Understanding Consumer Behavior Towards Cadbury Brand: Key Findings Essay.

n this individual assignment, you will be given an opportunity to critically analyse and understand the driving forces of perception, attitudes, motivation, group and individual differences, culture,family and lifestyle that influence consumer behaviour and consequently consumers’ purchasing decisions. Based on the analysis you conducted in Assessment 1, you are required to create a survey via Survey Monkey – a free online instrument. The sample size must include a minimum of 15 participants who recently purchased the chosen FMCG product that you analysed in Assessment 1. The survey must comprise of 10 questions.

You are then required to provide a 6- page summary, analysis and discussion of the key findings from your data collection. This discussion must be aligned to YOUR chosen product and consumer behaviour literature should
be integrated into this discussion to support analysis. 

Purpose of the survey

Businesses across the globe work towards understanding their consumers, identifying their needs and fulfilling these needs. This ensures that customers get what they need and businesses get more customers. Various businesses invest heavily in understanding consumer behaviour. A customer’s purchase decision depends upon a variety of factors which significantly impact the customer (Desai, 2014). This includes social factors, economic factors, cultural backgrounds as well as family lifestyles.

A thorough understanding of consumer behaviour, preferences and patters can help business strategize innovative ways to promote their product and mould their offerings to better suit customer needs. This report highlights upon customer’s behaviour with regards to purchasing Cadbury products. Cadbury is a leading confectionary brand in the world. The brand is well known through different geographic locations and produces several leading brands under the Cadbury umbrella.

Purpose of the survey

The aim of the survey is to understand consumer behaviour towards Cadbury brand. The purpose is to understand the customers in order to better understand their needs, preferences and buying patterns. The questionnaire prepared aims to ask questions that throw light upon consumer’s lifestyle, culture, family values and social factors influencing them.

Development of the survey instrument

The survey has been created via online portal offered by Survey monkey. The questionnaire prepared has ten questions. There has been no known bias in creating the questionnaire. The survey monkey tool is transparent and demonstrates clarity in results which helps in analysing data better. The estimated time to complete the survey is two minutes.

Administration process

After the questionnaire and survey were prepared, an online web link was shared with recent consumers of Cadbury products. A total of people have filled the survey. There was no bias in the selection of participants. The survey has a 100% response rate. The selection of participants is entirely at random and no bias on the bases of caste, creed, religion, geographic location, gender or profession has been made.

Data analysis and key findings

After the combined data from all the participants has been received, a thorough data analysis is conducted. The details and the results of the data analyzed are shared below. The data collected not only helped us in understanding Cadbury customers better but also assisted us in recommending strategies to the brand in order to target and address their customers in an effective manner.

What inspires you to buy Cadbury products?

Every customer has a different inspiration towards buying a particular product. Sometimes it can be the price, sometimes it can be the packaging and at sometimes it can be the creativity of the advertisement of the product. Therefore the very first question aims at understanding precisely what inspires and motivates customers to buy Cadbury products. Understanding customer motivation is important for the brand to improve its promotion strategy (Ramya & Ali, 2016).

Development of the survey instrument

In terms of Cadbury products, over 89% of the people are inspired by the taste of Cadbury products to buy the product. This goes on to show that the basic offering of the product which is the taste is excellent and largely preferred by people. Besides taste, the advertisements and packaging of the product also inspire people to buy Cadbury products. The fact that Cadbury is easily available is also an important motivating factor for customers to buy Cadbury.                                                                                                               

Why do you prefer Cadbury over other brands specially Nestle, Godiva and Dove?

The level of competition wrath faced by businesses across different industries is very high. Same is the case in confectionary industry. While a business is facing competition from other brands, it is important for the business to device strategies to differentiate its products or services (Jing, 2015). This particular question hence tries to understand the reason behind Cadbury customers preferring Cadbury over other competitors. This understanding will the brand identify its strength over competitors and the same can be used for better promotional strategy.

Cadbury customers prefer Cadbury products over other brands because of the taste of Cadbury products. It is important to note that over 92% of respondents do prefer Cadbury products over other brands for different reasons. 0% of the respondents have preferred Cadbury over other brands due to its packaging. Therefore, it goes to show that there is surely some room for improvement in the way Cadbury packages its products.

What is your perception of Cadbury products?

There is a customer perception associated with every product. Same is the case with Cadbury. Understanding customer perception will help brands in positioning their products in a better manner. Customer perception is also directly related to the brand image of the product (Rahi, 2016).

Customer perception is also influenced by several factors and can be changed over a period of time (Keller, 2016). Cadbury’s customer have a highly positive perception of the brand. Television advertisement, feedback from other customers, brand ambassadors associated with the brand largely work towards shaping a customer’s perception.

Over 85% of the respondents have an either positive or a very positive perception of the brand. This highlights upon effective brand positioning of Cadbury products. None of the respondents perceive the product to be very negative.

Who consumes Cadbury products in your family?

The primary influencing factor for any product is one’s family. Family values, habits and lifestyle have a significant impact on customer’s purchase decisions (Beck & Kenning, 2015). This question aims at understanding the members in the family that consume Cadbury products. The purpose of this question is to further understand if Cadbury is consumed throughout the family or if it is within the social practices of the family to consume Cadbury products.

Administration process

It has been noted that over 32% of the respondents have mentioned that everyone in their family consumes Cadbury. This information can be used by the brand to advertise itself as a family brand. Again over 32% of the people said that only grandparents in the family do not consumer Cadbury. In this case it can be assumed that it is probably because of health reasons and hence does not reflect negatively on the brand. Over 28% of the respondents mentioned that only children consume Cadbury. Therefore the brand can create certain children centric advertisements as well.

How frequently do you consume Cadbury chocolate?

The frequency with which a product is consumed largely defines the customer’s attitude towards the brand (So, King, Sparks & Wang, 2016). A frequently consumed product determines a positive perception and an optimistic attitude towards the brand.

Over 50% of Cadbury customers consume the product 2-3 times a week. This is a positively high frequency for a confectionary product. Important thing to note is that 0% of the respondents said that they never consume the product. This reflects positively on the brand’s availability and overall consumption.   

Which is your favourite Cadbury product?

There are several products that are launched and sold under the Cadbury umbrella. Brands need to analyse and identify their most sold products in order to understand their most profitable products. This helps them identify which particular product requires more attention than the others. If a particular product is preferred then the distribution of that product can be increased. While if a product is not preferred much then the brand must work towards identifying the reason behind this low preference and attempt to address it.

Cadbury’s Dairy Milk is undoubtedly the most famous Cadbury product which is preferred by all. However, it is high time for the brand to improve upon its strategies to promote other products specifically Rum & Raisins, Caramel and Crunchy. This would lead to enhancements of overall brand profitability.

Are you a loyal Cadbury customer?

Customer loyalty is the aim of every brand. A high level of customer loyalty is a sign of the brand’s positive image and positioning in the minds of customers (Leaniz & Rodríguez, 2016). A customer loyalty is a true form of appreciation towards a brand. Loyal customers are more profitable for the firm in the longer run as they not only buy Cadbury products frequently but also refer the product to others creating a loop of positive synergies.

Data analysis and key findings

50% of the customer have mentioned that they are fiercely loyal to the brand. While 35.71% of respondents have mentioned that they prefer Cadbury over other brands provided it is available. This level of customer loyalty reflects positively on the brand’s image and positioning.

Are there specific occasions when you prefer to consume Cadbury products?

Social factors have a significant influence on a customer’s buying behaviour (Vries, Gensler & Leeflang, 2017). Social factors influencing customer decision can be identified by understanding the occasions on which they prefer to consumer the product. This question aims to identify exactly that. The question helps in understanding how people perceive the brand and on what occasion or mood is the brand preferred. This understanding can help the brand in curating promotional strategies that highlight those occasions and further motivating customers to buy the product.

Over 64% of the respondents have mentioned that they consume Cadbury for the taste of it irrespective of the occasion. It can be noted that upon this information, the brand can improve upon its advertising strategy and motivate people to crave for their product over specific occasions as well. This would help the consumers in relating with the brand’s personality at a deeper level.

Which emotions do you associate with Cadbury products?

There are several emotions associated with every brand. This is because every brand has certain human characteristics and attributes. All these attributes combine together to form the personality of the brand. This personality of the brand in turn allows customers to associate emotions with the brand of their choice. If a customer likes a brand, positive emotions would be associated with the brand. On the other hand, if a customer does not like the brand then he or she will associate negative emotions with that brand. The emotions that a customer regards with the brand are also largely dependent on brand advertisements and overall positioning of the brand (Levy & Hino, 2016).

Over 75% of the respondents associate some or the other emotion with the brand. None of the respondents depicted any negative emotion towards the brand which goes on to show a positive brand image of Cadbury. The brand can also curate more emotional advertisements and promotions to encourage people to associate emotions with the brand.

How likely are you to recommend Cadbury products to others?           

The most important contribution of a customer towards the success of the brand is further promotion of the brand through word of mouth publicity (Berger, 2014). Loyal customers and customers who are very happy with the brand tend to promote the brand further by recommending it to others. This question aims to identify the intention of the customer with regards to their contribution towards word of mouth marketing of the firm. It is important to note that social media has heightened the role played by customer in the brand positioning of any product (Kumar et. al., 2016).

Factors that motivate customers to buy Cadbury products

 None of the respondents depict any form of resistance to promote the brand or recommend it to others. This goes on to show that Cadbury products are well liked and trusted by respondents. Hence they would give their word for the brand

Conclusion

There are various factors that influence the customer buying behaviour for any product. Cadbury’s customers are influenced by a large number of social factors, family values, economic factors, cultures, traditions and lifestyles. The survey results indicate that Cadbury has a largely positive brand image in the market and its customers tend to associate the brand with several optimistic emotions. The findings from the analysis can be used by the brand to improve upon its excellent marketing and promotion strategy. Such efforts and continued awareness of customer behaviour will help the brand in increased brand loyalty, positive brand image and hence enhanced profitability.

References

Beck, S. and Kenning, P., 2015. The influence of retailers’ family firm image on new product acceptance: an empirical investigation in the German FMCG market. International Journal of Retail & Distribution Management, 43(12), pp.1126-1143.

Berger, J., 2014. Word of mouth and interpersonal communication: A review and directions for future research. Journal of Consumer Psychology, 24(4), pp.586-607.

de Vries, L., Gensler, S. and Leeflang, P.S., 2017. Effects of traditional advertising and social messages on brand-building metrics and customer acquisition. Journal of Marketing, 81(5), pp.1-15.

Desai, K.S., 2014. A study on consumer buying behaviour of cosmetic products in Kolhapur. Reviews of Literature, 1(10), pp.1-11.

Jing, B., 2015. Lowering customer evaluation costs, product differentiation, and price competition. Marketing Science, 35(1), pp.113-127.

Keller, K.L., 2016. Reflections on customer-based brand equity: perspectives, progress, and priorities. AMS review, 6(1-2), pp.1-16.

Kumar, A., Bezawada, R., Rishika, R., Janakiraman, R. and Kannan, P.K., 2016. From social to sale: The effects of firm-generated content in social media on customer behavior. Journal of Marketing, 80(1), pp.7-25.

Leaniz, P.M.G. and del Bosque Rodríguez, I.R., 2016. Corporate image and reputation as drivers of customer loyalty. Corporate Reputation Review, 19(2), pp.166-178.

Levy, S. and Hino, H., 2016. Emotional brand attachment: a factor in customer-bank relationships. International Journal of Bank Marketing, 34(2), pp.136-150.

Rahi, S., 2016. Impact of customer value, public relations perception and brand image on customer loyalty in services sector of Pakistan. Arabian J Bus Manag Review S, 2(2).

Ramya, N. and Ali, S.M., 2016. Factors affecting consumer buying behavior. International Journal of Applied Research, 2(10), pp.76-80.

So, K.K.F., King, C., Sparks, B.A. and Wang, Y., 2016. The role of customer engagement in building consumer loyalty to tourism brands. Journal of Travel Research, 55(1), pp.64-78.