BUS104 Introduction To Marketing

Answer

Background:

The key objective of this project is to identify the major group factors as well as individual factors that affect the consumer behaviours. This project also gives a thorough overview of the overall steps in the consumer decision-making process. Hence, this project will provide the answer why comprehension of consumer behaviour is crucial for marketers. In order to comprehend the above question, an interview is conducted among two respondents who have recently changed their Smartphone. The Smartphone is categorised as the Shopping product in the 4 types of consumer products. The key reason for placing the Smartphone in the shopping category is the purchase frequently evaluates different attributes as for example price, quality and style in the due course of selecting and purchasing the product.

Interview:

i. Respondent A:

When I previous Smartphone starts lagging and getting heated too much, I understand, I need to change it soon before it gets completely malfunctioned. With the fast changing technology, it is a bit hard for me to take the right decision for choosing my phone. The previous one, I have bought in last year within one year it starts giving poor performance. Last time, I did not do much research regarding my purchasing. I just followed my friend’s suggestion. However, this time before purchasing my new smart phone I have done a thorough research and gone through online survey and review before making my final purchasing decision. After purchasing the Smartphone, I am satisfied with the product. The regular updates and after sales service is also satisfactory.

ii. Respondent B:

I have lost my phone while spending holidays on the beach. Now, I have to purchase a new one as in the current scenario it is difficult to survive without a Smartphone. Starting from online food delivery to the cab service, for every moment, internet connection and Smartphone is important. I do not think much about the product as I am quite happy with the service of my last Smartphone. I simply like to buy the latest model of my previous company.

Description of Consumer Decision Making Process:

The problem recognition

The respondent needs to but a Smartphone where several factors influenced him to identify the need for buying a Smartphone. The influencing factors might be (Solomon, 2014);

1. The old Smartphone is not working properly
2. He or she might upgrade to Smartphone rather than regular mobile phone.
3. He or she may find it handy to buy a Smartphone for any beloved.
4. The respondent wants to accommodate all his official and personal work in his or her Smartphone.
5. Information search

Therefore a step by step information collections and identifying the appropriate Smartphone suitable for his or her need is the important process of decision making. There many sources through which the respondent could find the desired Smartphone (Cheng, Brisson & Hay, 2014).

Personal or referral source: the respondent could find the useful information from friend or colleague who is using the Smartphone.

Commercial or advertisements:  television commercials and online reviews could help him to find the desired Smartphone.

Public source: print media publication such as newspaper, magazine, tabloids could also help the respondent to find the phone.

Previous experience: previous handling experience could help him to evaluate the current need and decision-making in favour of a Smartphone.

Evaluation criteria

After collecting all required information which is needed to purchase Smartphone, an evaluation process has been done for decision making. Once the respondent is final about the choice and price, a search for best deal will be started. He or she will start comparing prices and best deals from different sources and end up with the best price and best specification which is suitable for his or her choice (Karimi, Papamichail & Holland, 2015).

Purchase

In this stage, the consumer will match up the physical choice to the need which is based on emotional and requirement analysis. The requirement analysis has been gone through different searching mode and ends up with the correct product. In this stage, the consumer will find a different mode of purchase and identify the suitable one for him or her (Shaheen, & Lodhi, 2016).

Post purchase stage:

This is the most important stage for the brand and the consumer also. In the review stage, the consumer will compare with the required and physical specification of the phone. They also evaluate the performance of the phone and determine the purchase as success or failure (Maity, & Dass, 2014).

Discussion and Comparison with relevant academic literature:

In the current case scenario, it is seen that for Respondent A, the need is provoked by the damage of the previous Smartphone and for respondent B the same is provoked by the loss of it. Hence, for both the people the purchase process is Re-purchase which demands extended purchase for Respondent A and limited purchase for Respondent B. Similarly, Decision-making process for the respondent A is high involvement decision as compared with the respondent B (Lysonski & Durvasula, 2013). The primary factor which affects the time associated with information search, in this case, is the brand loyalty. It is also seen that in the case of the respondent A the person was influenced by his friend while making a decision regarding buying a new product. This behaviour supports that, the mouth of word promotion is the best alternative for promotional activity till date (Simonson, 2016). While making their decision for purchasing a product they consider the performance of the product which they easily have in the form of customer review over the internet and after sale service of the concerned organisation. In this case, the brand values act as environmental pressure. If the person who is buying the Smartphone sees his friend buys a specific brand, he also can go with that decision depending upon the brand value and the relation between the two people (Lurie et al. 2016). In the both case, it is seen that the post purchase stage is highly influenced by the service provided by both the product as well as the company in the form of after sales service.  

Conclusion:

After going through the entire assignment and the responses of the customer, it is evident the majority of the customer buying behaviour depends on the brand loyalty as well as the information provided by the organisation regarding their product. In this contemporary era, the consumer world is highly connected. Hence, each and every organisation needs to provide the best service for their product. People of the contemporary era who opt for shopping category of the consumer products looks for after sales service apart from value for money for their product. They also like to invest a considerable amount of time in researching about the quality of the product before buying from various sources available over the internet. Hence, brand value and consumer loyal is two most crucial elements which effectively altered the consumer buying behaviour. Hence it is crucial to develop a loyal customer base by providing the best after sales service.

References:

Cheng, T., Brisson, H., & Hay, M. (2014). The role of content in the consumer decision making process. The Nielsen Company, New York.

Karimi, S., Papamichail, K. N., & Holland, C. P. (2015). The effect of prior knowledge and decision-making style on the online purchase decision-making process: A typology of consumer shopping behaviour. Decision Support Systems, 77, 137-147.

Lurie, N. H., Berger, J. A., Chen, Z., Li, B., Liu, H., Mason, C., ... & Sun, B. (2016). Everywhere and at All Times: Mobility, Consumer Decision Making, and Choice.

Lysonski, S., & Durvasula, S. (2013). Consumer decision making styles in retailing: evolution of mindsets and psychological impacts. Journal of Consumer Marketing, 30(1), 75-87.

Maity, M., & Dass, M. (2014). Consumer decision-making across modern and traditional channels: E-commerce, m-commerce, in-store. Decision Support Systems, 61, 34-46.

Shaheen, M., & Lodhi, R. N. (2016). Impacts of social media marketing on consumer decision making process: Descriptive study of Pakistan. Journal of Business Strategies, 10(1), 57.

Simonson, I. (2016). Imperfect Progress: An Objective Quality Assessment of the Role of User Reviews in Consumer Decision Making, A Commentary on de Langhe, Fernbach, and Lichtenstein. Journal of Consumer Research, 42(6), 840-845.

Solomon, M. R. (2014). Consumer behavior: Buying, having, and being (Vol. 10). Engelwood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall.