...CHAPTER 1 AN INTRODUCTION TO THE STUDY OF CONSUMER BEHAVIOUR Consumer behaviour has changed dramatically in the past few decades. Today, consumers can order online many customised products ranging from trainers to computers. Many have replaced their daily newspapers with customised, online editions of these media and are increasingly receiving information from online sources. Students choosing a university no longer rely on receiving prospectuses through the post; instead, they have online access to all the pertinent information about a university’s courses and teaching staff and, in some cases, can visit, virtually, actual classes. People wanting to sell their old computers or grandmother’s antique table no longer need to advertise in the local newspaper or rely on a pricey auctioneer; instead, they can sell these items via online auctions or their own personalised online advertisement. Consumers who want out-of-print books no longer have to visit out-of-the-way shops with hundreds of poorly organised dusty shelves, and those who wish to purchase a book published in another country no longer have to call foreign publishers or deal with the bureaucratic nightmare of overseas delivery; instead, they can visit online stores where they can easily locate and place orders for the books they seek. Television viewers can now avoid the advertisement breaks by using the ‘skip’ feature of their recorders and order on demand previously shown television programmes as well as films. All...
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...Marketing Concepts Marketing is the process of communicating the value of a product or service to customers, for the purpose of selling that product or service. By using the marketing process, companies are able to meet the needs of their customers. Each company works differently, therefore, there are many different approaches to marketing. The production concept is the earliest marketing concepts, dominating business thought from the beginning of capitalism through the mid 1950s (Garza, n.d.). This concept was practiced by early industrials, and became a standard practice. Based on the fact that consumers prefer products that are easily available and affordable, it emphasizes large scale production at a low cost. In order to implement this concept, companies concentrate on low costs, mass distribution, and high levels of production. Ford was one of the early champions of this concept with the Model T and his efficient production line (Henley, n.d.). Today, large retailers are prime examples of organizations that are driven by the production concept. They focus on giving consumers affordable products that might be relatively basic in design but are readily available. Companies that operate using the production concept often enjoy continual, consistent sales volumes: consumers remember the brand name and know that they can find those products in many locations. However, organizations that follow the production concept focus on mass distribution and efficient production...
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...Classic Airlines and Marketing Classic Airlines is known as the world’s fifth largest airlines, commands a fleet of more than 375 jets that serve 240 cities with more than 2,300 daily flights. In the 25 years since its inception, Classic has grown substantially with 32,000 employees. As profitable as it is, Classic like any other airlines is no stranger to the challenges as travel industry continuing to face challenging times. Consumers budgets are tight and cutting back on unnecessary expenses and in most cases finding an alternative in which they are can buy cheaper seats and better customer service. Classic Airlines is facing the challenges on how to win back the members of the classic rewards that the company offer and how to keep the frequent fliers customers that they have retained to choose Classic over the competitor. This paper will explain some of the marketing concepts to beef up Classic’s frequent flier program with methods that will demonstrate a measurable return on investment (ROI), the marketing challenges it faces, and its current corporate value. Marketing is an organizational function and a set of processes for creating, communicating, and delivering value to customers and for managing customer relationships in ways that benefits the organization and its stakeholders. Marketing deals with identifying and meeting human and social needs (Kotler & Keller, 2006). Financial success often depends on marketing ability. Finance, operations, accounting,...
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...Key Concepts covered in the CAM course up to Week 4 (and Assessment 2). In answering Assessment 2’s questions you would not be expected to use or draw upon material in Topic 5 and beyond. When answering the questions in relation to the Case Study please try to use and refer to appropriate concepts, principles and frameworks in the Topics 1 - 4 and Readings and which you feel are appropriate. You are not especially required to find further material, from journals or textbooks, to reference in your answers to the questions that have been set. You are not expected to find any other material on the company other than what is in the case. Do not rely upon solely re-presenting points, statements and reasons for things given in the case. You need to say why they are important and/or in what way they are an example of, the concepts, principles and frameworks that we have gone over in the course. Here are some of the chief ones: • Market orientation • Helping to match client and organisation interests and benefits, now and in future • Helping manage demand by understanding ‘how markets work’ • Marketing Mix – the 4Ps that management can have a large degree of control over • The three types of markets – buyer decision making and choice process differ in each • Understanding (potential) customers and clients - ‘through their eyes’ • Buying decision processes – individual, organisational • Needs and Wants • Segmentation: principle and processes • S T P – Segmentation...
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...The role of marketing has changed over time; beginning with the simple trade era, a time when everything was either made or harvested by hand (White, 2010), to the Social Media Marketing Era. The following eras will be described using different business types to explain what companies did during the era; Production Era, Sales Era, Marketing Concept Era, Market Orientation Era, Customer Experience Management Era, and Social Media Marketing Era. The production era began in the mid 1800s and lasted for 60 years. The revolution of mass production began during this era and business’ main focus was on selling their products rather than satisfying customer needs (Crane, 2014). The Ford Motor Company played a big part in the production era, this is when Henry Ford introduced the first moving assembly line. The moving assembly line at the Ford Motor Company was able to to meet the ever growing demands of a motorized vehicle by producing one Model T vehicle every 24 seconds (History, 2009). The main focus of The Ford Motor Company was the amount of vehicles the assembly line could produce and sell; this was done by creating using production plants where the parts being used to produce the vehicles could be interchangeable on the assembly line, and the ability of the assembly line to move instead of being static. After the production era came the sales era, beginning in the 1920s and lasted until the 1960s. Industries, like the flour industry, were producing more than customers could...
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...1. The Concept and Process of Marketing Marketing can be defined as a blend of behavioural and management sciences which are powered by intuition, creativity, inspiration and innovation. Marketing requires a scientific approach for designing newer products. It requires skills for identifying newer channels. Marketing also immense conceptual clarity which gives an individual the ability to translate thought into action. 1.1. Elements of the Marketing Process The objective of all marketing processes is to make profits for an organization. Marketers design marketing strategies based on information gained through marketing research. Through marketing research, marketers make decisions about their target markets, their offerings to the market and the kind of relation they wish to establish with the customer. Many experts have different views about the elements of the marketing process. The key elements of the marketing process are illustrated in Figure 1. Elements of the Marketing Process Figure 1 Source: Made by Student (2012) Needs and Wants: A human ‘need’ is felt when an individual is deprived of one or more basic satisfactions. People need food, shelter, clothing etc. Needs are the basics of human existence. They cannot be created by any marketer. Wants are desires for something that satisfies needs. For example: I need food but I want a burger. The need for food is a basic human desire. The want for a burger is dependent on many...
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...Marketing an introduction Mark O’Donnell Assessment Task 1 The Marketing Concept * Finding out what the needs and wants of a specific target market are, and then meeting them. “The right product, in the right place, at the right price, and at the right time”. * Focusing on customer needs before developing the product * Aligning all functions of the company to focus on those needs * Realizing a profit by successfully satisfying customer needs over the long-term How it relates to Microsoft * The customer wants easy to use products that are affordable in today’s markets. * Microsoft target customers in both the Business and Consumer environment. They use customer feedback and bug reports on existing products to help determine what the customer actually wants, and then design future products accordingly to meet those needs. * A Recent survey conducted by techspot.com shows that Microsoft has a 76/100 customer satisfaction rating and profit for the last quarter was $5.3 Billion. * Price advantage has been effective and consistent with Microsoft's original goal which was to ensure that computers running Microsoft software are affordable and possible for everybody. Micro Environment * Micro environmental factors or controllable variables, are those which the firm can directly control. Examples of this are: product, price, place and promotion. How it relates to Microsoft * Product: Microsoft offers more value to their customers...
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...fancies of these customers in order to survive in these increasingly competitive markets. Organizations that do not act on this dictum have suffered the loss of market share or worse, total annihilation. Such dire consequences have awakened many organizations to rethink the way they see marketing. Thus, there is urgency for an organization (be it products or service providers) as a whole to develop appropriate holistic customer-focused strategies to ensure that the customer remains at the core of their organizational thinking. With the rapid advancement of information technology (especially the rise of the Web) and the increasing difficulties of meeting customer’s needs and wants (for example, their expectations of 24 / 7 customer service especially for online transactions), there is a shift from a traditional marketing approach to customer targeted marketing. Many organizations and marketing consultants are emphasizing the need to allocate more funds to apply new-found knowledge of consumer behavior in new products development, build better customer relationships through customer loyalty and retention programs. This purpose of this paper is to raise the awareness of the need to concentrate marketing efforts towards the customer rather than the inward-looking traditional product-focused arrangement. And more importantly, the paper will shed light on how an organization could go about in making this important transition in this current competitive...
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...The history of Starbuck’s started in 1971 when the store first opened in Seattle, Washington. Starbucks was founded by Jerry Baldwin, Zev Siegal and Gordon Bowker. The store primarily sold only coffee beans and coffee making equipment rather than the drinks they have become so famous for today. Later roughly 10 years, Howard Schultz was hired as Director of Retail Operations and came to the assumption that they should be selling drinks rather than just machines and beans. He couldn't persuade the owners, so he went his own way to start the Giornale chain of coffee bars in 1986. Today, Starbucks has expanded to more than 17,000 stores in 55 countries around the world. Their biggest presence is still in the United States, with 11,000 locations. (Coffee.org, n.d.). The company steadily produces similar store sales by mid-single numerals each year impressive results for such a large company. The progress is making the stock price ascend, and Starbucks is undertaking everything it can to keep it profitable. The organizational strategies of Starbucks includes Product Quality and Variety, Price Competitiveness, Customer Loyalty and Global Expansion (Essays,UK, 2013). The customers may concentrate on the quality of the product or the service. They also may concentrate on the different products that the organization may have to compromise. The Product Quality and Variety Acquire of Starbucks is that they are engaged in the production and selling of high specialized bread, pastries...
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...MINOR ASSIGNMENT Task: 1500 word report Contribution: Individual Marks: 20% of unit total Deadline: Week 5 – Friday 28 December 2012 Task Description: Report Write a 1500 word report describing the 4 marketing mix elements and discuss how these are applied to retail petrol outlets. Purpose The assignment is designed to: * encourage you to think about how the marketing mix tools are used in the marketing process, * help you critically evaluate how marketing decisions can affect you as a consumer, * help you develop skill in conducting research online and using citations effectively. Assignment format The report must include: * Swinburne cover sheet – available under Other Materials on Blackboard * Title Page which must show title, unit code & name, student name & ID number, tutor name, word count & date It must be written in a professional manner and have been spell-checked and proof-read. Suggested report structure is: * Introduction - approximately 100 words on the focus of the report * Marketing Mix – approximately 300 words on each of the marketing mix elements * Conclusion – about 150 words summarising the key points of the report * References – 4-5 references including text book, appropriate business websites. Extra marks will be awarded for use of articles from academic journals which can be accessed via the Swinburne Library website. Do make use of appropriate headings – this helps organise your thinking as well...
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...this ensures that no legal matters are taken against the business, how black-label brands hold a 10% share of the market holding a threat to other business with the ability to charge lower prices and committing more shelf space to their own fruit juices and how important it is for business to follow customer trends as they hold the purchasing power. The report also compares and contrasts Boost Juice Bars and Spring Valley Juice marketing strategies, recommending that Boost Juice Bars continue on with their strong marketing mix and Spring Valley focus on their customer trends and target market. The report also recommends the industry swap to BPA free plastic bottles to better enhance their brand and health and safety of their consumers. Table of Contents 1. Introduction …………………………………………………………………………………3 2. Fruit Juice Industry Overview …………………………………………………………3 3. Environmental Analysis 3.1 Fruit Juice Industry Warned …………………………………………………4 3.2 Private-label Brands to Take Over …………………………………………5 3.3 Consumer Trends …………………………………………………………6 4. Marketing Analysis 4.1 Defining the Target Markets …………………………………………………6 4.2 Product Offering …………………………………………………………………7 4.3 Target Consumers with Promotion …………………………………………7...
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...Teaching Methods Discussion involving an entire class. Group (3 to 5 students) discussion. Team presentation (2 to 3 students). There are several key issues and problems in this case that can be revealed through discussions by students who have different backgrounds and/or interests. Class discussions will provide opportunities to formulate a clear outline for the case and gather diverse opinions toward different key points. Those viewpoints can become the foundation for more detailed discussion during further analysis of the case. Small groups of three to five students can be applied as a second discussion format, with each group focusing on a specific issue. In those small groups, students have the chances to share their opinions more successfully with one another, thereby narrowing the scope of the problems before developing viable alternatives or solutions. A two to three person team presentation allows students to participate by preparing a presentation agenda and developing effective communication styles. It also enables experienced students to sharpen their communication skills. Discussion Questions 1 Using Michael Porter’s Five Forces Model as an evaluation tool, is the U.S. videogame industry attractive to Microsoft? 2 What are Microsoft’s chief resources and core competencies? What can Microsoft do to establish unique competitive advantages against Sony or Nintendo? 3 What entry wedges can be adjusted to promote Xbox more effectively and efficiently...
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...Concept of Marketing Intermediaries The third P of the 4 Ps of marketing is place. Marketing intermediaries, also known as resellers, buy products to resell at a profit. Intermediaries include certain types of resellers such as wholesalers and retailers, who purchase products from manufacturers, then distribute them to consumers and other buyers. A channel of distribution includes the locations where sellers market their products to the final consumer. This could be a combination of institutions through which sellers deliver their product (i.e., wholesalers, retailers, agents). There are many marketing functions that are handled by these intermediaries, including buying, selling, sorting, financing, storage, and transportation. The conventional channels of distribution involve many methods of getting products to the final consumer. These methods may include distribution from the manufacturer directly to the consumer, distribution from the manufacturer to a retailer to the consumer, and several others. From a strategic point of view, the term "supply chain management" connotes a holistic, systems approach to viewing product distribution as an integral component of partnering with vendors, suppliers, and various intermediary marketers. When determining a channel of distribution plan for a company, the choice of channel may be influenced by the distribution coverage required, the degree of control the company desires, the total distribution costs, economies of scale, and channel...
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...Running Header: THE MARKETING CONCEPT OF TODAY The Marketing Concept of Today Linda Ann Gonzales Kaplan University Traditionally, marketers focused on the selling concept. That is making products and trying to push these products on consumers through heavy advertisings. However, the marketing concept was discovered when marketers begin to realize that to be successful, a company needs to focus on customer needs and wants. They begin to understand that to be successful a company should make what they can sell, and not try to sell what they make (Schiffman & Kanuk, 2007). Therefore, the marketing concept focuses on making products that consumers need, and focuses on creating and retaining satisfied customer. They do this by adding value to the customer. They create customer relationships and view them as partners in their business; thereby, adding value to customer relationships. Because the marketing concept focuses on customer needs and wants and concentrates on conducting their business in designing strategies to add customer value, create customer satisfaction, and retain current customers; the marketing concept will not become obsolete with the development of newer and faster technology—digital technology. Advanced technologies enable marketers to collect more data, precisely target specific markets, and customize products or services to particular customer preferences (Schiffman & Kanuk, 2007). Consumers today are more and more buying products or...
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...The core concept of marketing is divided into five: the consumers' needs, wants & demands; products and services; value, satisfaction and quality; exchanges, transactions and relationships; and markets. Needs may be defined with the deprivation of basic things needed for survival, wants are the things desired but are not explicitly needed in order to survive, demands are human wants supported with an exchange. Products may be things given in exchange for something else of value in order to satisfy a need or want, while services may be a product in the form of an activity. In order to be able to keep up with the market, it is important for the marketers to always be extra attentive with the needs and wants of their consumers. Marketing revolves around the exchange of anything of value that is able to satisfy a need or want. Costumer value may be the weigh of pros and cons of buying a product versus the amount spent on a certain product. Costumer satisfaction heavily relies on the performance of a certain product, and how impressed a consumer is with the product. The total quality management is a form of management in which a company constantly evolves in a way that improves the quality of their products, and services. For companies like this, it is important for them to have an excellent strategy in keeping their quality and monitoring their consumers, and be able to provide both marketing quality and production quality. Exchange is the process of obtaining a desired...
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