Marketing Strategies Used To Influence Consumers Buying Behaviour - Essay Example

Running head: Marketing Part B: Marketing Strategies Used To Influence Consumers’ Buying Behaviour Insert Insert Grade Insert 09 April 2012 Part i The understanding of consumer behaviour is vital in the marketing of any product. Consumer behaviour can be termed as behaviours or acts that are done by decision making units in the purchasing, usage and the disposal of goods and services. Ries & Trout (2000) contends that it is imperative to understand how consumers perceive a product. This will enable marketers to produce products that are needed by the consumers and also those that satisfy their needs. The question then to answer is why those consumers are having different preferences on the same product. The answer to this lies on the fact that there are both internal and external influences that marks the reason as to why consumers have preferences of even the same product. This then as Quester (1996) puts it deals with why and how consumers purchase or do not purchase a product or service. An outlook of internal influences is vital in understanding the consumer behaviour. Perception is regarded as activities within which an individual attaches meaning to stimuli. It has four stages; the exposure, attention, interpretation, and memorizing. To this end, in regards to the interview conducted it is evident that respondent A was exposed through promotion while respondent B through the Internet. Samsung in this regard was able to expose their products hence attract attention to the respondents. They were able to interpret and memorize what they heard and so making it possible for the stimuli to have an attached meaning. Learning also falls in the category of internal influences where it is as a result of information processing. It can either be high level involvement or low level involvement and depends largely on the types. A lot of the consumers fall in the low level involvement meaning that they rely on the continuous advertisement to grasp the qualities or properties of a particular product. This mode referred to as iconic rote learning is not the only one as we also have classical conditioning and operant conditioning where the latter refers to trial given to a particular product while the former refers to the using of particular stimuli that is well known to promote the product such as a popular music. To this end, the response by the two respondents indicates that there were low level involvement and their type of learning was mainly iconic rote learning. Attitude is viewed as an enduring combination of motivational, emotional or even cognitively either positively or negatively to object or event. This means that attitude is cognitive, affective and behavioural. It thus implies that consumers develop certain attitudes and associate them with particular products. Motivation, personality and emotion also fall into the internal influences where the consumer has the urge to consume a product due to certain motivations, personality or emotions. Maslow hierarchy of needs cites the motivation where he contends that some needs are more than others and that they need to be fulfilled first. Psychological needs are the first followed by safety and security. Social needs, self esteem and self actualization then follow. The well classified motives are the manifest motives while the unclear ones are the latent motives. To this end, both respondents recognized the motives for using or engaging with Samsung. This categorizes them as manifest motives. An outlook of external influences is also vital in understanding customer behaviours. Reference group are part of external influences that are defined as a group that has values that are used by the consumers making decisions as the platform of behaving the way they do. The reference group is used by some consumers as part of gaining approval to a particular group and thus the product type and name is imperative. The respondent A in this note seems to be influenced by the reference group as their knowledge of the mobile phone is from colleagues while the second respondent was more reliant on the internet. Culture refers to a way within which a people do things and plays a key role in influencing the consumer’s behaviour externally. This is so because it involves the values and norms within which the people are accustomed to. Culture therefore dictates the dos or don’ts and in the consumer behaviour dictate what is expected as appropriate. In this perspective, the two respondent shares different cultures where for respondent A Samsung S11 was notified by colleagues and if he needs more information the same method will be used. This is an indication of close relationship they attach to their social life with friends and colleagues while on the contrary respondent B is more of independent and trust on their own judgment; an indication of arising from a culture that believes more in self independence. Demographic income and social class are also an external influence on the consumer behaviour. Demographic means the population where the higher the population the better as this would mean increased sales whiles with income the higher the income the better an individual is suited for buying the Samsung S11. Although a comparison of prices is noted by both respondents, they are keener with appearances, quality, and more applications. The association of Samsung S11 is that of high status hence those who buy them want to appear to belong to a certain calibre of status. The decision making process may also involve the situational influences where there are a set of factors that are neither from consumer nor from the product that lead to consumer to buy or not buy the product. Belk (1988) discuses the five objectively-measured situations; these include physical and social surrounding, temporal perspective, task definition, and antecedent states. By physical surrounding it can vary from the interior décor, music smell, and temperature and store location. The social surrounding includes queues, crowding, and the social status of consumers. Temporal perspective is the effect of time on consumer behaviour where the product may be timely or not. In this perspective the respondent B answers that Samsung s11 delays in the releases of its product that have less applications making them buy an alternative iphone 4S. Task definition is the intended purpose of the product and it is evident that respondent A contends theirs as for checking mail and playing games. Respondent B task is for a good looking phone that makes them professional. To this end, respondent B also depicts antecedent state where they are more of momentary condition as they buy the Samsung S11 to feel professional. Part ii Ries & Trout (2000), stand out as scholars who advocated for the positioning of the product. To the aforementioned authors, positioning is not about what you do to the product but what you do to the mind of the consumer. This is how marketers try to create a perception of the brand, image or the company of a particular product. This will in turn affect the way the consumers perceive the product. This sentiments are shared by many scholars among them Guidry (2011) who contend that individuals confuse core ideas with positioning concept. She argues that core idea describes the product or service so as to determine whether the idea has any interest to the consumer. Positioning on the other hand is regarded as the attempt to sell the merits or benefits of the product or service to the consumer. Moore (2002) agrees with these sentiments by offering three types of positioning concepts which are functional positions, symbolic positions and experiential positions. The functional positions are involved with solving problems and providing benefits to consumers. The symbolic positions involve image, ego identification and affective fulfilment. Experimental position on the other hand is concerned with cognitive stimulation. Ries & Trout (2000) then provide a basis within which consumer behaviour is studied. Through their analysis of positioning they give way to the study of the mind of consumer so as to ascertain what they thought when purchasing certain products. Therefore, the influences of both internal and external nature play a key role. This is to mean that in the internal influences an individual is analyzed in terms of attitude, motives, learning and personality so as to understand the cognitive thinking that will make them behave in terms of purchasing a certain product or not. The external influences that may include the reference group, cultures, demographic, income and social class are all mitigated at the positioning of the product that will assist in the changing of their perception towards a particular product. Quester question of why and how consumers purchase certain products and do not purchase others is indeed dealt with by the product positioning that clearly identifies reason for this. To this end, Quester is answered through the internal and external influences and the interviews carried out to the two respondents are evident enough. This is so because respondent A notes that they rely on colleagues for information about Samsung S11. This means that for respondent A external influences play a big role. For respondent B the influence is more internal or cognitive as they rely more on the internet for information. The scholarly views of Tout and Pies therefore argue the fact that for marketing strategies to be effective there is need for the positioning of the product so as to gain a competitive advantage. Can it then be argued that Samsung through their galaxy S11 had been able to product position? The answer lies on the respondent answer where there are mixed reactions to this. Respondent A has not been fully convinced that Samsung galaxy S11 is better although it has the better screen. Respondent B is a loyal customer of Samsung products and to this end they have been able to product position on respondent B than respondent A. Part iii Conclusion The five processes discussed by Reynolds & Olson (2001) of the way consumers make decisions are critical in the analysis to discover how they behave. The processes include problem recognition, information search, information evaluation, purchase decision and evaluation after purchase. This outlook is central in the product development by the Samsung Company as they understand that there are competitors and that their goal is not only to retain existing loyal customers but also to break into new grounds of consumers. This then calls for the understanding of the consumer behaviour study. This enables the companies ascertain the products that the consumers require. In studying these, marketers are able to ascertain the internal and the external factors that determine what the consumers purchase. The companies are then able to product position so as to affect the way the consumers are able to think. These they do by affecting the cognitive thinking or the using of external influences as their perception gap to reach the consumers. By using different modes to communicate, Stapleton & Thomas (1998) have highlighted what is usually used as modes. This may vary from personal sources, commercial sources, public sources and experience sources. It is thus imperative to understand the mind of the consumer by the marketers so as to be able to know what is required and what the consumers perceive as key requirements. The impact on marketing is then clear where consumer behaviour aids in the market segmentation. This is to imply that marketers are able to distinguish which product is required by a particular cliché of people in regards to age, sex or even status. The impact on marketing is then able to influence the position strategy that will be able to provide for new market applications. Global marketing and marketing mix are other impact that will enable the marketers penetrate to the minds of the consumers and provide the product they like. However, according to respondent A there is need for Samsung to provide a more receptive strategy in showcasing their products as good. This according to Kotler (2003) is what is known as cognitive dissonance which is a post decision doubt that consumers may have. The impact is clear as respondent A was able to sell the Samsung galaxy S11. A need therefore arises where consumers need to be told about how good quality the products they buy are. With the cost of finding a new customer by a company being 500%, Swift (2001) argues that companies then need to devise ways not to lose the existing customers as they are important in the marketing. For Samsung, the retaining of respondent B is vital in propagating the loyalty and rewarding it with customer satisfactory products such as the timely introduction of Samsung galaxy s111. References Belk, R. W., 1988. "Possessions and the Extended Self," Journal of Consumer Research, 15 (September), 139-168. Guidry, M., 2011. Marketing Concepts That Win!: Save Time, Money and Work by Crafting Concepts Right the First Time. London: Live Oak Book Company Kotler, P., 2003. Marketing Insights From A to Z: 80 Concepts Every Manager Needs to Know. New York: Wiley Kotler, P. and Sidney, L., 1969. "Broadening the Concept of Marketing," Journal of Marketing (Jan):10-15. Moore, G.A., 2002. Crossing the Chasm: Marketing and Selling High-Tech Products to Mainstream Customers. London: Harper Business Essentials Quester, P., 1996. Consumer Behaviour Implication for Marketing Strategy. New York: Mc Graw-Hill Reynolds, J.T. and Olson, J.C., 2001. Understanding Consumer Decision Making: The Means-end Approach to Marketing and Advertising Strategy. London: Routledge Ries, A. and Trout, J., 2000. Positioning: The Battle for Your Mind. New York: McGraw Hill Professional Stapleton, J. and Thomas, M.J., 1998. How to prepare a Marketing Plan: a Guide to Reaching the Consumer Market. Aldershot: Gower Publishing, Ltd. Swift, R. S., 2001. Accelerating Customer Relationship. Upper. Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall Read More