Category: Consumer Behavior

Advertising Effects On Consumerism: The Ways To Avoid Manipulation

Since the moment we were born, our consumerist society has been making an enormous effort to convince us that we’re not good enough simply by being the way we are. The advertising industry has made us believe that the only way to feel comfortable with ourselves is to buy products that are an unnecessary luxuries, that we’re convinced are necessities. Just look around and you will see billboards of models that none of us will ever look like, but we have to strive to do so by using sexuality and social status. There are advertisements everywhere trying to persuade us to buy stuff and have succeeded in doing so by. We must get out of the trap of consumerism and materialism, as it has societal and environmental consequences. Consumerism is closely related to intercultural communication because it has affected our culture and has forever changed the way society views each other.

If we feel unattractive, we can spends hundreds of dollars on makeup in hopes of attracting attention of others like a magnet. If we feel unimportant we can buy an expensive shiny car in an attempt to climb the social totem pole. Having fallen victims to manipulative advertising, most of us spend our hard earn money on products we can’t even afford. We believe that by obtaining these items that we will achieve happiness and confidence. Little do we realize that no amount of products will ever quench our emotional thirst because what we truly crave for such as intimacy, connections, and creativity, cannot be bought.

In order to truly be aware of how consumerism has gotten to where it is today, we must know what it is and how it started. Consumerism can be understood as a theory that spending money and consuming goods is good for the economy. For most of history, people relatively owned very little. However, starting in the eighteenth century, economies in the countries of northwestern Europe began to expand and wages rose. People began to have more money than just the amount they needed to survive, and started shopping for small luxuries. As Consumerism in World History by Peter N Stearns states, “People in the Mediterranean cherished Chinese silks. The Roman Empire organized regular trips to India to pick up spices to please aristocratic palates. Arabs used African gold to make jewelry.”

This created a cycle; the more people spent, the more businesses grew and the more wages rose. Countless industries were made in order to keep up with the demand for goods. Styles for clothes and hair which has previously gone unchanged for decades, now altered every year. Several value systems in the eighteenth century were hostile towards consumerism. Major religions pushed their followers to focus on other worldly goals and feared that these goods would distract from the true purposes of life (Stearns, 2006). In Britain, clergyman gave sermons against this new materialism that they called vanity, which was a sin. Eventually, shopping for pleasure was seen as a “great” way to make countries rich.

It’s clear through the history of consumerism that the degradation of moral values was never taken into account. The sole purpose of mass producing goods that are necessary is for economic growth. Of course at the time it probably seemed like a solution to poverty as the demand for goods require more labor which meant more jobs. This is perhaps the only benefit of consumerism. People were always aware that these materialistic pleasures would only be a distraction from spiritual goals. In the early 1700s, a Dutch philosopher called Bernard Mandeville published a book called a The Fable of the Bees where he argued that the only way to generate wealth was to ensure high demand for unnecessary goods. Mandeville implied the two choices you had: to be intellectually refined, spiritually intact, and dirt poor, or you can be a slave to luxury and materialistic goods and be wealthy; an ultimatum that the world still struggles with three centuries later.

Besides the fact that these unnecessary products only offer a temporary substitute of what we really long for, we fail to realize the impact our consumer behavior has on the environment. In the article “As Consumerism Spreads, Earth Suffers, Study Says” by Hillary Maywell, it states that in the United States there are more cars on the road then licensed drivers, which increases pollution and use of fossil fuels. The consumption of highly processed food has led to a worldwide epidemic of obesity. As much as we are manipulated into believing that we need these products, ironically they are causing our planet and health to deteriorate as well as making us spend more time away from things that truly matter such as family. The more time we spend working to get money to afford these products, the longer amount of time we spent communicating and creating connections with others.

In another article “Consumerism and Environment: Does Consumption Behaviour Affect Environmental Quality?” by Carlo Orecchia and Pietro Zoppoli states that consumption can affect the environment in many ways: large amounts of consumption equal larger inputs of energy and material and generate larger quantities of waste by products. Our ecological footprint can also be thought of as our environmental impact, is measured by our consumption behaviors. “Every good, process or service requires energy and material to be produced, consumed and waste disposed” (Orecchia & Zoppoli, 2007). The more we consume, the more we also throw away. Most of our garbage cannot be recycled so it just goes to landfills. Although we take up only 8% of the population, North Americans account for 50% of the garbage all around the world (Brummet, 2004).

In a study called “Environmental Impact Assessment of Household Consumption” by Diana Ivanova, shows that the stuff we consume is responsible for up to 60 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions and between 50 and 80 percent of total land, material, and water use. These products and services would not be produced if it were not for so much demand for it. What we should be concerned with is the increase of demand for natural resources such as gas that are unsustainable and try to minimize depletion and pollution as much as possible.

Not only is consumerism harming our planet, it has harmed our cultural values as well. The consequences of consumerism can alter our quality of life. There has been a drastic materialistic shift in our society. We are now suddenly defined by the clothes we wear or the car we drive. Everything nowadays revolves around economic profit. Children from an early age are encouraged to go to school so that one day they can get a job that makes a lot of money. We need to make more and more money to be able to satisfy our consumer “needs”. The average card holder with debt owes an average of $5,100 according to the 2010 US Census. Although in today’s society we can afford a lot more than our grandparents, we aren’t any happier. According to the article “Consumerism and its discontents” by Tori DeAngelis, it states that “In simple terms, a strong consumerist bent–what William Wordsworth in 1807 called ‘getting and spending’–can promote unhappiness because it takes time away from the things that can nurture happiness, including relationships with family and friends, research shows.” The research in this article shows that the unhappiest people were those who reported high materialistic values.

Nowadays, young adults that have grown up with so much possessions have a greater risk of depression and other social disorders. We are convinced to purchase products through means of advertising. The encouraging of consumerism through means of advertising goes a lot deeper than just trying to get us buy to things. The goal of these ads is of course to make the company money, but as a society we mentally compare ourselves to these ads and see them as a way that we should act like or look like. These ads sell us values and images of who we should strive to be. Gender roles are largely exploited by consumerism for profit. One can examine anorexia (a disorder common in women) as a case study for how consumerism may reinforce being skinny as an important culture value. These physical traits come to represent attractiveness and anything less is seen as ugly and shameful.

In the documentary Killing Us Softly 4 featuring Jean Kilbourne, shows shocking patterns in ads about what it means to be a woman in American culture. Advertising tells women that what’s most important is how they look, and ads surround us with the image of ideal female beauty. However, this flawlessness cannot be achieved; it’s a look that’s been created through mostly photoshop. The more insecure these companies make women, the more money they make. Consumerism doesn’t directly cause this type of objectification of women, but it encourages it, it makes others feel like it’s okay to view women in this manner. In Kilbourne’s powerful statement, “Ads create an environment. Just as it’s difficult to be healthy in a toxic physical environment, if we’re breathing poisoned air or drinking polluted water, it’s difficult to be healthy in a ‘toxic cultural environment’ that surrounds us with unhealthy images and constantly sacrifices our health and well-being for the sake of profit” shows how consumerism has shaped the values this country has today.

For the purpose of this paper, I analyzed myself and tried to figure what it is that I constantly spend money on that does not benefit me at all. Ultimately, nothing I buy can truly make me happy, but most of the things I do purchase make me feel confident. I think I do a fairly good job at informing myself on clothing brands so that I don’t contribute to these companies that have sweat shops in third world countries. Something that I realize I hate spending money on is waxing. It causes me nothing but pain and gives me no confidence, it’s just something that I feel like I have to do as a woman. Since I was a young teenager I was exposed to the media that convinced me that women had to be hairless. It didn’t help that one time I was made fun of for having hair on my hands. Ever since I got my first job, I have been getting my body waxed. For this paper, I went over my credit card statements for the past year and calculated that I spent about $572 on just waxing services. This was truly shocking to me, that I’ve paid this much just to get rid of hair that will always come back! After doing my research on consumerism, I don’t plan on letting it make me feel insecure about myself anymore.

I offer a couple of ways to not be manipulated by consumer messages: try to limit your exposure to media outlets and focus more , if you believe you are materialistic try to understand what causes you to be that way. We also have to be more aware of what we are consuming and that companies don’t really care about our wellbeing, they just want to maximize their profits. I don’t believe materialistic things themselves are bad, they do create a sense of individualism and being able to express yourself, it’s just that you have to find balance. You have to know what you need and what you don’t. You can treat yourself to things you believe you deserve, as long as you don’t achieve it at the expense of things that really matter like your relationships with yourself, your family, and your community.

The Motif Of Consumerism in The Works Of Edward Albee And Andy Warhol

The meaning of the American Dream has changed numerous times since the phrase was coined in 1931. During that time period, the American Dream constituted a way of life that through hard work an individual could achieve personal and familial success regardless of their background. The generation living under this mentality had quite a lot of success, monetarily. Thus, the goal of social mobility had been reached and this success was used not only for their generation but also for the generation after them. This induced a society where status was reached without hard work. At this moment, the impression of “The American Dream” started to transform itself. Quickly, Americans found themselves faced up against another goal of contrasting their success with their peers’. Consumerism, allowed the people to do this. Many authors, during the 1920s – 60s, attempted to depict this through their work including Scott Fitzgerald and Edward Albee. However, besides authors, artists also displayed this transformation. During the 1950s, Pop – Art became known as a way to challenge societal views through expressive artwork. Andy Warhol was one of the most well-known artists in the 1960s, and his work similarly reflected the change in the American Dream because of the influx of consumerism. Edward Albee, in The American Dream, utilizes Mommy’s actions and character relations to critique Consumerism; whereas, Andy Warhol’s use of everyday objects, such as a Coke Bottle, celebrates the applicability of consumerism to everyone showing the various viewpoints on consumerism in the 1960s.

The motif of consumerism in The American Dream is utilized to mock the changing Ideology of the American Dream and to explain its grasp on the American People. Albee utilizes Mommy to symbolize this change. Mommy and Daddy, are both characters in The American Dream who are utilized to represent their satisfaction. Along with these two characters he uses the hat, and the bumble to help enforce this theme of satisfaction. When Mommy went to buy a hat, she was confronted with another woman who claimed that her hat wheat rather than beige. She immediately went inside and stated, “ ‘ The minute I got outside I could tell that it wasn’t a beige hat at all; it was a wheat hat.’ ” When the store-keeper tried to argue his point this angered Mommy and she, “ made a terrible scene,” and continued till he claimed that, “ they might have made a mistake.” Through this interaction, it is clearly seen that the color of the hat is not the main concern which causes the argument. Mommy found herself in a situation in which she was not satisfied with her transaction and she fights her way to satisfaction. This example of consumerism is very practical as she fights for her satisfaction with her hat.

However, Albee also demonstrates consumerism using abstract methods. Mommy is very transactional in her relationships. Her value to other characters depends on how much value they offer to her. For example, when Grandma is trying to explain to the characters the reason why the boxes were significant Mommy responds with, “ Well nobody is interested!” followed by, “ Well, why don’t you call a van and have her taken away?” This remark is symbolic of the consumerism grasping over the characters. Grandma used to serve a purpose when Mommy was young, “ Grandma used to wrap a box for me[Mommy];” however, as she has aged she had brought less value to Mommy and her appreciation for her has decreased which can be seen through the previous remark. However, this transactional relationship also applies to Daddy. Mommy was very poor when she was young, “ But then I[Mommy] married you, Daddy, and now we’re very rich.” Thus Daddy serves as monetary value, showing how monetary value exists not only in hats but also relationships. The last character which Albee uses to demonstrate the consumerism aspect in relationships is the Bumble. The Bumble was Mommy and Daddy’s way of ‘buying’ their way into the complete American Dream. However, the Bumble represented reality rather than their expectations, thus it was no value to the parents leading to its mutilation. Thus this called for the removal of non-valuable characters which did not play a role in the ‘perfect family’ of the American Dream. Hence, Albee utilizes concrete objects such as the hat and abstract ideas such as relationships to emphasize the change in the focus of the American Dream.

Similarly, Pop – Art was used by artists to express their views on the changing mindsets of Americans. Andy Warhol was one of the most famous artists who used his works which influenced the perception of people at that time. Many of his artworks were made to indirectly critique the standing perception of “good art” at that time. For example, Coca-Cola, at a quick glance appear printed. Although the painting is made handmade by Warhol, the specific strokes that Warhol took imitated the style and technique of the mass advertising printing companies. It enforced the idea of uniformity through removing removing the hand of the Artist. Despite, Art always being about the uniqueness, Warhol reversis this concept as he paints the ordinary. Thus, it promotes the idea that the ordinary is exceptional. It projects the idea that no matter a person is, he or she can buy a more expensive coke bottle than another person. For example, a homeless person can buy the same Coke bottle as a businessman. Thus, we can see that Albee was not criticizing consumerism through his art, but celebrating it because of its applicability to everyone.

During this time period, there were varying viewpoints on the up and coming theme of consumerism. Edward Albee and Andy Warhol both conflicted in their views on consumerism. Although many people might have wanted Warhol’s work to be a critique, he himself said that he was not critiquing but just relaying what he saw in the everyday world. So, while Warhol celebrates this theme of consumerism through its applicability to everyone, Albee criticizes it due to its alteration of the original American Dream characteristics. Edward Albee uses his writing to establish the idea that consumerism is a negative aspect in our society, through characters such as Mommy who represents people who are always looking for satisfaction, whether it be through buying manufactured products, or seeking it through their relationships. On the other hand, Warhol appreciates Consumerism because of its ability to democratize common day products to everyone. Consumerism, during that time period, was depicted both negatively and positively. Despite using different types of expression, Chekhov and Albee effectively express these conflicting viewpoints by utilizing different technical aspects unique to their style.

Children Manipulative Consumerism On Media

Have you ever observed a child with their parent acting out in the store because they don’t get what they want? That child that cries at the top of its lungs from the aisle behind you is more than just the pleadings of a kid bent on wanting to buy an item. It is the sound of hundreds of thousands of hours of marketing research of different groups, ideas, and resources, as well as decades of social and economic change all rolled into an emotional outburst. In a world of constant exposure to media, children are bombarded with the need to attain material goods in order to have a sense of belonging. Even though consumerism improves the economy, it impacts young children negatively by manipulating and bombarding them with persistent targeted advertising which causes behavioral deficits and forces parents to purchase item for their child.

Advertisers know that children need to keep up with the trends of time and that the world is becoming interconnected. Since digital technology is more assessable to children, companies exploit young minds to make more money. For this reason, the advertiser inadvertently forces the parent to adhere to the child’s wants. They learn more effective ways to reach children of diverse backgrounds by assessing children’s behavior using gimmicks such as bright lights, loud happy people and magically delicious video’s playing with food to create a setting that attracts the attention of children. In the text, on page 222 paragraph 4, it states clearly that “the stated or implied claim of all advertising is that the product will make life better for us.” Youth look toward their friends to share their thoughts and opinions to help make decisions when using social media. According to research, Millennials are a group of younger loyal consumer who are the most technically engaged generation actively using social media to interact and be influenced to buy goods. Advertisers know that their brand loyal customers can have a major impact on the increase in sales. As a result, the consequences of children being manipulated through media are more important than brands finding loyalty among consumers. Manipulation is what drives the marketing industry.

Children are bombarded with advertisements and brand logos almost everywhere they go. These things influence everything from what a child eats, wears, and plays with, possibly causing an addiction. An addiction is a compulsive lifestyle that people adopt as a desperate substitute which makes them detach ties between people and groups. There are ways children become addicted by way of advertising. For example, children watch many hours of TV which exposes them to be influenced by commercial ads. With this exposure, they are bound to see something that they like whether parents like it or not. Another way is that companies will never make themselves look bad. There focus is to create a false reality to manipulate children into thinking their product is perfect. Apple, for instance, can help children become more internet savvy by being familiar with Apple products and technology in general. While it is good for children to become more technologically literate, children are becoming isolated and disconnected from the real world which produces psychological issues like addiction which affects them in the long term.

Child involvement in consumerism has had a major effect on children’s wellbeing and their overall behavior. Marketing toward children is unfair because children believe everything that they hear. Advertising entices children causing them to slip into this cycle of wanting more things and constantly comparing themselves to others; leading to a state of constant dissatisfaction. Media pressure makes a child feel inferior and insecure, causing them to throw tantrums which pressures their parents into buying unnecessary things. Advertisers know that children are gullible creatures, so parents must be involved in the amount of media their children are exposed to. It is a dangerous choice not to be. Certainly, its beneficial for children to express their emotions and needs with their parents because it helps create a stronger relationship. However, their wellbeing shouldn’t depend on what they own or buy.

Although growing awareness of the role adults are supposed to play in the life of a child is increasing, evidence shows that consumerism through media does effect children negatively. Despite the potential benefits, children’s wellbeing should not be taken advantage of. Advertisements aimed at young children have caused deficits in many areas of the child’s development which is directly related to consumerism. In the end, one can say that manipulative advertising ultimately harms children for the rest of their lives creating addictive behavioral problems.

Does Consumerism Lead To Happiness?

Do you think God would approve of consumerism as an attempt to create happiness in life? Today in this modern day society, consumers have become bombarded and overwhelmed by the media and advertisers who try to push consumers into buying their products. There are so many endless options. Many consumers may think that they need to buy all the things that they would ever want, in order to feel happy, which is not the case. In the essays “The Treadmill of Consumption” by James Roberts and “Everything Now” by Steve McKevitt, they approach the concepts of materialism and our need to consume. “Fight Club” by David Fincher also dives into the problem of consumerism. Material things can only cause emptiness in our lives. It cannot define who we are or create happiness.

According to Roberts’ argument in “Treadmill of Consumption”, having all the material things we could ever want in the world will not make us happy. In the “Treadmill of Consumption”, he describes consumerism as a treadmill that never stops. He defines it as “the process of moving ahead without any real gain in satisfaction.” (119) People today may think that buying things brings them a sense of happiness, which will only be a short lasting, and temporary feeling. People will never be satisfied with the material possessions they already have, because there is always something new and better that comes out. One real life example would be how everyone flocks to the Apple store once a new iPhone comes out. Even if it is not as different from the prior model, people will be so willing to buy it just so they can say that they have the latest and newest phone. According to Roberts, this only “speeds up the treadmill” even more (119). In this consumerist society, people will always chase after the newest products. Once something newer and better comes out, they are going to push their other material possessions aside, because those things no longer bring them happiness. They will think that these new things will make them happy. Roberts states how “acquiring more possessions doesn’t take us any closer to happiness”. (119) Instead, people will be left to be dissatisfied with what they actually have. Roberts also talks about people who buy things for “status consumption”. He defines this as, “the motivational process by which individuals strive to improve their social standing.” (120) People who constantly buy more expensive things will never be happy either. They will keep wanting to buy more and more things as an effort to impress people. People who like to show off what they have will buy the most expensive products and certain popular brands, whether it is clothes, handbags, or phones to show off the fact that they have money. In reality, those expensive material items and money, will not matter, because they will always be temporary. People in this day and age may have this idea that they have to have all the material things that other people have. In reality, we should not focus on the things that others around us might have, but we should focus on ourselves and put our happiness towards something that is not as temporary as material possessions or money. Money and material items that people have will never be permanent things in their lives, because they will always come and go, sometimes very easily and quickly.

Steve McKevitt argues that, “those of us lucky enough to be living in the developed world today are, on average, healthier, wealthier, longer lived and better educated than at any other point in history”, but, we are not happier (124). Unfortunately, there are still people in this world who struggle to receive their basic needs everyday. But for many people in first world countries such as the United States, they do not have to worry about getting their needs, because for those who are financially stable, their needs are most likely met, and are not worried about as much. Because of this, many people turn to their wants as an attempt to find some kind of happiness. McKevitt describes our wants as “emotional, ephemeral, and ever changing.” (125) And that, “just because you want something today doesn’t mean you will want it tomorrow, always want it, or ever want it again.” (125) This shows how material things only make us happy at a certain moment in time, and how it will not last very long at all. Something that we think may make us happy at this point in time, will likely not be able to bring us happiness in the future. Buying material things will not fulfill us, because they are merely temporary things which try to get people to feel something, only for a brief, short period of time.

The material possessions which people buy over time only give them temporary happiness, which will never last. These material things people tend to wrap themselves up in do not define who they are. This concept of consumerism is present in Fight Club. The narrator of Fight Club, who is not named, is quite obsessed with buying material things. The narrator is obsessed with his condo, and loves buying furniture for it. He is so obsessed with buying furniture, that he works at a job which he does not like, just so that he can make sure he is financially stable enough to still be able to buy his furniture and stuff for his home. The narrator thought that buying everything he wanted would make him happy. He thought that with his money, he would have more power, with the ability to buy more and more things to make his condo look perfect. He lets his material possessions control, or even take over his life as this is apparent in the novel, when Palahniuk writes, “Then you’re trapped in your lovely nest, and the things you own, now they own you”. (44) It is not a bad thing to find happiness in something. but material things are just mere objects that will sooner or later fade away, because they are only temporary things. The fact that people like buying things is perfectly fine, but we should not become so obsessed with buying material things that our lives start to revolve around them. Instead, people should be focusing more on who they are, and what truly makes them happy. When it gets to a certain extent, it becomes too extreme and overwhelming. This extreme consumerism becomes too much, and is distracting people from things that actually bring them happiness in life, which are not as temporary or obsolete as material things are. If people let their lives revolve around material possessions, they will never be satisfied with themselves. They will only be disappointed with what they have, when they should instead be appreciating the things that they do have already. After all, many people do not have the luxury to buy whatever it is that they want. Those who have the ability to buy material things and are able to treat themselves once in a while, should be thankful that they have the things that they have. Chances are, the people who think that they do not have a lot, and that they need to have more material possessions, have a lot more than other people who do not have as much money, and are struggling to live. To solve this problem of consumerism, the narrator tries to find himself through feeling pain, by fighting, and facing fear and pain in an underground fight club, which is very dangerous and aggressive. Later on, the narrator realizes that the fight club is not helping either. He never ends up changing his consumerist ways. People should not have to work at a job they do not like, in order to buy temporary, objects, just because they have money to buy material things.

To conclude, James Roberts argues that buying more things does not make us more happy, and Steve McKevitt argues that our wants, as well as material possessions are only temporary, and will not fulfill people or make them happy. I agree with both authors, as we cannot rely on inanimate, material objects in order to feel an emotion or to fill a void. In Fight Club, the narrator participates in an underground fight club to deal with his consumerist nature, which is very extreme. One solution people can turn to instead of material things, is to turn to their spiritual side. It is possible that this extreme consumerism can be a result of a loss of spirituality in today’s modern culture. Spirituality may just be what many people today need in order to escape from the overwhelming power and influence that consumerism has in our modern, technological culture of society today. Instead of having our lives revolve around material objects, we should try to live our lives focusing on something bigger and higher than us. Doing this, people will find that there is a deeper meaning to life than buying material things, and that happiness comes from within our hearts. Religion is a great outlet for people to figure out who they are, and to find purpose in their lives. Religions, such as Christianity for example, teach people about God, who is not temporary like these obsolete, material things, but He is everlasting. Material possessions will never provide us with a lifetime of happiness, like God can. Material objects will only create happiness for a short period of time before they will eventually fade away after time. Material things cannot create true happiness like God can. God can create happiness for people, which will last forever, and will never fade away or disappear. People should try to improve and better their lives, instead of looking to material goods. God says not to rely on material possessions, but to only rely on Him. Material things, which are only temporary things, could never bring people happiness like God’s love can.

Work Cited

1. Palahniuk, Chuck. Fight Club. W.W. Norton and Company. New York. 2018. Print.
2. Roberts, James. “The Treadmill of Consumption” Signs of Life in The USA. Bedford/ St. Martin’s, Ninth Edition. 2017. Print.
3. McKevitt, Steve. “Everything Now”. Signs of Life in the USA. Bedford/ St. Martin’s, Ninth Edition. 2017. Print.

Internet Change In Consumer Behavior

The Internet ‘s growth has flipped the conventional direction of shopping on its ear, as consumers are becoming more and more well educated. Consumers have been part of the cycle, so had fun doing it. Whether advertisers may affect consumer behavior in this modern retail model, and where they can exploit the purchasing direction. After the subsections of this article, we would address the issues of the simple integration of brick mortar and online retailers, their disparities, reasons influencing their customers ‘ purchasing behaviour. The brick mortar shops have become more successful in the past than online retailers. But with new production period is very different from before. After the subsections of this article, we would address the issues of the simple integration of brick mortar and online retailers, their disparities, reasons influencing their customers ‘ purchasing behaviour. Online shops are more popular in the present time than brick mortar stores. According to Evanschitzky, Ekeledo and Sivakumar, Iqbal (2004, 2004 & 2003, quoted in Journal of Servicing Marketing 2007), brick mortar stores apply mainly to physical shops with a particular position building.

Consumers are affected by various factors in their choice of items, shops etc. For customers in brick mortar shops and internet retailers, the same situation exists too. Consumers are directly or indirectly influenced by multiple factors such as the nature of the goods sold, the trade mechanism, performance, market image, facilities supplied etc. The internet is also a big factor between them. We should know that identities are the critical factor each and every person can choose over various things depending on their own identity consumers. Another identification has to do with the one of shops. Online stores have a higher identity than brick mortar stores, but this does not mean that brick mortar stores are missing. Many of the negative topics that hamper customer behaviour are discussed in this article viz: Online procrastination will be positively associated with purchasing behaviour, online procrastination will be positively associated with online flow experience, and definitive procrastination will be associated with online procrastination positively. Similarly, if online system delays, consumers will not be able to get a good online flow experience.

According to Arnett (2002, quoted in the 2012 International Journal of Marketing Research), globalisation has wide-ranging consequences for psychological processes, and Alden, Steenkamp, & Batra (1999, quoted in the 2012 International Journal of Marketing Research) also claims that globalisation has wide-ranging consequences for consumer responses to market offerings. One of these variables in today’s world is the Internet, which influences consumer understanding of the market. As the internet was evolving, market stores were able to taste some positive changes in the attitudes of customers towards them. As the Internet makes it easier for consumers to easily buy and sell products without much effort, consumers enjoy online stores.

These growth of mortar brick stores makes it easier to name them as brick stores and click stores. Many researchers have done a number of investigations and found some remarkable facts about the effect of the internet on such markets. Infact development in various important factors such as the Internet and transportation makes it easier for consumers to connect to the modern market. McLuhan supports it too. According to McLuhan (1964, cited in International Journal of Marketing Research 2012), computer-mediated communication channels (social networks, email, and any Internet-based communication platform) are changing the way people around the world relate to each other. It is already well aware that brick mortar shops and online shops are very distinct from one another. Are different from each other. Consumers must go to the physically available store and look after the various items, check them and then select the product best and eventually purchase it.

Consumers don’t need to physically go to the brick mortar shops. Most brick mortar shops have also started their delivery services nowadays, where consumers can see the products online or go to the shops. Brick mortar stores have started promoting purchase options for this facility too. They’ve added online payment, reception card payment as well as cash payment. In online shops, those services are very different. Online stores offer services digitally without any real-life and physical presence. Digital shop consumers must search for the products digitally through the online website. They will pay online, and it takes a few days to get them the items. Those are some of the online retailers’ negative parts, but they do have positive parts as well. Consumers do not need to waste their precious time in physical shops. We can check the goods online as the brands we like. Consumers can get just one touch of such valuable service. It doesn’t just apply to consumers. Buford (cited in Journal of Servicing Marketing 2007) says that online e-tailing makes online trading cheaper for consumers, more convenient and more selective, fewer processing errors, faster transactions, reduces consumer anonymity and provides good savings for consumers. According to Halpern (2004, quoted in Journal of Servicing Marketing 2007), trade statistics show that while services such as travel , tourism, financial services, and music are provided on the internet, it has adverse effects on tangible products such as grocery stores, clothing, etc. Total revenue from travel sites was expected to increase in 2009 to yield total revenue of $91 billion or 33 per cent of all travel services purchased in that year. In this fast-growing world, everything is developing and moving towards the world to come, full of technology development and many other sectors.

Such development has a direct and valuable market role as well. Since it is known that most stores nowadays rely on many factors, internet is also one of them that plays a vital role in online marketing. Development of such technologies that contribute to market development is a plus point for stores. Such new ideas and techniques play an important role in influencing behaviour buying from consumers. Such technologies and ideas are based mainly on providing consumers with a more efficient and effective shopping experience. This motivates consumers to try different new shopping opportunitie. That motivates customers to try out various new shopping systems. Brick mortar stores are able to increase their sales, and online retailers are able to grow their sales. These new and strong sections of the market tend to decrease the disadvantages in them, or we may assume that these drawbacks are less successful in the face of all these positive parts. Another proposal to improve these goods is the launch of new products. According to Wankhade and Dabade (2010, cited in Production and Process Management 2016), a downside is especially important when the new product’s touch-and-feel plays an integral role in customer buying decisions , for example in product categories such as clothing , jewellery, shoes, furniture , home decor, etc. Before the time of brick mortar stores moving to brick and click stores with the aid of new technology and innovations like internet, brick mortar stores and other large retail stores were trying to make sure that they could gain customer trust and draw them to other vendors with discount on their goods.

They’ve used to offer the commodity wholesale price. This argument can be elaborated more clearly by the reference provided by Munson and Rosenblatt and Geylani (1999, 2007, cited in Production and Activity Management 2016) to the effect that, before the brick-and-click period, conventional retailers (such as Home Depot and Wal‐Mart) are enhancing their ability to attract product offerings from different vendors (higher R in our context), usually manufacturers. Studying the above-mentioned evidence, it is reported that online stores nowadays are growing customer trust and evolving more than brick mortar stores. Because this period is shifting rapidly to less a cash period. Online, convenient and secure shopping experience can be obtained from all of the transactions. The Internet has the greater part to play in motivating customers to change their behaviour. Brick-mortar stores are embracing an online system to develop their business, as a result of which they have already begun to make maximised profit than before. A supplier may induce a retailer to provide the quality of service and/or price that the manufacturer also requires. Yet the buyers of brick-mortar stores are also affected by online stores because of which brick-mortar stores were compelled to implement online systems for their company to gain customer trust. Digital retailers can also achieve benefits by updating them as their actual condition in time. The Internet has more responsibility for putting forward multiple meaningful consumption results for online and brick mortar stores in the future. Brick mortar stores and online retailers have implemented strategies for increasing their business online.

Digital retailers will definitely have more use in future than brick mortar retailers. Today, retailers are frequently faced with multiple new product offers, with an exogenously assigned minimum profit margin likely to be the most successful way for many retailers to determine whether to approve or reject a new product. It’s sure online stores will have more consumption in the future than brick mortar stores. Retailers today often face numerous new product offerings, with the use of an exogenously given minimum profit threshold likely to be the most efficient way for many retailers to decide whether to accept or reject a new product. The Internet was influential in shaping customer purchasing behaviour. Backed by state-of-the-art technology , customer decision can be easily regulated. In addition , the role of fashion blogs in providing product reviews is also important, as word-of – mouth is believed to be the strongest marketing tool affecting customer buying behaviour. The manufacturers must also pay careful attention to the details available on the internet, especially in relation to their commodity or products, and take decisive action to keep the customer happy and to become a loyal user. A variety of innovative product launches are also met by consumers, with the usage of an exogenously assigned minimum benefit margin likely to be the most reliable method for certain consumers to determine whether to approve or refuse a new product.

Reference list

1. Reed, A., Forehand, M. R., Puntoni, S., & Warlop, L. (2012). Identity-based consumer behavior. International Journal of Research in Marketing, 29(4), 310-321. doi: 10.1016/j.ijresmar.2012.08.002
2. Rajamma, R., Paswan, A., & Ganesh, G. (2007). Journal of Servicing Marketing. Services purchased at brick and mortar versus online stores, and shopping motivation, 21(3), 200-212. doi: 10.1108/08876040710746552
3. Luo, L., & Sun, J. (2016). Production and Operation Management. New Product Design under Channel Acceptance: Brick‐and‐Mortar, Online‐Exclusive, or Brick‐and‐Click, doi: 10.1111/poms.12587
4. Zanjani, S. H. A, Milne, G. R. , & Miller, E. G. (2016). Procrastinations’ online experience and purchase behaviour. Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, 44(5), 568-585. Doi:10.1007/s 11747-015-0458-1
5. Hult, G. T. M., Sharma, P. N., & Morgeson, F. V. (2019). Antecedents and Consequences of Customer Satisfaction: Do They Differ Across Online and Offline Purchases? Journal of Retailing, 95(1), 10-23. doi: 10.1016/j. jretai. 2018.10.003

Need Recognition: And Consumer Behaviour

Need Recognition

In this stage first the buyer would recognize the need for a product, which will satisfy particular desire than they would think about his position. He sets the product and his position without that product usually by external or internal stimulus.

Information search

Once the consumer recognizes the need he may or may not search for more information if the need is so intense, the consumer would get should of the particular products which world satisfy the need whereas is not so intense, then he simple store the need in his money.

Evaluation of alternatives

• In this stage buyer has information about different brand of some production in this process of evaluation.
• First: The consumers see a bundle of attributes in a product then he would pay maximum to these attributes that are connected with his needs.
• Second: He would assign weight or importance to each one of the attributes.
• Third: The consumer develops a set of brand belief where each brands stands on each attributes. This may either buy comparing with actual product attributes.
• Fourthly and fifthly buyer: Arises at judgment or preference towards the brand alternatives using same evaluation procedure.

Purchase decision:

Based on evaluation stage the consumer will rank the product of his preference he will then from purchase intention usually he will buy the most preferred product among the several alternatives. Purchase decision is also influenced after considering risks cost involved, that amount of uncertainly about the product attributes etc. Post purchase decisions: – After purchasing the product the consumer may either he satisfied with the product or dissatisfied. This depends on the relation and the products perceived consumers. If the product matches with the consumers he is highly satisfied the consumers expectation is mostly based on the information he received from the producers and so any exaggeration by the later will mean the consumer will be dissatisfied about the product after the purchase of course.

Consumer Behaviour

Consumer behaviour is defined as all psychological social and physical behaviour of potential customers as they become aware of evaluate, purchase, consumer and tell other about products and services each element of this definition is important. Buyer behaviour involves both individual (psychological) processes & group (social) process.

• Consumer behavior is reflected from awareness right through post purchases.
• Consumer behavior includes communication purchasing and consumption behavior.

Importance of consumer behaviour:

• The importance of studying consumer behavior is routed deeply in the modern concept through studying the consumer behavior business can help consumer solve their consumption problems by understanding them and trying to analysis the buying process and factors influencing it.
• The Emerging buyer movement necessitates market to understanding buyer behavior, their needs aspirations. Expectations and problems it will be useful in exploiting marketing opportunities and meeting challenges of the markets.
• The marketing is consumer oriented consumer is the king of the market the marketers must try to offer the product favored by the customer at the price he is to pay through the distribution channel convenient to him with the right type of promotion to do this a study of buyer behaviour is necessary.

Scope of consumer behaviour

The study of the consumer behaviour is the study of how individuals make decision to spend their available resources on the consumption related items. It includes the study of what they buy why they buy it and how after they buy it.

Need For Consumer Behaviour Study

Each individual has a different reason and motivating factors in his or her choice of tubes the consumer may commit his resources on a particular brand of tubes for reasons of economy. His decision encompasses various repurchased actual purchase and post purchase.

Factors Influencing Consumer Behaviour:

The major factors influencing a consumers buying behavior are:-

1. Cultural factors
2. Social factors
3. Personal factors
4. Psychological factors

1. Cultural Factors;

Cultural factors have the deepest influence on consumer behavior.

Cultural

Is the most fundamental determinant of all people’s wants and behavior the growing child acquires all sets of value, perception. Preferences and behavior through his or her family and other key institution. It includes value of achievement, success, activity efficiency freedom and progress material comfort.

Sub culture

Each culture consists of smaller sub culture that provides more specific identification and specialization for their members. Sub culture includes nationality, religion, races, geographical area and social group.

Social Class

Social class is relatively homogeneous and society is divided hierarchically. All human societies’ exhibit social satisfaction, stratification sometimes takes from of a caste system where the members of difference castes are record for creation roles and cannot change their caste membership.

2. Social Factor

Reference group:

A person’s reference group that which have a direct or indirect influence on the person’s attitude or behavior there are different types of group they are:-

• Membership group are those group which have direct influence on the group.
• Aspiration group are those group where people like to become a member of that group.
• Dissociate group are those group where people do not like to become the member of that group.
• Family is the most important consumer buying organization in the society and it has been researched extensively. Family constitutes a primary reference group.

3. Personal Factors

(1) Age:

People by different goods and services over a life time. Infant consumes baby foods, young adults may have variety food and old age people consume special diet food in the later years.

(2) Family life cycle:

Consumption is shaped by family life cycle there are 9 stages of family life cycle depending on financial institution and product interest.

(3) Occupation and Economic Circumstances:

Occupation:-

It also influences a person’s consumption pattern. A blue collared worker will buy work cloths. Shoes lunch box etc. A company president wills expensive suits, air travel and country club membership. Marketers will have to identify which occupational group will be interested in their products and work out marketing strategies to communicate about their product and services.

Economic Circumstances:

Product choice is affected by economic circumstances marketers are concerned about the level of spend able income. Savings and assets, debts borrowing power and attitudes towards spending v/s saving.

Life Style: It is the people’s pattern of living and it can be understand by referring to AIO (Activity interest & Opinion) Life style of a person conveys more than the person’s social class or personality. An understanding of a person’s life style will help in giving a profile of whole person’s pattern of living and interacting with the world.

Personality and Self Concept:

Personality :

Is usually described in terms of such traits as self confidence. Sociality, defensiveness, dominance and adoptability.

• Self – Concept:It can be defined as complex mental pictures of us. Self concept consists of mainly three divisions namely.
• Actual self – concept – What you think of yourself
• Ideal self – Concept – What you want others to think about yourself
• Other self – concept – What others actually think about you?

Psychological Factor:

Motivation:

It can be said to be the inner drive that is sufficiently pressing and direct the person to seek the satisfaction of the need satisfaction of the need reduces the felt tension.

Perception:

It is a process by which an individual selects organizes and interprets information inputs to create a meaningful picture of the world. Perception depends not only on the physical stimuli but also on the stimuli’s relation to the surrounding field and on condition within the individual.

Belief and attitude:

Belief:

A belief is a thought that a person holds about something. People act based on their belief these beliefs help in building up product and brand image.

Attitude:

An attitude can be said as persons enduring favorable or unfavorable cognitive evaluation, emotional feeling & action tendencies towards some object or idea.

Here will be the comparison and buying behavior of soaps of two different brands:

Overview of HUL

Hindustan Unilever Limited (HUL) is India’s largest Fast Moving Consumer Goods company with a heritage of over 80 years in India. On any given day, nine out of ten Indian households use our products to feel good, look good and get more out of life – giving us a unique opportunity to build a brighter future.

HUL works to create a better future every day and helps people feel good, look good and get more out of life with brands and services that are good for them and good for others.

With over 35 brands spanning 20 distinct categories such as soaps, detergents, shampoos, skin care, toothpastes, deodorants, cosmetics, tea, coffee, packaged foods, ice cream, and water purifiers, the Company is a part of the everyday life of millions of consumers across India. Its portfolio includes leading household brands such as Lux, Lifebuoy, Surf Excel, Wheel, Fair & Lovely, Pond’s, Vaseline, Lakmé, Dove, Clinic Plus, Sunsilk, Pepsodent, Closeup, etc.

The Company has about 18,000 employees and has sales of INR 37660 crores (financial year 2018-19). HUL is a subsidiary of Unilever, one of the world’s leading suppliers of Food, Home Care, Personal Care and Refreshment products with sales in over 190 countries and an annual sales turnover of €51 billion in 2018. Unilever has over 67% shareholding in HUL.

The Brand –Dove

Unilever was established in 1930 and since that time, the brands introduced by Unilever are attaining the leading position in the International markets. Among all those brands by Unilever, Dove is one of the most famous brands in the consumer industry and they use Dove daily for their skincare and hair care. There is a wide range of brands of Dove including soap bars, face washes, shampoos, conditioners, deodorants, moisturizing creams etc. that are used in 1 in 3 houses all over the world.

Unilever’s brand name used for many years on toilet soap became so successful its name was extended to other products. However, being the consumers’ best choice, Dove is enjoying the leading position in the market with the largest market shares in 75 countries and is a 2.5 billion Euros brand. The goals of Dove brands are to comply with the needs of the consumers all over the world and to work together in effective manner to adopt the advanced ideas while working out on the existing ones.

Dove is a personal care brand owned by Unilever. Dove products are manufactured in Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, Germany, India, Ireland, Netherlands, Thailand, Turkey and United States. The products are sold in more than 35 countries and are offered for both women and men. The Dove trademark and brand name is currently owned by Unilever. Dove’s logo is a silhouette profile of the brand’s namesake bird, the color of which often varies. Products include: antiperspirants/deodorants, body washes, beauty bars, lotions/moisturizers, hair care, and facial care products.

The major competitors of Dove brands are Palmolive by Colgate-Palmolive and Ivory and Oil of Olay by P&G, but Dove is still at the top because of the consumers’ confidence in it, its best quality and curative advantages that keep the skin moist and beautiful and hair healthy and shiny by the advanced formulae of ¼ moisturizing cream, conditioners, vitamin B5, Vitamin E and nutrients used in Dove brands that also helps for the aged people to keep their skin protected from wrinkles.

Hence the success of Dove brands is attributed to just one thing that Unilever goes extra miles to give the loyal consumers high-quality, competitive products and services

The products under the brand Dove can be listed under the following heads

Shampoos and Conditioners

• Dove intense repair
• Dove hair fall rescue
• Dove daily shine
• Dove dryness care
• Dove dandruff care
• Hair Treatments
• Heat defense mist
• Intensive repair overnight mask
• Intensive repair regenerating mask
• Body lotions
• Essential nourishment
• Go fresh nourishment
• Indulgent nourishment
• Bar and body wash
• Crème
• Fresh moisture
• Gentle exfoliating
• Antiperspirants
• Original
• Silk dry
• Clear Touch anti-white marks

The gathered data is then processed, analyzed and interpreted in a systematic and objective fashion to understand what reasons influence the loyalty of the consumers being studied towards the brand.

Analysis of the results

The survey was undertaken on customers of Dove products and 60% of the respondents rated Dove positive in terms of quality which indicates that a majority of the consumer base uses Dove products because of the quality it provides to them. In addition to this a good 48% people think that it is a good value for money brand and the amount that they pay for the products gives them the kind of satisfaction they require out the products they buy.

Also 50% of the people surveyed believe that the products are different in terms of quality as compared to other brands providing similar kind of products. This number reinforces the results of question number 1 in which people rate Dove positive in terms of quality and therefore we can say that as far as quality is concerned Dove as a brand has an affirmative image in the minds of its users . Looking at the results of question number four we can see that more than 50% percent of the people feel that their family members also value the brand, the brand suits them, the brand is trustworthy and credible, they will spread positive word about the brand. These results insinuate that the users as well as peers value the brand highly they trust the brand and are readily willing to recommend it to other people.

They think that the brand suits them and no other brand available in the market is able to satisfy them then way Dove does. On the other hand people don’t feel that Dove products are any different from their competitors, this can mean that people use the products just for the fact that it satisfies their needs and is a good value for money but incase some competitor launches products that is perceived better than Dove products it is possible that the customers might switch to the competitors products.

Also, from looking at the responses of question number 6 through 9 we can say that a major chunk of the people surveyed regularly buy Dove products and other things being equal people are most likely to repurchase the brand even if the brand increases price, there is a stock out situation or even if a competitors lowers his price or comes up with similar lower priced products people are loyal enough to stick to the brand. However, when consumers were asked about whether Dove products were better than its competitors only a small percentage of 18% agreed to it, this means although people are highly satisfied with the quality of products they still don’t find other brands inferior.

Findings and recommendations

Similar to any other brand’s customers Dove’s customers also fall in various consumer categories, which are explained below along with the percentage in each category:

1. Hardcore loyal: These are those customers which are satisfied with the brand will not switch to other brands in any situation. In Dove’s case this percentage is close to 30 percent.
2. Switching loyal: This is that category in which people are not emotionally attached to the product and if they feel that there is a brand which is better in terms of quality they will switch to the other brand in no time. But if they find that the second product is not living upto there expectations than they might switch back to the first product again. In Dove’s case this percentage is a 26 percent. This is a segment that Dove really needs to work upon and turn them into hardcore loyal.
3. Not loyal: This is category which is not loyal at all and is more than ready to switch to other brands in case of a fall in the price of other brands. These people are very price sensitive and are using dove just because it suits them and is easy on their pocket. The percentage of this category for Dove is a whopping 28%. For these people the brand does not need to bother much because they are price sensitive and will not stick to the brand in any way except lowering the price.

Overall the brand enjoys a fairly good reputation in the minds of the customers and the customers feel that it’s a value for money brand that gives them great benefits and enough satisfaction. The survey concludes that Dove has a strong loyal customer base but at the same time it also has a segment of customers which are price sensitive and not loyal in the true sense, therefore it should make constant efforts to retain the customers it already has and make efforts to turn the not so loyal switchers into hardcore loyal.

International Customers’ Loyalty Behaviour Towards Indian Textile Industry

Abstract

This research is all about to study the international customers’ loyalty behaviour towards Indian textile industry. When it comes to loyalty a customer becomes a frequent buyer. An international customer who can buy the textile products in India frequently and stand loyal to a brand matters more for a company to enter an international market. Their preferences and needs could be brought out in this research and the steps that a company can adopt to fight the competition in textile industry. In today scenario, every company wants to remain in the market and fight the competition. So, every company should know what are the needs and wants of the customers’ in the international market. It is very important industry or brand to know the product preferences by the customer on which factor and basis. This research is carried by using primary data in the form of a questionnaire.

INTRODUCTION

The need to know the loyalty of a customer in an international market has a dozen of factors contributing to the success or failure of a business, customer satisfaction is one of them. It’s important to track the factors influencing and work on improving it in order to make the customers more loyal and eventually turn them into brand ambassadors.

When it comes to buying behaviour, it differs from person to person and their preferences differ accordingly. A company must be very clean to know the needs of a customer. International customers who buy the products from Indian textile industry are taken as samples.

LITERATURE REVIEW

When it comes to customer loyalty towards textile industry it could be validated on two attributes including customer satisfaction and the factors influencing to buy the textile products from India. A study by Jiana Daikh (2015) states the relationship between customer satisfaction and customers loyalty that influences how the customers expect from the market. Their needs and wants are analysed. Pearl Fafa Bansah and Michael Dabi (2015) studied the effect of branding on customers buying behaviour among textile. The aspects of brand equity, notably brand awareness, brand loyalty and brand image play a vital role.

Zhuoling Shi and Yanqi Yu (2013) says understanding the customer satisfaction and having a plan for how to improve the customer satisfaction is key aspect for enterprise to think about. Hossein Bodaghi Khajeh and Reza Rostamzadesh (2018) says the impact of customer satisfaction, customer experience and customer loyalty on brand power.

Jorge Arenas Gaitan (2019) to understand the consumer behaviour from the marketing perspective a brand must be able to build a strong network with the company. Jimmy Rodriguez (2019) Takes a deeper dive into the concept of satisfaction versus loyalty, including different ways to measure both. The effectiveness of an Indian textile industry can happen only when a company can understand the international customers towards their needs and wants.

OBJECTIVES

• To study on International customers’ loyalty behaviour.
• To find the level of satisfaction in Indian textile industry.
• To know the factors affecting the International customers towards buying behaviour.

HYPOTHESIS

1. There is relationship between the product attributes and the level of satisfaction by customers.
2. There is relationship between the factors that influence a customer to buy Indian textile products.
3. There is relationship between price and quality of an Indian textile product.
4. There is relationship between the satisfaction level and problem faced by customers using Indian products.
5. There exists brand loyalty in customers to buy more Indian textile products in future.

METHODOLOGY

The research was a primary research with the sample size of 150 customers from various countries. These customers are the ones to buy the textile products from the Indian textile industry. A structured questionnaire was used for this study.

Descriptive statistics was used to analyse the responses.

DISCUSSION

The primary data was collected and the results of the questionnaire were statistically analysed. The research showed that the respondents were from different countries. The tool used to analyse the data was frequency analysis. The total sample size was 150 international customers and the respondents is of 114. This analysis shows how the international customers stay loyal to the Indian textile industry. The brand loyalty could be found only when the level of customer satisfaction is measured. It also includes the years of association with an Indian textile company oh how the international customer is benefited.

The age of most of the respondents were within the age of 21 to 40 years. The average 79 percent of the respondents were in the age group of 21 to 35 years. The respondents of which 68 customers were male and 46 were female. In the customers surveyed the 71% of the customers were graduated and lead their profession as a Manager or own business. The Indian textile industry were found to be run with a greater number of loyal customers having more than 1year or above 5 years of association with a brand in India. There is a total of 114 respondents from various country’s using the Indian textile products.

Customer Satisfaction

Through this the loyalty of a customer could be defined. When it comes to design 84% of the international customers are highly satisfied with the design produced by the Indian textile industry. 66% of the international customers are satisfied with the variety produced by the Indian textile industry. 70% of the international customers are highly satisfied with the quality produced by the Indian textile industry. 53% of the international customers are satisfied with the price range offered by the Indian textile industry. 63% of the international customers are highly satisfied with the comfort of material produced by the Indian textile industry. 50% of the international customers are satisfied with the durability of material produced by the Indian textile industry. 45% of the international customers are satisfied with the product packaging by the Indian textile industry.44% of the international customers are satisfied with the availability of material by the Indian textile industry. Loyalty starts only when a company could satisfy a customer.

Factors Influencing Buying behaviour

Brand loyalty could also depend on the factor that influences the International customer to but the product from the Indian textile industry. Most of the customers are influenced by quality almost 87% of the customers are highly influenced by the quality produced by Indian textile industry. 50% of the customers are highly influenced by the colour produced by Indian textile industry. 46% of the customers are influenced by the brand image gained by an Indian textile industry. 64% of the customers are highly influenced by the design produced by Indian textile industry. 50% of the customers are influenced by on time delivery by Indian textile industry. 43% of the customers are influenced by the discounts offered by Indian textile industry. 43% of the customers are influenced by the advertisements done by Indian textile industry. 42% of the customers are highly influenced by their status to buy a product from an Indian textile industry. 48% of the customers are highly influenced by their family to buy an Indian textile product. 50% of the customers are influenced by relatives & peer to buy the product produced by Indian textile industry.

Price for best quality

The expectation of an international customer to compromise price for quality. Majority of 97 respondents are ready to pay higher price for quality. The Indian textile sectors on Handloom and Power loom are made more precise with quality. International customers are ready to pay more if the quality of the product is very satisfactory. Most of the companies focus more on the quality, variety and durability of a product. The expectation of an Indian customer is different from an international customer. Their needs and wants are to be found and analysed so that a company can stand in a long run in an international market.

Problem faced using Indian Textile products

107 respondents haven’t faced any problem buying the Indian textile products. This is a clear sign to know the Indian textile industry is performing well in the international market. This will boost the loyalty level of customers in the international level towards the Indian textile industry. Reason is if an Indian textile industry can produce a product that can satisfy the international market. The international customers loyalty towards Indian textile industry can mark up.

Future purchases in India

The respondents responses on how the international customers future purchases will be from the textile industries in India. Majority of the respondents are likely to buy the Indian textile products always which is around 39. 38 respondents are likely to buy the Indian textile products often. 22 respondents are likely to buy the Indian textile products Sometimes. To increase the count the Indian textile industry should improve the strategy followed in the international market to be more effective. Thus gaining to more international customers and to give a full percentage of international customer satisfaction.

CONCLUSION

The competition in every textile industry is getting fiercer. Even minor differences and preferences between shoppers are becoming important for firms to improve their efforts to get target their consumers. According to the literatures there are many factors influencing the buying behaviour of consumers, satisfaction. The brand loyalty of a customer entirely depends if the Indian textile industry continues to meets the international customers’ needs and wants. This shows that it requires a lot of scope for further research in the same direction related to the factors affecting customers buying behaviour. The brand loyalty of a customer could be measured on a continuous scale. This helps the Indian textile industry to know their market place and act according to sustain in a long run in the international market.

References

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16. Factors Affecting Consumer Preference of International Brands over Local Brands: Zeenat Ismail, Sarah Masood and Zainab Mehmood Tawab: 2012 2nd International Conference on Social Science and Humanity IPEDR vol.31 (2012) © (2012) IACSIT Press, Singapore.

Consumer Behavior In Bhutan

Bhutan is not very popular in business world but still there is process of purchase taking place. The purchases are not done so much in detailed by Bhutanese consumers according to my observation. This model is a psychological and a sociological model as it shows about the consumer need and the purchase behavior influence by the family, friend and other environment. So, the above model developed shows and explains how Bhutanese consumers purchase products along with the steps they involve in for making the decision of purchasing final products. Before decision making process by the consumers, marketers should study about the consumer behavior of what are consumer prefer, how they choose and under what criteria do they make a decision to purchase the product. There can be consumer with personality like social character, sensation seeking, exploratory purchaser and need for uniqueness consumers. So all this personality types will be stimulated to purchase the product in different ways. Consumer materialism is also type of consumer behavior trait which means importance a consumer places on the acquisition and possession of material objects.

Inputs

Inputs is a source of information about a particular product which stimuli’s consumer with the attributes and features of a particular product. In the above model it is shown that Bhutanese consumers are stimulated and triggered mostly by price of the goods, quality of the goods and availability of goods in the market in terms of significance and in terms of social, they are influenced by family members, friends while talking about the product and society where they live. The flow of information from advertisement and social media also influences them to make a purchase. The feedback information also influences the consumer to purchase a product.

Information process

When the consumer is being stimulated to purchase, they starts the information process under which there is certain steps of information processed. Firstly, the information will exposed to the consumer about the product and then next the information will be received by consumer but here consumer will give attention to the information he/she needed and will not give attention to other information. The consumer will look into different brands of those particular products and then will store all this information in their short term memory. This information process is being used by Bhutanese consumers in three levels of decision making that is extensive problem solving, limited problem solving and routinized problem solving.

In extensive problem solving consumer have no idea of any brands of that product or does not have any information about that product at all. For example, mother wants to buy shoes but she is not aware of any brand nor have any idea about the shoes. So in cases like this information process is very important. In limited problem solving, consumer has little knowledge about the product or brands but still search general information for better purchasing decision. For example, Tshering Dema wants to buy a new phone but she has limited information about the different brands of phone in the market. So in this case she will need to search for little more information but not too extensively.

Routinized problem solving is situation where consumer has information about brands and features of product for purchasing. The consumers have purchased before or have already had knowledge about the product. kinley purchasing football boots could be an example as in this case just a little information is required to be processed as Kinley knows base on what criteria should he purchased. Therefore, Bhutanese consumers undergo all the process of information in for all the levels of decision making as for better and unregretful purchase.

Decision process

After the information is being processed in the mind of consumers, the decision making process begin with following steps:

• Need recognition: The Bhutanese consumer is stimulated to buy because of a need or a motive within a consumers mind. The action to purchase will be stimulated by internal stimulus like hunger or by external stimulus like pretty shoes color in the shop. There are two types of state of need recognition that is desired state where other goods seems better than current one and actual state which means product is finishing its value or there is problem. Most Bhutanese consumers they recognize their needs in actual state.
• Pre purchase search: After the recognition of need, the consumer starts to search information about the product. The information is search on the product category of that product need to be purchased and different varieties and brands available. The information search will depend on the category available, times of purchases done and personality of the consumer. But Bhutanese consumer usually does not take brand in consideration as much like other countries consumers as they just look into quality and price the most with different categories. That’s why brand is not included in the model above. There are three types of search activity but Bhutanese consumers go for specific search for a specific product which will solve the problem and they purchase immediately.
• Evaluation of alternatives: under evaluation of alternatives there are different alternatives on certain criteria of a product like evoked set of generation of choice alternative which means particular brand a consumer want to purchase but it is not mentioned in the model as Bhutanese consumer most often go with the criteria like economic, social and behavioral. These criteria’s includes price, quality, personality, need and group influences which are being taken to evaluate the product by the Bhutanese consumers.

After the product is being evaluated, different decision rules are applied like compensatory rule which means positive attributes compensate the negative attributes. The second decision rule is non-compensatory rule where negative attributes are not compensated by positive attributes. This non compensatory rule have three rules under it that is conjunctive decision where if the cutoff point set is not fulfilled by one attribute then the category gets eliminated. The second rule is disjunctive whereby cutoff point achieved by one attributes also then it is selected. The last one is lexicographic decision rule whereby the attributes are ranked/ rearrange based on choice. Then the consumer compares various alternatives by taking particular attributes which is important and the highest scored category is selected at the end. Bhutanese consumer will not go into this process but some may follow. Bhutanese consumers purchases directly after evaluation or apply the compensatory rules only.

Purchase behavior

Purchase behavior of consumer in Bhutan can be of trial purchase and long term commitment purchase out of three types including repeat purchase. Trial purchase means consumer is buying the product for first time and purchases less quantity and Bhutanese people also buy the product which they have never bought before in less quantity as they think that product might be good or bad. So to experience, they purchase in less quantity. Long term commitment purchase means products like refrigerator are purchased to use for longer duration with long term commitment directly without a trial. The repeat purchase means consumer purchases same brand always; it is similar to brand loyalty. There are Bhutanese consumers who repeatedly purchase the same branded products always. This purchase behavior are done base on the motives of that products need, knowledge about the product and consumer resources which means income or budget that consumer have.

Post purchase evaluation

Post purchase Cognitive dissonance is like the feeling of tension and anxiety after the experiences of that product. This is the stage one in post purchase which is not experienced by most of the Bhutanese consumers or it is not included in the model but the second stage that is product usage and reaction can be applied to the Bhutanese consumer as after the purchase of the product and experience, there can be three reaction that are the expectation of consumer meets and consumer is satisfied, the expectation of consumer is exceeding and consumer is happy and satisfied and the expectation of consumer fails and consumer is angry , sad and unsatisfied. This is what happens with Bhutanese when they are in the stage of post purchase.

But if the consumer expectation fails or falls short then Bhutanese consumers go back to purchase behavior and again do a trial on different brand of similar product as show in the model with a blue arrow going up towards the purchase behavior. It’s said that Bhutanese consumer are lazy compared to other consumers so they will not go back till the information process and restart the search on product again from the beginning. The view of this Bhutanese consumer decision pattern could be economic view as Bhutanese consumer does not will to do a deep extensive search of information about the product. They are satisfied with satisfactory decision and they take decision keeping in mind the cost and benefit of the product.

So lastly, this model shows an input that influences Bhutanese consumers to purchase followed by the process of information applying to all the levels of decision making process. The decision making process is done with specific search activity. After that it’s followed by the output where by Bhutanese consumer experiences three different outcomes or result of decision after experiences. If the Bhutanese consumer is not satisfied they go back to purchase behavior and repeat the purchased rather than following whole process again. Therefore, the model shows how Bhutanese consumers make a purchase decision.

Reference

1. CONSUMER DECISION MAKING-PROCESS,MODELS,LEVELS,DECISION RULES. (2016). Retrieved from bbamantra: https://bbamantra.com/consumer-decision-making-process-models/
2. Richins, M. L. (n.d.). Consumer Materialism. Retrieved from https://www.researchgate.net/publication/230294036_Consumer_Materialism
3. Vijayrangan, H. (n.d.). Personality and consumer behavior. Retrieved from Slideshare: https://www.slideshare.net/mobile/hshvjy/personality-and-consumer-behavior-15719593
4. Wangpo, K. (n.d.). MKT202/SS-2020 Consumer Behaviour. Retrieved from Virtual Learning Environment: http://vle.gcbs.edu.bt/login/index.php

I Want It Now Concept

Executive Summary

The report analyzed one of the consumer trends – ‘I want it now’, discussing about the trend emergence in Australian market and the impact on consumer behaviour. Then, aiming at satisfying Australians’ hedonic needs and diminishing consumption resistance, an app – EfficAgency was developed to deliver fast party arrangement for those who were busy at work while they demanded full-service parties with no need to spend time on negotiating with agencies. Finally, brand archetype, Maslow’s hierarchy of needs and theory of planned behaviour were applied to analyze the impact that the app expected to have on the target consumers.

Overview

The trend “I WANT IT NOW” indicates the consumers are seeking a more efficient way in purchasing. Similarly, the trend also named “zero friction consumption”. In a word, they have less patience to wait for the parcel delivering, searching the product information and completing complex payment transaction. In fact, the retailers in Pacific-Asia area are losing US$325 billion due to not reducing the friction based on BCG report (Facebook IQ & BCG, pg. 4).

According to 2019 recent global trend research, consumers are increasingly turn to use application to get their life organized and save more time (Montgomery 2019). It indicates that consumer are not only switching their purchasing channel from in-store to online shopping, but also a transition from laptop to smart phone. Compare to use website browsing, smart phone is more portable and convenient for shopping anywhere and anytime. Furthermore, 41% consumers feel disappointed when they found product online but not available at stores (Facebook IQ & BCG, pg.11). Hence, consumers just place order online and get it delivered.

The zero friction shopping experience is also include post-purchase behavior. A positive or negative experience is worth sharing online and consumers are already got used to make a comment after each shopping. In addition, first-time consumers are also reviewing the comments online before making a purchase decision. Consumers would like to get an immediate response about their complaint and lack of seamless customer service results in reducing loyalty for customers. According to research, 66% has switched to competitor’s brand due to the failure of companies’ interaction (Facebook IQ & BCG, pg.16).

All in all, “I Want It Now” contains the efficient order products, simple payment method and quick customer service.

Unmet Needs & Opportunities to Fill the Gap

It is obvious that most of the super apps, which offered integrated functions and services, however, focus mainly on everyday needs, such as payment, communication, transportation and accommodation. Moreover, many services should still be shifted to third-party websites to complete customizing, booking and payment. Because these apps are adopting a partnership model with all other service providers gathered in one application (Women in Product Conference, 2018).

As for the offline physical store, Amazon Go could be a representative example of this trend. Using free checkout technology, Amazon Go has met the demand of the consumers preferring no waiting time at checkout when shop for homewares, food and other essentials of life. Hence, meeting the consumers’ needs by lining with the trend I Want it Now! for their utilitarian needs.

According to the Hofstede 6 cultural dimensions of Australia, Australians scored at 71 for indulgence which is well above the world average level (Hofstede Insights, 2019). This score indicates that Australian residents will not be hesitated to consume when they have desires of entertainment or leisure. To maintain and increase the level of indulgence, companies need to successfully capture the consumer’s behaviour and deliver their needs because it will thrive and escalate in the near future.

From a marketing perspective, there could be opportunities for evoking Australians’ hedonic needs to be fulfilled by providing convenience and speed of service delivery. According to Walmsley (2003), entertainment and leisure have been deeply embedded in the Australian lifestyle, which is why barbecue parties have become a national identity. As a result, the concept of facing the Australian market concerns about their ‘barbecue’ social lifestyle and diminishing the consumption resistance.

Current trend change consumer behaviour

“I Want It Now” is highly emphasis on efficiency-driven and time-saving. Nowadays, people are willing to spend more to save time especially the age group of 30-44 (Angus & Westbrook, 2017). Generation X gets the highest rate in all usage distribution (Hwong, 2018). Meanwhile, buying time increase happiness is also defined by recent research by Whillans et al. (2017). The hedonic need theory indicates that people are motivated to purchase more by positive emotion and remarkable experience. Reflecting the experiential hierarchy learning model, people are in a rush and have less patience waiting for the service or product to experience. They tend to spend more on convenience and efficiency; therefore, they learn to use one-step service to maximize ultimate convenience to avoid time costing.

Along with the continuous development of the trend, customers prefer using more of the mobile and mobile apps than via desktop to do their shopping. Based on the statistics from Clement (2019), approximately 40% of the total e-commerce transactions were taken on mobile in 2017. eMarketer (2019) predicts global e-commerce sales to hit $4.058 trillion by 2020, and there will be over 50% of traffic contributed by mobile transactions. It is obvious that desktop online shopping is now not sufficient to satisfy customers’ growing needs on the efficiency-driven lifestyle as well as the frictionless experience. Moreover, for the mobile website, some users still feel it is not convenient and feasible. Moth (2013) mentioned a survey from Compuware, 85% of consumers strongly preferring shopping in apps rather than mobile websites because the in-app shopping is more convenient by 55%; faster by 48% and easy to browse by 40% than the mobile website. This has lead to a significant shift from mobile websites to mobile apps by the consumer on e-commerce, giving rise to I Want it Now! trend as the consumers’ behaviour.

Mobile applications and media among the consumers have influenced their attitudes and behaviour during the shopping cycle (Shankar and Balasubramanian 2009, cited in Shankar et al., 2011). In 2008, Kraft launched an assistant application in the Apple App store where consumers can download over 7,000 different recipes and search ingredients promotion activities in their favourite stores (Shankar et al., 2011). This saves users time to collect recipes themselves, guarantees the use of recipes, and provides the best source of ingredients.

Insights identification

The research conducted by market research firm The Integer Group shows that many consumers choose to save time instead of money. Nearly one-third of shoppers described themselves as “more willing to spend more time to save time”. This is an increase from about one-fifth of last month. In addition, a survey of 1,200 adults showed that about 30% of consumers tend to pay for services immediately by credit, rather than waiting for future purchases. The figure has grown by about 10%, compared to last month. Most shoppers surveyed want service providers to give consumers more time to do other things (Convenience Store News, 2009).

Mobile applications and information services achieved rapid growth in 2011. Emerging services completed through mobile servers have been gradually put on the market. The result of customers transitioning from 2G to faster 3G, 4G networks, is the availability of mobile display technology that has spawned new and emerging services such as mobile video and mobile purchasing. Operators have introduced data usage and billing models to achieve a win-win situation between consumers and service providers (Beverly, 2011).

The need of mobile applications arises because consumers are willing to reduce waiting time of purchase, especially middle-aged consumers pursue the efficiency-driven lifestyle (Euromonitor International, 2019). About 50% of consumers in this segment consider time value preferable to monetary value, expecting to spend money on products and services to save time (Euromonitor International’s Lifestyles Survey, 2017, cited in Euromonitor International, 2019). This motivation pulls consumers to look for apps that could provide quick services, especially an app with multiple functions. Whether an application is able to save time is a necessary condition for building loyalty in their perception.

The Business Idea

For the trend: I Want It Now!, if someone may desire to hold a dinner party tonight for a group of people while there is not enough time and energy to either prepared everything or to make the booking from an agency, an app called EfficAgency can offer a quick party and activities arrangement, fulfilling customers’ needs by just moving their fingers and selecting the requirements of the event they desire is all that they ‘Want It Now’.

Our Brand EfficAgency specifically provides the quickest event arrangement to reduce the redundancy of the event planning and one-step express service from planning to implementation in the form of a mobile application. Customers can skip searching procedures including the party renting, decorating, food preparing and cleaning by using the app, they can have more time focusing on family fun or enjoy the wonderful moment with friends, colleagues and family.

Segmentation & Target Audience

The multivariate segmentation will mostly be based on psychological and behavioural characteristics, and also give consideration that consumers seek for. The first identified group is business commuters. They stand for the Gen X who aged between 34-55. They have intensive work every day, therefore, when they have the desire to hold private parties and business receptions, they hardly have enough time to plan and prepare. Geographically they commonly live in urban city areas. They earn at least $45,000 income annually. Also, the value they emphasize is high quality food and service because they could show their social status when served by us.

The second potential group is social butterflies mostly referring to Gen Y aged between 23-33. They are quite sociable and have built strong network with people from different backgrounds. They are club/bar lovers; however, these places could not meet their needs they require thematic and private activities in one day. Social butterflies could party with the people they just meet, then it will be very time-consuming for them to look for suitable party places in a short time. Compared to business commuters, they have lower annual wage at approximately $35,000 while they seek for entertainment and interactivity as the key values. According to a lifestyle survey, people ageing 30 to 50 years cherish more on-time premium and willing to spend to save their time from their busy lifestyle (Angus & Westbrook, 2017, p. 58). Combing with the segmentation, the business commuters are more worthwhile to be the target audience.

Positioning

EfficAgency provides instant services to the customers on arranging the upcoming events, providing them with the best option for timesaving, convenient, fast delivered, and easy to use the mobile application. A brand mantra for EfficAgency could be defined as the instant group pleasure.

Differentiation

EfficAgency differentiates itself by providing an effective, stress-free and anytime arrangement. The competitors in Australian market, are service agency stores with scope of service limited to large-scale and formal events or conferences. Also, these agencies only allows for phone bookings and in-store communication, bringing delay and inconvenience. Meanwhile, EfficAgency focuses on arranging small to medium events and private parties. Therefore, efficiency and ease of usage are the distinctive attributes that make the app unique and meet the consumers’ instant demands. The comprehensive activity plans and service become the superior benefits for consumers. Last but not lease, the price is affordable for most Australians.

7 P’s

Product

EfficAgency is our user-friendly mobile application, providing event arrangements based on consumers’ personal preferences. With just one app Using installed, customers can save time on planning,

Price

The price will be varied for each order. EfficAgency will maintain long-term operating with renting, restaurant and cleaning companies, so the customers will pay the comparatively low price for entire costs. Besides, the monetary strategy is charging 15% of the total costs for arrangement service and another 15% surcharging for express delivery.

Place

We will realize virtual and realistic interaction through a mobile application platform with service information on it. The staff will help book and complete the order at the customers’ required venues such as their courtyards, parks, and activity centres.

Promotion

We will adopt integrated marketing communications strategy. Photos with saturated colours that express a pleasant experience of participants will be posted to social media with the goal of increasing awareness of the app. This sensory marketing approach could draw consumers’ attention. In addition, some key opinion leaders will be our spokespersons on social media and share their recreational and hedonic experience with consumers, which deepens the impression and likability. Besides, some coupons would be issued on streets for trial purchases and to current users for increasing repeat rate after purchases.

People

Process

Physical Evidence

A user-friendly layout mobile application with a platform is compatible with IOS and Android. The company will provide equipment, and friendly staff will organise it. No warehouse needed.

Impacts on consumer behaviour

In the long-term development perspective, the brand should develop a competence-based brand personality as the service is trustworthy to be consumed repeatedly and the delivery-arrangement-cleaning process is efficient. The brand archetype could be established as a magician. No matter how challenging the arrangement is, our intimate service will always put your request in priority and be considerate about every single detail, so the activities can be well-organised definitely. This brand image would help to create more positive associations for consumers and further increase the number of loyal users in the service market.

This business idea will also impact consumer behaviour based on Maslow’s hierarchy theory. Firstly, beyond physical settings and food, the event service can meet the affiliation need by facilitating relationships between customer and their friend. Ego needs is satisfied since the customers have power to be a host and well-served. During this process, they feel being respected and show their status. Most importantly, enriching their experiences through bringing the feelings of excitement, fantasies and leisure also satisfies the hedonic need.

The app is expected to develop an observational learning process to their potential customers, especially those guests who attend the parties. They observe that finding EfficAgency to hold and organize parties is actually extremely convenient and time-saving. They may ask the host for the company’s information after experiencing the great service, they will remember the benefits of making deal thought the event arrange app and finally imitate this action on ordering when he or she is needed. Moreover, remarkable party experience can increase the customers’ brand loyalty and further contributes to brand equity. Word-of-mouth could also possibly to be emerged and accelerate the decision of the potential customers to have their first order. At least, it can become one of the brands in their associated network, an evoked set, when they want to arrange an event.

Importantly, the company aims to maximise their long-term sustainable social, environmental and financial growth, therefore it will follow the triple-bottom-line and weight people, planet and profit equally. It promotes green marketing and to take their corporate social responsibility when doing their business. For instance, the company will reject using any disposable dishware in all the events，which will influence the consumers when they make their purchasing decision in the future, and companies can gain goodwill and sales from the consumers with consciousness of environmental protection.

Evaluating Expectations And Pre-consumption Experience In Varda Spa

According to Olive (1981b, p. 33), the customer expectations is as an assessment standard to evaluate what will be happening in the imminent transaction. It is clear that customer expectation is their feeling of expectancy about a service or product, which is one of the most important things that companies should concern. Specifically, before having massage experience, expectation is created by connecting customers’ pre-experiences and knowledge with their expectation in their mind. Besides, it is necessary to get customers’ first impressions before their experiences to get their satisfaction. The competition of spa tourism is more and more increasing because of the rise of spas (Erfurt-Cooper & Cooper, 2009; Mintel, 2011). That is the reason why spa managers plan for the best strategies to have loyal customers as well as new customers. Therefore, to achieve customers’ requires, pre-consumption experience and expectations should be paid attention to so that companies can evaluate the satisfaction and dissatisfaction of their customers.

To get individual experience in spa tourism, our team had experience in Varda spa located in Bondi Road, Bondi, New South Wealth. Our team has five members and we all experienced in Varda spa as well as had different expectations before going to Varda, such as design, relaxing atmosphere, modern facilities, professional massage skills, customer service, unique massage therapy, etc. As Lin (2013) mentions, spa is one of the best destinations for needs of health tourism, aiming to reach the physical, mental, social, and spiritual health and wellbeing of customers. We also wished to experience unique massage therapy, which could help us feel relaxing, as well as refreshing. Besides, before doing massage, we also had pre-consumption experiences, which are our first impressions about Varda spa, including searching information, reviews on social networks, booking, communicating with the receptionist, using tea, and relaxing before the massage process. In general, most of the things are good except for the receptionist’s unfriendly attitude, making customers feel unwelcome and undervalued. In addition, lacking marketing channels to popular their spa reputation, and there was not much information and advertising for their program and massage packages when we arrived in the spa.(Do u think we should mention it?) Overall, our team still satisfied with our experience at the spa, but it did not exceed our expectations.

The competition or low prices for product service is no longer the most important in the hospitality industry to achieve success (Ryu et al., 2012). Nowadays, Ali and Amin (2014) indicated that customers have been looking for a relaxing experience and high expectations instead of just sacrifice atmosphere or poor services. Therefore, to satisfy the needs of customers, an outstanding service quality throughout an attractive physical environment, communication with staff need to be built. According to Lee and Jeong (2012), overall layout, design, decoration, and aesthetics are elements to decide the physical environment of a company. Take Varda spa as an example; we were all impressed with the beautifully-decorated design there. With the theme of elegance dwell, they use white as a main theme, conveying minimalist aesthetic and modern quality, which is highly suitable for the physical spa environment. We all felt pleasant and attracted to the spa’s decoration, which exceeded our expectations. Besides, in the hospitality term, emotion characteristics are considered as an essential element to achieve superior customer experience (Lin & Liang, 2011). Customer emotions could be divided into two types: positive (pleased, relaxed) and negative (nervous, annoyed) feelings. At Varda spa, before doing massage, we had a fantastic time to enjoy herbal foot bath and drink tea for relaxing, it is an excellent experience to get customers’ satisfaction. Besides, human interactions element is also one of the most important thing impacted on customer experience.

The way the receptionist communicated with our team made us feel unsatisfied and undervalued. In contrast, massage staff were very caring and informative. They provided us with advice on how to control and improve soft tissue conditions. They were cautious with the conditions such as neck and back pain, tendonitis, or postural strains that we would like to focus on. They were also professional in their massage skills, which made us feel really relax and comfortable.

Reference list

1. Ali, F., & Amin, M. (2014). The influence of physical environment on emotions, customer satisfaction and behavioural intentions in Chinese resort hotel industry. Journal for Global Business Advancement, 7(3), 249-266.Erfurt-Cooper, P., & Cooper, M. (2009). Health and wellness tourism: Spas and hot springs. Channel View Publications.
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3. Lin, J. and Liang, H. (2011) ‘The influence of service environments on customer emotion and service outcomes’, Managing Service Quality, Vol. 21, No. 4, pp.350–372.
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