Buyer and Consumer Behaviour for Theories - myassignmenthelp

Question: Discuss about theBuyer and Consumer Behaviour for Theories. Answer: Introduction: This report discusses the various marketing aspects taking the example of the company mars inc. producing chocolate bars. It is discusses details of the consumer behaviour regarding the buying of chocolate. It studies the theories of learning to understand the mind of the customers. This report addresses brand performance, mental availability and also studies in detail the various factors like demographic segmentation on the basis of age gender and household income. The brand performance is also measured taking into consideration factors like market share, penetration etc. The category entry point of snickers is also suggested in this report. Section-1: Understanding Buyer Behaviour 1. A discussion on Cognitivism or Behaviourism theories Cognitivism theory: Cognitivism is a study of psychology often conducted for studying the consumer behaviour in marketing. Cognitivism studies the process which draws the attention of a person rather a consumer. The various process of that are involved in drawing attention involves the method of perception, the way an incidence remains in the memory of the consumer, the learning process of the consumers and the method used for solving problem (Wenger, 2009). These factors together decide the impact of the stimulus in drawing attention of the consumer. This theory propagates that the information processing system of people are very technical in nature. There are certain rules that are followed by the mind of the people in generating cognition of the product. The minds of the people are considered to be processor of information. The concept underlying Cognitivism is the process that helps to gain knowledge (Jonassen and Land 2012). There are further divisions in the cognitive theory th at is the social cognitive theory and the cognitive behavioural theory. Behaviourism theory: The behaviourism is in contrast with the Cognitivism theory. Behaviour lists studies the behaviour of the people that is observable and thus forms the opinion regarding the method of conceptualising of the environment by the people. The behaviouralists believe that the learning of the mind happens as a gradual process through interaction with the environment. The environment provides regular stimulus these stimulations are processed the mind without being conscious resulting in learning (Pritchard, 2013). There are certain assumptions that are made by the behaviouralists theory. According to the behaviouralists theory the brain is passive it is assumed that there is no active role that is taken by the mind in the process of learning. The second assumption is that the mind of the learner is assumed to be a clean slate that is there is no previous information that is stored in the brain (Magee et al. 2007). It believes that recurrent enforcement of any incidence re sults in its occurrence similarly if there is recurrent punishment given for a particular incidence the chances are high that the repetition of the incidence stops. The Cognitivism can be considered as a more appropriate theory regarding the functioning of the learning activity of the human mind (French, 2010). The behaviourism has been the earlier concept which was replaced by the Cognitivism theory because the assumptions that are made in the behaviouralists theory that is considering the mind as a clean slate cannot be justified as there are information that are stored in the mind which cannot be absolutely nullified as a factor that contributes in the assimilation of new information. Section-2: Brand Performance 2. Identification of Pattern with respect to brand performance measure The company Mars Inc is manufacturing the three different kind of chocolate bars, namely Mars Bar, Snickers and Twix. Mars Bar: The chocolate bar brand Mars Bar is having the maximum market share of 37% along with highest market penetration rate of 75% among all the other chocolate bar brands. The parameters like purchase frequency (2.2), share of sole loyal customers (22) and category requirements (43) for this brand are also highest for this brand in comparison to that of other chocolate bar brands. However the category buying rate (5.2) for this brand is lowest with respect to the other brands. Kit Kat: The market share and the market penetration rate of kit-kat chocolate brands are 27 and 55 respectively. The purchase frequency, category buying rate and the sole loyal customers for this brand are 2.2, 5.4 7 respectively. Thus from the picture of the table-1 the pattern of brand performance that can be identified is that a brand that is having large market share is also having a strong market penetration capacity along with a good purchase frequency rate and substantial number of sole loyal customers. Besides, the table also describes that if the brand is having large market share then the brand also poses a good share of category requirements. In other words the parameter Market Share is positively related with the parameters Penetration, Average Purchase Frequency, Share of Category Requirements, Sole Loyalty and is negatively related with Category Buying Rate. Higher market share for a brand indicates that the market penetration power of that brand is quite high and a sufficiently good number of customers are loyal to that brand. The average purchase frequency with respect to the brand is also quiet high. However the buying rate [average amount of product bought by the buyer household for a given time period] for that category of chocolate brand is quiet low as the buyers frequently bought the product, therefore they are not buying a huge amount during each time of purchase as the buyers do not want to store that perishable food product. Again if the market shares of a chocolate brand Nestle Gold (4) is very low. Then it indicates low market penetration (8) power for that brand and there is no loyal customer for that brand and the buyers are mainly purchasing the product on the basis of ad hock decision. However the category buying rate for the product is 9.5 which is the highest value with respect to that of other brands. The brand Snickers is having a moderate market share of 20% with a market penetration rate of 45% and the brand is only having 3% loyal customers. Thus it can be seen that as the brand has failed to sufficiently penetrate the market, very little number of customers have got the chance to know the brand and to be loyal to the brand. 3. Judging the idea for encouraging all the existing buyers to buy snickers: If the number of sole buyers with respect to the brand Snickers has to be increased then the market share of that brand has to be increased. The increased market share with respect to the brand Snickers will provide greater penetration power to that brand. Therefore a marketing strategy has to be developed so that the buyers who are addicted to the other brands can be diverted towards the brand Snickers. So if large numbers of buyers are getting attracted towards that brand through the application of the new marketing strategy, then definitely the market share of that brand as well as market penetration power of that brand will increase. The increased penetration power will help the brand to reach in the hands of larger number of customers and it is expected that this intern will pull up the number of sole buyers (from a mere 3%) for the brand Snickers. That is why in my opinion this strategy is a good strategy to take for establishing the brand Snickers in to the market. Section -3: Mental Availability 4. A discussion on appropriate marketing strategy for building mental availability Mental availability is the chances that a certain buyer is going to recall a particular brand in a buying situation. It is important for brand success to have mental availability of the brand. The chief competition among the brands is to create that mental availability in the mind of its customers. The mental availability can be achieved if the product is etched in the memory of the consumer (Sharp et al. 2010). To remain in the memory of the buyers it is important to create links with the memory of the consumers. The various factors that are capable of creating brand mental availability can be categorised in these five factors: The product should be distinctive in nature: the product should be distinct because similar products often do not give any special stimulus that can help create a distinct memory. Thus it is important to have a certain difference with the other products in the category (Wright, 2006). Noticeable: the product should be noticeable in the eyes of the customer. It is important that the products are noticeable in the eyes of its customers. Reach to the potential buyer: to create mental availability it is important that the products are available to its potential buyers at all times. This helps in creating an impression in the mind as a result it has a higher possibility of mental availability (Robinson, 2010). Continuous refreshment of memory: it is important for the brands to continuously refresh the memories of the customers this can be done through advertisement. Advertisement works as a continuous refreshment of the memories of the consumers (Mitchell, 2007). Consistency: it is important that each of the companies to be consistent. The company should continuously provide advertisements various other method of reminding the target customers regarding the product thus making the process of reminding the customers and consistent approach (Sharp, 2010). Category entry points to be included in the advertisement for Snickers Category entry points are conditions when the consumers plan to buy the products. There are 5 Ws with which the category entry point is associated with. These include why the products should be bought? When is the right time to buy the product? Where this product should be consumed? With whom does this product suit? With what other product this product should be consumed with? These associations can be used as an advertisement technique to promote the product. It has been observed that such association often increase the sale of these products. Hereby there are 10 entry points mentioned where snicker can be introduced: Snickers can be consumed as an energising breakfast Snicker can be consumed during gym time or sports for getting instant energy The product should be taken in the morning time as it is a good breakfast The product should be taken in the evening during exercise It is required in the bed side It is required in the sports field Hanging out with friends When nobody is there to take care of the needs snicker supplies for the nutrition With milk When there is nothing else and hunger pinches Section-4: Demographics and Segmentation 5. Segmentation of the target customers through demographic analysis As per the Table-4 of the demographics it can be seen that on an average 60% of the female buyers are interested for the chocolate bars and only 40% of the male buyers are interested in chocolate bars. This indicates that the female buyers should be targeted for selling the products rather than the male buyers so far as buyers segmentation has to be done on the basis of gender. The table-5 describes that among the four age groups of (16-25) years, (26-35) years, (36-45) years, (56-65) years, the age group (26-35) years contains the maximum number of buyers with respect to all kind of the chocolate bars under consideration. The table also demonstrates that this age-group mostly prefers the brand MARS BAR followed by KITKAT SNICKERS. Thus the analysis highlights the fact that company Mars Inc should look for their target customers within the age group of (26-35) years The table-6 defines that the households who are earning more than $70,000 are having the biggest purchase share with respect to the entire different kind of chocolate brands. In addition, the table describes that these households who are earning more than $70,000 hold 40% of the purchasing share with respect to the brand Snickers, 43% share with respect to the brand KIT-KAT, and 31% share with respect to the brand Mars BAR. Thus it can be seen that Snickers, is the most proffered brand for the buyers group earning more than $70,000. From the above analysis it can be said that to establish the brand Snickers, in to the market the company Mars Inc should target the female customers who are within the age group of (26-35) years and are earning more than $70,000 should be considered. Conclusion recommendation on the basis of demographic analysis On the basis of the above discussion it can be said that in order to establish the chocolate brand Snickers in to the market, the marketing strategies will be developed with a focus towards the target group of customers [females within the age group of 26-35 years and are earning more than $70,000] Detailed research will be held to identify the factors that are mainly responsible for attracting the target group towards a chocolate brand Research should also be done regarding the staple products that can be offered as a package with the chocolate bar brand to make them more attractive. Reference: French, J. ed., 2010.Social marketing and public health: Theory and practice. Oxford University Press. Jonassen, D. and Land, S. eds., 2012.Theoretical foundations of learning environments. Routledge. 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