BIC 3032 Case Study Sample 2023
How do retailers influence consumer behaviour?
Consumers purchase various products and services, and multiple factors influence their buying decisions. The focal point of retailers is mainly to influence consumers’ buying behavior. There are mostly three stimuli that influence consumer behavior. The marketers’ marketing stimuli, collectively known as the 4P’s of marketing, affect the decision of the buyer and their behavior.
The Model of Buyer Behaviour
It is essential to have a clear understanding of how the consumers react and their buying patterns to fulfill their needs for a more profitable business. The business should not only offer excellent products and services but should be aware of the factors that influence consumer behavior to fulfil their needs.
There are several models of consumer behavior; such are economical, psychoanalytical, and sociological (Kumar 2019). The economic model focuses on satisfying the basic needs of the consumers within a desirable price range. This psychoanalytical model emphasis consumer behavior has an influence by society on consumer behavior. Moreover, the products and services need to be appealing to consumers to encourage them to buy it. The social environment, competing products, and brand marketing strategies play a pivotal role in influencing consumer behavior. Hence, it is essential to understand the sociology and psychological functioning of the consumer groups and not only focus on the physical attributes of products and services in the retail industry.
Marketing is a term coined by Neil Borden, and the essential elements which are combined to promote the brand or products have been refined by Jerome McCarthy used by the marketing companies, which are critical to building the right marketing strategy to influence consumer behaviour (Stankevich, 2017).Many influencing factors affect consumer behavior of shoppers in retail stores (Badre 2020). Both economic and non-economic factors influence it. The economic factors are offering products at discounted prices, low, competitive pricing, and combo offers. The convenience and availability of a wide variety for selection of products also positively influence consumer behavior in a retail store. Retail stores can also influence consumer behavior through its location and facilities. For instance, if there are parking facilities and the retail stores are located in the central areas, it tends to have a positive impact on the shoppers (Pranjal and Sarkar 2019). Gender differences also play a pivotal role in consumer behavior. The men look for satisfaction and comfort while they buy a product, whereas women look for satisfaction, comfort, and aesthetic beauty. Likewise, both men and women prefer low, competitive pricing with high-quality.
Shelf-display of the products in retail stores also influence consumer behavior. Disorganized shelves and those who have less stock tend to put off the consumers, whereas the well-organized shelves and displays products well to consumers tend to increment sales.
Four significant factors influence consumer behavior: cultural, social, personal, and psychological (Thangasamy and Patika, 2014). These factors are essential to consider in retail stores to identify interested buyers and shape their products and appeals to serve consumer needs better. Culture forms primary determinant of the behavior of consumers. Subcultures refer to the cultures within cultures which have distinct lifestyles and values. Retail stores need to ensure they comply with the cultural needs of the consumers (Mooij 2019). For instance, McDonald designs its products as per the cultural requirements of particular geographic needs. For instance, Mc. Donald’s offers the first beef and pork free menu in the world to suit the Indian cultural norms. Moreover, McDonalds has altered its menu and offers indo-western burger choices for the Indian consumers.
Social factors have an influence consumer’s behavior. The social groups which exert influence are known as reference groups. These are the determinants which form the consumer’s attitude and behavior. These reference groups include friends, family, professional associates, and social networks. They strongly affect consumer’s choices of brands and products.
All successful brands tries to target particular segments of the society which get them maximum revenues through target marketing strategy. It is essential to adopt marketing strategies targeting the right segment of people at the right time. For instance, the choices in McDonald’s for burgers are usually influenced by children in the family. Hence they try to advertise the children and make marketing strategies to target children.
Sensory marketing is a strategic marketing which retailers use to attract its consumers. The consumers buy products based on emotions and then on the concept of logic. Hence, retailers target the primary senses of touch, feel, smell, ot sound to engage their target audience. For instance a coffee company in Seoul launched a marketing campaign where the scent infusing technology was placed in the local buses to release the aroma of coffee when the dunkin jingles played on the radio. This sensory advertising strategy saw an increment of 29% in their sales.
Personal Factors also affect consumer behavior which includes lifestyle, economic status, personality, age, and occupation. Psychological factors also affect consumer behavior. These include perception, learning, motivation, and attitudes & beliefs. For instance, McDonald’s tries to create more delicious food spread to motivate consumers like a range of chicken burgers, hamburgers, wraps, fries breakfast items, soft drinks, happy meal combos, etc.
Sensory Advertisements focuses on our primary senses. Smell is our strongest sensory perceptions. Mc. Donald’s used trailed scents in its restaurants to draw consumers for a pleasant overall dining experience which worked well for them. This sensory advertisement strategy was also adopted by KFC and Burgee King (Kelso, 2020).
Customers have specific beliefs and attitudes towards certain products, which makes up a brand image and affects consumer behaviour. Hence, retail stores marketers can change the beliefs and attitudes of consumers by launching special advertising campaigns and quality products. McDonald’s for instance, provides excellent services, and its employees gives a good impression to consumers to get back to them as returning consumers.
In the retail market, many factors can affect the decisions of the consumers(Paul.,Sankaranarayanan and Mekoth 2016). The first essential factor is that retail stores must have an attractive and creative display to encourage consumers to buy. The retail stores should be attractive to new consumers and should be well-ventilated, brightly lit, and attractive to the new consumer. They should enjoy buying and shopping in the store. Products can be sold as a bundle in discounted prices, or combo offers can be attractive to influence consumer behavior (Harris 2016). Moreover, promotional schemes encourage consumers to buy more products.
What are some of the key cultural differences between consumer behaviors?
Cultural Factors
Cultural factors are the fundamental determinants of the person’s wants and behavior. Cultural factors exert heavy influence on consumer behavior (Tyagi 2018). Cultural factors have a significant impact on consumers’ behavior as the growing individual acquires sets of values, perception, behavior, and perception through their family’s other vital institutions. Marketers are always trying to identify the cultural shifts which lead to new products to satisfy consumers need. For instance, a significant trend towards fitness and health industry has created a huge market for this domain. It has increased demand for organic food, exercise clothes, and fitness equipments.
Many brands also target specific subcultures to design and market products and services. Examples of three such essential subcultures include Hispanic Americans, Asian Americans, and African Americans (Gbadamosi 2017). Every culture has a small subculture or group of people who have a shared value system based on a simple lifestyle. The subcultures include religions, racial groups, geographical nations, and nationalities.
Particular subcultures sometimes makes up for major proportion of the population. Hence, the marketers need to keep the subcultures purchasing patterns and choices in mind to cater to their needs.
Beyond targeting specific consumers, such as African Americans, Hispanics, and Asian Americans, the marketers also tend to tailor efforts through embracing a total market strategy. It embraces integration of cross-cultural and ethnic themes in the marketing stream.
Many marketers have gamed immensely from ethnic consumer segments. For instance, McDonald’s takes cues from these segments for developing their menus with the hope to encourage consumers to purchase drinks, smoothies, wraps, and hamburgers.
All societies have a specific social structure. The social classes have members who have similar values and views. Social scientists have clearly defined seven social types.Marketers are interested in social classes as they show the distinct product and brand preferences in areas like clothing, furnishings, leisure activities and services like automobiles and financial services (Shavitt., Jiang and Cho 2016).
References
Badre, S.B. 2020. Study of Factors Affecting online Shopping Behaviours of Consumers. Our Heritage, Vol. 68, Special Issue 9. International Conference on E-Business, E-Management, E-Education and E-Governance.
De Mooij, M., 2019. Consumer behavior and culture: Consequences for global marketing and advertising. SAGE Publications Limited.
Harris, F. (2016). Sustainable clothing, challenges, barriers and interventions for encouraging more sustainable consumer behaviour. International Journal of Consumer Studies, Vol. 40, 309-318.
Kumar, A., 2019. Factors Influencing Consumer Behaviour.
Kelso, A., 2020. Why Brands Like Mcdonald’S And KFC Are Embracing Marketing Gimmicks Like Burger-Scented Candles. [online] Forbes. Available at: <https://www.forbes.com/sites/aliciakelso/2020/02/27/why-brands-like-mcdonalds-and-kfc-are-embracing-marketing-gimmicks/#67a0e7727b9b> [Accessed 10 June 2020].
Paul, J., Sankaranarayanan, K.G. and Mekoth, N., 2016. Consumer satisfaction in retail stores: Theory and implications. International Journal of Consumer Studies, 40(6), pp.635-642.
Pranjal, P. and Sarkar, S., 2019. Qualitative Consumer & Marketing Research. e-Journal of Social & Behavioural Research in Business, 10(1), pp.78-81.
Shavitt, S., Jiang, D. and Cho, H., 2016. Stratification and segmentation: Social class in consumer behavior. Journal of Consumer Psychology, 26(4), pp.583-593.
Stankevich, A. (2017). Explaining the Consumer Decision-Making Process: Critical Literature Review. JOURNAL OF INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS RESEARCH AND MARKETING, 2(6), 7-14. doi: 10.18775/jibrm.1849-8558.2015.26.3001
Thangasamy, E. & Patika, G. 2014. Factors influencing consumer buying behaviour: a case study. Global Journal of Management and Business Research: E Marketing. Volume 14, issue 5, version
Tyagi, A., 2018. A Study on Factors Affecting Consumer Buying Behaviour. International Journal of Business & Engineering Research, 11.
Know more about UniqueSubmission’s other writing services:
