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Using the example of “your branded product or service”, you arerequired to illustrate how consumer behavior concepts can apply in the purchase of such products:

  1. Discuss the steps in the “decision making process” that the consumer will go through in making the purchase of your product example and the resulting marketing implications.
  2. Evaluate the impact of key psychological factors (such as perception, personality, attitudes, motivation and learning) on the buying behavior.
  3. Explain the evolving nature of family structure, social classes & culture through the years and their effects on buying behavior.
  4. Identify a consumer profile highlighting the most likely consumers that will buy your product example, and briefly discuss the promotion efforts that would effectively support the marketing of this product.

Answers:

"Explain the evolving nature of family structure, social classes & culture through the years and their effects on buying behavior"


With the evolving centuries, the consumer behavior is shifting towards new edge of taste. Development has taken place, and industries are evolving and trying to keep diversification in their work so that requirements of all types of customers are fulfilled. Though with the starting of this decade the customers have been regarded as the king pin of the market, which obliges the market to satisfy the needs and preference of customers otherwise the companies will not sustain their growth in the market (Dudovskiy 2016). The challenge which marketers now a day faces is that, they need to understand the diversity of customers in the market and then offer quality products and services according to their persuasion. Further, the taste of the customers in the market also depends upon their major factors which are discussed below:

  • Structure of Family: the basic structure of the family is divided into two types that are:
  • Joint Family: it is a large family group which includes a married couple, their parents, children, and other relatives (Van Doorn et. al., 2010).
  • Nuclear Family: is a small family group comprising of a married couple and their children.

The structure of family largely depends upon the choice of the customers to purchase branded products in the market. it shall be taken into accounts that as comparatively there are more numbers of members in a joint family than in nuclear family, so they less prefer branded products especially cars such as BMW. BMW is one of the highly flourished expensive cars which not achievable by all (Kaufmann, Panni, and Orphanidou 2012). Also, people living in a joint family have more responsibilities and duties to follow resulting to which they postpone their luxurious expense on BMW cars. Whereas talking about the nuclear family, due to the presence of less number of family members, there are a few duties which are to be fulfilled by the head of the relation, therefore they easily save a part of their income to buy BMW car (BMW 12 2017).

Another factor which affects the decision making in this aspect is an influence of family members to purchase a particular product. For instance, each member in the family influences or gets influenced by other family member depending upon their relationship with them. Further talking about relationships, family dynamics depends upon relationship dynamics (Darley, Blankson, and Luethge 2010). The buying behavior in a family is determined by three unlined influence:

  • Wife dominance in decision making: this will result in purchase of more groceries, food, home décor, jewels etc. Their decisions are more inclined towards purchasing such products.
  • Husband's dominance in the decision-making process: in this case, the family will spend more on luxurious and reliable products such as BMW car, insurance etc.
  • Joint Decision: family will postpone purchasing cars etc. and looking for short term happiness like vacations etc. (Akar, and Topçu 2011).

Further, it shall be noted that in earlier time, the major segment of the society used to live in joint families where decisions were taken by head of the society resulting in which they decide on purchasing cars according to their taste. Mainly they used to prefer low-cost products which provide more durability and less status upliftment. So it can be said with changing decade consumers preference is more inclined towards buying BMW cars (De Mooij 2010).

  • Social Classes: Luxurious cars such a BMW are highly preferred in the market by richer class of society. The car is mainly used as a status symbol by people to show off their achievements. Social class in mainly divided into three sections of the society that are:
  • Upper Class: the class due to which premium products are prevailing in the market. They are the richer section of the society who purchases cars like BMW to fulfill their status needs (Solomon, Russell-Bennett, and Previte 2012).
  • Middle Class: these are middle-income level people who are majorly affected by the decisions of the economic decisions taken by the government. Most they do not prefer premium products, instead, they believe in buying durable products. But they also purchase premium BMW cars due to their interest and dreams.
  • Lower Class: these are the lower income level people of the society falling below the poverty line, who are able to fulfill their basic needs only. This class does not even dream of buying BMW cars (Hernández, Jiménez, and Martín 2010).

Further, it shall be noted, with the change in time more people are shifting in the middle income and high-income level groups due to which sale of premium products like BMW cars is increasing. Also in past, there used to be only two sections in society i.e. higher and lower income people thus only higher income level people used to buy the product but with the emergence of middle-level income, more consumers are inclined towards purchasing first-class cars.

  • Culture: it refers to the pattern which the society as a whole follows while purchasing a particular product or service. Culture mainly comprises of all the factors prevailing in the market which can affect the purchasing behavior of a person (Papasolomou, and Kitchen 2011). Further culture is divided into sub-cultures on the basis of which people take decision of purchasing luxurious products. Sub culture includes aspects like religion, geographical variations, age, gender etc. which affects the decision making of an individual.

Comparing the change in culture for purchasing BMW cars, it shall be observed that in earlier time, only a particular section of the society (that is richer section) used to purchase such cars in order to satisfy their prestige in the market. But with the emergence of times, more people get involved in the race to maintain their status or reach to a higher position by obtaining such products due to which the products are highly demanded in the market. Further, if one product is obtained by a person in the society and becomes famous, then the whole society will initiate to purchase the same product to fall in the same line of premium product users (Moiseieva 2013).

Thus, the fact shall be taken into consideration that the above-mentioned factors highly influence the demand for branded products in the market. Also on comparing with the changing times, more and more people are attracted by branded BMW cars.

"Identify a consumer profile highlighting the most likely consumers that will buy your product example, and briefly discuss the promotional efforts that would effectively support the marketing of this product."

The BMW Company is itself identified as a luxury brand in the market which is only preferred by people having higher income level. Further, the sale of cars of BMW is not only limited to the income level of people but various other factors also define the consumer profile of person purchasing BMW car in the market. Further, the demographic profile of a respondent who prefers purchasing a BMW car is discussed below:

  • Age: it shall be noted that two groups of people in the society mainly prefer to buy luxury BMW brand in the market, these are middle age people (25-35) and people who have attained saturation (45-55). The first age group of people is highly active and need to live a luxurious life due to which they buy this product at a tender age only (De Mooij 2010). Further another group of people symbolizes that they buy such products after attainment of satiety in the market. This group of people have lived their lives and earned well, and now they prefer to spend on themselves resulting in which they buy this particular product.
  • Income Level/social status: as it has been noticed that BMW is a brand which is known for its prestige and it increases the status symbol of people, thus higher income level people only purchase this product. Due to having high prices of cars, the product is affordable by the only richer section of the society. Further middle-income people can also buy this product in order to motivate their self-esteem and become a part of the richer section of the society (Moiseieva 2013).
  • Dream: also this product is preferred and purchased by people who have interest in luxurious cars and have a dream to buy one of such car. The car is one of those passionate products, which is dreamt by many people in the society. Also, BMW cars are efficient in use as well as they have well-designed models which attract the interest of many. Thus, people under this section also prefer buying BMW cars.
  • Gender: Gender wise it has been noticed that comparatively more males prefer buying this product than females (Frank 2012).
  • Marital Status: more of married people prefer to buy branded BMW cars in the market. The reasons can be varied like; in adolescence, males prefer sports cars whereas after marriage they shift their interests to luxurious cars. Another reason can be that now they prefer conformable and a big car according to their family needs. Also, married people tend to earn more and are settled as well. Another factor which shall be considered is that the age group discussed above includes majorly married people that are, people under the age of 25-35 usually get married. Also considering the other age group of 45-55 aged people; they are also married people only (Darley, Blankson, and Luethge 2010). Thus it can be said that married people are more interest in buying BMW cars.
  • Societal Influence: it depends upon the taste of society in which a person is living. For instance, people in particular society believes in reducing population by excluding the use of cars for traveling, then, in that case, less people will prefer BMW cars. Whereas country in which BMW headquarters in place will tend to have high sales of the particular product.
  • Culture prevailing in the market: culture is also one of the major factors which decide the sale of premium BMW cars in the market. As if family member do not prefer purchasing the particular product or there is less prevalence of luxurious cars in the market. Then fewer people will prefer this product (Chattopadhyay, Shivani, and Krishnan 2010). On the same hand, if there is high competition between brands in the market and promotion tool is majorly used then; more people will buy the premium BMW branded cars.

Thus, it shall be noted that a settled consumer having a rich or high profile and standard of living mostly prefer to buy such branded BMW car. Also, a consumer having big dreams or interest in cars also becomes a customer of BMW.

It is known to all that the company expands its business by targeting the particular segment of the market in order to promote the sale of their product (Bhasin 2017). Further, the promotional tools used by the company to assist the customers to purchase their products are discussed below:

  • Collaboration and sales promotion: the company BMW initiated the promotion of their cars by collaborating with various profound companies providing spare product and raw material of cars. As the company purchased their raw material from those particular companies, resulting to which to provide in return benefits, the other companies collaborated with BMW in the process of promotion. The customer links with the companies with which BMW collaborated also became their customers' resulting to which the sales of the company increased. The company BMW also initiated dealership of their branded cars. Dealers also assist the company in reducing their burden to increase sales. Also, the name of the company BMW is advertised more in the market as more companies are connected with the main company that s BMW and all of them focuses on selling their cars (BMW Group 2017).
  • Promotion through Advertisement campaigns: the advertisement is the most important aspect of sale and promotion of the product. As advertisements help the company to promote their product through digital as well as physical ways. Also, the tagline of the company that is "The ultimate driving Machine" gained success in the market. These are some of the techniques which attract the interest of the customers in the market and initiating them to buy the product (BMW Group 2017). The advertisement process of BMW is highly efficient as it provides details and specifications of the products and its unique feature etc. they also provide advertisement under the name of renowned personalities and actor so that trust on the product is made and sales are increased.
  • Public Relation:The Company BMW initiates to maintain a long term relationship with their customers resulting to which repetitive sales are made.
  • Sponsorships: the company majorly takes help of sponsorship to advertise their product in the perfect target market. Such as in football matches, car racing etc. these are some of the areas where company sponsors their product (Frank 2012).

Concluding the above statement, it shall be noted that the company BMW adequately uses their target market and promote their product initiating an increase in the sale of their company.

Reference

Akar, E. and Topçu, B., 2011. An examination of the factors influencing consumers' attitudes toward social media marketing. Journal of Internet Commerce, 10(1), pp.35-67.

Bhasin, H., 2017. Marketing strategy of BMW – BMW marketing strategy. Viewed on September 6, 2017 from https://www.marketing91.com/marketing-strategy-bmw/

BMW 12., 2017. Positioning & Target Consumers. Viewed on September 6, 2017 from https://sites.google.com/site/bmwgmx12/home/1-signals-of-change/positioning-tar

BMW Group., 2017, Who we are., viewed on September 6, 2017 from https://www.bmwgroup.com/en/company.html

BMW Group., 2017. BMW group profile. Viewed on September 6, 2017 from https://www.bmwgroup.com/en/company/company-portrait.html

Chattopadhyay, T., Shivani, S. and Krishnan, M., 2010. Marketing mix elements influencing brand equity and brand choice. vikalpa, 35(3), pp.67-84.

Darley, W.K., Blankson, C. and Luethge, D.J., 2010. Toward an integrated framework for online consumer behavior and decision making process: A review. Psychology & marketing, 27(2), pp.94-116.

De Mooij, M., 2010. Consumer behavior and culture: Consequences for global marketing and advertising. Sage.

Dudovskiy, J., 2016. BMW Segmentation, Targeting and Positioning. Viewed on September 6, 2017 from https://research-methodology.net/bmw-segmentation-targeting-and-positioning/

Frank, M.C., 2012. Product placement of BMW.

Hernández, B., Jiménez, J. and Martín, M.J., 2010. Customer behavior in electronic commerce: The moderating effect of e-purchasing experience. Journal of business research, 63(9), pp.964-971.

Kaufmann, H.R., Panni, M.F.A.K. and Orphanidou, Y., 2012. Factors affecting consumers'green purchasing behavior: an integrated conceptual framework. Amfiteatru Economic, 14(31), p.50.

Moiseieva, M., 2013. Mini Cooper: Marketing Strategy, Digital Marketing, Brand & Ethics. CRIS-Bulletin of the Centre for Research and Interdisciplinary Study, 2013(1), pp.93-113.

 Papasolomou, I. and Kitchen, P.J., 2011. Cause related marketing: Developing a tripartite approach with BMW. Corporate Reputation Review, 14(1), pp.63-75.

Solomon, M., Russell-Bennett, R. and Previte, J., 2012. Consumer behaviour. Pearson Higher Education AU.

Van Doorn, J., Lemon, K.N., Mittal, V., Nass, S., Pick, D., Pirner, P. and Verhoef, P.C., 2010. Customer engagement behavior: Theoretical foundations and research directions. Journal of service research, 13(3), pp.253-266.

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