Maggie Beckley

Anite Dahaba

Sherryon Moore

Zulma Ocampo

Chapter 5 Porsche Case Study: Guarding the Old While Bringing the New

1. Analyze the buyer Decision process of a traditional Porsche customer.

a. Traditionally Porsche has developed a low volume and increasingly fragmented auto market. The availability of these high end models created an image of exclusivity. And this image is very important to the Porsche customer and they want their car to represent how successful they are. For the traditional Porsche customer the 1st 3 steps in the buying decision may be skipped or gone through a bit quicker and go to steps 4 and 5 because they already know about the Porsche and they already know what they need in this type of car. The first 3 steps generally arise when a consumer faces a new and complex purchase situation.

i. Need Recognition: The Porsche customer is financially well off so the car they purchase would be a representation of their lifestyle.

ii. Information Search: The Porsche consumer will likely obtain information from personal sources (those in their circle who already owns a Porsche) or from commercial sources.

iii. Evaluation of Alternatives: This step is skipped for traditional Porsche customer because this is the only brand they would be evaluating.

iv. Purchase Decision: the Porsche customer will likely go with what their preferred brand. The intent of this customer is to have a car that represents their lifestyle, It has all the benefits they are seeking and it is a purchase they can afford.

v. Postpurchase behavior: The satisfaction with the Porsche creates loyalty to the brand and the customer is satisfied.

2. Contrast the traditional Porsche customer decision process to the decision process for a Cayenne or Panamera customer.

a. As opposed to the traditional Porsche consumer who is familiar with the traditional Porsche, a consumer that is deciding between the Cayenne or Panamera will have differences in the marketing decision making process. The traditional Porsche customer and Cayenne or Panamera customer will recognize the need (1st step). While the traditional Porsche customer skips the 2nd step, the Cayenne and Panamera customer would do an information search (2nd step) in order to evaluate to become familiar with the new models. The 3rd step is skipped for all customers because they have decided on the exclusivity of this brand. And then the 4th step and the 5th step are similar for both groups.

3. Which concepts from the chapter explain why Porsche sold so many lower-priced models in the 1970’s and 1980’s?

a. Personal Factors (economic situation): in the 1970’s and 80’s, Porsche considered consumers that had lower incomes, so they produced vehicles that were more affordable.

b. Cultural Factors (Social Class): The lower priced models of the 914 and 944 afforded a different class of consumers to afford a Porsche.

c. Psychological Factors (beliefs and attitudes): the high esteem associated with the Porshe-owner profile led to more consumers wanting to purchase a Porsche, and the lower priced models opened the doors for more consumers to own one. They too were able to feel as if they belonged to this exclusive market.

4. Explain how both positive and negative attitudes toward a brand like Porsche develop. How might Porsche change consumer attitudes toward the brand?

a. Positive attitude towards Porsche develops when Porsche creates the exclusivity of its brand. Negative attitudes occur when Porsche deviates from that and the loyal customer and dissatisfied with the opening of the customer base to a lower class.

5. What role does the Porsche brand play in the self-concept of its buyers?

a. Porsche’s brand must be continually developed to cater to an exclusive class of consumers. They do this by creating vehicles that are high performance, unique, luxurious in appearance and evoke the feelings of success, high esteem and high status.