Consumer Behavior and Marketing Strategy Essay

Why study consumer behaviour? †¢ By studying consumer behaviour we try to understand & gain insight into: – Consumer decision making processes – What we buy, how we buy, and why we buy †¢ Enables us to become better consumers and marketers Definitions of Consumer Behaviour †¢ The study of individuals, groups, or organizations and the processes they use to select, secure, use and dispose of products, services, experiences or ideas to satisfy needs and the impacts that these processes have on the consumer and society. †¢ The dynamic interaction of cognition, behaviour and environmental events by which human beings conduct the exchange aspects of their lives (American Marketing Association) †¢ Those behaviours performed by decision-making units in the purchase, usage and disposal of goods and services (Kotler & Levy) †¢ The decision process and physical activity individuals engage in when evaluating, acquiring, using or disposing of goods and services (London & Della Bitta) Application of Consumer Behavior Marketing Strategy/ regulatory Policy/Social Marketing/Informed Individual Consumer Behaviour and Marketing Strategy Cross Cultural Variations in Consumer Behavior Culture is the most pervasive external force on an individual’s consumption behavior. It would be difficult to overlook the importance of culture as a motivator of consumer behavior. The attitude people possess, the values they hold dear, the lifestyles they enjoy and the interpersonal behavior patterns they adopt are the outcomes of the cultural settings. Failure to carefully consider cultural differences is often responsible for monumental marketing failure. The concept of Culture Culture is the complex whole that includes knowledge, belief, art, law, morals, customs and any other capabilities and habits acquired by humans as members of society. ââ€" ª First, culture is a comprehensive concept. It includes almost everything that influences an individual’s thought processes and behaviors. ââ€" ª Second, culture is acquired. It does not include inherited responses and predispositions. Much of human behavior is learned rather than innate, culture does not affect a wide array of behaviors. ââ€" ª Third, the complexity of modern societies is such that culture seldom provides detailed prescriptions for appropriate behavior. Culture provides boundaries within which most individual think and act. ââ€" ª Finally, the nature of cultural influences is such that we are seldom aware of them. One think behave, feels in a manner consistent with other members of the same culture because it seems â€Å"natural† or â€Å"right† to do. The boundaries that culture sets on behavior are called Norms which are simple rules that specify or prohibit certain behaviors in specific situations Norms are derived from Cultural Value, widely held beliefs that shared standards of what is acceptable or unacceptable, good or bad, desirable or undesirable. Violation of cultural norms results in sanctions, or penalties ranging from mild social disapproval to banishment from the group. Variations in cultural values †¢ Cultural values are widely held beliefs that affirm what is desirable. A useful approach to understanding cultural variations in behavior is to understand the values embraced by different cultures. The classifications of cultural values 1. Other oriented[Individual/Collective, Youth/Age, extended/Limited Family, Masculine/feminine, Competitive/Cooperative, Diversity/Uniformity] 2. Environmental oriented [ Cleanliness, Performance/Status, Tradition/Change, Risk Taking/Security, Problem solving/Fatalistic, Nature] 3. Self-oriented [ Active/Passive, Sensual gratification/Abstinence, Material/Nonmaterial, Hard work/Leisure, Postponed gratification/immediate gratification, Religious/Secular] The use people make of space and the meaning they assign to their use of space constitute a second form of nonverbal communication. In America, the office space in corporations generally is allocated according to rank and prestige rather than need. A second major use of space is personal space. It is the nearest that others can come to anyone in various situations without feeling uncomfortable Symbols A symbol may be defined as the sign or representation of something moral or intellectual by the images or properties of natural things as† the Lion the symbol of courage†. Different studies on cultures identified two types of symbols used by people in communicating among them, they are 1. Referential symbol 2. Expressive symbol Relationship The rights and obligations imposed by friendship are another nonverbal communication variable. Americans, more so than most other cultures, make friends quickly and easily and drop them easily also. To most Asian and Latin Americans, good personal relations and feeling are all that really matter in a long term agreement. Americans negotiate a contract, the Japanese negotiate a relationship. In many countries, the written word is used simple to satisfy legalities. In their eyes, emotion and personal relations are more important than cold facts. Agreement Americans rely on an extensive and generally, highly efficient legal system for ensuring that business obligations are honored and for resolving disagreements. Many other cultures have not developed such system and rely instead on friendship and local moral, principles, or informal customs to guide business conduct. In many developed counties, prices are uniform for all buyers, but in some Asian and Middle East countries, the procedure is different Things The cultural meaning of things leadfs to purchase patterns that one would not otherwise predicts. The different meaning that cultures attached to things, including products, make gift giving a particular difficult task. Etiquette Etiquette represents generally accepted ways of behaving in social situations. Behaviors considered rude or obnoxious in one culture may be quite acceptable in another. Normal voice tone, pitch and speed of speech differ between culture and languages as do the use of gestures. For example, a Japanese executive will seldom say â€Å"No† directly during negotiations, as this would be considered impolite. Considerations in approaching a foreign market ââ€" ª Is the geographic area Homogeneous or heterogeneous with respect to culture? ââ€" ª What needs can this product or a version of it fill in this culture? ââ€" ª Can enough of the people needing the product afford it? ââ€" ª What values or patterns of values are relevant to the purchase and use of this product? ââ€" ª What are the distribution, political, and legal structures for the product? ââ€" ª In what way can we communicate about the product? ââ€" ª What are the Ethical implications of marketing this product in this country? http://www.somewhereinblog.net/blog/alihusainkaisar/29525858 http://www.somewhereinblog.net/blog/abdullah_muslim2010/29411963 ———————– OUTCOMES: Individual/ Firm/ Society CONSUMER DECISION PROCESS: Problem recognition/Information search/Alternative evaluation/Purchase/ Use/ Evaluation MARKETING STRATEGY: Product/Price/Distribution/Promotion/Service MARKET SEGMENTATION: Identify product related need sets/ Group customer with similar need sets/ Describe each group/ Select attractive segment(s) to target MARKET ANALYSIS: Company/Competitors/ Conditions/Consumers

International financil markts Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words - 1

International financil markts - Essay Example Many of the investment management theories were found worthless in an investment climate which is characterized by innumerable number of investment opportunities with differing categories of risk. This has led the investors to think about collective investment to set off the risk from one investment with the return from another investment. This was formally called portfolio and many theories have been developed thereafter to facilitate portfolio management. This paper discusses some of the important concepts of modern portfolio management. The paper takes a descriptive approach where all the concepts are described in such a way how they are useful for investors. Investors always seek for an optimal investment portfolio where the returns are more and risk is less. This can be met through Portfolio Theory. The Theory helps in developing an optimal portfolio that will enable an investor to optimize market risk and generate more return from the business. Thus Portfolio theory is an approach to manage risk and return. The Theory has got much relevance in of financial management literature as many investors found them effective means of increasing the return at a given risk level. The theory is basically applied to the stock market and is based on the idea that there are basically two kinds of risk: (a) diversifiable or relevant risk (risk associated with events occurring in individual companies such as strikes, new marketing programs, lawsuits and new inventions (b) non diversifiable or market risk (risk associated with factors that affect all companies such as inflation, war and recession (Elton, 1999). The careful construction of portfolio of securities helps investors to reduce the diversifiable risk to zero and optimize the market risk. However the market risk cannot be eliminated as it is uncontrollable one. And to the investment managers it helps to meet the

Retail and Investment Banking in the UK Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Retail and Investment Banking in the UK - Essay Example Even though the face of banking may change, the functionality may not be altered in many cases. This, therefore, means that the need to come up with strategies to accommodate the change is necessary. One of the strategies that are brought forward is the use of separation of investment banking from the retail section of banking. Separation of retail banking from investment banking is a strategy that is required as a measure to increase financial stability within a national economy. In this separation, the banks either specialize to perform retail or investment banking in an arrangement known as ring-fencing of the banks (Coppola, 5, September 2014 ). In this arrangement, a local subsidiary of a bank that takes the deposits of local customers is protected from the parent corporation through trade bans and deposits security mechanisms (Song 2004, pp 19). In this way, the deposits of the local customers are protected from external shocks of the economic uncertainties that the large international corporations could have exposed them to. In Great Britain (2012, pp11), the rules that set up the conditions for ring-fenced banks are listed. These rules set the prohibitions that are set for the banks that are set by the regulating authority. In this essay, the effectiveness of the separation of retail banking and investment banking are discussed. The focus of the essay remains if the separation can really bear intended fruits or collapse and the possible consequences of the separation. Investment banking provides services and funds to different sectors of the economy. In doing this, investment banking exposes utilizes the financial capital that is majorly drawn from the savings or deposits of the clients. It means that in a worst-case scenario, if the economic forces force the investments to collapse totally, then the bank is faced with insolvency.  

News Log Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 1

News Log - Essay Example The misconduct occurred in the Metropolitan Police Services, where the information of the Crown’s case was leaked to the News of the world. The investigation by the Metropolitan police revealed that this hacking activity was not restricted to a single reporter, but has a wide network with several people being involved in it, who would be caught soon. Casburn, with an annual salary of  £65000, was working as the Detective Inspector of terrorist activities in the Metropolitan Police Services, defended her act of hacking by saying that she wanted to bring the news in front as her departmental members were not serious about the case (Laville, 2013). Not being a very strong point, her defense was rejected by the jury committee. This conduct of hers has letdown the name of her police department and her colleagues have no soft corner for her. Eleveden and Tuleta, members of the operation panel said that Casburn has misused her position and in no ways deserves anything less than hig h penalty (Laville, 2013). They added that leaking or publicizing confidential information can be justified at some occasions, when the intention is to stop corruption. However, in Casburn’s case the intention was to make money and that cannot be justified in any case (BBC Radio, 2013). Two bomb blasts occurring in the interval of about 10 minutes took the life of more than 92 citizens with over 147 been injured. Early in the morning there was another blast in the marker area of Quetta, Baluchistan which killed 11 people and more than 27 were injured. It was followed by a series of two blasts back to back in the evening, occurring in an interval of just 10 minutes, killing further 87 people and about 120 being injured badly, as reported by the police officers. These blasts took place in the snooker hall at Quetta, where the majority of the gathering were Shia Muslims (BBC , 2013). This was another act of

Compare Newton and Goethe's theory described in a particular video Essay

Compare Newton and Goethe's theory described in a particular video - Essay Example When the cone is illuminated by white light on either sides, a grey shadow appears on either sides. When a green filter is used to cover one of the light sources, the set up displays a magenta shade. The magenta shade is a visionary creation of the eyes as green’s complimentary color. Goethe spent 40 years formulating his theory of colors. His studies took color as part of the human vision into account. Therefore, Goethe studied the human eye in detail and based his theory on man as an observer. The eye will always strive to bring about unity and totality in the way we perceive colors. The eyes create harmony by initiating complementary colors. For example, Red is the complementary color for cyan. Goethe studied the quality and characteristics of colors and the conditions under which specific colors came into existence. In his theory, Goethe reiterates that light and darkness are co-factors in the formation of colors. He encoded his research on colors on a color-wheel. The complimentary and harmonic color pairs are placed on opposite sides of the wheel. The harmonic colors form a basis for the interaction between a seeing man and the world of colors, that is, when the world shows us a particular color, our vision responds by perceiving a complementary color. The theory is insistent on the fact that the perception of color must take into account the qualities of color in dark conditions and in light as well. In his experiments, Newton constructed a triangular prism to advance his theory of the refraction of light. In the experiment, he directs a beam of sunlight to pass through the prism upon which refraction occurs. The refraction results into a spectrum which is a series of seven colors commonly associated with the rainbow. From the observations he made during the illustration, Newton concluded that the seven colors are components of white light. Therefore, Newton’s theory associates the perception

Organizational Conflict and Conflict Resolution at John Lewis Waitrose Assignment

Organizational Conflict and Conflict Resolution at John Lewis Waitrose - Assignment Example It is against this background that organizational conflict and conflict resolution as a leadership and management issue at John Lewis Waitrose has been outlined in the current paper. Generally, Waitrose is identified as the supermarket division of the larger chain of companies operated under the brand of John Lewis Partnership. With an employee base of over 85,500 in almost 230 branches, it is common that issues of inter-personal conflicts will arise in the conduct of the daily tasks of employees. Through a comprehensive secondary data collection that was conducted on the company, it was realised that like most other organisations where employee-to-employee communication is part of the key chain of processes to get pieces of tasks executed, issues and reports of conflicts are very common. Some key words that emanate from the case study are organisational conflict, conflict resolution, conflict prevention, productivity, inter-personal, and maturity Waitrose is a supermarket component of the larger John Lewis Partnership. Waitrose is thus responsible for the food retail division of John Lewis Partnership, which has been identified as Britain’s largest employee-owned retailer (John Lewis Partnership, 2013). ... Meanwhile in a situation where there exists such differences, perceived and actual oppositions set in, bringing about organizational conflicts (Canary, Coach & Serape, 2001). This situation has however not been a major cause to deter the company from a rapid annual growth, for which reason the company currently boasts of revenue of ?5400.4 million, backed by an operating income of ?173.5 million and net income of ?123.3 million (Gardener, 2013). This feat has been achieved while operating under the mission and vision to be a dedicated, energized and team spirited company that brings excellent food retail services to customers. Cases of Organizational Conflict A case of organisational conflict was found in literature through secondary research in Ting-Toomey, Oetzel & Yee-Jung (2001). It was realised that one employee, Staff X (name withdrawn for ethical purposes) had a communication confrontation with another employee, Staff Y (name withdrawn). Staff X was the employee responsible fo r giving customised service and assistance to a prestige customer of the company. One day as the prestige member comes to the premises of the store, he first approaches Staff Y and asks if Staff X was around to deliver serve as usual. Meanwhile, Staff X had noticed Staff Y that she was going on a lunch break and that Staff Y should cover her back. Because of this, Staff Y accepted to take the role of Staff X and give the prestige member the needed service he always had from Staff X. It turned out that the prestige customer became very satisfied with the services of Staff Y and personally requested from management to assign Staff Y to him from henceforth. Once Staff X was

Business management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words - 1

Business management - Essay Example The case, â€Å"eBay in 2002: The Challenges of Sustained Growth† analyse the business environment and the company’s strategic objectives through a combination of industry analysis, competitive analysis and a SWOT analysis and aim at identifying issues which needs attention. The case analysis will also provide brief recommendations in terms of strategies and tactics, which the company can deploy in achieving its strategic goals. In crafting strategies, to gain and maintain a sustainable competitive position in an industry, it is imperative that companies assess the competitive forces at work within the industry in which it operates. Porters Five Force Model can be a useful analytical tool in assessing the competitive forces operating in the online auction industry. The Five Force Model considers the competitive pressures arising from Threat of Substitutes; Rivalry among competing sellers in the industry; Substitutes potential of winning over industry customers; Supplier seller collaborations and bargaining as well as the Seller – Buyer collaborations and bargaining. For e-Bay the Threat of substitutes is coming from traditional models of auctioning, flea markets and classified ads. The retail online stores operated by individual companies also pose substitute products for e-bays product offering. Direct marketing can also be perceived as a substitute. Thus, it can be noted that this competitive force is high in the industry. Threat of new entrants is very high in the e-commerce business-scape. The setting up costs is relatively low and legislature is not tedious. The readily available software makes the process of setting up e-commerce sites ever easier. Since eBay launched its auction site in 1995, the number of auction sites has grown over 2750 by 2001.Thus, this competitive force too is high intensity within the e-commerce sphere. Rivalry among competitors – When rivalry among the competition is high in industries, the pressure on pricing