Consumer buying behaviour blogs and portfolio - Essay Example

Consumer buying behaviour blogs and portfolio Blog 2 I would never buy brand… What is a brand? Brand is a name, symbol, term or design that helps to distinguish product of one seller from another. It can be stated as an intangible asset but is most valuable for a firm. Shareholder value is developed by an owner by efficiently managing its brand. Customers are often attracted by a brand name and this form of identity defines quality of a product. Figure 1: Brand At times I feel that there is no need for purchasing branded products. This is because similar products are offered by other firms at reasonable prices. Brand not only ensures quality but even constitutes high prices. However certain experience annoys customers in context of purchasing a branded good or service. I usually preferred branded products because I thought money value of the brand is worthwhile. In terms of behavioural sciences of consumer behaviour it is clearly evident that psychological needs usually influence an individual to purchase a brand. I had a bitter experience with two well known brands Samsung and Levis. These two brands were my favourite and I was ready to pay premium prices for these brands. In my college days I used to wear Levis jeans because I felt that its quality or texture will not degrade. I was literally shocked when I saw my perception about the brand was totally wrong. There are two or three Levis outlets nearby my locality and I usually purchase jeans from these outlets from past many years. Recently some new sales person was hired in this retail outlet and they did not have friendly behaviour. I purchased two jeans and it was expensive but my shopping experience was more pathetic. None of the sales person in the outlet helped me to select the best product and I had to find the best fit for myself (Cheryl and Thuhang, 2007). This in turn had drawn a negative image about the brand in my mind. However after sales service of Levis jeans were worse because one of the jeans turned out to be of low quality and I had to return it back. I nearly spend half day resolving issue at the outlet since they were not ready for cash back. From that day I have decided that I will avoid any form of branded items. Samsung was another brand which had annoyed me to a great extent. I purchased an electronic item of Samsung few months back but it failed to deliver desired service level. On the other hand one of my friends had bought same electrical device from not so well known brand and it performed well. Customer perception is difficult to change since it is based on attitudes and beliefs. My perception about brands in current scenario is they charge high prices and not deliver appropriate service. I will rather prefer to purchase unbranded products and take risk of low quality than opt for any branded items. Brand is greatly associated with customer service as it enhances overall value of a brand. Blog 3 Product development is affected to a great extent by aging population… From America to Asia it has been observed that populations are getting older. This kind of trend will continue to grow in the coming years. After a proper analysis on this growing trend I have realized that business leaders or policy makers undertake little strategic planning regarding this concept. There can be wide array of products which can be developed so as to meet needs of aging population. However I feel that with age the main concern is towards nutrition and food products. Ways in which dietary needs change according to age are:- With age metabolism slows down, they become less active and energy requirement decreases. This in turn indicates that they need to eat less Older people is not able to utilize nutrition to a great extent and this creates demand for high nutrition content food items Some medications or chronic conditions tend to affect nutritional requirements to a great extent. Aging population can be regarded as low income group consumer market segment. This group is not able to afford high quality food products. I feel this facilitates product development since firms need to manufacture products at reasonable prices. Nutritional content has to be separated from quality which leads to new product development. Product development is not only limited to manufacturing innovative food items. There are mobility constraints even witnessed with growing age. They prefer to use products that are easy to access or convenient in terms of usage. Mobility constraints prevent aged people to open containers, shop for food or lift heavy jars. Older customers are the most unfavourable market segment and are not targeted by marketers. This group has distinct demand and it can be mitigated only by developing new products. I feel that there are new products manufactured every day such as Horlicks Women is a brand new example which takes into account growing age of women. I have even seen in market calcium tablets being launched in order to eliminate calcium deficiency problem amongst aged population. Olay and Ponds are some well known brands who had analyzed skin problems in aged women and developed new products to prevent any form of wrinkle formation. I believe that new products are usually developed by a firm when they identify any form of hidden market demand. This can be considered as positive aspect of aging population in context of product development but there lies a negative aspect too. I have witnessed specifically in electronic stores that aged people are less likely to purchase advanced technology products. They mainly prefer simple products and this negatively affects profit margins of newly developed products. We often see that high tech products are positioned as per demands of younger generation. However in current scenario aging population occupies a desirable percentage of market shares. This market demand is addressed by every organization as it initiates implementing creative ideas into new product. I think that firms usually develop these aged population products to acquire greater market share and gain high profit margin. Blog 4 My purchase decisions are influenced by reference groups… There are wide array of factors that directly or indirectly influence consumer buying behaviour. Price and quality are common aspects that are taken into consideration while selecting a product. Brand loyal customers are more inclined towards purchasing same brand over the years. Membership groups or reference groups can influence to a great extent consumer buying behaviour. The impact created can vary from one individual to another. It totally depends on the importance an individual possesses towards a particular reference group. However similar consumer trends are observed amongst members who belong to the same group. For instance we observe women belonging to the same age and income group have similar characteristics in context of purchasing branded clothes. Hanging out with friends to some extent affects buying behaviour of consumers. If you are hanging out with friends who are belonging to richer society and buying branded items then even you will tend to show off. In order to feel superior within the group you will purchase fashionable, costly and branded items. Tendency of showing off is present within all of us. In such cases reference group is our friend circle that is influencing us to purchase high value items. Figure 2: Brand Logos Some well known brands such as Mercedes, McDonald’s, Pepsi, Kellog’s, NIKE, etc., usually attract us even if we do not have any intention of buying. What is meant by reference group? Reference group can be stated as a group with whom another group or individual is compared. These groups are usually utilized for comparison when individuals try to evaluate their own attitudes, qualities, behaviours, circumstances and values. Reference groups set benchmarks and helps in evaluating personal or group characteristics. I feel that reference groups play a major social role and inspires individual. Figure 3: Reference Groups I personally prefer to purchase products as per choices of my reference group. This mainly occurs in high value items. My reference group comprise of family and friends. I like to buy products of Apple Inc., since all my friends are its brand loyal customers. They motivate me so much regarding the brand that I feel it is worth being purchased. As it might happen with you that those friends who are close to you refers a particular brand and it influences you to take purchase decision. Reference groups are able to influence us since we are highly dependent on them and compare ourselves with group members. For example when I buy clothes I usually consider opinion of my friends and family. The reason behind this is they are the ones who are able to guide me appropriately regarding what will suit me and what will not. This form of behaviour is common to all of us. We are afraid to take decisions mainly when it is a costly or high involvement product or service. This in turn increases the importance of reference group in our lives. All my purchase decisions except for highly personalized items are made after consulting reference group. Portfolio Consumer behaviour is always regarded as an area of interest for all marketers. Appropriate knowledge about consumer behaviour helps in analyzing feelings, thoughts or views of customers. It even brings forth various dimensions that affect purchasing decision of consumers. Customers are often witnessed to be influenced by family, reference groups, environmental conditions, etc. Buying behaviour of consumers is greatly affected by cultural, psychological, social and personal factors. Majority of these factors cannot be effectively controlled by marketers but has to be taken into consideration while determining complexity of consumer behaviour. The term consumer is not only associated with purchase but even reflects upon pre-purchase and post-purchase behaviour. While writing these blogs there has been a synchronization set in terms of conceptual flow of consumer buying behaviour process with respect to firms like Apple Inc., Samsung, Levis, Ponds, McDonald’s, etc. (Meldrum and McDonald, 2007). Personality factors have been highlighted in context of purchasing a brand or accumulating bitter experiences related to a brand as in case of purchasing products of Apple. There are basically two factors that influence decision making process of consumers related to innovativeness and risk aversion. This risk factor has been effectively associated with reference group consultation like for instance purchasing a Mercedes or iPhone which are high value items. Often individuals try to avoid any form of risky decision and prefer to consult their respective reference groups. There has been a proper description about the nature of reference groups and their significant importance in decision making process such as family or friends play an active role during buying luxury items like Mercedes. Those customers who are highly risk adverse has to be certain about their purchased products. On the contrary less risk adverse customers are the ones who are able to handle risk and accept any form of uncertainties in their purchase decision (Bettman and Zins, 2007). Innovativeness defines the degree to which customers are ready to opt for something completely new in the market place. For instance it has been stated in one of the blogs that branded items will never be purchased by the writer since one had a bad experience related to Samsung and Levis. The reason behind this form of perception has also been stated clearly in the respective blog. Perception can be stated as a mental process. In this technique individuals collect data from external environment, structure it and then finally draw relevant significance. Perception factors are dependent on three elements such as perceived fit, packaging and quality. Negative perception disrupts brand value and influences purchase decision. Perceived fit is a term used for specifying to what extent a distribution channel or any other channel is suitable for product or service (Churchill and Iacobucci, 2005). Quality refers to the value being provided by a product or service. Like Horlicks women which were introduced in the market place facilitated acquiring large market share. Customers are usually ready to pay high prices for a product on the basis of its quality. Packaging plays an important role during point of purchase. This is because good packaging can motivate customers to buy a product whereas bad packaging might result into instance change of decision. Many firms give more importance to packaging such as Olay, Apple, and Kellog’s. Consumer decision process has been highlighted in figure4. Figure 4: Consumer decision process (Source: Alba and Hutchinson, 2008) Consumer’s physical situation also plays an effective role in determining which of the products to purchase. In one of the blogs it has been mentioned that aged population often possess specific needs and wants. These demands are usually addressed by firms either by incorporating features in existing product line or developing brand new products. Product development to a great extent is influenced by aging population. Older people due to lack of metabolism cannot travel long distances in order to purchase products. These factors need to be considered by organizations while designing products as well as during selecting distribution channel (Kotler and Keller, 2006). Social situation is another element that supports buying behaviour of customers. This element highlights which product is best fit for customer. For instance if an individual has to attend high profile party then one will opt for branded outfit simply because it shall indicate social status. Show off is commonly observed trend amongst all customers. This kind of behaviour enables high profit margins for companies such as Apple Inc. Apple products are considered to be of high brand value and enhances social status of an individual. Most impulsive purchases made by customers are a result of showing off tendency. Reference group also contributes in such impulsive purchase decision. Individuals tend to compare themselves with members of reference groups. While comparing some loopholes are identified that are efficiently fulfilled by making impulsive purchase. The reason behind shopping also outlines the total time that would be spend while shopping. There are two basic reasons that influence consumer buying behaviour – necessity and convenience (Deshpande, 2009). When the demand is high for a product preferably customers try to shop in nearby locations. This even indicates whether product to be purchased is a high involvement product or low involvement product. Low involvement product such as buying cereals, basic amenities, etc., does not require extensive market research. On the contrary, high involvement products like buying a new car, electronic gadgets, jewellery, etc., demands extensive research along with consulting reference groups. First blog is about basic structure of consumer buying behaviour portraying some theories like behavioural sciences, social sciences, etc. The next blog draws upon the information from previous blog stating disadvantages of a brand. There are different negative aspects associated with branded items and in certain scenario it stops an individual from buying a brand. Customers belong to different groups in terms of income group, age, gender, ethnicity, etc. One of the blogs highlights the importance of aged population in product development process. Olay products are a perfect example of the influence caused by aged population on product development process. Whereas negative consequences of growing age on new products or innovative product line has also been stated appropriately. The last issue which has been brought forward is external influences. Reference group is one such external influence that greatly affects purchase decision of consumers. There are practical examples stated where reference group plays a vital role in determining final purchase decision. Consumer buying behaviour encompasses wide array of factors (Fifield, 2007). Lifestyle, mood, age, gender and situation are regarded as influencing factors in buying behaviour process. The most important concepts have been elaborated in the blogs but the main focus was on categorizing influencing forces. If friends are more inclined towards Samsung products then even we prefer to opt for that brand. Marketers find it difficult to understand consumer buying behaviour properly and this is because each individual has specific set of attitudes or beliefs. In overall context these factors has to be taken into consideration as it initiates purchase decision and is responsible for long term success or growth of a firm. References Alba, J.W. and Hutchinson, J.W., 2008. Dimensions of Consumer Expertise. Journal of Consumer Research, 20(3), pp. 323-356. Bettman, J. R., and Zins, M.A., 2007. Constructive Processes in Consumer Choice. Journal of Consumer Research, 25(3), pp. 119-149. Cheryl, B. W., and Thuhang, T., 2007. Consumer Gifting Behaviours: One for You, One for Me?” Services Marketing Quarterly, 29 (2), pp.1–17. Churchill, G., and Iacobucci, D., 2005. Marketing Research. U.S.: South-Western. Deshpande, R., 2009. Situational Ethnicity and Consumer Behaviour. Journal of Consumer Research, 19(4), pp. 199-267. Fifield, P., 2007. Marketing Strategy. Great Britain: Elsevier Ltd. Kotler, P., and Keller, K., 2006. Marketing Management. New Jersey: Pearson Education. Meldrum, M., and McDonald, M., 2007. Marketing in a Nutshell. Burlington, MA: Elsevier Ltd. Read More