Consumer Behaviour
Think of a new product that is currently not in market and as a Marketing Manager you are to develop
marketing plans to launch this new product.
As a Marketing Manager or Product Manager, what do you have to consider in terms of consumer
behavior when developing this new product?
Think of the consumer behavior theoretical discussion which you have learnt from Week 2 till todate.
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Consumer Behavior
Schwartz (2004) defines a consumer as any person or individual who requires a given
product or service to meet personal needs and wants. Behavior, on the other hand, refers to a
given pattern, perception, belief, or sequence that an individual possesses that guides them or
dictates the products or services to purchase. Understanding consumer behavior requires an
inquisitive research so as to identify the customers thinking, beliefs, and level of income, social
norms, market trends, gender, and religion (Belch & Belch, 2007). Once the researcher have
outlined and differentiated all this factors a given geographical location can be segmented and
the prevalent consumer behaviors determined. These consumer behaviors are then used in
product design and formulation. A good company carries out a SWOT analysis to be familiar
with the opportunities, threats and weaknesses of penetrating a given market segment. Mostly ,in
carrying out a research in a market segment problems can be identified and then the research
panel can brainstorm the solutions which are used to come up with various products and services
that meet the needs of customers in that segment.
Factors influencing consumer behavior can be divided into economic, social, political,
ecological and technological factors. For example, ecological weather conditions like winter or
summer dictate the consumer preferences of clothing. In winter season consumers purchase
heavy clothing and protective equipment like gumboots (Engel, Blackwell & Miniard, 2007).
The change in technology also influences consumer behavior as this changes fashion and market
trends. For example, the advent of android operating system in the mobile phone industry have
seen massive demand and sales for this smart phones in companies like Samsung, Nokia, LG,
IPhone and Techno. These companies have also been forced to adapt to the changes in
technology in order to meet their consumer needs and preferences.
After considering all the above, the product in mind is modern mobile incinerators. These
incinerators are of small sizes and are very portable. The reasoning behind this is that most
companies and organization nowadays are faced with a lot of paperwork and plastic wastes in the
offices and manufacturing sections, however, most of these firms don’t have the appropriate
facilities to dispose this waste. My product which goes by the brand name ‘Mobi Inc.’ comes
restore and uphold environmental consciousness in this organizations. This product also covers a
wide customer base as it can also be used in homes and has a very considerate pricing. This
product also has differentiation advantage in that the consumer can order customized incinerators
(Hirsh, Kang & Bodenhausen, 2012). Therefore the size differentiation is entirely according to
the customer’s needs and preferences. However, at the inception stage the main target market for
this product are big firms and governments that can order large quantities and hence enjoy the
quantity discounts that come with the package.
After production of these incinerators, we plan to have various marketing strategies and
plans. One of the strategies is low price penetration strategy. In this strategy will start to enter the
market with the lowest prices until we get acceptance and a good customer base. These
customers will have training on the use and benefits of the product and this serves to create
awareness o0f the product. This awareness will be crucial to serve as a marketing tool as these
customers will pass on the good news. Other marketing strategies will include sales and
promotion whereby for every product bought the customer will enjoy gifts and discounts (Assael,
2012). Discounts however come with bulk purchases and this strategy will most work with big
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corporate organizations that have centralized purchasing. Households that purchase the Mobi
Inc. product will enjoy after sale services e.g. warranties, training and installation. Marketing is
also to be done through advertising on social media, magazines, journals and all accessible
medium. Sales and promotion personnel will also be employed to carry out door to door
marketing and sensitization.
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References
Assael, H. (2012). Consumer behavior and marketing action. Boston: Kent Publishing.
Belch, G. & Belch, M.A. (2007). Advertising and Promotion: An Integrated Marketing
Communications Perspective. New York: McGrawHill
Engel, J., Blackwell, R. & Miniard, P. (2007). Consumer behavior. CBS Publishing Asia LTD.
Hirsh, J., Kang, S. & Bodenhausen, G. (2012). Personalized persuasion: Tailoring persuasive
appeals to recipient personality traits. Psychological Science Journal, 23(1), 578-581.
Schwartz, B. (2004). The Paradox of Choice: Why More Is Less. New York: New Haven
Publishers.
