The Essay Explores Customer Service Dominant Logic Of Marketing.

Description of the consumer

Discuss about the Customer Service Dominant Logic of Marketing.

The purchase behaviour of a customer depends on many factors that has to be considered while buying a product in the market. The factors affecting the low and high involvement purchase are the cost, affordability and choice of the consumer. The discussion will point out the reason for buying a product and the factors that affect the purchasing decision of a consumer(Baker,2014). It will analyse the contrasts between the high involvement purchase and low involvement purchase and how they affect the choosing style of an individual consumer. The study has a record of the purchasing list of a consumer for 7 days that involves his daily purchase products. It includes the purchase decision, time, and effort and customers choice for buying the products. The high involvement purchase was also transacted by the customer that was done few weeks before by the consumer(Solomon et al.,2014). The study will show a contrast of thought, purchase process and desire of the customer while purchasing the both high and low investment product. It compares the decision making process practised by the consumer and how he has judged the product over an alternative product. The study will end with an idea of how the companies must brand or advertise to such consumers to attract them or sell their products. The study will clearly define a situation of effective and efficient market analysis and consumer behaviour that will help an organization or brand to advertise their product and reach that consumer section.

• The consumer:
• Highly interested for books and journals and often buys reading articles to keep himself updated with the global affairs.
• Busy with work and has less time for entertainment.
• Concerned about fitness and health development.
• Doesn’t likes to cook but prefers to eat variety of food
• He is interested to buy new things for house decoration and is fascinated for gardening.
• Likes to buy gifts for parents and often buys gifts for extended family too.
• Prefers to save but also likes to spend well enough if in a good mood.
• Prefers to judge the product with its price before buying.
• Believes in judicial investment.

The big five test was applied on the consumer and the result are as follows:

The diagnosis was done on the basis of a personality test that showed a detailed study of the thinking process and style of the consumer. He has a considerable contrast of thinking that is hi-lighted in the study. The study says that the consumer is extremely reflective and imaginative which is hi-lighted from his good score in openness which is also known as intellect or imagination scale. This shows that he has a score in this section, thus he is very imaginative and reflective in nature. He also has a high score on conscientiousness which means he pays close attention to details and scrutinises the product of purchase. He also has a high score on Neuroticism and that proves he gets irritated or worried easily. The above analysis matches the psychograph of the consumer.

The house rent- the consumer has to pay a sum of $150 for his rent. This expenditure is one of the basic expenditure incurred by him in every month. The consumer has to pay this through cash and it is a monthly pay. This means the consumer does not have to incur the expenditure every week.

The grocery cost- the grocery cost has to be faced by the consumer as his monthly food has to be brought on a weekly basis. These expenditures are faced by him on weekly basis and an approximate amount of $1235 is spend every week on this expenditure.

Analysis of overall purchase behavior

The extra income- the extra amount that he had spent this month was a new jacket for this father. As it is said that he likes to gifts new things to his parents. He decided to buy a new jacket for his father. The jackets costs $600. The main reason for this purchase are:

• It was new brand and he was not sure about the product quality.
• He had asked for recommendation and this was the brand he got most of the  suggestion about
• The brand claimed a premium comfort and luxury to the user of their product.

The consumer was not very sure about the product but the recommendations from friend made him feel this could have been a trust worthy brand. It had become a high involvement purchase for the consumer. The consumer did not have much idea about the product but the reviews from the friends made him feel that the product might be worthy. The product was attractive for the consumer and he wanted to gift something to his father thus he decided to buy this product. The product was within his budget and the brand got a good rating from his friends thus he decided to buy the product.

Thus, it can be conclude that the consumer is very much family oriented and most of his expenditures are worthy and related to living only. He has very less expenditure for self-entertainment or pampering. He prefers to make food at home instead of spending the money outside, thus a certain amount is spent by him on buying groceries and vegetables on a weekly basis. The consumer tries to maintain brand loyalty, however, at the same time he prefers to limit his expenditure in a fixed budget. He prefers quality product and also tries to keep its cost in a limited amount. He does not prefer to buy anything for himself and is concerned about his parents. His expenditure includes only the basis products required to survive, this proves that he will be oriented only in necessity products and not luxury products. However, if required he too might buy luxury product that too from a reputed brand, but that is totally dependent on the brand name and his requirement for the product. He is not among those customers who shop products for luxury and satisfaction. Thus, to advertise any product to him, the marketing group has to consider the necessity products with new and creative designs which will attract his attention. The brand can be of high range he will not be concerned about that.

The nominated high involvement product that the customer had purchased few weeks back was a smart phone. The key features of the products are mentioned below:

The customer had a deep fascination to buy an Apple I-phone since a long time. He was not too much concerned about his own preference and likings as he felt his most important responsibility was to save for his parents and future. The apple products are innovative and based on technology and human behaviour(Chaffey & Ellis-Chadwick, 2016). They tend to understand the consumers choice and preference which is mot liked by the users. The consumer here also preferred the product for this quality. The applications are designed programs which offer appropriate functions for a certain purpose. The website of the company says that they offer various advantages for consumers like business application, tools application to meet the personal need of every individual. The consumer has a deep concern for technology advancement, being a science teacher he is interested to know about the latest technology and its advantages in the society(Lusch & Vargo, 2014). The applications provided in this phone are really attracting for the user and thus he selected to buy this products. The young generation already has a fascination for technology advantage products and the specifications provided by the latest phone and system. Apple is a brand is using the latest technology and tools.

Nominated product

Self-requirement: The personal reason for hiring this product is the consumer wanted to buy this product since a long time. He was fascinated towards the products since when it came to the market. The consumer wanted to buy the product but at the same time he judicially divided his income and kept a certain amount every month to purchase a phone. The amount that he saved every month was then sufficient enough to buy a phone. He did few reaches about technically advance phone, he took review from friends and thus decided to buy this phone. There were many other phones that he could have bought but as it is mentioned above he is fascinated for branded product and that might cost him more, yet he will buy the product(Lemon & Verhoef, 2016). The user was highly confident that he will not buy the next phone before a gap of 2 years. Thus, he decided to buy the  phone for his personal use.

Other judgement: He had a budget of $800 which was near to the amount of this product. He decided to buy this product as this was almost near to his budget and he could afford the brand in that range. He also chose this product because of its technology advancement and user friendly nature that will be useful to him. He also took review from his friends and families to know more about the product. Finally the reviews were favouring the decision and he decided to buy the product. He had brought the product using a debit card and not cash. He wanted a reduction from his bank instead of buying the product with cash.

Because he got review about the product that apple phone is built with a better quality and feature. The review that he got has influenced him to buy the alternate phone. He also found the apple set to be more slim and handy for use and easy to carry(Guy, 2013). He preferred the technology advancement and the user friendly applications in apple that attracted him to buy the product. The review that he received from others also influenced him to buy the product. He is already an influenced customer who prefers to buy product on customer review and brand popularity. However, Samsung and apple has equal fame in the market but somewhere apple has a better reputation or premium tag for it in the market. Thus, he decided to buy the apple phone instead of buying the Samsung phone.

There high involvement purchase and low involvement purchase has a huge variation as they are not inter related from any direction. The purchase of a phone and purchase of a jacket has no relevant relation between them but shows the choosing criteria of the customer.

The price of the jacket and the price of the phone has a huge variation but it shows the pattern of the consumer for selecting a new product which is not present in his regular buying list. The consumer for both the cases takes advice from friends and relatives before purchasing a product. He limits his budget to a certain extend and purchases accordingly. However, the most important thing in his selection is he chooses the best quality and the product that suits his requirement. He does not compromise with the necessity, even if it costs him a good amount. The consumer is ready to spend if the product meets his requirement. His regular income does not include any luxury product and neither has he spent too much for entertainment. He does not have sufficient time to scrutinize about a product and then purchase it. His strategies are very clear and they are:

• He does not have time to explore much
• He does not spend regularly on luxury products
• As he does not scrutinize the product quality himself, thus he takes review from others
• He maintains the brand to assure the product quality
• He exceeds his budget only if the product is worth his purchase.

Factors that influenced purchase of nominated product

Thus, to attract such customers it is necessary to a good brand image in the market and assure that the brand reputation in the market is maintained(Hill & Brierley,2017). The brands must keep a good customer reputation in the market for such consumers who do not have time to explore the product and scrutinize it features. They prefer to listen to the review and decide their choice. These customers are ready to pay a well some amount for the product but will buy only the reputed or referred products in the market. the marketing strategies for such customers will never work if they are discount or offer oriented. Instead they prefer quality product with a high price. Thus, if a brand tries to reach such customers then they have to maintain their own dignity I the market and assure a quality product(Armstrong et al., 2015). These types of consumers once they start buying a brand they prefer that brand and generally do not prefer to change it, as they are have very less time to try new brands every time. Once a business achieve their trust then it is guaranteed that they will not lose the customer in the future. They are loyal customers and would stick to the product type until their habit is lost. However, it can be really risky for the company or brand to change the product type as there can be high chances that the customers who belong to such group will not like a change in the product type. The market for the product falls if the new products are not likely and familiar to the customers(Cantallops & Salvi, 2014). They are very much brand oriented but at the same time they prefer the liked product that are regularly used by them. Thus, the companies should think twice before mixing the products or changing the product type.

The risk that lies for such consumers are they are very much choice oriented. They prefer the brand not because they have explored the product but because they have very less time to scrutinize and find a new brand every time(Solomon et al., 2014). Once they have got a negative impression about a product then they are likely to never go to that brand for the next time. The reason for not liking can be any but once they negative impression has been created they never go back to the store. Thus, it has to be considered by the brand that they give their best to maintain such loyal and premium customers in the market.

References:

Armstrong, G., Kotler, P., Harker, M., & Brennan, R. (2015). Marketing: an introduction. Pearson Education.

Baker, M. J. (2014). Marketing strategy and management. Palgrave Macmillan.

Cantallops, A. S., & Salvi, F. (2014). New consumer behavior: A review of research on eWOM and hotels. International Journal of Hospitality Management , 36, 41-51.

Chaffey, D., & Ellis-Chadwick, F. (2016). Digital marketing. Prentice Hall.

Guy, B. S. (2013). The marketing of altruistic causes: understanding why people help. Journal of Services Marketing.

Hill, N., & Brierley, J. (2017). How to measure customer satisfaction. Routledge.

Lemon, K. N., & Verhoef, P. C. (2016). Understanding customer experience throughout the customer journey. Journal of Marketing, 80(6), 69-96.

Lusch, R. F., & Vargo, S. L. (2014). The service-dominant logic of marketing: Dialog, debate, and directions. Routledge.

Solomon, M. R., Dahl, D. W., White, K., Zaichkowsky, J. L., & Polegato, R. (2014). Consumer behavior: Buying, having, and being (Vol. 10). Pearson.