Category: Consumer Behavior

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.

Abstract

The development of the web, revolutionized the thought of the conventional way of shopping. A buyer is not concerned about the timings or particular location of the stores; buyer can be active at essentially all the time and can buy anything from anywhere. The impact of electronic commerce (e-commerce) on obtainment, shopping, trade collaboration and client services as well as on conveyance of different services is so emotional that nearly exaction is influenced. As the online shopping is getting worthiness, it would be critical to know the shopper behavior towards the electronic commerce particularly online shopping. In this report, the recognition of the shopper with respect to the Online Shopping, the level of fulfillment of respondents who are utilizing Online Shopping is studied are distinguished employing a little study. The ponder conclude that Online advertising is fair starting to root itself within the trade world of INDIA since of which not all the products are accessible. Indeed popular brands put as it were specific things online and thus there are fewer choices accessible on the web. Since it’s a unused concept individuals are still not completely utilized to it since of which they feel awkward shopping online. They feel that the item would be altered with and the quality wouldn’t be the same. India may be a creating country where major chunk of its population live in provincial ranges and thus don’t have had to the web. By this a major parcel of the target advertises is misplaced. Individuals in India lean toward progressing to the shopping centers and looking, touching different things some time recently obtaining them. They are not very willing to provide upon shopping physically so indeed in the event that they have get to the web.

Introduction

The development of the web has changed the thought of the conventional way of shopping. A buyer is now not bound to opening times or particular areas of the retail outlets; he can end up dynamic at essentially any time and put and can buy items and services. The web gives a medium for communication and data exchange and the number of web users is expanding driving to the development of the online shopping trend. E-commerce is broadly considered as the buying and offering of items over the internet, but any exchange that’s completed exclusively through electronic measures can be considered as ecommerce. E-commerce is subdivided into three categories: business to business or B2B (Cisco), business to customer or B2C (Amazon), and consumer to customer or C2C (eBay) conjointly called electronic commerce. E-commerce is targeting the mass at time and is giving ultimate options to buyers which none other media can give. Few features make it more helpful for shopping, just like the capacity to see and buy the items any time, visualize their needs with the items, and examine items with other shoppers. Most of users tend to buy online because of its buying ease. Previously, the cost factor was considered but now ease of buying has replaced it. Now-a-days the most trending concept is of mobile commerce or M-commerce because of its utilities and cost benefits and recognizes that the exchanges may be conducted utilizing mobile phones, individual artificial assistants and other handheld gadgets that have Web access.

“There’s no question that mobile commerce is developing at a quick clip,” said e Advertiser foremost analyst Jeffrey Grau, creator of an imminent report on mobile buying. “And mobile acts as a motor of by and large e-commerce development, by changing over potential brick-and-mortar deals to digital deals as shoppers utilize their Smartphone’s whereas shopping in-store.” Presently, in order to have an effect on the buyers and being able to hold them in such a competitive and effortlessly open market, the primary step is to recognize the viewpoints that impact the clients while purchasing online. The issue here is that there are millions of individuals online at any time and almost each of them may be a potential client for a company that provides online retailing. And presently with the added ease and other benefits of m-commerce, that’s curious about offering its items online will need to constantly look for distinctive ways in which it can offer its services to the buyers.

E-Commerce

Electronic commerce (e-commerce) is buying and selling utilizing an electronic medium. It is accepting credit and payments over the net, doing banking exchanges utilizing the Web, selling commodities or data utilizing the World Wide Web and so on. Turban et al. characterize e-commerce as the method of buying, offering, exchanging, or trading items, services, and/or data through computer systems, counting the Web. A few analysts see e-commerce in terms of Web applications, such as the intranet, extranet, site, and mail. Others see e-commerce as a combination of trade forms and Web advances such as intuitive with clients and suppliers. Indeed in spite of the fact that there’s no agreement on the definition of e-commerce, there’s common understanding among analysts that the most components of e-commerce incorporate: site, e-mail, intranet, extranet, LAN and remote zone arrange (Faded). We have embraced the over definitions and portrayals of e-commerce.

Impact of Internet on Consumer Behavior

The impacts on shopper behavior are regularly made between outside and inside components. Outside components are come from the natural conditions; inner variables are ordinarily from the consumer’s intellect. There are numerous variables may impact consumer’s behaviors. Agreeing to Warner, the outside impacts might separate into five segments: Socioeconomics, socio-economics, innovation and open approach; culture; sub-culture; reference bunches; and promoting. The inner impacts are an assortment of mental forms, which incorporate states of mind, learning, recognition, inspiration, self image, and semiotics (Malcolm). In expansion to these, (N., 1983)also proposed that the customers have two sorts of thought processes while shopping, which is utilitarian and non-functional. The utilitarian thought processes are generally about the time, shopping place and consumer’s needs, which may well be like one-stop shopping to save time, the nature of shopping put such as free parking place, lower fetched of items and accessible to select from broadly run of items. The non-functional thought processes are more related to culture or social values, such as the brand title of the store. The conventional shopping is essentially about the client to buy their needs. This behavior will be impacted by the seller’s publicizing and promotion which draws in clients goes there and buys products, a short time later a portion of modern items will be taken home and be utilized.

Internet Shopping

Web shopping and conventional shopping are sharing numerous similitude’s, at the same time, it still exists a few contrasts between them, such as the Web shopping may give comfort and intuitively services, and the conventional shopping might allow clients more comfortable shopping environment and great quality of items (Lee K. and Chung N., 2000). Both viewpoints of shopping centers are attempting to progress their services by learning commutatively from each other, such as conventional shopping centers give more parking spaces, more counters, and closer to private region in arranges to progress services in comfort; Web shopping centers receive virtual reality and 3D methods to move forward the introduction of items.

Within the following areas, the study would give the nature of web shopping at, to begin with, at that point the E-commerce web location will be demonstrated to comprehend the substance of web shopping, after that, online security, protection, and belief will be talked about. All of these common outlines and talks approximately the web shopping will give a foundation to the think about and offer assistance to building the establishment of scholarly inquires about.

Convenience

Most of the clients and analyst found that web gives the most ease of buying online (Wolhandler, 1999). Due to the inclusion of Web, it permits the client to shop online anytime and anyplace, which implies clients can browse and shop online 24-hours a day, 7 days a week from home or office, which pulls in a few time-starved customers come to Web for save time to looking items in. Also, the Web offers a few great ways to save cash and time. For case, customers don’t require go out to the physical store and thus there’s no transportation fetched. Compare with the conventional shopping, there’s no waiting line for customers on the Web, and a few customers reported that they feel pressure from the deals individuals now and then, but Web offers them more pleasant while shopping online.

Technology

The comfort based on Web is primarily agreeing to the innovation improvement, and which plays a key part amid the advancement of Web shopping. Within the final decade, organizations have realized that the unused innovation seems to affect on Web shopping profoundly, and in this way, there are numerous imperative innovations like virtual reality and 3D procedures have embraced to pick up enormous competitive preferences (Clark, 1989). Information technology has utilized within the frame of the Web moved forward way better quality of item data, which offer assistance shopper’s choice making (White, 1997). Through the wide extent of studies almost the Web utilize, the development of Web and the rate of growth of Web utilization have been fast expanded within the final decade. Concurring to the BMRB Worldwide (2004) and GVU’s WWW 9th Client Studies (1998), the number of Web clients in Awesome Britain has expanded to 22.7 million among 48.4% of the grown-up populace and around 53% of web clients have detailed that shopping may be a essential utilize of the Internet. Additionally, a factual report on the Web Improvement in China from CNNIC (China Internet Network Data Middle) have released in July 2006. From this report, within the viewpoint of Web shopping, there are 30 million users often shopping online, and close 1/4 Web clients have online shopping encounter. Both studies appears that increasingly Web clients lean toward online payment while they shopping, in this way the security of online payment certainly will become a noteworthy figure to impact the Web shopping (Universal, 2004).

Consumer Trust in Internet Shopping

Individuals buy items and administrations are the foremost based on their level of belief in this item or services, and vendors either within the physical store or online shops. Online believe is the fundamental and basic component for building a relationship with clients. Present research appears that online belief is lower level than the face-to-face intuitive within the physical store, and the result appears that dependability of Web shipper (seen judgment, seen competence, and seen security control) and outside environment (third-party acknowledgment and lawful system) have an impressive effect on customer belief in Web shopping. The dependability of E-commerce web location is exceptionally depending on how much security can be given. For example, an exceedingly specialized competence can be a figure to impact the dependability. As said over that the net dealer can give third-party confirmation to E-commerce web location, and whereas this protection and security strategies are used, customers will think their E-commerce transactions through Internet are secure and thus the site is more reliable to them. Beside this point, if the Ecommerce web site can provide the information about their customer services, location of the office, contact telephone number, and a help button on the web site, customers could also increase their trustiness as they can feel that the online retailers is truly exist.

Literature Review

The Internet is a part of the day-to-day life of the majority of the world, and within this environment, a new form of communication has gained importance in recent years; Social networking sites. It is one of the most effective and significant business development tools in the 21st century because of its ability to connect individuals with others (Vinod S. chandwani & Dr. Shradha Bhome, 2004). Technology gives consumer the power to investigate products to label them and criticize them in equal measure, and more. Therefore many companies today have pages on social networks to complement the information held about products, held by the feedback of consumers about products and tend to relate more to a company after reading various reviews (Elisabeth Ioanas & Inova Stoica, 2014)

On an everyday premise in present-day, 100,000 tweets are sent, 684,478 pieces of substance are shared on Facebook, 2 million search questions are made on Google, 48 hours of video are transferred to YouTube, 3,600 photographs are shared on Instagram, and 571 websites are made (James 2012). Social media presented an unused, complex and wild component in buyer behavior displaying an unused challenge both to the scholarly community and the marketers (Atlaf, 2014). It is evident that now day, social media components are popular like Facebook and Twitter have got an attention to consumer markets. The results form collected data indicate that the social media has a significant impact on consumption behavior in Pakistan (Madni, 2014). Social media allows customers and prospects to communicate directly to your brand representative or about your brand with their friends. However, the obvious question is: who are the people interacting online and how engaged are they in online activities? (Simona Vinerean, Luliana Cetina, Luigi Dumitrescu & Mihai Tichinedelean, 2013). Social Media have given plenty of opportunities to consumers in adapting different aspects in life. Facebook, Twitter and Instagram have played significant roles in expanding consumers’ online purchases (Elham Al-Mukhaini, Israa Al-Dhuhli & Sara Ismael, 2013). As the usage o f the social media has become more popular, these tools are perceived as a source by consumers to search information about the products during their buying decision process (Ozer, 2012).

The growth of online social networks around the world has created a new place of interaction and communication among people. Individuals can share their knowledge, opinions, and experiences with one other due to the online social networks provided features and may have an impact on people’s behavior in terms of communication and purchasing (Ayda Darban, & Wei Li, 2012). The larger part of the populace nowadays may be a client of online shopping, and after the development of e-commerce, presently M-commerce is coming into the spotlight. Different ponders appear that m-commerce has numerous points of interest that make the consumers prefer m-commerce over e-commerce. Information mining could be a semi-automatic disclosure of designs, affiliations, changes, inconsistencies and factually noteworthy structures and occasions in information (Pahwa, 2015). As per the study results indicate that social media tools create a statistically significant difference on purchasing behaviors of consumers according to age groups and educational status of them (Ankara, 2013). A sample of social media users who are familiar with these online ads were drawn from a public university in Ghana. The findings reveal that social media users perceive online ads, especially pop-up ads as intrusive and ineffective. Also the study establishes that pop-up ads have little impact on the purchase behavior of social media users since a negative attitude has been formed towards pop-up ads. Based on the findings of the study, it is recommended, among other things, that advertisers should design pop-up ads that are user friendly and less intrusive (Le Wang, Lei Xu, Flora Ampiah, Xiaoshu Wang, 2014)

Conclusion

It is found that since online promoting may be an unused concept it’ll take time for individuals to believe these sorts of shopping exercises. At present individuals feel that there are major security concerns in online exchanges and don’t feel comfortable doing the shopping online. They feel that there are tall dangers of extortion and hoax in online commerce. Online promoting is fair starting to root itself within the trade world of INDIA since of which not all the items are accessible. Indeed popular brands put as it were particular things online and thus there are less choices accessible on the web. Since it’s a unused concept individuals are still not completely utilized to it since of which they feel awkward shopping online. They feel that the item would be altered with and the quality wouldn’t be the same. India may be a creating nation where major chunk of its populace live in country regions and subsequently don’t have got to the web. By this a major parcel of the target advertises is misplaced. Individuals in India favor reaching to the shopping centers and looking, touching different things before acquiring them. They are not very willing to give up on shopping physically so indeed in the event that they have access to the web.

References

1. Ankara, G. U. (2013). A Study on teh effects of social media on young consumers’ buying behaviors.
2. Atlaf, N. (2014). Impact of Social Media on Consumers Buying Decisions.
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4. Elham Al-Mukhaini, Israa Al-Dhuhli & Sara Ismael. (2013). Sultan Qaboos University College of Economics & Political Science.
5. Elisabeth Ioanas & Inova Stoica. (2014). Social Media and Its Impact on Conusmer Behavior.
6. International, B. (2004). BMRB International. London: Hadley /house.
7. Le Wang, Lei Xu, Flora Ampiah, Xiaoshu Wang. (2014). The Influenc of Pop-up Advertising on Consumer Purchasing Behavior.
8. Lee K. and Chung N. (2000). Effects of virtual reality-driven shopping mall and consumer’s purchase intention. Korean Management Review, 377-405.
9. Madni, G. R. (2014). Consumer’s Behavior and Effectiveness of Social Media.
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11. Ozer, S. (2012). Comsumer buying decision making in new era. Ireland: National College of Ireland .
12. Pahwa, B. (2015). Data mining and consumer buying behavior. International conference on technologies for sustainability – Engineering, Information Technology, Managemetn and Environment.
13. Simona Vinerean, Luliana Cetina, Luigi Dumitrescu & Mihai Tichinedelean. (2013). Social media marketing. International Journal of Business and Management.
14. Vinod S. chandwani & Dr. Shradha Bhome. (2004). A study on impact of social networks on consumer behavior.

INTRODUCTION

Samsung is a South Korean conglomerate headquartered in Samsung Town, Seoul. It comprises of numerous businesses under the umbrella brand of Samsung. It was initially started as a trading company but has diversified into other sectors through the years. Samsung has been consistently successful in satisfying customer needs through its varied range of products and services.

The company generates revenues through three major business units: information technology and mobile communications (IM), consumer electronics (CE) and device solutions (DS). The IM division generated the most revenue and the DS division was the most profitable business unit. As of 2016, Samsung was the world’s second largest information technology company by revenue after Apple Inc. Samsung was also considered as one of the most valuable brands in the world.

Samsung is a fast responder to market and consumer needs and it can observed in their product diversification. The company has a broad product line which cater to different customer segments. Samsung’s flagship Galaxy S and Galaxy Note lines are the company’s high-end premium segment offerings with a focus on innovation and higher perceived brand value. The Galaxy J series and A series are the lower end units.

Samsung has been a market leader in India for over a decade. Since Apple launched its first ever smart phone in 2007, Chinese and Korean companies started to copy the technology and Samsung was the first one in doing so. Being a fast follower and an innovative company, Samsung was able to well establish itself in the smartphone category. It soon became the market leader with a 28% market share in India.

In the recent years, due to immense competition from rivals like Oppo, Xioami, Vivo, OnePlus and Motorola, Samsung’s profits have begun to decline and it has started to lose market share. In the high end segment, Samsung has tough competition from OnePlus and Apple and in the low end segment, it has competition from Oppo, Vivo and Xiaomi.

A major reason for this decline is the offerings made by these new brands. New startups like OnePlus, Xiaomi,Vivo and Oppo have started to sell good quality phones at cheaper price points. With the increasing awareness about these brands, the demand for them is also increasing. This has led to Samsung losing its market share to new entrants.

INDUSTRY OVERVIEW

The smartphone industry is one of the most competitive markets in the world. According to the International Data Corporation, shipments in India grew by an estimated 11% to about 150 million units. The growth is expected to be at 12% in 2019. The Indian smart phone industry accounts for more than 10% of the global market. The number of smartphone users in India is estimated to increase to 442.5 million by 2022.The smartphone industry has a lot of players catering to different market segments through different product lines.

Xiaomi was the market leader in the category for the entire year with a market share of 30% and 41 million units were shipped. India is now the biggest market for Xiaomi worldwide. Samsung which was ahead of Xiaomi in 2017 slipped to the second position with a market share of 25.8%. The decline in the Chinese smartphone market has made India a major destination for the Chinese companies. Other leading Chinese counterparts like Vivo and Oppo are in the third and fourth place and have been steady in this position. The smartphone industry is dependent on e-commerce for its shipments and deliveries. The new foreign direct investment policies in India, may lead to slower market development.

In the higher end segment, Samsung has tough competition from Apple and OnePlus. The Chinese smartphone manufacturer surpassed Samsung and Apple to become the fastest growing premium phone in India in 2018. It captured 40% market share in the premium segment. This remarkable growth was driven by the record shipments of OnePlus 6. Samsung captured a 34% market share with its S9 but Apple saw a decline and reached its lowest ever share of 14%. This was due to the decline in the shipments of iPhone 8 and X series. OnePlus came up with an innovative strategy to capture the customer’s attention through its word of mouth reference from its existing users and also effectively leveraged social media.

LITERATURE REVIEW

A study conducted by the Mediterranean Journal of Social sciences suggested that six major factors affect the buying patterns of smartphones. Price, social group, product features, brand name, durability and after sales services. A major deciding factor is consumer value price. Consumers buy phones that offer the best features at the lowest price. Consumer behaviour is influenced by two factors- individual and environmental. The individual factors include demographics, perception, motivation, personality, beliefs and life styles. The environmental factors include the culture, social values, reference group and family. India is a developing country and smartphone penetration has grown rapidly since 2010. A large number of national and international firms have invested in this market.

Another article published in the International Journal of Current Advanced Research studies the factors affecting smartphone purchase in Dehradun, India. Most of the employed people with income levels less than 2 lakhs are interested in getting updated with the latest technology. Most of them use their phones for basic calls, messages, camera and for other entertainment purposes. Features like display, camera, memory and battery capacity are considered highly important by more than 80% of the users. Most of them stay loyal to a brand until there is no glitch in the phone. A majority of them are open to trying new brands that offer better features at a lower price point but would prefer known brands if price-feature mix is similar.

The factors are both internal and external. The product, features, prices are not the only deciding factors but other factors like brand perception, loyalty, peer group, social status and lifestyle also influence the buying pattern. Samsung has seen high loyalty among the middle-aged and older aged segments and also caters to their life style and social status through their high-end devices. On the contrary students and young working professionals are more influenced by their peers and phone features play a major role in decision making. With the advent of technology and increasing importance of e-commerce sites, consumers have many portals to gain knowledge about the sector. Various views, opinions and reviews are taken into consideration before making a purchase.

EXTERNAL INFLUENCES

Culture is the beliefs of human societies and their roles, behaviour, values, traditions and customs. During depth interviews conducted it surfaced that Indian consumers look for value for money and hence prefer best quality available at the lowest price. These consumers also consider the resale value and the availability and cost of components. They value warranty and after sale service.

Demographic- Consumers are influenced by their life cycle stage. Young professionals are in a good economic circumstance and hence they prefer to spend more money on a Smartphone. Young population from economically weak background buy products that they can afford whilst saving aside some from their salary. Youngsters these days want latest technology available at the lowest price and this has affected their buying behaviour as well. They are automatically attracted towards attractive things and smart phones are the attraction of modern age. The older population however try to get the best at the lowest price and prefer trusted brands even if they have to compromise on features. ocial status

Social class of a consumer is identified by a wide set of variables which includes income, profession, wealth, education and family background. Group of people share similar social and economic condition. Hence, social class has a powerful impact on consumer’s purchase Intention. Society is classified into seven different groups- upper uppers, lower uppers, upper middles, lower middles, working class, upper lowers and lower lowers.

Being a part of society, every individual wants to be recognized and belong to a group and hence make purchase decisions accordingly.

Reference group and Family- From the depth interviews conducted, for male participants it seemed that social factors didn’t affect them much in purchasing their Smartphone. Most of them agreed that they made independent decisions while buying their smart phones. They just checked the features of the Smartphone in the internet or the stores and made their final decision independently. Just opposite to male participants, most female participants agreed that their decisions were influence by their friends and family. For older generation, mostly the children were the decision makers.

Marketing activities have influenced buying decisions to a great extent. However, the well-informed tech savvy generation prefer to ensure the marketing claims to be correct. Features such as look, camera quality, display, battery backup are the most sort out features and hence brands capitalizing on them have successfully been able to attract customers increasing their brand recall. Slice of life advertising has also helped them capture consumer’s attention.

INTERNAL INFLUENCES

Perception refers to the different ways in which an individual can sense external information Smartphones in general are perceived to be highly essential these days and are also considered to fulfil the social needs of people. Consumers perceive smartphones as a status symbol. In the case of Samsung, the higher end phones are perceived to be high quality but there are different perceptions about the mid range and lower end devices. Young individuals perceive the low end phones to be not value for money.

Motivation- A need turns into motivation when there is sufficient level of intensity. Motivation can lead to goal-oriented behaviour. In the case of smartphones, high end smartphones are aspirations of many people, especially youngsters. With everyone in the society owning a smartphone, it becomes a necessity thus leading to motivation to own one.

Personality encompasses a person’s traits. People usually buy products to enhance how they feel about themselves and communicate the same to the outside world. Smartphones are also products that can help explain a person’s traits. People tend to associate themselves with the traits of the smartphone. For example, iPhone is considered to be extravagant and innovative and people tend to associate themselves to these traits of the product.

Attitude is a way of thinking. Attitude in case of smartphones can be related to usage of the phone. Various consumers have different notions about smartphones. For few they are mere entertainment devices and for few they are personal assistants that are needed on a regular basis. A majority of the users use it for calling, messaging and entertainment purposes. Few use it for office related work.

METHODOLOGY

Before proceeding on to data collection, it was vital to decide the type of study to be undertaken to analyse the opinions and perceptions of the consumers. We decided to proceed with Qualitative data analysis to capture varied perceptions and opinions among different categories of consumers. We have followed a step wise approach to collect primary data and analyse it to gather insights

1. Defining target respondents

Samsung phones are used by customers from various demographics and psychographics. Users, non-users and lapsers were considered for the study. In order to understand the perception of different kinds of customers, users were categorized based on demographics (Income, age and gender) as follows-

• (a) Low Income –women- housewives or working (>25 years)
• (b) Low Income- men -working (>25 years)
• (c) High Income – men – students/young working professionals (18-30 years)
• (d) High income- men- workin g (>30 years)
• (e) High income – women – students /young working professionals (18-30 years)
• (f) High income- women -working/ housewives (>30years)

Both Samsung and non Samsung users were interviewed.

2. Data collection

Both primary and secondary data was collected for the study. After defining the required target respondents we approached one or more customers from each of the defined segments to understand their perception about smartphones. Nearly 20 customers who were both Samsung and non Samsung users were interviewed. Some of the below mentioned aspects were covered while interviewing the respondents.

• Current phone owned by them
• Major features that they look for while purchasing a phone.
• Influencers while making a purchase.
• Major functionalities used in the phone
• Perception about Samsung and other competitors like Vivo, Oppo, Xiaomi, Apple.
• If Samsung users, then the feature that makes them repurchase the brand again.

Respondents were also asked various questions based on the answers given by them.

3. Analysing the data collected

The recordings that were collected from the field were transcribed to text to analyse the patterns. Keywords mentioned by the respondents was coded to summarize the data and make it easier for analysis. The below graph shows importance of each feature while purchasing a phone. (20 respondents were interviewed)

4. Insights:

The following insights were recorded using deductive reasoning technique

• Majority of the smartphone users in the above 35 age category with high disposable incomes have been using either Samsung or iPhone for a very long time.
• Majority of the women above 40 years and men above 50 years of age and with high or medium disposable incomes have been brand loyalists of Samsung and would prefer to continue with the brand.
• Very few in the above-mentioned categories are aware of other brands and their purchase decisions are influenced by family (mostly children), friends, online reviews or reviews by store owners.
• Among the low-income groups, price point is a major concern. Customers buy phones that offer maximum features at the lowest possible price point. Brand loyalty in this case is very low. Awareness about others brands is less and purchase intention is heavily based on reviews by peers or store owners.
• Majority of the young working professionals with higher disposable incomes, prefer phones with good quality, specifications and innovative features and wouldn’t mind paying a premium for the same. They are influenced by their lifestyle, society and peers.
• Young working professionals with lower disposable incomes and a majority of students aspire to have good quality phones with innovative features but are not willing to pay a premium for the same. Brand loyalty is low and they switch to phones that offer the best specifications at a reasonable price and consider brand name as an added benefit.

RECOMMENDATIONS

Based on the above behavioural insights we have come up with the following recommendations.

• Ten years ago, when smartphones were launched, creating awareness about product features and price was important and Samsung was highly successful in doing so. Hence it emerged as a market leader.
• But in the current scenario, customer demands have changed and they demand more innovative features at affordable prices. Samsung should limit its product portfolio and release fewer phones to cater to different categories. The J series can have two phones to cater to the lower end, the A series for the mid-range users and Note and S series to cater to the higher end users.
• The J series phones should be provided with maximum features at affordable and competitive prices. This can help them capture their users who have now shifted to Oppo, Vivo and Xiaomi. The A series phones should have good quality features bundled with reasonable innovation. This can help them capture customers who aspire to have higher end phones but cannot afford to do so. This can also help them capture customers who are moving towards OnePlus. The S series should be bundled with innovative and sought-after features and can be priced at a premium.
• Apart from product portfolio changes, they should also concentrate on improving their communication strategy. Each of the offerings should be clearly communicated to the users. A majority of the lapsers are young working professionals and students. They also form a major part of the influencers. They should be targeted through digital platforms through a creative communication strategy for lower end and mid-range phones. The strong brand image associated with Samsung should be leveraged.

These strategies will not only help in increasing the sales but also help Samsung regain its lost spot in the Indian smartphone market.

REFERENCES

1. Durmaz, Y., Celik, M. and Oruc, R., 2011. The impact of cultural factors on the consumer buying behaviors examined through an empirical study. International Journal of Business and Social Science, 2(5), pp.109-114.
2. Amrit Mohan.., 2014. Consumer Behaviour towards Smartphone industry in Indian Market. DublinBusinessSchool Publications.
3. Mesay SataShanka, 2013..Factors affecting consumer behaviour of mobile phones- Mediterranean Journal of Social sciences.
4. P V SreeVyshnavi., 2016. Factors affecting mobile phone purchase in towns. International Journal of Current Advanced research.
5. https://www.idc.com/getdoc.jsp?containerId=prAP44856419
6. http://www.businessworld.in/article/Xiaomi-Ringing-In-Success/27-12-2018-165601/
7. https://www.dnaindia.com/business/report-what-to-expect-from-the-smartphone-industry-in-2019-2702583
8. https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/topic/Indian-smartphone-market
9. https://www.livemint.com/technology/gadgets/indian-smartphone-market-grew-by-10-annually-in-2018-report-1549642282575.html

Abstract

Branding is one of the most significant factor in consumer buying behavior. The paper consist about how branding impact on consumer buying behavior. Now a days cellphone industry in its boom stage there are many brands available for mobile phones & each brand has its own competitive advantage the paper also focus on which factors considered while purchasing particular brand. From last 18-19 years there was tremendous change in cell phone industry earlier use cell phones was only restricted to making & receiving calls but now days use of cell phones is beyond human neseecites. This paper also consist of investors perception towards different cell phones brands.

Introduction

Branding and Brand based differentiation are powerful means for creating and sustaining competitive advantage. Corporations for years are devising the Branding strategy to achieve the highest return from investment in brands. Companies have a wide variety of options available with respect to branding strategy. In spite of well devised branding strategy, the brand varies in the amount of power and values in the market place, at one extreme some brands are unknown to most of the buyer then there are brands that had a fairly high degree of brand awareness, brand acceptability, and brand preference and some commands high degree of brand loyalty.

In case of mobile phones, to understand consumer buying behavior for brands of the companies employing diverse branding strategy would be very crucial. As mobile phones are becoming one of the basic necessity, it is important to study the consumer buying behavior to understand the consumer preferences and reasons for those preferences. Smartphone has formed new dimensions for business in Indian market. It is not only the smartphone sellers who are enjoying the business but it also created a new area for mobile application developing companies in India. Internet services providers and other sectors of life to utilize the smartphone to gain competitive advantages. As much as mobile market is concerned, India has already proven to be a giant in the sector in terms of both a producer and a consumer. Since 2016, India has the fastest growing smartphone market in the world. And from the February of 2015 report has confirmed that India’s mobile market has already surpassed the USA, establishing itself as the second largest in the world, behind China in the top spot.

By India’s increased production capacity and reduced dependence on importing smartphones, the emphasis for trading partners and external supplier from the global economy has shifted toward servicing the infrastructure and software environment needs of the mobile market in India.

Objective of the study

• To study the brand preference for mobile phones among the consumers.
• To study the reasons of particular brand preference.
• To study the factor influencing consumer buying behavior
• To find out an impact of brands on consumer behavior.

Conclusion

In this modern era, a Smartphone is just not only the want but also a need if you know how to make proper use of it. Obviously, Smartphone have changed the ways that we used to live, communicate and connect with people all over the world.

The craze for mobile services in India is increasing substantially. This study reveals the consumer’s purchasing behavior towards mobile phones. Most of the consumers having one mobile phone and also android operating system is most popular among the mobile phone users.

The study shows that Samsung was the top manufacturer of smartphones worldwide in 2018 where as Xiaomi became the leading smartphone brand in India in 2018 because of its better feature and reasonable price. However, One+ is also one of the most preferred brands of Smartphones as per this study.

Also, the research shows that Quality is the most influencing factor while purchasing the mobile phone. The majority respondents are undergraduates i.e., students and therefore Family and Friends have played important role in their life for setting up an image of a particular smartphone brand.

Bibliography

1. Aaker, David A & McLoughlin, Damien. 2007. Strategic Market Management. European Edition. Hoboken. NJ: Wiley.
2. Ehtesham Mohammad. Factors influencing Consumer Behavior in selecting Mobile Phone Handsets: A Case Study of USIU. 2012.
3. Harish, R., & Rajkumar, P., (2011) Service quality and customers preference of cellular mobile service providers, Journal of Technology Management and Innovation, 6(1), 13-41
4. Heeks, Richard (2008). ‘Meet Marty Cooper – the inventor of the mobile phone’. BBC. 41 (6): 26–33. doi:10.1109/MC.2008.192.
5. https://nextwhatbusiness.com/top-mobile-phone-companies-india/

https://www.finjanmobile.com/indias-mobile-market-benefits-global-economy/

Overview

The consumer conduct or purchaser conduct has increased expanded significance in a consumer oriented promoting arranging and the executives. Consumer behavior is the training utilized when individuals, groups, or associations select, use or discard the item, facility, thoughts or experience to satisfy customer’s necessities and wants. The main reason for doing this press conference is to identify the main factors which affect consumer purchasing behavior of durable household goods in South Africa. Durable goods are a group of customer items that do not should be bought regularly as it is made to quite long time (generally last for three years or more). They are likewise called purchaser durables or durables. Examples of durable products are furniture, vehicles, jewelry, electronics item and many more. But for this press conference mainly focus on customer behavior in purchasing durable household products.

There are main reasons that influence customer when purchasing durable household items such as quality, features, price, brand name, ad and previous experience about the product. One of the most important factor in the research paper was quality, without a proper quality product customers may not having interest on purchasing the product even though the pricing was cheaper or higher. The service quality is not just estimated contrasted with product quality. There are two quality types, objective of quality it refers to basic features of product and perception of quality is about product consideration and decision taking place the several characteristics. This study shows, quality is the best dominating factors that influence customers when purchasing durable household products. Price and features is second importance factor among customers in South Africa when buying those products. Price also can be divided into two part such as perceive price and objective price, for perceive price consumers will be having their own perception on how costly a product through their opinion on its level of quality. The objective price is a real price of a product that offered by the marketers to customers. Features it’s depend on what household products that consume b customers like features in television is much more essential to customers in South Africa compared with other durable goods. Mainly features are the characteristics of a product that refer to modules, abilities, clarity, technology system and etc.

Besides that, brand name, ad and previous experience are also the key factors that influence customers but it not similar with other factors that mentioned earlier. In the study stated that, still some customers considering this kind of factors when purchasing durable products. Certain customers only buying selected branded items since is known to be the best while some customers influence by the commercial ads that appears in social media, television and many. Next, previous experience which help customers to repurchase the same product because they are well known on the feature, quality and price of the item. Furthermore, elements like cultural, social, personal, and psychological factors also influence customers purchasing choice to that particular product. Firstly, cultural factors can be divided into three groups such as customer’s culture, sub-culture and social class. Cultural factors force through the values, needs, interests and conduct that learned by an individual from society, family and other vital organizations in making decisions to purchase a particular product like household products. For example, South Africa culture is different from other countries and they have eleven formal languages and each of them having its specific culture. It may influence their purchasing behavior towards the durable household products because of culture factors. Secondly, is social factors that includes family members, characters, status, and age and life cycle period. Opinions of family members also be the main impact on buyer’s actions. Advertisers are highly focus on certain roles and try to influences them like spouse, children and many more. Besides that, age and life cycle period influences purchasers conduct since people groups are different with a period changes, may be among youngsters and old people in South Africa.

Next, personal factors also can be the one of impact on obtaining products and service through customer’s profession, countries economic condition and educational level. Psychological factors like how customers interpreted or motivated to buying durable household products in South Africa may be through brand image, awareness and learning about the product before made a decision. This are the factors that influence customers when made their purchasing on durable household items. So that, manufacturers must consider those elements when design and developed a durable household product to the customers.

Current situation related with marketing challenge

The durable product industry, in the most straightforward term, comprises of organizations that manufacture products that are utilized by the buyer. There are many firm produce durable household products like Panasonic, IKEA, and many more. Current situation related with marketing challenge are changes in customer demands where it always tend to change quickly. For example, Panasonic is a worldwide household products. But, changes in innovation have drastically adjusted spending in customer electronics. And nowadays, more individuals watch content through their cell phones and tablets than on television. This has exhibited traditional Japanese electronics businesses with real marketing challenge because of this issues. The customer demands change according to the current trend, for that Panasonic come with marketing strategy or plan in digital marketing platform to make the customer aware of the B-to-B groups. Panasonic has adopted a worldwide approach to grow its B-to-B business, including the arrangement of service area and solutions. Besides that, Panasonic adding extra features in the existing household products to attract many younger customers.

Another marketing challenge is competition between organizations to manufacture the best durable household products to customers. For example, competition between Panasonic and Philips to manufacturer durable household products to customers by identify the product quality, features, pricing of the items.

Furthermore, handling social network sites to create awareness like in Panasonic. They develop internet advertising to create an awareness among customers about the channel, since it was reasonable, directed, and quantifiable. To pick up the customer consideration and opportunity through the clamor related with Internet promotions, a method was used by Panasonic that is “shock and wonder”. This would make an amazing moment to the customers when they browse the website page and create interest that would motivate further information. Types of advertising are banner ad, social media ad like Facebook, Instagram, campaign microsite, YouTube advertisements and channels to develop and to show the Panasonic B-to-B products.

Next marketing challenge is to keeping quality constantly high because customers nowadays are more conscious about the quality product that they purchasing. Toshiba intends to add to society by giving safe, trustworthy and high-quality items that fulfill consumer. Toshiba Group is attempting to support the capacities to ensure quality focused on the four principle pillars of quality improvement inventiveness. Besides that, Toshiba focus on improving the Quality Management System (QMS) based on ISO 9001 to raise the quality of design and structure, which are the major reason of disability, and also to upgrade the training of work force who can maintenance the development of the QMS. For example, in China the Toshiba China Academy, a training organization of Toshiba China, assumes an essential role in improving the skills of staffs. It to fit the nearby traditions and conditions, of the various nations with their preferences. This also will improving the abilities of quality work force while it also may leads to increase the productivity level of the firm.

Goals

The objectives should be measurable and can be monitored to meet the organization goals effectively. There are two objectives hope to be achieved through the Press Conference that conducted by us, firstly to understand the purchasing behavior of customers on long-lasting products. Customer behavior is the training utilized when individuals, groups, or associations select, use or discard the item, facility, thoughts or experience to satisfy customer’s necessities and wants. Customer behavior on purchasing long-lasting products, made by how customers make choices and select the product with their preferences. A comprehension of purchasing behavior of customers towards long-lasting products is basic as it reflects the effect of brands, pricing, quality, features, size, previous experience, method of buying and so on. Furthermore, other elements also influence the purchasing behavior are promotion packages, testing or examining the item, internet, customer rating or review and families while it shows how cautious is the customer when make decisions to purchase durable products according to their needs and wants.

The second objective is to define the key component that leads to the purchasing behavior of the customer. There are many key component or factors that leads to the purchasing behavior such as cultural factors, social factors, personal factors and psychological factors. This are the main key component that affecting customers purchasing decision towards durable household products. Besides that, emotional factors also influence the buying behavior like in individual appearance or afraid of unexpected situation but it was a small potion that affecting consumer behavior. Therefore, manufacturers may possibly utilize the consequence of this Press Conference and convert them to well items, and better-quality items in order to remain focused and fulfil customers’ needs and wants.

The aim of conducting Press Conference is to achieve our goals and objective towards the perception of customer behavior in purchasing of durable household products. Each customer is have their own purchasing behavior when choose and make decision to buy the durable household items and it not similar with others. This Press Conference has established that customer preferences or the option change through a variation durable products. The market for customer durables is becoming competitive so the manufactures should strongly consider about the topic and understand their needs and demands when designing and planning the durable products.

Strategies

The Press Conference (PR) presentation will be done by giving a talk about the factors that influenced consumer behavior in the purchase of durable household products. We will do a slide presentation for our press conference. Besides that, the slide presentation will explain more about the factors that influence consumer behavior in the purchase of durable household products. The slide presentation would also include a short video about the consumer behavior in the purchase of durable household products.

Based on the slide presentation, the targeted audience for the primary target audience which is the manufacturer and marketers can improvise and know how to market their product. The secondary target audience which is the consumers can know the factors that influence them to purchase durable household products.

There are two main objective for our press conference which is to understand the purchasing behavior of consumers on long-lasting products and to define the key component that leads to the purchasing behavior of the customer. The methods by which we will achieve our goals is by conducting a seminar towards the marketers so that they can understand more about the purchasing behavior of consumers on long-lasting products. Marketers need to know the factors that influence consumer behavior in the purchase of durable household products so that they are able to target the consumers and market their durable household products. The other strategy is by organizing educational events. At the event, talk about the cause and connect with people. For example, provide a lesson for the consumers so that they can gain knowledge about the consumer behavior in the purchase of durable household products.

Target audiences

The primary target audience will be the manufacturer and marketers and for the secondary target audience it will be the consumers. This press conference will approach the primary target audience which is manufacturer and marketers because manufacturer and marketers need to know what are the factors that influenced the consumer behavior in the purchase of durable household products so that they can gain more knowledge on how to market their durable household products such as television, refrigerator, laptop, jewels and others to their customers. For the secondary target audience, it will be the consumers. The types of people that we want to reach is the consumers that have purchasing powers of durable goods. The consumers would play three important distinctive roles such as the user, payer and buyer. Hence, the consumers are exposed to a diversity of durable products, which varies in price, quality, features, appearance and size (Gizaw, 2014).

To fulfill the needs and requirements, consumer behavior is the practice used when individuals, groups, or organizations select, use, or dispose product, service, ideas or experience. Most organization would study the consumer behavior to obtain more information about how customers make decisions and choose their products. Durable products refer to products with a long-life span that can be used repeatedly. There are few common durable products which include cars, books, household goods such as household electronics, furniture and tools, exercise equipment, jewels, medical equipment, and toys (Kim et al., 2009). Thus, these types of durable products is not often purchased by the consumers because the durable products can lasts longer rather than non-durable products.

Furthermore, there are few factors that influenced the buying decision by the customers which is cultural factors, social factors, personal factors, psychological factors, perceived price, perceived quality, and perceived value and perceive risk. Cultural factors include the consumer’s culture, sub-culture and social class. Consumer’s culture refers to a set of basic values, wants and behavior learned by a member of society from the family and other important institutions. Sub-cultures include nationalities, regions, racial groups and geographic regions. Social class refers to society’s relatively permanent and ordered divisions, members sharing similar values, interests and behaviors. Social class can be determined by a combination of education, income, occupation and wealth. As for social factors, the sub-factors for social factor are family, roles and status, and age and lifecycle stage. Family members have a strong impact on consumers’ behavior. Marketers are interested in the roles and influences of the wife, husband and children. As for personal factors, it includes occupation, economic situation and motivation. For psychological factors, include perception, leaning and the brand. Three categories of consumers’ perceptions are perceived price, perceived quality, perceived value and perceived risk. Perceive price is an individual belief of how much an item cost based on its quality while objective price is the actual price of the item. Consumers will have a different perspective on the price of an item. Some consumers consider price as an indication of quality. Therefore to them, low price is associated with low quality and high price is associated with high quality. Quality is the evaluation of excellence and superiority of services or products (Zeithaml, 1988). For perceive value, Value differs from consumer to consumer, some consumers consider value as quality product at a reasonable price while some considers value as obtaining the product that suits its intended use. As for perceived risk, American Marketing Association defines a brand as a name, term, sign, symbol or design, or a combination of them intended to signify the goods or services of one supplier or group of suppliers and to differentiate them from those of rivals. Thus, some consumers will only buy a specific brand of a product because it is a well-known to be the best products.

Recommendations

Based on the press conference, there are few recommendations for the factors that influenced the consumer behavior in the purchase of durable goods. The recommendations is by making informational pamphlets and boost social media awareness.

For instance, a great way for people to learn about the issue is through informational pamphlets whether it is printed or digital. Thus, ask the local businesses if you can leave pamphlets out for people to take.

Next, to boost social media awareness, create accounts to spread awareness on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube. Try to spark thoughtful conversation on social media by asking questions and give a feedback

Abstract

Sales promotion efforts of marketers focusing on the incremental sales volume, acquiring market share, branding, consumer acquisition and retention. FMCG players are providing different schemes to consumers, retailers and sales force to capitalize the industry growth opportunities. Apart from consumer promotion and advertisements, promoting retailers with sales promotion schemes are having more impact on branding and sales achievement. A research report in a business weekly has revealed that about half of the people in India are below the age group of twenty is about 160 million whose major purchases are impulsive in nature. But the FMCG corporate companies are not having a specific plan about the nature type of promotional schemes which are effective and profitable. This study was carried out among the 500 FMCG retailers aimed at understanding their preference level of various sales promotion schemes which impulse the FMCG consumers towards brand preference and product choice.

INTRODUCTION

The expected growth in the retail market in India is estimated at 10 percent (CAGR) and to rise up to US$ 1.6 trillion by 2026. And the traditional retail trade rise at 10 percent, the modern trade would register a quick growth rate of 20 percent per year with an estimated rise of 12 percent per annum in total. Organized retail segment contributes to the total market by only 9 percent but 91 percent contributes to the unorganized retail sector. The retail market focusing Consumer through Business(B2C) would contribute by US$ 26 billion and on the other side retail using internet or e-commerce is estimated to rise as like as physical retail outlets within forthcoming five years. Indian e-commerce retail market is estimated to rise from US$ 30 billion in FY2016 to US$ 120 billion within 2020 supported by internet networks and fast acceptance of e-services by Indian consumers.

FMCG Industry

Fast Moving Consumer Goods(FMCG) are the goods which are demanded more and purchased more frequently by the people. Except for pulses and grains, any usable goods which are purchased at equal intervals in lesser volumes. The products like washing soaps and powders, shaving goods, toothbrushes and pastes, shampoos, packed food items, face creams, hair oil, tea, coffee etc. The major players in the markets are HUL, Cavin care, Nestle, P & G, Colgate, ITC, Nirma, Britannia, Amul, Emami, Marico, and Dabur. A larger amount of monthly family budget occupied by the FMCG products. Among the promotion-strategies (Consumer Promotion, Trade Promotion, and Sales Force Promotion), trade promotion gives a high impact in the retail market to penetrate and rise in a competitive market. Thus, Trade promotion is significant for FMCG companies to market, earn. This made the researcher get interested in this topic to study.

Classification of FMCG Products

• Personal care
• House-hold care
• Packaged food & Beverages
• Health Care (OTC Products)

Classification of Trade Promotion Schemes

• Quantity Based Discount Scheme(QBDS)
• Trade Allowances ( Support to increase sales level )
• Trade reward contests (fix target and benefits to top achievers)
• Trade support by Branding ( For Brand positioning)

REVIEW OF LITERATURE

Peter Boatwright and Robert McCulloch(1999) stated that Promotional strategies are created to foster the sellers to do product promotion in short term price decrease, using store-display or local media. According to Alvarez et.al (2005), Trade promotion schemes providing best results should be used and manufacturers can withdraw schemes which are not producing any change in consumer behavior. Bawa et.al(2004) in their study discussed the effect of free sample promotion in retailing. In the research work done by Blattberg et.al(1995), marketing results by the trade promotion schemes and positioning of the brands suing the schemes were discussed. Ganesh et.al (2012), revealed the trial purchase and spillover effects on products movement in the market. Gauri(2008) in his research study studied the retail promotion and effect on consumers’ effectiveness towards purchase. Moreau, Krishna and Harlam( 2001) mentioned about the triadic work of manufacturer and retailer. Ravindran and Venkatesakumar(2015,2017) in their studied found that schemes as a promotional tool in softdrinks and other FMCG products, retailers’ promotional preference of schemes with respect to self services and non self services stores. Rampier (2012) found that ‘Price-reduction’ &’ buy one get one ‘ free offers are having an impact in increasing short term sales and induce the first trial. Also, small packed goods reduce the risk of bad quality. Thus the quality of goods and comfort within the store boosts satisfaction level of users along with the scheme promotions while direct reduction in pricing may cannibalize future sales. Tsao and Lu(2016) studied the relevance of promotional tools in manufacturer and retailer supply chain. Jonq et. al (2008) analyzed that Promotions increase the demand for the product by the consumers and incentive for brand owners to boost the products. In Dhruv and Michael (2007) studied the key issues and future research areas in various sectors of Retail industry with respect to price, promotion, service, consumer behavior and others .

FINDINGS

The retailers though exposed to various types of promotions by different companies for different products, their preference are mostly related to promotions linked to quantity or volume of purchase followed by the trade allowance for enhancing liquidation of products in secondary sales.

From the study it was found that the FMCG retailers expressed their opinion that consumers would not respond to the components like value of promotion, coincidence with another promotion, first use of promotion, Product awareness, confusing nature of the deal, execution of the promotion, premium or deal attractiveness, good correlation of other products and competition level. Thus the retailers’ opinion on consumers’ response to schemes alone were not considered for planning the trade scheme operations. But the same was found to be having variations with a different category of products.

Thus the retailers and manufacturers have to plan any sales promotion schemes based on the impulsing nature of products and schemes together considering the type of outlets and their capability to sell the products in their market.

CONCLUSION

In FMCG product categories retailers, preference of sales promotion schemes is an important task in budgeting for promotion schemes and allocating to retailers based on the location of outlets and retailer characteristics are challenging task for any manufacturers Among the product categories, Food & Beverages are having huge growth opportunities and have more brand switching nature of consumers with respect to available sales promotion schemes. Since Healthcare category products do not show any significant difference based on the existing trade schemes, another type of promotions should be adopted to influence health care customers So if the type of schemes, location, and type of retailers are studied before designing the sales promotion budget, then the sales promotion schemes will be more effective in influencing the consumers buying behavior . The sales promotion schemes need to be customized according to the product and retail characteristics to impulse consumer behavior.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

1. Alvarez Alvarez, B., & Vázquez Casielles, R. (2005). Consumer evaluations of sales promotion: the effect on brand choice: European Journal of Marketing, 39(1/2), 54–70.
2. Blattberg, R. C., Briesch, R., & Fox, E. J. (1995). How Promotions Work: Marketing Science, 14(3_supplement), G122–G132.
3. Dhruv Grewal and Michael Levy(2007),Retailing research: Past, present, and future: Journal of Retailing ,83(4,2007),447-464.
4. Ganesh Hariharan, V., Bezawada, R., & Talukdar, D. (2012). Trial, repeat purchase and spillover effects of cobranded extensions: Journal of Product & Brand Management, 21(2), 76–88.
5. Gauri, D. K. (2008). Retail promotions: Consumers’ effectiveness in availing them and retailers’ success in using them. Dissertation Abstracts International Section A: Humanities and Social Sciences, 68(9–A), 3967.
6. Jong Ying Lee et.al(2008)The Impacts of Retail Promotions on the Demand for Orange Juice: A Study of a Retail Chain: Journal of Food Products Marketing,15(2).
7. Moreau, P., Krishna, A., & Harlam, B. (2001). The manufacturer-retailer-consumer triad: Differing perceptions regarding price promotions: Journal of Retailing, 77(4), 547–569.
8. Peter Boatwright and Robert McCulloch(1999), Account-Level Modeling For Trade Promotion: An Application Of A Constrained Parameter Hierarchical Model: Journal Of The American Statistical Association 94(448), 1999; 1063-1073
9. Rampier, M. (2012). Sales Promotion of Fast Moving Consumer Goods: International Journal of Logistics & Supply Chain Management Perspectives, 1(1), 59–63.
10. Ravindran,D., and Venkatesakumar,V.,(2015). SDM-An Emerging Promotional Tool in Retailing of Softdrinks. Jamal Academic Research Journal,60(7) , 41-49.
11. Ravindran,D., and Venkatesakumar,V.,(2017). Retail Preference of Promotion in Cashless Economy -FMCG Products: Shanlax International Journal of Commerce,104(93): pp. 457-462.
12. Ravindran,D., and Venkatesakumar, V.,(2017). Differences in Evaluation of Trade Promotional Schemes -A Comparison of Self- Service Stores Vs Non-Self Service Stores: Asia Pacific Journal of Research, 17(1): pp. 1-5.
13. Tsao, Y. C., & Lu, J. C. (2016). Trade promotion policies in manufacturer-retailer supply chains. Transportation Research Part E: Logistics and Transportation Review, 96, 20–39.

INTORDUCTION

The main purpose of marketing is to meet the needs of the customer and to make the customer feel good during shopping and to ensure that the experience gives positive results for the customer and the seller. There is no easy and specific way to improve the motivation of the customer to purchase the product or service since the motivation to buy the product or service may differ for all customers. If the customer’s motivation to buy the product or service is not analyzed correctly, some major mistakes can be made. For marketers and communication professionals, estimating the motivation of consumers to buy products and determining where the trend is evolving is considered to be one of the most significant issues.

In this study, it is examined that how customers’ purchasing motivations change and how it can improve their purchasing motivation and experience in the providers store for the retail furniture giant IKEA stores.

METHODOLOGY

In the first part of the study, company information about IKEA, customer portfolio target, annual sales capacity and store structures will be examined. In the second part, customer motivation for purchasing products and services will be analyzed. At this stage, Maslows Hierarchy of needs and Heisenberg hygiene theory will be used. In the third part, five situational influences which are physical surroundings, social surroundings, temporal perspective, task definition, antecedent states will be assessed. In the fourth part of the study, some recommendation will be provided as a a consumer behavior consultant. These recommendations are about how to improve the marketing strategy of the seller.

INFORMATION ABOUT IKEA

Overview of The Company

IKEA is a Swedish furniture retail giant. It has stores all over the world and reaches millions of customers every month. IKEA became an international retailer when the first store in Norway opened in 1963.

The company expanded beyond the Nordic countries in 1973, when a store was established in Switzerland. Thereafter, stores opened in many countries, including Germany (1974), Australia (1975), France (1981), the United States (1985), the United Kingdom (1987), China (1998), and Russia (2000). The typical IKEA store is extremely large, generally covering an area of 186,000 square feet (17,280 square metres). IKEA is not owned by shareholders. Instead, it is controlled through a number of operating companies, holding companies, and nonprofit foundations. The complex corporate structure was created partly in response to high Swedish taxation.[1]

As it is seen, IKEA is an old-aged firm. They have approximately 450 stores around the world. IKEA sold 38.8 billion euros ($44.6 billion) of goods and services in the 12 months through August, up 5 percent in local currencies, brand owner Inter IKEA said. The growth rate was roughly the same as the year before. IKEA, whose stores are owned by 11 franchisees, opened 19 new outlets, taking the total to 422 in more than 50 markets. The largest franchisee is IKEA Group, with 367 stores.[2]

Target Market

The global retailer IKEA, has deliberately designed products to address the target market and further reduced costs by facilitating operations with local suppliers. Although the products are not very expensive, they have a good quality. Customers are aware of this and know that they will not be faced with a huge budget surprise at IKEA. Besides, customers know that if they need any furniture for their home, they can find it at IKEA for the best price. In this case, it can be said that customers with a medium-economic level are main market targets for IKEA.

IKEA’s main shoppers are classified as not-old, mid-range and upward mobile, preferring low-priced yet trendy furniture and home products. The company’s CEO defines IKEA’s target market in the US as ‘someone who travels abroad, loves to take risks, enjoys fine dining and wine, has frequent flies, and adopts consumer technologies early.’ Recently, IKEA has developed product plans to increase the use of waste or recycled materials due to the increasing demand of its customers for environmentally friendly products.[3]

Business Strategies

It seems obvious that IKEA has adapted to international markets while staying true to its business concept. Besides, IKEA is a concept-driven company where it is necessary to manage operations and share information through the IKEA method, regardless of the location of the retail outlet. Open communication is vital to IKEA’s operational systems. For example, if there is a problem takes place, not only external but also internal networks are used to have quick solutions. This coincides with research that argues that good relationships are important to enable knowledge sharing. IKEA devotes considerable time to product development and strengthens long-term relationships with its suppliers to produce products cheaper and to constantly find new ways to produce a better product. Strategic global outsourcing of product manufacturing enabled IKEA to effectively lower prices for its products, leading to international expansion. In addition, productive internal competitiveness has developed between retail stores and supply chain distributors.[4]

COSTUMER MOTIVATION FROM THE PERSPECTIVE OF MASLOWS HIERARCHY OF NEEDS

First of all Maslows Hierarchy of Need Theory should be defined to be able to recognized the motivation of costumer. Maslows Hierarchy of Need Theory categorized the needs of human on the basis of their hierarchy. Maslow’s hierarchy table is most often shown as a pyramid structure. Basic human needs are on the lowest stage of the structure while self actualization is on the top of the structure.

The groups of users who are motivated to purchase Ikea products range from students to young married couples and individuals in small residences. Among the people, whose value affordability and are aware of space saving opportunities are primary buyers.

Ikea also creates opportunities to take advantage of low turnout, utilitarian purchases by using marketing tactics such as quick grab items and cash space shopping. Intrinsic motivation is another important factor that motivates buyers as they can gain pleasure or a sense of accomplishment from the experience of putting together a piece of furniture.[5]

There are some reasons why IKEA addresses to people with narrow and medium economic levels, having a wide range of products, convincing people to adopt the DIY(do it yourself!) philosophy and having fun to install the product offer many ways to meet customer motivation.

When you need a furniture (suc as a chair for your study desk), you look for ways to purchase a chair. It is the first step of Maslows Hierarchy of Need Theory which is physiological need step. You feel yourself in good hands because of purchasing this chair from IKEA. This means that you are on the second step which is safety needs. Because IKEA is a well-known brand you feel yourself belonging a huge community. So it shows that the third stage of Maslows which is belongingness is come true. You purchased a new chair because you think it take a prestige to you, maybe some of your friends will see the new chair and they will tell you how a good chair that. So the Maslows Hierarchy of Need Table’s fourth stage with is Ego Needs (Esteem Needs) comes true. You purchased the chair, you transferred it yourself, and you set up the chair by using the set-up papers. So, the top need of Maslows Hierarchy of Need Table which is self actualization came true.

So IKEA utilize the theory of Maslows Hierarchy of Need on motivation of costumers. If it is managed correctly, this retail furniture giant IKEA could benefit greatly from this trend of costumer motivation.

SITUATIONAL INFLUENCE

Consumer behavior can be determined by knowing situational influences. The situational effects influence the behavior of costumer apparently. The situational influence involves five categories which are physical surroundings, social surroundings, temporal perspective, task definition, and antecedent state. Physical surroundings refer to the area of shopping center. If it is sufficient physically, one may want to there and purchase the products she/he need. Social surroundings refer to the friends’ opinion. If your friend like the products you purchased before, you can go and shop on IKEA again. Temporal perspective refers to a particular point of view or attitude an actor has about time. For instance, if you go to IKEA on winter, the shopping area will be well heated, and if you go to IKEA on summer, the shopping area will be well-cooled. Task definition refers to reasons that people decide to purchase a product from IKEA. Antecedent states refer to momentary conditions. If one knows the the product she/or he need is being sold in IKEA, then the lowest price is in IKEA.

The main influence aim of purchasing is awareness of IKEA’s products. There is no other product catalog in the world that is as famous as IKEA. IKEA places a lot of emphasis on advertising and its returns. Customers’ familiarity with IKEA increases with advertisements and product catalogs reaching their homes. Thus, they adopt IKEA and IKEA products. IKEA places great emphasis on customers spending time in the store and convincing them that this time is not a waste of time. They establish the store structure that will allow the customer to see all the products in the store in order to increase the quality of the time spent in the store. Once a customer enters the store, they have the opportunity to experience all the products in the store by getting into the flow of the shopping and following the road.

In addition to these, customer will see the product she/he will buy in the simulated room structures in the store. For example, a customer who comes to IKEA to buy a kitchen cabinet gets an idea in the store about how that cabinet can be positioned in a sample kitchen.

In addition, IKEA maintains its restaurant side in their stores. This ensures that the customer who comes to IKEA for shopping and is tired of spending hours, knows that she/he can eat at the IKEA restaurant at the end of the shopping and that he does his shopping with the clarity of mind that this gives.

RECOMMENDATIONS

When examining IKEA’s customer portfolio, it was concluded that the biggest customer group was newly married families and young people preparing to get married. The reason why customers in this category prefer IKEA is that IKEA sells more modern products than other stores in the country. It has been concluded that, in order to maintain its reputation, a special customer loyalty program for people who are coming to IKEA for purchasing furniture for their new house can bring a great advantage for its sales.

Customers who come to IKEA to shop spend at least 1 hour in the store. Research shows that the shopping trolleys used in IKEA are either too big or too small. With the improvement to be made in shopping trolleys, customers will feel more comfortable by using more ergonomic shopping trolleys and it will increase their purchasing possibilities by focusing more on the products sold.

IKEA has been using famous product catalogs for product promotions. Thanks to these catalogs, people would be aware of new products and their prices. However, people now prefer online areas rather than paper catalogs. Therefore, if IKEA wants to reach young customers under the age of 50, they should aim to reach this potential customer portfolio through the social media. Ads on the Instagram or Youtube can be a great way to do this.

When the structure of IKEA is examined, it is seen that there are few stores in big cities, but these stores are built in a very large area. IKEA stores may be far away from some customers’ homes. In addition, a customer who comes to the store to buy a specific product may lose time because the store is too big.

Instead, IKEA may consider reducing store sizes and increasing the number of stores. For example, stores might be divided into different sub-components stores such as IKEA-BATH, IKEA-GARDEN, IKEA-FURNITURE, IKEA-KIDS and might be located these stores in different parts of the cities. Thus, customers who plans come to IKEA to buy a garden product but do not come to IKEA to avoid walking too much due to IKEA’s store structure may now come to IKEA. In addition, IKEA stores located in different parts of the city will increase the brand awareness. More stores in the cities means customers can access IKEA products easier.

IKEA restaurants are known as well as IKEA products. Some people prefer IKEA with the comfort of being able to eat their meals at IKEA restaurants after purchasing their furniture, garden equipment or household item needs. More variety of products in IKEA restaurants will increase people’s demand for stores. The best way to achieve this is if IKEA’s restaurants in different countries offer dishes specific to their country. For instance, fast-food products being offered in stores in the United States, kebap-doner in Turkey, vegetables in Mediterranean countries can be added as food product alternatives. Thus, customers who come to shop will feel at home and their loyalty and belonging to the IKEA brand will increase.

CONCLUSION

IKEA’s excellent product range, providing an impressive experience to its customers, and the perception that it sells cheap and quality products can be shown among the positive features of IKEA. IKEA is a well-known brand that people on the different countries can access the same product.

With the developing technology and internet usage, people’s shopping behavior is also changing. IKEA has to keep up with this change. It is well known how many giant brands that cannot adapt to developing technology have become history. Each customer has a different shopping behavior. Brands reach awareness as much as they can contribute to customers’ needs and shopping experiences.

In this assessment, there are some recommendations were given. Developing a good customer loyalty program, improving a more ergonomic shopping trolleys, using online and social media for ads, dividing stores into more specific meaning, and developing their restaurants’ quality will improve customer’s experience.

Improving customers’ shopping experience is, of course, not limited to these recommendations. However, it is certain that the recommendations presented will help this need

Technological advancements have shifted the marketing designs adopted by firms. Since the advent of social media sites in 1997, consumers buying behaviours and purchasing parity have changed to incorporated social attitudes (Sudha and Sheena, 2017). Traditional marketing entailed relations between brand firms and consumers to initiate purchases and build consumer loyalty. The venture is somehow expensive and time-consuming; thus, many brands have shifted to influencers marketing using social media platforms to reach out to buyers.

Recently, influential marketing has taken a toll on Instagram and YouTube as popular social media sites. The sites allow people to follow others and subscribe to their content. Therefore, most celebrities, such as Christiano Ronaldo, have accumulated vast followership, which makes them stand out as an influential person towards particular brands. As such, companies approach the influencers to utilize their accounts; the brand creates content or product reviews and tags the influencer. Ideally, the followers for a specific influencer will receive images, videos or content depicting the influencer endorsing a particular brand. The brand company will pay some commission to the influencer for the content created or product reviews and endorsements. The venture enables the influencer to earn revenue since their accounts act as a marketing channel for the products or services offered by the brand. For instance, YouTube has a clear video forum where the influencers can deeply integrate product features and describe the usage of products; the influencer uses the product as well as their experiences and reasons why followers should use it too (Nandagiri, Vaibhavi, and Leena, 2018).

This research paper will focus on the role influencers play to influence consumer behaviour and how they consequently make their wealth. Digital marketing and social media marketing have keenly shaped the marketing initiatives which benefit both brands and influencers by creating revenue-generating opportunities. Furthermore, followers are willing to build lasting business relations with the brand endorsed by the influencers from the information shared and the confirmed expressions from product usage. The quality of information shared and content created or reviewed appeals differently to different followers; thereby, it shapes the buying patterns, lifestyle and overall preference for a diverse range of endorsed brands.

Theoretical Framework

Framing theory is adopted to achieve the stated objectives for the research successfully. According to the theory, the media plays a significant role in framing information clearly and concisely understandable to the audience (Vaibhavi and Leena, 2020). The created frameworks act as attractive models for the followers to identify with the brand and make purchase decisions due to their appealing nature and lasting impressions for their satisfaction. Framing theory is favourable for firms to create awareness about product existence, features and pricing mechanisms. The framework acts as a communication or marketing vehicle to entice buyers and create lasting impressions through the influencers’ social media accounts. As such, this paper will address the roles of the influencers on the consumers buying behaviour and how they make wealth from the frameworks.

Research Objectives and Questions

Research aim: The aim of this research is to identify how influencers get money from Instagram and how they can be very rich from advertising products and other goods.

Research objectives:

1. To explore what are the advantages and disadvantages of the information offered to people.
2. To know the relationship between influencers and people and the effectiveness of culture and lifestyle.
3. To check the relationship between cultural move in people’s mentality and behaviour, and how to transfer to other countries.
4. To recognize and understand how the same subject or content get different consumers over the world, even with cultural diversity.

Research questions:

1. What are the advantages and disadvantages of the information offered to people by influencers?
2. Identify the relationship between influencers’ and consumers, and the effectiveness of culture and lifestyle.
3. What is the relationship between cultural move in people’s mentality and behaviour, and how to transfer to other countries?
4. How do different consumers receive the subject or content across the world, even with cultural diversity?

Problem Statement

Instagram is the most famous influential marketing site whereby consumers are persuaded to initiate purchases for various brands. Examples of biggest influencers on Instagram are daily dose which has a followership of over 1.4 million persons (Influencermarketing, 2019). Others are Huda Kattan, Cameron Dallas, Kayla Itsines, Selena Gomez, and Kylie Jenner. There is little knowledge on how these influencers make wealth from their framing tactics for the various brand endorsements, product reviews, or content creation. However, their wealth and financial capacity are incomparable and attributed mainly to their careers in social media marketing, especially Instagram (Grafström, 2018). Although it is difficult to measure the ROI (Return on Investment) for social media marketing, influencers still make large sums of wealth; thus, the study is dedicated to unveil their influence. Furthermore, the research will shed light on how the influencers appeal on consumers from diverse walks of life with varying cultural diversity.

Literature Review

Celebrity or influencer marketing is a known trend in the modern business community. The influencers play a critical role in enticing brands and creating high purchase patterns for the endorsed brands. Different celebrities, such as Amos, Holmes, and Strutton have influenced mass purchases for different brands by effectively communicating appealing messages about products and their favourable attributes. According to the McGuire’s communication-persuasion matrix, the effectiveness of a given message is determined by the input components for the persuasion message (Lou and Shupei, 2019). The various inputs include information sources, communication channels, the idea or message, and respondents of the message; therefore, different celebrities or influencers utilize multiple tools to appeal to the audience on social platforms.

The success of the product endorsements and reviews by influencers depends on the social relations between influencers and followers. The existing relationship between an influencer and an audience dictates the level of trust, credibility, and impact on buying behaviour patterns after an advert on Instagram (Casaló et al., 2019). High followership reflects a liking for a given person; thus, an advert posted using the influencer’s account attracts many potential buyers. Over 70% of internet users often trust the messages conveyed by influential persons, thus shift their buying patterns or preferences to align with their favourite influencers (Business Insider, 2019). However, people from diverse cultural affiliations display divergent brand attitudes; therefore, most brand endorsers with poor alignment of the persuasion message fail to attract consumers’ loyalty.

Influencers shape consumers’ buying patterns positively and negatively using their endorsements or content updates. Several advantages accrue to the influencers’ adverts, such as clear content and details of unfamiliar brands. The influencers act as links between the consumers and brands to give feedback about the suitability of products, features, and levels of satisfaction achieved from product usage. According to Leonard, there exists a consistent conflict of interest between two parties; thus, the consumers have a certain level of expectation that is often unmet by the brand company (Leonard, 2012). On the other hand, influencers convince the product users about the favourable attributes of brands, which may not appeal to the consumers, thereby resulting to lower sales. Furthermore, influencers aid in increasing product visibility and customer participation during product development, thus enhancing the final product output.

Several demerits attribute to influencer marketing on Instagram. According to a report by Bazaarvoice, the study indicates that 47% of the consumers dislike the lack of authenticity displayed by the influencers, and 62% believe that the endorsers only take advantage of their vast followership (Sudha and Sheena, 2017). Most influencers act as just marketing media, whereas they do not use the products they review or endorse, thereby lack authenticity in the message or content created. Other challenges are inter-judge reliability and anxiety generated from high profile depicted by the influencers, thus decreasing the self-esteem of low-level buyers (Freberg, Karen et al., 2011). Some consumers suffer from unrealistic lifestyles by adjusting to accommodate the levels presented by the influencers, thereby affecting purchasing confidence and credibility levels in purchases. The influencers at time suffer from body shaming, bullying, or depression from the pressures put up by the online consumers. The influencers may provoke negative behaviours on teens or young people, thereby decreasing their appeal and popularity among the buyers.

Influencers have a significant role in increasing the purchases for endorsed brands. After creating content or a product review, the influencers’ followers spike an interest in initiating purchases and consequently placing orders for the products. The challenge arises when the firms want to establish the ROI derived from the social media marketing strategy. Particularly on Instagram, it is significantly challenging to unveil the accurate picture of the appeals made and consequent purchases as a result of the endorsement. Thus, firms have devised different metrics to analyse how the influencers should be compensated based on their ROI. One of the common metrics is the use of intelligence tests and ROI calculators based on a given social site (Kaske, Kugler and Smolnik, 2017). Ideally, customers are requested to provide feedback about their source of knowledge and interest for the brand, which leads to either product referral, first-time trial, or influence via the social influencer.

According to a study by eMarketer, an average 54% of consumers rely on recommendations to make their purchase decisions (Aayush Narang. 2020). Thus, influencers play a significant role in building the trust of the consumers through sharing content and feedback on their personal insights, attitudes and experiences with a particular brand. Ad blocking results to significant losses, which answers the question on the influencers’ role in consumers’ buying behaviour. Furthermore, influencers aid in strong customer relations with the brand which promotes repeat business and continue loyalty which extends to product referrals to one’s friends or relatives.

Methodology

Research Strategy

1. To find the related quality of information over all the influencers and from where inspired by like magazine and celebrity.
2. To get information of over ten years ago from website since Instagram was introduced and explain if there is any improvement or changing policy since that time.

Research Design

The research is designed to integrate different facets which entail various industry players. For instance, the fashion and beauty industries overly depend on brand endorsements by influencers to create lasting brand awareness and strong consumers’ trust for their success. On the other hand, the food and hospitality industry are also increasingly gaining market shares from the reviews and rating shared by the influencers. In turn, the consumers identify with the influencer to make their purchase decisions or recommend a friend.

To understand the topic clearly, it is suitable to approach content analysts. The content analysts have an enduring online marketing specialization, which makes them ideal for achieving the study (Veirman et al., 2017). They have a wide range of ideas and experiences that are needed to forecast the influencer of influencers and the consumer’s buying behaviour based on the role of the influencer in the marketing of the brand. Since it is apparent to achieve the stated objectives with limited resources, the research will incorporate an inductive approach using qualitative method. The research will embrace an interview-focused technique where all content analysts who respond to the research study invite are issued with semi-structured questionnaires based on the research questions and objectives of the study. The study will be unique, just like its focus on digital marketing, whereby all data will be gathered online. Emails direct messaging using LinkedIn will enable the successful data collection by sending the questionnaires to the recipient content analysts.

Cultural diversity and the perspective on lifestyle are mentioned in this research study, thus the data collected will vary from content analysts in different industries and different cultural backgrounds. According to Hofstede’s model, there are five cultural dimensions that should be discussed to resolve the issue that arises from cultural incongruences (Mario and Kira, 2011). The questionnaires will be concisely structured to address the issues on culture and lifestyle.

Research Approach

All the collected data will be analysed using an inductive approach to generate meaningful conceptual framework. The sampling approach will be random and voluntary, all participants will be offered equal opportunities to discuss their ideas and give feedback on the related topic of research. The target sample size is 80 content analysts from various industries; this will help put the research question into perspective from the responses generated. Respondents will be assured of their confidentiality and anonymity, both during and after the study is complete. The data will be presented in charts, tables and meaningful diagrams from comparisons and to establish meaningful responses according to the research objectives. Percentages and general feedback will be used to make comparisons across various industries.

Ethical Considerations

Since the research is diverse and includes online specialists, the questionnaires will be administered online. The respondents will be sent correspondence using emails, LinkedIn or direct messaging to appeal to their support in the study’s success. Confidentiality will be the core agenda to avoid risks of informational appeal. Anonymity will be adhered to all respondents and a consent form will be issued to confirm the ethical considerations to participate in the research.

Research Limitations

Poor turnout by the respondents will adversely affect the overall biasness of the research study. Lack of access to a large pool of influencers and content analysts will be a major setback; however, I intend to use prior means to appeal to the respondents by creating rapport with various organizations. This will be helpful in avoiding major challenges of poor responses or untimely data submission past the research deadline.

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.

Introduction

Driving under the influence (DUI) is an issue that has resulted in numerous injuries and fatalities worldwide. The reason behind this is that some people don’t seem to be aware of the consequences of drinking and driving, and those who are aware, may still think that they’re the odd ones out and that alcohol consumption does not affect their driving skills. Alcohol in the bloodstream causes a delay in cognitive skills and slowed breathing. Additionally, alcohol leads to a slower reaction time, lack of coordination, reduced concentration, and decreased vision, ​ which can result in unimaginable outcomes. Unfortunately, this issue is falsely perceived as minor and rare in Amman, and is neglected because of religious and cultural restrictions on drinking alcohol. As a result of the increase in the number of bars, clubs and pubs in Jordan’s capital, driving under the influence has become a more serious problem among many teenagers and young adults. What these individuals seem to forget, however, is that driving under the influence is not only a severe legal crime, but it is also a huge threat to the lives of all parties involved, as well as innocent strangers. A significant rise in the number of alcohol-related car accidents in Jordan created the need for a product like Tap to Safety. We feel it is necessary to educate the Jordanian youth about the dangers of drinking and driving, alternative ways to get home after a night out, and the importance of passing this life-saving information to their friends and colleagues.

Target Market & Targeting Strategy

Demographic segmentation was used to determine the primary audience; males and females between the ages of 18 and 29. This is because car accidents related to alcohol consumption are more prevalent amongst people in that range. Psychographic segmentation was also conducted and members of the middle to upper class, that enjoy spending time at bars and clubs were chosen. In reference to geography, the focus is on the capital of Jordan, Amman as it is the most densely populated city in the Kingdom, and has the largest number of restaurants, bars and pubs.

Moreover, a secondary audience was selected; family members, friends and colleagues of those who drive under the influence, as well as concerned members of the community.

Although our product targets a primary and a secondary audience, we have chosen an undifferentiated targeting strategy. Using the same marketing mix variables and value proposition, we aim to address both audiences.

Value Proposition

The value proposition is based on safety and wellbeing. We offer our audience a safe and secure way to get home, as opposed to putting themselves and others in grave danger. We are aware of other well-known mobile applications that offer services somewhat similar to ours, such as Uber and Careem, however, we believe that our service is more convenient. Instead of having to order a car, call the driver to give directions and wait in the street to be picked up by a complete stranger which could potentially be an embarrassing situation after consuming alcohol, we came up with an alternative. Our application provides a fast and easy way for individuals to contact people they know and trust, get home safely, with the satisfaction of knowing they did not put their community at risk.

“Better to have your friends bail you out, than bail you out.” Our slogan is a reflection of the consequences that a drunk driver may face in the event of an accident. We want the target audience to think long and hard before choosing to drink and drive ever again, because of the consequences that might follow their actions, if they are the cause of an unfortunate accident. The statement is meant to indicate that it is better to accept help getting home than to need help getting out of prison if the unimaginable happens. For those who aren’t afraid for their own lives, this is a reminder that the cost of their actions could be harming innocent people and spending their lives paying for it.

Marketing Mix Variables

• Product: A mobile application. The application requires people to set up a profile and a list of 7 to 10 trusted contacts with their names and phone numbers. When a person is on a night out and feels like they have consumed a bit too much alcohol, they can tap on a single “X” button in the middle of the application’s home page, that sends out an automated message which states “(full name of the person) is currently unable to drive home and has shared their location with you for immediate pick up”, along with their GPS location to their list of contacts. When one of the listed emergency contacts clicks the “Accept” button on the message, the other contacts are sent a notification saying “Someone is now on the way to pick up (full name of the person)”.
• Place: On the App Store, and Google Play.
• Price: In terms of monetary cost, the fee will be 2 JODs per month. There is also the non-monetary cost of dedicating time and effort to download the application and use it.
• Promotion: We will be using celebrity endorsements to promote the application. We are planning to get Jordanian social media influencers, with very high numbers of followers, such as “Amman Street Fashion”, to discuss the issue of driving under the influence, introduce our application, and encourage their followers to use it. We will also create our own pages on Instagram and Facebook, where we will regularly post valuable material about the dangers of drinking and driving, real stories of tragedies that occurred as a result of alcohol consumption followed by driving, and the benefits of using our application to avoid being the victim of the next tragedy. As well as that, booths will be set up in popular public locations such as fitness centers and parks, where flyers containing information about Tap to Safety will be handed out to passers-by.

Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs

The Tap to Safety application is connected with satisfying the second basic need in Maslow’s hierarchy; safety needs. Naturally, when a person gets in the car and drives home after having consumed an excessive amount of alcohol, they are not completely aware of their surroundings and have a very slow reaction time which automatically puts them in harm’s way. If Tap to Safety is used as a safer alternative to this hazardous option, the risks that come with it can be eliminated.

Safety and security is essential to every living person, and that is what the product is intended to provide.

Personality Theories

· Freudian theory

In reference to the Freudian theory, individuals who drive under the influence are influenced by pleasure without any regard to whether this action is ethical or even legal; therefore, they are driven by the id. They are selfishly neglecting the consequences of their behavior and choosing the option they believe is easier or more convenient. They are risking their own lives as well as the lives of others.

The goal is to have these individuals operate in the superego level, by recognizing that their actions can have fatal consequences, choosing to avoid drinking and driving and considering the ethical implications of their behavior. Even though it may seem faster or more convenient to get in the car and drive home, people should realize that it is not worth the risk. It is selfish and unprincipled for individuals to put their own convenience over other’s safety.

· Karen Horney’s neo-freudian theory

According to the Karen Horney theory, detached individuals are those who move away from others and seek independence, self-reliance, self-sufficiency and freedom from obligations. To such individuals, the use of Tap to Safety could represent reliance on others and needing help which they might have difficulty accepting. Although they might be in need of this help, their personality traits may still push them towards rejecting it.

· The trait theory

A new application such as Tap to Safety is more likely to be tried out by innovators first as they tend to be open to new ideas. Innovators can contribute significantly to the acceptance of the product by the intended consumers as they spread positive word of mouth. The aim is to inspire consumer innovativeness with functional motivation. It is safer and better than the alternative, which is driving under the influence, and the application itself is quick and easy to use.

Perception Models

· Absolute threshold

In order to ensure that the target audience will be aware of the product and above the absolute threshold, we will use different types of promotions. Firstly, Jordanian social media influencers will be discussing Tap to Safety on social media platforms to hundreds of thousands of followers. In addition to that, we will have our own sponsored Instagram and Facebook pages to reach as many people as possible with valuable content. Finally, the application will be available on the App Store and Google Play where people can purchase it and begin to use it.

We will also be using ambush marketing by placing booths in totally unexpected places, such as fitness centers and public parks. At the booths, flyers will be handed out with brief information about the dangers of driving under the influence, as well as an introduction about the application, and the names of our pages on social media to attract followers and users.

To avoid sensory adaptation, the booths will only be open for a limited period of time right after the application becomes available for download on mobile phones. After that we will focus on social media presence and celebrity endorsements. Moreover, the content that will be posted on our pages will vary from messages about the risks of drinking and driving, to people sharing their own disastrous experiences with it, to ways you can help protect yourself, your society and others. This variation aims to reduce the chance of consumers getting used to seeing information about Tap to Safety and beginning to avoid it.

· Consumer Imagery

We hope that the product will represent security as well as responsibility in consumer’s minds. We want the audience to perceive using the application as a way to keep themselves and others around them safe. While using the application, consumers should have the satisfaction of knowing they did the right thing, they acted sensibly and may have just saved their own lives and the lives of others. In terms of perceived price, the goal is for consumers to consider 2 JODs as a little amount to pay in return for their health, safety and futures as well as those of others.

Reference Groups

The community an individual is a part of has a major effect on their actions and behavior. Family and friends can usually influence a person’s decisions. For that reason, we have chosen to address friendship reference groups as a secondary audience. The hope is to have individuals who drive under the influence see people close and dear to them express concern over the repercussions of their actions and remind them that if anything should happen to them, the pain will be extended to everyone who cares about them.

Conclusion

In recent years, car accidents related to alcohol consumption have increased drastically. We have created Tap to Safety with the hope that we can reduce that number. Driving under the influence has many potential consequences, such as imprisonment and fines, and terrible accidents which can result in serious injuries or death. Tap to Safety is a reasonably-priced mobile application that allows individuals to press one button which sends out an alert to emergency contacts stating that they need to be picked up, once one of them accepts the request, the others are notified. The main benefit of using our product is safety and security. We will be using celebrity endorsements and online presence to gain the support of our primary and secondary audience. The goal for the primary audience is to get them to realize that the risks of driving under the influence could be fatal. As for the secondary audience, we want them to inspire those who drink and drive to abandon the behavior, by showing them that their actions affect everyone around them.