmann & Moorthy, 2008). It has been noted that when customers have unclear requirements or are unaware of the products and services they tend to rely on impulsive decision making process. Another process of encouraging impulsive decisions is to create a charismatic feeling among the customers so that they can purchase the products and services based on the emotional decisions rather than logistical conclusion. References Alvarez, B. A., & Casielles, R. V. (2008). Consumer evaluations of sales promotion: The effect on brand choice. European Journal of Marketing, 39 (1), 54-70. Baker, C., Nancarrow, C., & Tinson, J. (2009). The mind versus market share guide to brand equity. International Journal of Market Research, 47, 5, pp. 523–540 Bearden, W. O., & Teel, J. E. (2007). Selected Determinants of Consumer Satisfaction and Complaint Reports, Journal of Marketing Research, 20, 21-28. Beck, T. (2010) The United States Social Networking Market. 3rd ed. London: Thomson. Bottomley, P. A., & Doyle, J. R. (2008) The formation of attitudes towards brand extensions: testing and generalising Aaker and Keller’s model. 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