Consumer Behavior - Designing for a Hierarchy of Needs - Assignment Example

Consumer Behavior Chapter 7 Apply Question 5: My friend’s attitude Although I have an idea about the kinds of clothes and shoes my best friend likes, I would never buy him any because he is so unpredictable, what Dempsey and Mitchell (2010) refer to as attitudinal inconsistency. I have seen this in the way that he picks items when we go shopping. Initially, he would pick up an item, scrutinize it for a long time. In the end he would take it or leave it. But strangely, he hardly won some of the clothes or shoes he bought. For instance, he would wear a particular t-shirt, but decide against it just as he would be about to walk out the door. Then he would go back in and change. Infact, he kept some of them so long that he finally gives them away. I once asked him why he bought things he did not like. He said that he thought he loved them when he bought them only to realize later he did not. About one red t-shirt he gave me he once told me, “It makes me feel so conspicuous- like I really stand out in a crowd- and self-conscious.” I found that argument intriguing, especially since he had another equally red t-shirt that he loved. Later he explained to me that it mostly depended on his attitude towards an item when he first spots it. Usually, when he liked an item at first sight, then he would keep it. But he also keeps some of the ones that did not really please him right away. At such times he told me, he pays attention to whether there is a part of him that doubts his perception that an item is good. In the end, perhaps to avoid wastage or having his closet full of clothes he did not use, I think he devised a plan based on these two sides of his shopping attitude. His attempt to reconcile this inconsistency is line with theory of cognitive dissonance (Tolon, et al.), which is a person’s attempt to resolve his dissonance. My friend has adapted to his way: one, he takes what he likes when he first spots it; two, he does not take what he has two thoughts about. In other words, he seems to have adopted a general shopping philosophy: when you doubt it, don’t take it. Chapter 7 Apply Question 6:Attitude Survey Attitudes, Daniel Katz explains in his ‘functional theory of attitudes, greatly influence social behavior (Solomon, 2007). When it comes to consumer behavior, it has been noted that attitude influences demand for certain goods and services. Here, I present my Attitude Survey on automobiles in the African market on behalf of for two Japanese automobile companies: Toyota and Nissan. Recent years have seen a proliferation of Japanese cars in the world, especially in Africa. These two are the major ones. Still this attitude survey is relevant because attitudes change over time and keeping track is to keep the market you already have, as well as win and retain a competitive advantage over others. Generally, there are two major categories of attitudes that influence automobile in Africa: utilitarian function and value-express function. In the former case, many Africans consider how the automobile they buy will reward or punish them in relation to what they can do, how much security they provide and what is the fuel-consumption. For example, with most of Africa still lacking proper road network, and most of the roads being merely tracks, demand for dual-purpose tar/track cars that can handle and endure bad terrains are on high demand. There is also need for cars with high performance. Fuel consumption is also another factor. Africa being a developing continent, there is need for vehicles that can provide various transportation needs. This is the reason for the high demand for hatchback cars, e.g pick-ups. More than this, public transportation being a major sector in Africa, there is a good market for Toyota Hiace and Nissan Bluebird (kenyacarbazaar.com). In the latter case, many Africans are increasingly considering the prestige that an automobile comes with. Hence the increasing demand for Mercedes, BMW, Hummer, Jaguar, Chrysler, etc. By understanding these two attitudinal aspects, these two competing automobiles can extend competitive advantage over the other. Already, these two models have curved for themselves great competitive space against each other. Toyota has simply won the African heart by way of providing variety. It has unofficially become the ‘indestructible car’ (CMH Group). And Nissan has in recent years adopted a slogan that runs to the effect of ‘Nissan made for the African road’. These provide great competitive advantage over other brands. But these brands can still do more to capitalize on their relative cheapness, effectiveness and the fact they have been tested on the African roads and many Africans testify to their performances. Nonetheless there is reason to worry for a potential change in attitude as more and more Africans look out for untested brands. Already, Toyota provides luxury, even as it remains relatively cheap. Low costs and effectiveness have been the two premises on which these two automobile brands have ridden. They should capitalize more on that, even they venture into new ‘luxury’ territory. Its called maximizing on your strengths. Chapter 7 Apply Question 7: Multiattribute Models Creating a Multiattribute Model is based on recognizing and acknowledging that a single response of a consumer to a particular marketing stimulus is not sufficient to tell what a consumer’s attitude really is. “Beliefs about certain specific brand characteristics are quite pivotal for a product” (Solomon, 2007). Therefore, marketers realize that that in order to capture the various potential consumer-attitudes, there is need to create multiattribute models. This involves identifying the various specific beliefs and putting them together to derive a consumer’s overall attitude. With this knowledge, marketers can predict the attitudes that a product is likely to receive from the consumers. Below is a basic Multiattribute for the four Restaurants in my hometown. The attributes are rated between a scale of 1 to 10 with 10 being the top mark and 1 as the lowest. MY BASIC MULTIATTRIBUTE MODEL FOR RESTAURANTS IN MY HOMETOWN Beliefs Attribute(i) Importance(I) Swiss Chick Inn Sweet Proximity to home 6 5 3 8 4 Cost 6 6 4 4 5 Food Quality 7 6 7 8 6 Service Quality 7 4 4 7 7 Customer Care 4 3 2 3 4 Attitude Score 121 133 105 113 Based on these findings, there are certain strategies by which these restaurants can improve their images to the people. One example is capitalizing on the relative advantage. This means that the restaurants can take advantage of those attributes that are considered positively by the customers. This involves emphasizing that the customers’ perceptions have not been misinformed. On the contrary, the management may even opt to preach that the customers have infact underestimated the worth of that particular attribute. For example, inspite of Chick’s good ratings on service qualities, it could go on to further that attitude in the customers. Two, strengthen attributive perceptions. The Multiattributive model above is basic evidence to the management on the attributes that the customers do not view positively. This is more-or-less the opposite of the perception above. The management here should aim at turning such perceptions around. This can be done through strong campaigns, for example. Three, adopt new attributes. The example above only shows a few attributes that can be considered with regard to the restaurants. But say this was an exhaustive list, then a strategy to show a good face to the consumers would involve adding a new attributive feature that other restaurants do not have. In other words, a management should aim at having something extra above the rest. This improves its competitive advantage. Four, influence competitor’s ratings. This refers to where the management of one restaurant adopts strategies to decrease the worth placed on a certain attribute in the competitors’ business by the customers. This is known as comparative advertising. It involves listing the trend of the said attribute in other restaurants in comparison to that of the restaurant taking undertaking the strategy, and trying to make justification as to why things are the way they are. For example, Chick restaurant could decide to downplay the value of Swiss’ food costs by showing that its costs, albeit higher, are worth the value. The campaign could further show how. Chapter 4 Chapter 4 Apply Question 6: Promotional strategies for an article of clothing, each stressing one level of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs The first important thing to take note of here is the target audience as it influences Maslow’s hierarchy of needs (Bradley, 2010). This will inform the slogan, depending on what part of consumer motivation we want to appeal to: Physiological Needs Here, the promotional strategy would aim at appealing to the primary motivational aspects of the target audience, and must come first. For instance, with the winters approaching, the company can appeal to the people’s basic need for warmth even as they would go on with their jobs. The slogan should be catchy, and show all sides of the message being passed across. For example: Don’t Let Winter Stop You. And with a touch of the characteristic hyperbole, there should be a billboard or a video clip showing a family of varied ages having fun at a picnic and wearing warm garments. This would mean there are warm clothes for people of all ages. Safety This strategy will appeal to the customers’ need for safety, physical or psychological, or both. On one end, physical security would appeal to people who perform dangerous jobs like mechanics, people working in chemical laboratories, etc. The slogan may say: You Can Never Be Touched Equally, psychological safety involves giving the audience an assurance of safety. The slogan would perhaps say: Dress Assured. Belongingness This is supposed to appeal to one’s need to belong, that he/she is a part of a people (Bradley, 2010). The company could advertise by Billboard or TV and preach the belongingness. The TV ads can be played in airlines headed into the country in question. For example, the advert in a plane headed for Canada could show an assortment of clothes accompanied by a slogan reading: In Canada Know What We Want Ego Needs Promotional strategies appealing to a person’s ego, make him/her feel accomplished. This especially works for designer clothes. This is partly related to “belongingness’ in the sense that one may view himself as accomplished depending on ‘who else’ wears the particular design. This promotion could involve a famous figure.The slogan could read: What Do The Rich and Famous Think?, accompanied by the picture of, say, David Beckham wearing the design and saying, “I love it”, and maybe a female celebrity as well- say Angelina Jolie- exclaiming, “Wow!” Because people know these two, they would feel accomplished just for wearing the same designs. Self Actualization This strategy is supposed to make people feel that they are being who they are when they buy a product. The slogan Finally, You Know Who You Are emphasizes on one’s sense of self-awareness and actualization. Chapter 4 Apply Question 7: Consumer Behavior; Ads Appealing to Consumer’s Values Solomon (2007) defines “a value” as that which is preferable to the other. He gives an the example of the general assumption prefer freedom to slavery- at least on themselves. In this light many consumers base their tastes and preferences on certain values, e.g. preferring to look young as opposed to old. Solomon (2007) then notes that it is possible for two or more people to share a value even if their underlying systems of belief are different. Marketers are able to predict mass values by observing and analyzing general individual and contextual socio-cultural and political forces. The latter, especially, is known to be a key influencer of values. Then they can base their ideas for advertisement on the values; win by affirming the preferred values or by seemingly rejecting the unwanted values. Solomon gives a number of examples of Ads. Some of them are based on Consumer values. There is an example on page 120. This ad is for exercise equipment, Soloflex. It shows a muscular man. The ad is intended to tap into the popular contemporary belief of men in round biceps and the so-called six-pack on the belly. The advert suggests a solution to attaining such a body; Soloflex. And to bring that dream even closer to realization, there’s a number attached to the advert. Calling that number gets one a brochure and a demonstration video. Another ad on page 140 is for a coffee shop. It appeals to and reflects the growing sentiment against large corporations. It says: Free Your Addiction From Corporate Tyranny. My guess is that the coffee shop is probably new and somewhat small-time. It realizes the danger potential danger of failure against the more established coffee shops. Tapping into the rising anti-corporate sentiment, the coffee shop hopes to win, or atleast curve a satisfactory niche, against the established shops. Another example is an anti-terrorism ad on page 147. on top of the advert are the words All in favor of terrorism, raise your hand”. Following from top to bottom are pictures of a Muslim Cleric (seemingly), Saddam Hussein (seemingly) and Hitler with their hands raised. The three pictures, in black and white, clearly stand out against the red backdrop. Notably, the advert came in the aftermath of 9/11. One can therefore infer that advert hopes to preach against terrorism by tapping into a perceived mainstream hatred for radical Islam, Saddam Hussein and Hitler. As to the effectiveness of this approach as a marketing strategy, marketing generally targets what people love- or even hate. This is the general principle of advertising. Consumer values are a manifestation of what people love and hate. However, this approach may not be so effective. For instance, while many prefer being young, many realize age is inevitable, so they accept it. The anti-terrorism advert for instance is likely to provoke anger amongst Muslims, especially the seemingly generalizing picture of the Muslim cleric. Simply, values are not so broadly shared. Chapter 4 Apply Question 8: Consumer Involvement Involvement is generally defined as “a person’s perception of a relevant object based on their inherent value, needs and interests”. ‘Object’ here is used in a generic sense to refer to a product or an advertisement. Involvement can be triggered by different motivational antecedents: an aspect of the consumer’s nature, a characteristic or feature of the object, or something about the interactional situation. There are different levels of involvement, which can influence how one is affected by marketing stimuli. In this case, we will take the example of a man with his car. There are three major factors of marketing stimuli: differentiating between alternatives, the source of communication used and the content of the passed information (Solomon, 2007). How a man is affected by a marketing stimulus relating to an advert on cars or other car products depends a lot on how he will process the information passed. There are two main levels of involvement: inertia and cult products (Solomon, 2007). A man at the inertia level exhibits an absolute disinterest in a marketing stimulus. His attention is influenced by necessity rather than loyalty, and only does a simple interpretation of information. A man at this level of involvement may not even know what specific model his car is. His involvement with marketing stimuli in relation to his car is perhaps only utility-driven. For example, he may listen only to hear where he can find a broken spare part. Cult products, on the other hand, command what Solomon (2007) refers to as “fierce loyalty and devotion of consumers” to an extent that they almost worship the brand or product. At this level, a man has great knowledge on the car: car-make, model, year of manufacture, where to find the best and original spare parts, etc. This person undertakes expansive information processing, comparing what he hears with what he knows. To catch the attention either one of them, a marketer employs different strategies in marketing a related product, such as a car battery. For the inertial-level consumer, the strategy needs to, first and foremost, aim at catching their attention. This would involve using other elements that they may love to direct their attention to the product. These include music, images, color, longevity, multi-utility, etc. In other words, if they do not value the product for the sake of it, then at least they could for the sake of other things. In the case of the battery, for example, the advert should aim at answering some of these questions: what is its power-saving capacity? What is its lifespan before the consumer can need a new one? What is the ease of portability? And many more. For the cult-product consumer, the strategy is not that hard. It should simply aim at showing how the product or service advertised can further his love for or devotion to the product in a way that other companies cannot. Winning a low-level involvement consumer involves more than it does to win a high-level involvement consumer. Chapter 4 Apply Question 7: Product Involvement One of my facebook friends belonged to an Alicia Keys fan club, and he invited me. I did not enter as a fan exactly, although I am. But I gained access to the responses of the members. Just like me, different people are fans for different reasons. As a result, different members exhibit different levels of involvement to Alicia Keys as the ‘product’. Some love Alicia keys as a person, some for her music; others are simply there because they have been invited. At conducting an interview with some of the page members I have picked out a certain pattern. Most of the male fans like Alicia for her looks, while most of her female fans do for her music- or atleast they do not comment on her looks as much as they do on her music; some take many days, or even weeks, without commenting. Most of these, responding to my messages, do not even visit the page in those days; some simply use the platform merely as space to meet others, while showing indifference to anything direct to do with Alicia Keys. Then there are those who keep daily track of Alicia Keys. They scour the internet and bring the information to the ‘wall’ for fans to chat on. They also attach links to Alicia’s music and videos. Some members display great devotion to Alicia. When I went into the page ‘timeline’, I witnessed this distinction of devotions during the time when there was drama involving Alicia’s affair with Swizzbeats even as his wife Mashonda, expecting his child at the time, hit at Alicia on her twitter account and facebook fan-page. Some people condemned Alicia for causing the divorce between the two. But the devoted fans simply refused to look at the other side of the story. Nonetheless, this fan-page creates a great marketing platform/opportunity for Alicia, both as a product and a producer. Marketers can extract certain trends in the likes and preferences to help “increase or decrease fan attention” (Solomon, 2007). For example, the page can provide an opportunity to increase the fans’ product involvement by taking measures to boost their motivations. Some of these include: a) Appealing to the fans’ hedonic needs- this involves using the fans’ reactions and responses on the page as manifestation of their sensory motivations, which can inform marketing strategies. b) Using prominent stimuli to attract attention to the commercials- this involves using fast action, loud music or large ads, and the use of colors to attract attention. c) Bonding with Fans- this involves the celebrity having a direct involvement with the fans on the page: answering their questions, responding to their comments, sharing her likes and dislikes, expressing her fears to show that she is also a human being with strengths and weaknesses. d) Employing unique and unusual stimuli- these include sudden silences, unexpected movements and unusual cinematography in commercials (Solomon, 2007). Through these strategies and other marketing strategies, online fan clubs can provide great commercial platforms for celebrities to win fans. References Bradley, S. (2010). Designing for a Hierarchy of Needs. Smashingmagazine.com, 26 April, 2010. http://www.smashingmagazine.com/2010/04/26/designing-for-a- hierarchy-of-needs/ CMH Group. (2010). Top Toyota Cars From CMH Toyota. Retrieved March 7, 2012 from, http://www.cmhtoyota.co.za/ Dempsey, A.M. & Mitchell, A.A. (2010), The Influence of Implicit Attitudes on Choice When Consumers are Confronted With Conflicting Attribute Information. Journal of Consumer Research, Volume 37, No.4, pp. 614-625. Maslow, A. (1993). A Theory of Human Motivation. Psychological Review, 50, 370- 396. Solomon, M. (2007). Consumer Behavior: Buying, Having and Being (7th Edition), Upper Saddle River, New Jersey: Pearson Solomon, M. (2006). Consumer Behavior (7th Edition). Prentice Hall: London. The Editor. (2010). Why Japanese Cars Are Popular and in High Demand, Kenyabazaar.com, Retrieved March 7, 2012 from, http://www.kenyacarbazaar.com/blog/why-japanese-cars-are-popular-and-in- high-demand/ Tolon, M., Ozdogan, F.B., & Eser, Zeliha, (n.d.). Testing Cognitive Dissonance Theory: Consumer’s Attitudes and Behaviors About Neuromarketling. Retrieved March 7, 2012 from, http://w3.gazi.edu.tr/web/metehan/12.pdf Read More