Trends in Consumer Behaviour - Compaq Presario - Assignment Example

Consumer Behaviour Course Name and Code Institution Name Faculty Name Insert Your Name Insert Your Number Institutor’s Name 6 May 2009 What trends in consumer behaviour can you identify within your chosen market? Discuss how consumers learn about the products from their environment and how they use this information to direct their behaviour. In any market, there is the belief that the customers require certain product because of some factors that tends to fulfil certain aim. Thus, in the case of Compaq Presario evident consumer behaviour trends are the demographics, value and social. The demographic trend is seen when specific age set tends to purchase more of the laptops to satisfies peer pressure and be seen within that given environment. Many consumers purchase a product because of the benefits and accomplishments that the product will offer. The value of the Compaq Presario and the many benefits that the product offers improves its value. Socially, people purchase a product because it suits their requirement or is within their social class. Thus, because of many technological benefits and value of money that the Compaq Presario offers makes many people tend to own the product. Environment plays an important role in the way that the consumers learn about products that is within their markets and especially in the case of the Compaq Presario. Information from friends, online, stores and advertisements play an important role in ensuring that they (customers) learn about Compaq Presario, which is in their disposition. This information then becomes the foundation that they will used to understand available laptops better and thus becomes the corner stone of deciding which product is better, thus giving Presario a better standing. How would you segment the product market? Develop a Rich Market Profile for your product/service Understanding the market environment is a paramount goal in ensuring that the appropriate product is development and positioned in an environment that will yield the maximum benefits. This was the foundation that was incorporated in the development of Presario. The marketer defines the type of market that the Presario should be placed on after carrying out a research of the market environment. Thus, the Compaq Presario market will be segmented in terms of demographics and behaviour segments. The demographics strategy will factor into consideration education (college, graduates, post-graduates) and level of incomes (middle, high and low income earners) while the behaviour segments will bring into consideration cultures, subgroups and family. Rich Segment Profile Demographic Segment Behaviour Segment What/ Why Affordability Usability e.g. educational level Flexibility e.g. can be used by both genders Peer pressure due to popularity Fit into the society Prestige Who Mobility Family life cycle Education Financial status Benefits desired Usage Rate When & Where Buy/Use Demand Educational requirements Bought throughout the year Online purchase Brand loyalty Bought mostly during school holidays Purchase through dealers Direction from friends How they Buy Use Family members play an important role in decision making process Decision based on attributes associated with the product Access information from coupons, fliers and newspapers Friends and role models play a major role in decision making Information obtained from lifestyle magazines and from friends Brand loyalty define the approach to pick the product Estimated Size 55% 30% Identify and discuss the key internal factors that would mostly influence consumers of your product/service. Justify your choices and suggest appropriate strategies for your choices Internal factors play an important role that makes the customer to decide to acquire a given product. Knowledge is one factor that influences the customer to acquire a product. Knowledge may be described as information known to a person and is within the long-term memory of a person. Thus, it is important for the marketers to understand and gauge the knowledge that the consumers’ have regarding this laptop resulting in the development of methods e.g. incentives that encourage consumers accept more information concerning the laptop. Attitude also plays an important role because it is what a person believes or feels about something and it will influence the way that the person will act. Attitudes may be in two perspectives: negative or positive. Thus, the Presario marketers should ensure that most consumers are positive regarding their products and develop strategies that will convince the negative attitudes into positive attitudes. This at the same time, the marketers may maximize regions that the consumers have negative attitudes towards brands of competitors laptops. Moreover, personality, which relates to perceived personal characteristics when in presence of others, plays a major role in understanding consumer behaviour. In most cases, personality is defined by the people around an individual, and there is the persons own vision of their personally, what is termed as self-concept. Thus, the marketers should understand an individual self-concept to know better insights of the Presario and promotional strategies that they will use. Lifestyle also defines the way that consumers acquire their products and utilize them. Lifestyle may be termed as activities that one engages in and interests that are expressed. Hence, it is crucial for the marketers to understand consumers’ lifestyles to enable them to develop the laptop, relevant Presario promotional strategies and define the best distribution channels. Motivation also defines the way that the consumer will decide to acquire the laptop (Schiffman, 1997). When a consumer make decisions on purchasing a given product, issues such as financial position, overall value, time constraints and perceived risks guide their decisions. Thus, marketing should understand ways that may help in understanding and employing motivational strategies. This may include increase of information concerning the laptop and allow the customers experience the product first hand e.g. free trial. What tools will help you better understand the effect on consumers’ attitudes and behaviour? Various tools are in place that helps in understanding the effect on consumers’ attitudes and behaviour. Motivating the consumer and making the consumer be involved with the product improves the perception of the product in the view of the consumer. For example, letting a costumer try using the laptop may motivate the consumer to change their attitudes towards the laptop. Moreover, learning and understanding consumer attitude towards the laptop will help in ensuring that consumer has a positive view regarding the Presario. Nevertheless, consumers’ personality and perception towards the product helps in understanding behaviour and attitudes towards the laptop and will tend to improve the position of this product in relation to the competitors. Communication between the consumer and the company is crucial in that the company will better understand the consumer; develop appropriate strategies that help in the way that the consumer will decide on purchasing the laptop. Generally, tools play an important role in the way that the customers will perceive and come to like the laptop. Identify and discuss the key external factors that would mostly influence consumers? Justify your choices and suggest appropriate strategies for your choices. External factors shapes and guides the way that the consumers’ makes decisions concerning products that they want to acquire. Social class influences consumer behaviour towards making decision on purchasing the laptop. Consumers that are within the same social class usually have the same consumer behaviours. Usually social class consumers share the same lifestyles, behaviours, values and interests. Family as a strong effect on how purchase of a product can be done. Reference groups are the groups that the consumers want to imitate and in most cases, they are exposed to many groups at the same time (East, Wright, & Vanhuele, 2008). Thus, for the marketer understanding consumer groupings gives a strategy that can be ensured to improve the level of the Compaq Presario. Understanding groupings e.g. social class, family and reference groups enables the markets to identify target markets, marketing promotions and develop appropriate products thus developing a product that the consumers can relate. Culture defines the way that members of the society behave, believe and interacts. Culture is usually a broad concept and it relevance as no much influence as the smaller groups or sub-cultures. This is because the subcultures share values and believes in terms of religious beliefs, ethnicity, special interest and geographic locations. Understanding subcultures and the entire culture gives the chance to the marketers to understand promotional appeals that they will use in the cultural representations. Thus, the strategy that is devised ensures that the consumer feels comfortable utilizing the product and enables better understanding of the subcultures. Marketers of Compaq Presario may utilize information that is obtained from the subcultures to devise ways to improve the value of the laptop, devise new sales channels and understand the motivational factors that may improve the position of the product. What strategies would you develop and implement to enable customers to choose your product/service brand over others and satisfy and retain customers? Marketers should understand their market environment and factors that ensure that the customers like their products and are ready to purchase. Varieties of computers are in the market and uniqueness of a product may improve its position and relation to the competitors. Improving the technology and benefits that are offered by the laptop ensures that the product as a competitive advantage. Inclusion of advanced browser system, additional ports and Card Readers ensures that the laptop is unique. Nevertheless, the benefit after purchase that comes with the product defines the way that the consumers will appreciate and like the laptop. Warranties and discounts allow the consumers to like the laptop because the consumers can afford the laptop and have assurance that the product is of good quality. Other benefits such as after sale services and timely technical advice and assistance ensure that the consumer is in touch with the company. The company should follow up the product to ensure that the consumer is satisfied with the product and may get some ideas on the way that the product could be improved. Ensuring that benefits and additional techniques assistance ensures that the consumers are satisfied and it will improve the likeliness to make them like the products of the company thus retaining them. What advertising strategy would you adopt for your product? Include strategies that you would develop to tap into the growth in environmental awareness and opportunities in creative disposal of your chosen product/service. The term advertising strategy is used to define a campaign used to communicate features and ideas of a product to potential consumers in the hope of making them to purchase the product. An advertising strategy that is well development in a manner that is rational and intelligent so that it brings into consideration the resources that are available and obtain the objective of the organization. The strategies that will be used to advertise the laptop is push and pull approach. The push strategy will ensure that the retailers, dealers and salespersons take the initiative to advertise the laptop by provision of advertising kits, developing trade promotions and offering other inducements. Pull method is to try to convince directly the target market into purchasing the laptop through advertising in in-store displays, coupons and advertising through the media. Utilizing such approaches the consumers will come to understand and appreciate the Compaq laptop resulting in the improvement of the Compaq brands. Global warming and climate change has influenced a lot the way that business operates and forms the foundation in which business improve their position in regards to the competitors. A company that is determined to preserve the environment and produce environmentally friendly products ensures that the consumers can like their products easily. Compaq Laptop follows the principles of Design for Environment and implementation of strategies that improve the environment as made it an important product in the market (Boaz, 2006). In fact, the company has a policy that defines and implements environmental, health and safety. Thus, the laptop should integrate measures that improve the environment throughout the product line e.g. designing and the actual manufacturing. Other measures to improve environment awareness of the laptop are through environmental, health and safety training and education throughout the process line of the product to the consumer. Moreover, the company through its advertisement indicates the disposal points of the spare parts and the laptops, and any person who disposes the products in the disposal point receive benefits such cash and discounts when they purchase any product from Compaq. What kind of marketing activities would you adopt to coincide with each stage of the consumer decision making? In any decision that the consumer has to start with is the problem recognition stage. This is the time that the consumer relies that there a difference between the actual situation and the ideal state. This state recognition may be caused by personal expectations and aspirations, culture, reference group and marketing. Thus, at this stage the marketer should ensure that they have made the consumer to realize that there something that they are missing. This can be achieved through advertising and other promotional services. The next step that the consumer will follow is searching for information concerning the product. The marketer at this stage is to use that there are appropriate information and consumers can easily access. This can be through utilizing the company’s website, in-store coupons, promotion and ensuring that the information is the websites that review computers. Hence, at this level the consumer has many alternatives and plays into consideration the evoked set and consideration set. It is important for the company to ensure that the product is within the evoked set of the consumer otherwise the marketer should develop ways that they product will be within this state. This can be achieved through communication with the consumers and using proper language in advertising messages (Mooij, 2004). After the laptop satisfies the consumer, the customer decides and purchases the laptop. At this stage, the marketer should reduce complications that may be faced by the consumer such as policies. Moreover, the marketer should ensure that there are many options that can be utilized to pay for the laptop. Lastly, purchase evaluation is the stage that the consumer decides whether the laptop fulfils their requirements or is satisfied or dissatisfied. This stage is important for the marketer since it will determine whether the customer will come back next time. Strategies that the marketer can utilize is follow ups to determine whether the consumer is satisfied, time technical assistances and fulfilment of promises that were agreed on e.g. warranties. Recommendations and Conclusions The most challenging concept in marketing is determining or understanding why consumers purchase a product. However, understanding the requirements of the consumer and understanding their behaviours is important since the marketers will know what is important for the consumers and strategies that will help in influencing on customer decision-making process. When a marketer has this information, it allows the consumer to develop the appropriate strategies that ensures that the aim of the product by the organization is achieved. Compaq Presario is a new product in the market and consumers are only aware of the brand name. The trend that is in the market depends on quality and the cost to achieve the product. Internal factors play an important role in the way that the consumer will be influenced in deciding and purchasing a product. The internal factors include motivation, knowledge and attitude while the external factors are the culture, sub-groups and purchase situation. Other strategies that play important role in determining and understanding the behaviour of the consumers is through utilizing proper advertising strategies e.g. the push and pulls strategies. This will ensure that the consumers understand the products and are motivated to argue them. In consumer decision making process, there are five stages that the consumer follows to ensure that they acquire a give product or service. These stages are the need recognition, information search, and evaluation of alternatives, purchase decision and purchase evaluation. Reflective Summary The online discussions play an important role in helping me understand better the requirements of consumer behaviour. The discussions ensured that I have a better knowledge concerning the course. This is because I can easily analyze other students’ answers and with the divergent perspectives that could have been hard to access, I was able to understand better the course outline. Thus, this new opinions, I was able to combine with mine resulting in a solid foundation for understanding the topics that were offered. This is because the approach that different students take in describing a single topic expands its understanding. The online discussed was beneficial because each student had a sense of equality in that I can post any information concerning the topic without limitations that I could have had gone through when I could have been in a classroom setting. This is because each of us had opportunities to air our views with any distractions and accessing the information anytime that I want. Moreover, the students who are usually shy and anxious posted their ideas comfortable with feeling uncomfortable. Thus, the information that I was able to acquire played a crucial role in applying them in understanding consumer behaviours. The online discussion helped me a lot because there was no specific time for me to communicator with the instructor since information was posted or emailed to the instructor. Moreover, the one-on-one discussion between the instructor and me ensured that I ironed out any complexities that may have occurred and topics that I did not understand. Generally, the discussion improved my perceptions towards consumer behaviour and helped in increasing the resources that I used in taking the subject. Views and perspectives differed a lot, which each mains goal is in helping to understand the requirements of consumer behaviour. Most of the contributed that were posted were helpful but some I did not understand especially the wording and actual content of the postings. Either some of the class posted some information that was not helpful because they were out of topic, did not answer directly the question or the information that was posted was repetitive. Nevertheless, most of the information that was posted played an important role in the way that it shaped the consumer behaviour topic. Information that was posted was diversified. This means that the materials and articles that were posted helped in a lot in improving on understanding the consumer behaviour class. The information and ideas that were posted had important information that helped me understand the way that consumers behaved towards purchasing their products. Moreover, the information that was presented helped me to understand the perspectives that my classmates viewed the development of consumers in decision-making process. At the time the class began, I was unsure on what I was going to tackle. Even the name of the course “Consumer Behaviour”, I understood it differently. However, the development of the class through the ideas and information that are received by both the instructor and ideas that were posted online helped me understand better Consumer Behaviour. I realized that understanding the way that consumers behave when they are deciding to purchase a given product is complex. As the class progressed I understood that the way that the ideas in class are been presented it reflected the way that I saw myself going around doing my shopping. I understand the complex situations that the marketers have to go through in order to market their products and ensure that consumers are retained or they re-purchased the products. References Boaz, A. (2006). Marketing in New Zealand, 3rd Ed. California: University of California Publishers. East, R., Wright, M. & Vanhuele, M. (2008). Consumer Behaviour: Applications in Marketing. New York: Sage Publications Ltd. Foxall, G. (2002). Consumer Behaviour Analysis: Marketing, a Behavioural Perspective. London: Taylor & Francis Publishers. Mooij, M. (2004). Consumer Behaviour and Culture: Consequences for Global Marketing and Advertising. New York: Sage Publishers. Schiffman, L. (1997). Consumer Behaviour Pha. Sydney: Pearson Education Australia. Wright, R. (2006). Consumer Behaviour. London: Cengage EMEA Publishers. Read More