Consumer Behavior. The role of Consumer Behavior in marketing strategy in the 3 marketing stimuli

Content

Introduction

Identification of psychological influences used in a product including packing and labeling

Identifying of psychological influences used in an advertisement

Identification of the psychological use in the context of a retail store

Conclusion

References

Introduction

In today’s world, we buy lot of things, use them till they wore out and then we throw them, but sometimes it also happens that we go out to buy something for example to buy a soap, if we think we actually follow steps before buying any product or like for example any soap. First we look for the shop that we frequently visit like 98.4, Apollo pharmacy, and other kirana store where we can find our product which is soap. After selecting the store that we will go we look out for the availability of different brands of soaps or we can say we look for the number of brands that the store. Sometimes we go to the store look out for the option and when we don’t find much option we move out of the store and try some different store. The next step we follow after getting in the right store where there are many options then we look out for the soaps that are advertised more for example, Dove, Lux and other brands. The step that we follow is the packing of the product and the labeling that it has got. For example Medimix is an Ayurvedic soap, but the packing and labeling of the product is not that much attractive and not much information is given about the product which result in the loss of the customers. So the next step we follow is either the soaps brand we have choose, is it satisfying our desire for example Lux advertise itself a soap that has got good fragrance, not too harsh and moistures. If the product is able to throwing satisfy our desire then we might buy or may think to look at another brand that is also satisfying the desire. After choosing the right soap that we need we will smell the fragrance of the soap and if we feel that the fragrance of the soap is bearable and it is delightful then we will buy the soap but if the fragrance of the soap is not good and the packing is dull then the customer will never choose or think about the soap of Lux.

We can say that consumer behavior plays an important role in the field of choosing buying, and using the product, and throwing the product after its use. There are many definition of consumer behavior given by researcher. As given in a book published by sage publication “Consumer behavior is the activities people undertake when obtaining, consuming and disposing of products and services (Blackwell et al., 2001)”. This definition is widely used mostly everywhere. Consumer behavior doesn’t mean that it’s just about how consumer behavior while buying a product or services its more about the steps that consumer and his/her mind will go through before purchasing any product, the psychological factors plays a vital in the selection of the steps and the product or services that can include, the attitude and the thought process of the consumer getting effected by his background where is he/she is coming from, the environment around the consumer also affects the decision making power. There are 5 steps of consumer behavior that are taken by the consumer that are vital to the marketers:

1. Need or Problem recognition: If there is a need for products and services then only the company will manufacture the product and then to satisfy those needs of the consumer the company will study consumer behavior. If there is no purchase it simply means that there is no need for the products. There are two things that are important in the this steps that are internal stimuli and external stimuli. Internal stimuli is basically the hunger an thirst for the product or physiological factors. External stimuli is opposite of internal stimuli where exposures such as an advertisement of cake by a bakery shop will give you a thirst to try the cake because of the design of the cake and mouth-watering taste it will have from the look of the cake in the advertisement.
2. Information Search: in this step when the need has been identified and the consumer will seek information to satisfy the needs to do this will reveal information from two option: Internal information and External information in internal information consumer will search in his/her memory that is already present about a product or a brand. External information gained from the product or speech or advertisement or by the products given to the consumer by friends or family.
3. Alternative evaluation: once the information and need is identified it the time for the consumer to evaluated the alternatives that are available in the market. This is an important step for the marketers because at this stage the consumer will differentiate your products with other products to see which product satisfy the need of the consumer.
4. Purchase Decision: after all the solution and the product evaluation is done it is the time for the consumer to select the product or the brand that are satisfying the need of the consumer. The buying decision process will also depend on the factors like shopping experience or the store where the consumer is going to buy the product.
5. Post-Purchase Behavior: After the purchase of the product, the consumer will see if the original needs are satisfied by the product and whether the he/she made the right choice in buying the product. Post purchase evaluation will important for the marketers because through evaluation of this step the marketer will minimize the problem and try to minimize the information search steps and the consumer do not search about other product and directly buy the specific product.

When these steps are followed the marketers can easily identify the consumer behavior and work towards satisfying the needs of other consumer and the brand will try to capture the more the market share by satisfying the needs.

To explain more about consumer behavior I will use three marketing stimuli that are:-

1. Packing labeling of the product and the influence of psychological factors
2. Advertisement and the psychological influence
3. Retail environment and the psychological influence

For packing and labeling of the product and to explain the major psychological influences I am using Pears soap which has got multi-packing which has got small carton box packing and inside that the soap is packed in a small plastic box through this the consumer can assure himself that the soap is packed properly and there will be no germs or dust on the soap due to multi-layer packing. More over talking about labeling of the product Pears Soap if you see the Gentle and pure soap the color of the soap is golden in color which customer can have perception that the soap color gives customer a perception of refresh, and something which brightens the day. Like, I have a perception that Sun brightens the day so as Pears Soap because of the color and the feature of being transparent. By stating their Pears Soap bar as gentle and pure so the company is able to communicate to its customers and is able to create a perception in the mind of the consumer that the soap will not hurt their skin as it is made of essential oil which are good for your skin and with the use of the Pears Gentle and pure soap the customer will find its skin dust free that is pure and smooth that is gentle. So through this the Pears Soap is able to attribute what the product is about and we can see that how packaging and labeling is playing an important role in making a perception about the product and its features.

Distribution channel that is use by the Pears Soap is done through its Parent company “Hindustan Unilever Limited” which has got 1000 products in the market with 2700 wholesalers, and after that wholesalers distribute the products in every part of the India like in medical stores, grocery shops, kirana shops which has got the most market share in India, super markets like Big Bazaar, Reliance Fresh etc. So this type of distribution channel HUL is selling Pears Soap to every household by covering a vast area. There are different variant of the Pears Soap that are available in the market according to the need of the consumer behavior like consumer who have pimple there is a different pears soap for them.

In the case of advertisement, I have chosen the advertising campaign of the brand Amul- The taste of India. Amul has got the most effective, longevity, and creative advertisement that has been running since 50 Years. The moppet girl is still the same even if the time and the world has moved on but Amul is one of the brands that have kept the moppet girl still the same since when they launched their advertisement in 1967. The advertisement has always been a success story for Amul. Amul has subsequently created a very strong connect through its advertisement in the customers mind for example “Har Ghar Amul Ghar” which means “Every house uses Amul” from this Amul has created an awareness that everyone uses Amul products and through this Amul has created a trust in the customers mind that everyone uses the products of Amul so they care about customers because of that it is used widely.

For the retail store I have chosen Big Bazaar which is the largest retail store chain in India owned by one of the renowned group “Future Group”. Big Bazaar has got 200 store in India catering to most of the customers and having most of the market share. Big Bazaar give unbelievable offers, deals on food, fashion, home ware, groceries and electronics as compared to other markets or local market. Big Bazaar often uses exposure effectively by using cross promotion in their store and the through placements of the products on shelf and the store as whole.

Identification of psychological influences used in a product including packing and labeling

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Perception: Packages must attract attention and convey information, and various aspects from color to shape to typography can interact in complex ways in affecting consumer perceptions. Packaging has functional and perceptual components. In this case, Pears Soap has many variant with different properties like, soap for fighting pimples, germs-shield soap, pure and gentle but the basic work of the soap to clean is same in all the variants. The bright color soap that pears have also plays an important role in the factor of perception. The strategy of color in Pure and Gentle Pear Soap can influence the consumer perception, for example the packing of the Pears Soap pure and gentle is unique in itself on the packing they have show the color of the soap of the soap and with the uniqueness of being transparent and shows the floating soap and we as consumers know that the material that are high in density get sunk in the water but in this case the soap is floating due to its lightness signifying gentleness on the skin and the purity it has. On the packing it is assumed that the marketers try to put things which can influence the consumer to buy their product. In this case we can see that on the packing of the pear soap states that the soap is made from glycerin and natural oils. As per scientific research it is known that glycerin is best for skin if used on the skin it brightens the skin and sooths the skin. Even the shape of the box that is used in the packing is also important like the box of the soap is like a treasure chest that is when you open the box of the soap you get a feel that you are opening a treasure chest in which there is a product which is kind of treasure for the consumer’s skin. Labeling on the box shows a drop of oil stating that oil is being used in the product to make it even if it is written because sometimes what we read and what we see has different meaning to us depending on the consumer behavior. So we can say that through packing and labeling of the product consumer create a perception about the product like in the case of Pears Soap being Pure and Gentle and made from essential oil it creates a perception in the mind of the consumer that if they need to satisfy themselves with soap which is light and gentle and made from glycerin then they can surely go and buy Pears gentle and pure soap.

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