MRKG 1311 Marketing Principles And Practice

Marketing Principles and Practice: A case Study of Kiwi Experience

Marketing focuses on attaining a profitable exchange relationship with customers. The purchasing decision is usually influenced by a need. Thus the success of any product in the market depends upon its ability to address the needs of the customer (Hartley & Claycomb, 2013). Also, successful organizations prioritize the customers’ needs over even sales volume since satisfied customers will remain to be loyal to that particular organization thus guaranteeing the sustainability of the market. Sales agents and marketing practitioners can influence the buyer’s decision process through making them to be aware of the need and creating urgency to satisfy the need (Jobber & Ellis-Chadwick, 2012).

Task 1

The purchase behavior starts with a customer identifying the existence of a particular need. The strength of this need determines how quickly or slowly the customer will go through the buyer decision process and finally end-up buying/ rejecting a product (Valentini, Montaguti, & Neslin, 2011). In the case of Kiwi Experience product, the need to travel and explore New Zealand forms the initial stage that customers will go through before they can purchase the Kiwi Experience services. 

The second stage is where the customers look for products that can meet/ satisfy their needs (Sheth, 2011). In this stage, the customers are not specific about any particular product. Thus the popularity of the product will determine how quickly the customers will be attracted towards the product. In the case of Kiwi Experience, there are other tour companies in New Zealand and thus customers will get attracted to it only if it is well known.

In the third stage, the customers estimate the value of the products that can be considered in satisfying their needs (Valentini et al., 2011). Here the customers will compare Kiwi Experience services with the services being offered by other competitors. This analysis is just an estimate. In the fourth stage, the customers select the products that they perceived to satisfy their needs. Here Kiwi Experience will be selected based on how the customer perceive its services to be unique.  The higher the level of customer’s expectations the lower the rate of customer satisfaction.

Task 2

Total product concept incorporates the value that the product delivers to the customer, constitutes of the product, mode of delivery to customers, the qualities of the product, and the products costs (Gummesson, 2011). It is this total product that defines how well a product satisfy the needs of the customers through addressing various consideration which include; the motivations that motivate the customers to buy a product and those which motivate the producer to develop the product, the designing of the product in terms of its qualities, and the manner in which the product is made available to the customers, among others (Jobber & Ellis-Chadwick, 2012).

In the case of Kiwi Experience, the total product concept is well addressed as follows; delivery of value to the customers is achieved through the customization of services to meet the needs of different customers, one of such customization include the “hop-on-hop-off” options. Secondly, Kiwi Experience has maintained low prices as a way of maintain their customers since its main target market is price sensitive. Thirdly, Kiwi Experience creates uniqueness in every trip by partnering with party service providers to entertain their customers (Kiwi Experience, 2018). Kiwi Experience employs well-trained drivers/guides as a way of ensuring that they render the best services to their customers and are able to solve problems that may arise during the trip (Fanning, 2018).

Task 3

Product quality: it is the collection of product features that enable it to meet the needs of its consumers (Armstrong, Adam, Denize, & Kotler, 2014). It is essential because it is a major judgment criteria that customers use to decide whether or not to buy the product.

Product cost: this refers to the cost that will be incurred to produce the product. It is essential since it determines the pricing of the product. It incorporates the cost of raw materials and overhead costs of the entire production process (Armstrong et al., 2014).

Price: refers to the amount of money that the product will be sold at in the market. It is essential since it is also a major factor in the buyers’ decision process especially to price sensitive customers.

Branding: this refers to creating a unique name or label of the product that differentiates the products from others in the market. It is essential since it influences how the product will perform in the market (Hoffman & Bateson, 2010).

Durability: refers to the ability of the product to last for a long period of time. It is important since it influences customers’ satisfaction with the product.

Substitutability: This refers to how unique a product is and how easy it is to develop another product which serves the same purpose as the product in discussion. It is important since it influences the sustainability of the product in the market (Armstrong et al., 2014).  

Task 4

According to Kiwi Experience (2018) the following are the Kiwi experience product components.

Service: The major services of Kiwi Experience are tour services to New Zealand destinations and bus tour operations. It is most important since it is the core business of the company

People: the people who facilitate the service are; the management of Kiwi Experience which provides the services, the drivers/ guards who drive the customers and guide them all through the tour, the customers who are the consumers of the service. Ranked second because without the people the service cannot be successful.

Experience: customers anticipate that they will get like-minded people to have an adventure with and get to enjoy the sceneries of New Zealand. This is delivered through customization of trips to achieve the interest of the customers. Ranked third because it influence customer satisfaction and loyalty.

Place: Kiwi Experience offers its services within New Zealand and takes its customers to various sites and sceneries within the country as a way of promoting domestic tourism. Ranked fourth since it is where the people facilitate the service to build experience.

Ideas: the Kiwi experience product does not require the customers to have any knowledge on how to use it. All that is needed is for the customers to have the spirit of adventure so that they can enjoy the experience. Ranked fifth since it is less required.

Goods: Kiwi Experience is a services offering company, therefore, it does not provide any tangible goods to its customers. It is the least important since it is not part of the core business of the company.

References

Armstrong, G., Adam, S., Denize, S., & Kotler, P. (2014). Principles of marketing. Pearson Australia.

Fanning, S. (2018). The Marketing Concept – free marketing textbook. Retrieved from https://www.themarketingconcept.com

Gummesson, E. (2011). Total relationship marketing. Routledge.

Hartley, R. F., & Claycomb, C. (2013). Marketing mistakes and successes. Wiley.

Hoffman, K. D., & Bateson, J. E. (2010). Services marketing: concepts, strategies, & cases. Cengage learning.

Jobber, D., & Ellis-Chadwick, F. (2012). Principles and practice of marketing (No. 7th). McGraw-Hill Higher Education.

Kiwi Experience. (2018). Kiwi Experience | New Zealand Hop-on Hop-off Bus Passes. Retrieved from https://www.kiwiexperience.com/

Sheth, J. N. (Ed.). (2011). Models of buyer behavior: conceptual, quantitative, and empirical. Marketing Classics Press.

Valentini, S., Montaguti, E., & Neslin, S. A. (2011). Decision process evolution in customer channel choice. Journal of Marketing, 75(6), 72-86.