MKTG 3471_SW2.1 – Consumer Behaviour; Consumer Decision Making Process
Section 1: Consumer Decision Making —Process
1.1
Marketing is essential in controlling essential factors in the market. Patel (2020) indicates that the power of marketers in the market is vital in creating a demand for products. Tarik (n.d) identified the different factors that are controlled by marketers in the market. Needs of consumers, managing the supply chain, marketing environments and marketing products. These are essentials that control the needs and desires of the consumers and marketers can handle the different logistics in the market. According to Tarik, the following influence in the marketing sector can be described as follows;
Creating a scarcity of consumers is an important stratify that is used by marketers to increase sales by creating the idea of deficiency in the market. According to Patel, marketers use a scarcity creation strategy by limiting the number of available products (2017). This creates a rapid increase in the number of items being sold as consumers have to fear of being left out. Marketers limit the availability of products in the market by limiting the amount of information that is available to the market. This creates the idea that there are no products in the market. Limiting information shrinks the exchange of a product and hence reduces the number of sales that the consumers are able to make from the company. Similarly, companies employ the use of product informational s it is made available in the market by consumers. Consumer reviews on webpages like those of Amazon are famous for luring the consumers because they are sure of the results that other consumers use. This increases the demand for the products making it very easy to convince consumers (Patel, 2017).
Marketers may capitalize on a problem and solution cases to create demand for products. Tarik (n.d) indicates that creating product information to replicate a growing problem in the market plays a significant role in the creation of scarcity in the market since it establishes a bolster in the number of sales as recorded. This grows the number of sales of a company. Marketers may also indicate an increase in the name of sales of a company by merely creating a surge in demand using influencers of celebrity persons. This helps get the product to a large crowd making it easier to get sales. Social media influencing is one of the most common in this category used today.
1.2.
Akalamkam and Mitra (2017) indicate that pre-purchase information is vital in the creation of the right forecasts for marketers to find the estimation of the audience prior to product release. The research also reveals the complexity of consumer behaviour and the difficulty in creating projections, and it is important for the consumer during the decision making process. Bauerfeind knee support braces, a product of the Bauerfeind Company, use the brand logo on all the products they produce. The logo of the company and its brand are present on the company and may influence pre-search results of the product. Since Bauerfeind is an old company with more than thirty-year of service to the consumers, they are likely to search for the product brand. Similarly, the product has another characteristic that is not common with other brands, the soft cushion on the knee area that is used to deliver different pressure on the knee if injured to reduce inflammation. The consumer is likely to use tags that are based on a different future. According to Bauerfeind.com, the product is also characterized by a healthcare product used in the creation of relief from the pain in the knee joint is where the product is correctly applied. This will help consumers who are willing to buy braces that are important for healing in the knee joint area. Similarly, the muscle support feature could be an essential input when collecting pre-purchase information. This is used to target athletes and patients who are suffering from knee joint issues such as arthritis and osteoarthritis.
The product website, www.bauerfeind.com, is responsible for most of the information about the product. Product reviews in online platforms such as amazon.com, where most of the products are displayed, also play an essential role in collecting consumer data as a source of information. The company website provides the name of the product and its positive uses. This is important in streamlining the primary product used to the consumer. The product reviews that are made available on product markets such as amazon are very important for the development of consumer trust since they give live reports of the real experience with customers.
As a marketer, it is essential to avail of information to the consumers as needed in time to make a sale. The brand of the Bauerfeind knee support braces is the primary tool used for advertisement of the product. It is crucial to develop better websites to provide all necessary information and insights to the users. For instance, www.bauerfeind.com, the official website of the product, does not hence all the required information, such as product reviews. Providing all this information on the website of the product offers a convenient way to make all the information available at the same place allowing the consumer all the information to make it possible for them to buy the product. It is also essential to include the adverse effects of the product to the users, even if there are only a few cases. This helps in creating consumer trust hence the capability of retaining them. Similarly, I will introduce a new website just for the specific product to make sure that direct targeting using digital marketing can allow access to all the necessary information.
1.3.
Brands producing identical products in the market in most cases, go through proliferation. This is becau8se the nature of the perception of brand occurs differently among different consumers in the market. It is important to notice the relevance of proliferation since the consumers cannot buy from all brands and some brands are not appealing in the view of the consumer. For instance, a poorly marketed brand in the market may have a poor appeal of the consumer due to a lack of enough information. Poor perception of the products of a particular brand may also lead to negativity, making the brand to be faced out. The set of a brand that is enlisted for consideration by the consumer sis refer to as evoked set. For instance, considering brands like Uflex athletics, Futuro, Bauerfeind, vive hinged knee brace, Kambivo 2 pack knee brace, and Mva sports knee support sleeves, I will identify the brand that I have heard of for instance; Bauerfeind, Foturo and Ulex athletics. This list forms my evoked set, the list of a brand that has been shortlisted from the entire brand list. If the consumer has enough information about products from Bauerfeind and Foturo, this list becomes his inert list. This means that the consumer is more likely to buy from this list. The other list of product brands that are left out of the entire list form the inept list and are exempted from the final choice of the consumer.
As a marketer, it is important to provide the right information to the consumer to enable them to understand different products to the consumer. This is because the data is essential in the making of choice among consumers. Providing additional information for the consumer, such reviews may help to stimulate the need to buy the product or adding the brand to his or her evoked list (Xie and Peng, 2009). Similarly, misleading information that led t negative thought of a brad can be rectified by marketers to ensure that the consumer gets the correct information about the product this way, it is easy to help e consumer make the best choice.
1.4.
My recommendation about the product to marketers is to provide the best, most correct and reliable information to the consumers. Consumers need this important information to make relevant decisions in the purchasing of a particular product. Although Bauerfeind knee support braces are among the best in the company, there is a likelihood of the fact that the product information on its web pages is not correct. It is also vital to present consumer reactions both positive and negative on the webpages by allowing comments and accepting the use of responses to encourage consumers to buy products that are of good quality and to help them make reasonable investments.
Section 2: Consumer Decision Making —Outcome
2.1
Review and analysis of the product marketing strategies at Bauerfeind indicate the importance of brand imaging in the promotion of the product. The logo and the brand name of the product are the key concepts that play a critical role when marketing the product for Bauerfeind. The reason behind this strategy is the age of the brand name and its performance throughout the years that have earned the product trust and power in the market (Zaragun.com, 2020). This means that brand image is very important when dealing with issues that are related. Branding to a marketer plays a critical role in laying the foundation for marketing. According to Pahwa (2019) indicates that branding is an essential tool that is used to create any form of marketing ranging from referral marketing, digital marketing and traditional marketing. Marketers may also use a brand name to generate personalization of the product to its specific manufacturer. This means that it easier for other consumers who have already received
Brand naming marketing is used to create a trademark for the product. Most companies establish the marketing backgrounds using initial brand names ad use the name to grow the image of the company and create a new and distinct environment around their products (Pahwa, 201). Companies that depend entirely on marketing their brands such as Bauerfeind and Foturo are important examples of marketing strategies that rely on brand naming.
2.2.
Consumer behaviour is a complex activity in different markets and hence can be brought about by various factors in the business. Consumer handling by the company can either evoke positive or negative implications for any business (Nemako & Mensah, 2014). Improved quality of the product and ability to meet the demands of the user as detailed are the leading indicators of consumer satisfaction. Such can be detected by repurchases from the same consumers. When consumers buy the same product for a short time interval, it is an indication of the satisfaction and trust of the consumer. The Bauerfeind offers one of the best quality products in the market, although at a higher price, despite this, the company has been successfully operating for more than thirty-year indicating the importance of the brand in the market and the excellent quality of products.
High prices can demotivate consumers with low-income levels, and most of the consumers may have to go for cheaper products. A website dubbed dontwasteyourmoney.com indicates that the product is not worth its high prices. Such reviews may lead to low-income consumers to feel dissatisfied since they may think that they could have used a cheaper product. A weak delivery system can cause a lack of satisfaction among most consumers. This May occur, especially when the company delivers the product of the company is a completely different ate and time. This may reduce consumer motivation, and they may shy away as soon as they can.
Creating consumer trust is a fundamental concept of brand marketing (Kantsperger & Kunz, 2010). This is because once a consumer has inadequate levels of truth with your organization, there is a likely hood that they may influence friends and relatives. Similarly, dissatisfied consumers may harm the positive image of the brand in general (Ameer, 2016). It is important to deliver the right information to the consumers and make a follow up of the consumers who may have complaints. Maintaining a close association between brand organizations and their consumers increase the ties with their consumers, reducing their trust. According to Kantsperger and Kunz (2010), it can be established that brand imaging plays a critical role in advertisement and that consumer dissatisfaction may lead to poor imaging of the company and hence poor returns from the public. Creating consumer satisfaction as an essential basic in business enables consumers to come back to the company as returning customers.
2.3
According to Kantsperger and Kunz (2010), the trust of the consumer is very important in business. In their research about the importance of trust among employees and the use of various methods to recreate consumer trust. It is important to foster benevolence in the company practices as it is crucial in creating loyal consumers with better trust and well-established relationships. Similarly, the article emphasizes the importance of the credibility of company practices and the role of credibility in building the trust of the consumers by being responsible and playing the role of the company. Making follow up activities may help the company to re-establish relationships and trust among its employees. A good customer care system that indicates the inner need to understand their consumers may do follow up activities to ensure if the consumers are using the product in the right way or might be having problems. This makes the customers feel appreciated and care for; hence the higher chance is that they might come back to the company to buy something. Since they understand the particular instances of care that the company may offer them after they buy a product even for the first time (Agyei et al., 2020). The creation of good customer care creates a good brand name for the company, and the satisfied consumers market the brand by providing word for word advertisement to friends and positive product reviews.
References
Agyei, J., Sun, S., Abrokwah, E., Penney, E. K., & Ofori-Boafo, R. (2020). Influence of Trust on Customer Engagement: Empirical Evidence From the Insurance Industry in Ghana. SAGE Open. https://doi.org/10.1177/2158244019899104
Akalamkam, K., & Mitra, J. K. (2018). Consumer Pre-purchase Search in Online Shopping: Role of Offline and Online Information Sources. Business Perspectives and Research, 6(1), 42–60. https://doi.org/10.1177/2278533717730448
Habib Tarik. (2020). Can Marketers create needs? By M. Habibur Rahman Tarik. Academia.Edu. https://www.academia.edu/6786729/Can_Marketers_create_needs_By_M._Habibur_Rahman_Tarik
Kantsperger, R., & Kunz, W. H. (2010). Consumer trust in service companies: a multiple mediating analysis. Managing Service Quality: An International Journal, 20(1), 4–25. https://doi.org/10.1108/09604521011011603
Narayana, C. L., & Markin, R. J. (1975). Consumer Behavior and Product Performance: An Alternative Conceptualization. Journal of Marketing, 39(4), 1. https://doi.org/10.2307/1250589
Nimako, Simon & Mensah, Anthony. (2014). Exploring Customer Dissatisfaction/Satisfaction and Complaining Responses among Bank Customers in Ghana. International Journal of Marketing Studies. 6. 10.5539/ijms.v6n2p58.
Pahwa, A. (2019). The Importance Of Branding In Today’s World | Feedough. Www.Feedough.Com. https://www.feedough.com/the-importance-of-branding-in-todays-world/
Sujan Patel. (2016, October 24). 7 Marketing Tips To Create A Demand For Your New Product. Forbes. https://www.forbes.com/sites/sujanpatel/2016/10/22/create-a-demand-for-a-new-product/#2bc66bef7e2d
Syed Ameer. (2019). HOW TO OVERCOME CUSTOMER DISSATISFACTION. Academia.Edu. https://www.academia.edu/25307921/HOW_TO_OVERCOME_CUSTOMER_DISSATISFACTION
Xie, Y., & Peng, S. (2009). How to repair customer trust after negative publicity: The roles of competence, integrity, benevolence, and forgiveness. Psychology and Marketing, 26(7), 572–589. https://doi.org/10.1002/mar.20289
zagrun_wselj5. (2020). Bauerfeind. Zagrun Digital Marketing. https://www.zagrun.com/portfolio-items/bauerfeind/