MBA404 Consumer Behaviour and Marketing Psychology Case Study 2 Sample
Your task
Individually, you must prepare a four-page written analysis based on the assessment instructions below.
Assessment Description.
In this individual assessment, students will be given an opportunity to demonstrate their understanding and ability to explain consumer behaviour determinants by analysing the role of perception, attitude, motivation, group and individual differences, culture, and family in consumer behaviour. Students will also demonstrate their ability to research and report contemporary consumer behaviour, such as attitudes, group influences, culture, social class, consumer learning processes, and personal buying decision-making.
Assessment Instructions
Presume that you are working as a consumer behaviour consultant at the company that makes/produces your chosen product or service from the first assessment. During one of the recent meetings, the company asked you to analyse a recent survey sample completed by consumers who recently purchased their product or service. Your workshop facilitator will distribute the survey sample to you at the end of week 5.
Based on the survey sample, you are required to prepare:
• a one-page summary of survey sample results (i.e., a shorter yet concise version of the results presented in writing).
• a two-page analysis of the sample survey’s key findings (i.e., what does this survey’s gathered data mean? How does this survey investigate consumers’ perceptions, attitudes, motivations, and cultural and individual factors? Which consumer behaviour theories and concepts may have been used in each question to inquire into consumers’ perception, attitudes, motivation, cultural and individual factors and why?).
• a one-page statement in which you are to outline current consumer behaviour trends that the company should consider and justify why these trends are of particular concern from a marketing perspective.
Examining relevant primary and secondary data must reinforce the written analysis findings. You must also incorporate theories and concepts of consumer behaviour discussed in weeks 1 and 7 into your analysis.
You must use at least eight (8) sources of information and reference these in accordance with the Kaplan Harvard Referencing Style. These may include websites, social media sites, industry reports, census data, journal articles, and newspaper articles. These references should be presented as in-text citations and a reference list at the end of your written analysis (not included in the page limit). Wikipedia and other ‘popular’ sites are not to be used.
Solution
Survey Excerption
The analysis of consumer behaviour is significant because it assists businesses in modifying their marketing tactics. This analysis helps firms identify the consumers' preferences and comprehend how customers perceive distinct products and brands (Saeed, 2019).
Summary of survey sample results
A survey has been conducted among the customers who have recently purchased the company's product. The total number of participants in the survey was 27. The survey analysis showed that the product's primary purchasers were customers aged between 42-57 years and primarily males with a medium-sized yearly income. University Assignment Help, Ryan (2016) stated that age and income level are important factors for marketing strategies. The distribution of household yearly income of the customers was mainly uniform, with at least two customers from every category. More than half of the customers (62.96%) have a master's degree, followed by 25.93% PhD holding customers. 40.74% of customers were parents with at least one child living at home. Most customers (48.15%) said they paid attention to every stimulus when purchasing the product and had conducted thorough research before purchasing it.
59.26% of participants stated that their primary reason behind buying the product was to make themselves happy. 48.15% of customers stated that they needed to feel in control of the surrounding environment. 55.56% of customers agreed that the company’s product fulfils their basic needs, such as hunger, thirst, and shelter and gives them a sense of security. 38.46% of customers stated that their immediate family was their primary influence in purchasing. Similarly, other 38.46% of participants agreed that they mostly rely on experts/professionals while buying products. Recommendations from professionals improve decision making process for product purchasing (Thakur, 2018).
Regarding their culture, more than half (51.85%) of participants preferred taking care of themselves and their immediate family over any other person they might know or have a relationship with. Regarding their reason for purchase, 44.44% of participants said that the mentioned categories in the survey did not include their exact reason for purchase. 59.26% of customers said that when it comes to advertisements, they enjoy funny ads the most.
Analysis of the survey’s key findings Of the 27 participants, 40.74% belonged to the age group of 26-41. On the other hand, 59.26% of participants belonged to the age group of 42-57. This means that 11 participants were a part of the 26-41 years category, and 16 were a part of the 42-57 years category. Among all the participants, 62.96% were males, whereas 37.04% were females. This means that 17 participants were males and 10 participants were females. 66.67% of participants were employed, 29.63% were self-employed, and 3.70% were retired. None of the participants were reported to be unemployed. This means that 18 customers were employed and 8 customers were self-employed. Moreover, only 1 customer was retired.
The yearly income of the 12 participants was medium-sized, which was between $45,001-$120,000. This was followed by 9 participants with a yearly income of $120,001-180,000. Three participants had a yearly income of $18,201-$45,000. 2 participants had a yearly income of $180,000+, and only 1 had a yearly income of $0 - $18,200. The yearly household income of 8 participants was between $100,001-$150,000. This was followed by 7 participants with a $200,000+ household yearly income. 5 participants had a yearly household income of $50,001 - $100,000 and $150,001 - $200,000 each. Only 2 participants had under $50,000 yearly household income. Seventeen survey participants (62.96%) had a master's degree. On the other hand, 7 participants (25.93%) had a PhD or doctorate. The other 2 participants (7.41%) had a bachelor’s degree. 11 participants (40.74%) were parents with at least one child living at home. 6 participants (22.22%) fell in the post-parenthood category with no child living at home.
4 participants (14.81%) were in the ‘others’ category, 3 participants (11.11%) in the young married category, and 2 participants (7.41%) in the young single category. Most of the customers of the company enjoys the benefits of urban living, enjoying the city life and its related facilities. Simplicity near the city is another choice while the beach lovers enjoy coastal living. Many customers prefer to create a balance between the rural and urban experiences with weekends kept for cultural activities. A common aspiration of respondents is the maintenance of healthy life through part-time, full-time or outdoor activities. Others enjoy open-air activities, canine companions, and travelling. 9 participants (33.33%) stated they paid attention to stimuli like sight and smell while buying the product. 5 participants (18.52%) said that they only paid attention to one stimulus while buying the product. 13 participants (48.15%) stated that they paid attention to all stimuli i.e., sight, smell, taste, touch and hearing while buying the product. In this view, Clark et al. (2020) opined that consumer stimuli significantly influence the customers' purchase intention.
13 participants (48.15%) said they conducted in-depth research before buying the product. 10 participants (37.04%) said they compared the product to similar alternatives in the market. 4 participants (14.81%) said they checked out social media sites before purchasing the product. In this view, Jain, (2019) stated that some customers may prefer to conduct thorough research before buying a product for informed decision-making. 16 participants (59.26%) said that through this purchase, they wanted to make themselves happy. 5 participants (18.52%) said they wanted reaffirmation through the eyes of others, whereas 6 participants (22.22%) stated they wanted to confirm their own attitude about the product. 12 participants (44.44%) said that they constantly need to be in the company of others, while 5 of them claimed the need to feel in control of the surrounding atmosphere and 10 of the respondents claimed that they need to show their individuality in immediate circle of peers.
Most of the respondents (55.56%) agreed to the fact that the products of the company fulfills the basic needs related to hunger, thirst, shelter and others. 29.63% respondents claimed that the products and services of the company did not make them feel more beautiful of handsome. 64% respondents are neutral to the fact that the services or products makes them feel complete. 76.92% respondents said that immediate family or some expert or professional influences them to purchase commodities. Only 3.85% respondents are affected by social media. 51.85% respondents prefer taking care of their family more than other people they know. 55.56% consumers disagree that hierarchical order should be preferred over unequal distribution in the society. 42.31% are neutral that they live in the present moment rather than living in future.
Most of the respondents (40.74%) they bought the company’s product or service since they belong to a social group with similar values, behaviours and attitudes. Other chose their product since they either wished to become member of certain group or do not wish to become members of certain group. 59.26% consumers enjoy watching funny ads while 14.81% respondents enjoy watching rational ads and 14.81% consumers donot prefer to watch ads since they are a waste of time.
Current Consumer Behaviour Trends
It is established that the trends related to consumer behaviour are constantly changing. For instance, consumers have a high demand for sustainable practices in the current market. This trend is expected to continue in the upcoming years (Rita and Ramos, 2022). The current consumer behavior trends understand the importance of adaptable marketing strategy for the company. With considerably older population (42-57 age group) the efforts of marketing should move towards engrossing the choices of dependability and convenience, while simultaneously considering the ways of engaging youths for future growth.
The prominence of males and employed individuals suggests a scope of customizing messages that goes at par with their particular needs and lifestyles. The varied income level gives the scope of providing flexible pricing choices from affordable to premium to cater to the needs of customers (Phillips, 2021). Moreover, the educational background of the customers shows a desire for well-informed preferences requiring clear product information and educational marketing campaigns. It is also important to understand the motivations of customers including their happiness, social validation and self-affirmation which show scope of customizing emotionally strong marketing messages (Li, Larimo and Leonidou, 2021). Recognising the effect of immediate family and professionals over social media shows the importance of using testimonials and word-of-mouth marketing.
The alignment with values related to virtual responsibility and equal segregation portrays the scope for ethical messaging to relate with customers. Lastly, the importance of group affiliation suggests a scope to build brand loyalty and sense of belonging among the customers with the help of community-forming initiatives. In adoption and embracement of the trends, the company can effectively navigate the transforming consumer landscape and build itself as a brand serving to diverse customer segments.
References
Clark, E.A., Kessinger, J.N., Duncan, S.E., Bell, M.A., Lahne, J., Gallagher, D.L. and O'Keefe, S.F., 2020. The facial action coding system for characterization of human affective response to consumer product-based stimuli: a systematic review. Frontiers in psychology, 11, p.920.
Jain, M. (2019). A Study on Consumer Behavior-Decision Making Under High and Low Involvement Situations. [online] papers.ssrn.com. Available at: https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3345496.
Li, F., Larimo, J. and Leonidou, L.C., 2021. Social media marketing strategy: definition, conceptualization, taxonomy, validation, and future agenda. Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, 49, pp.51-70.
Phillips, R.L., 2021. Pricing and revenue optimization. Stanford university press.
Rita, P. and Ramos, R.F. (2022). Global Research Trends in Consumer Behavior and Sustainability in E-Commerce: A Bibliometric Analysis of the Knowledge Structure. Sustainability, 14(15), p.9455. doi https://doi.org/10.3390/su14159455.
Ryan, D., 2016. Understanding digital marketing: marketing strategies for engaging the digital generation. Kogan Page Publishers.
Saeed, Z., 2019. A study of theories on consumer behavior. Journal of computing and management studies, 3(1), pp.1-29.
Thakur, R., 2018. Customer engagement and online reviews. Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, 41, pp.48-59.