Price, Consumer Behaviour and Marketing Activities Essay Example for Free

Price, Consumer Behaviour and Marketing Activities Essay Ferraris are a luxury good, known for their performance and prestige with prices of up to  £500,000. In this study there will be an effort to evaluate if a Ferrari would still be as desirable if it was available at  £20,000. To do this we must examine the relationship between the behaviours of consumers and price with a further examination of marketing activities. Firstly we need to define what consumer behaviour, price and marketing activities are, by understanding the consumer we can then create products that meets their wishes and needs which is vital in achieving success. An investigation of the Utilitarian (rational) consumption model will follow allowing the identification of driving factors that affect consumer’s decisions. This allows the introduction of Pricing, viewing towards perceived quality and value. The contrasting Hedonic view allows the introduction of socio-psychological factors on consumer behaviour such as personality and social class. We must appreciate our level of involvement with the product and what factors this may cause. This will allow us to fully appreciate whether the change in price will result in the Ferrari still being as desirable as when it was at a higher price. The study of consumer behaviour â€Å"is the study of the processes involved when individuals or groups select, purchase, use or dispose of products, service, ideas or experiences to satisfy needs and desires† (Soloman et al, 2002, p4). Therefore by studying what factors affect how and why consumers make these consumption decisions, marketers may be able to understand and therefore adapt to these decisions. Consumer behaviour incorporates ideas from many different disciplines such as psychology, sociology and economics. (Schiffman and Kanuk, 2000), in a marketing context we take note of all these concepts and try to come to a balanced answer. A full examination of consumer behaviour looks at how consumers maximise their utility (satisfaction) based on a cost-benefit analysis of price and product scarcity, this was thought of the Utilitarian or rational way of behaviour. (Baines et al, 2011). The key determinant is that the functional benefits must be greater than the costs exp ended. Very often we would class the cost expended as being the price paid for an item, this is a difficult term to classify but is best explained by Baines, Fill and Page (2011), (p331) â€Å"we consider price as the amount the customer has to pay or exchange to receive a good or service†. This however fails to mention that how consumers â€Å"perceive a price-as high, as low, as fair- has a strong influence on both purchase intentions and purchase satisfaction.† (Schiffman and Kanuk, 2000, p 144). For example a passenger who paid  £1 for his Ryanair flight will feel more satisfied one who paid  £71 due to purchasing at a later date. Here we look at whether a Ferrari is still as desirable at a lower price, to do this we must examine how customers affect to a change in prices, known in economic terms as the elasticity of demand. This measure how much demand will shift as a result of a change in price. To do this we can look at how in rational thinking consumers wish the be nefits to outweigh the costs, the benefits of buying a new Ferrari may be the quality and value you get for the price you paid. However as each person has a different wished level of quality we use the term ‘perceived quality’, often based on â€Å"informational cues that they associate with the product† (Schiffman and Kanuk, 2000, p145). Looking at the relationship between the perceived qualities and pricing often it is thought that price reflects quality (Baines et al, 2011). This is challenged by the aspect we take our perceived quality from many cues, not just price, such as more extrinsic values such as brand image. Therefore it can be classes that â€Å"consumers use price as a surrogate indicator of quality if they have little or no information to go on† (Schiffman and Kanuk, 2000, p150). The idea of brand image as a cue introduces the more hedonic concept of feelings, desires and perceptions into the consumer’s decision. As already discussed prices and quality are not measured in purely rational terms they encompass our perceptions of the product, price and measure of quality. Our perceptions are personal to us and it is vital for marketers to understand what factors may affect these perceptions. To do this we must understand how consumption may be irrational (hedonic) involving the â€Å"multi-sensory, fantasy and emotional aspects of consumers’ interaction with products† (Soloman et al, 2002, p37). This view stresses that we purchase products because of how they make us feel or look to others. This is sometimes classed as emotional or socio-psychological buying (Baines et al, 2011). The stark difference between utilitarian and hedonic consumption can be seen in the process of proposition acquisition. We draw up a motive for acquiring the product; this may be out of functional (rational) or desire (irrational) means. We then gather information on the product drawing up a shortlist of brands, followed by an evaluation of the proposition. When it comes to the purchase of the item it is important to consider â€Å"the personal importance a person attaches to a given communication message† (Baines et al, 2011, p 90) this is classes as the person’s involvement. As discussed in Fill (2009, p174) the characteristics involved with involvement can be seen in three phases, that of contextual elements, the influencers and the outcomes. Our level of involvement with a product can play a role in the price fairness we perceive for this product. At states of low involvement where â€Å"the purchase suggests little risk to the consumer† (Fill, 2009, p176) we require little information and use past experiences to make our decisions. However at high levels of involvement where, â€Å"a consumer perceives an expected purchase that is not only of high personal relevance but also represents a high level of perceived risk† (Fill, 2009, p 176), consumers will invest a great deal of time researching the item to reduce the perceived risk and will draw on extrinsic information and may draw more on hedonic terms. The relationship between price and involvement can be seen at both levels, at low levels price allows individuals to discriminate between low-involvement purchase decisions as â€Å"price, packaging, and point of purchase displays and promotion’s work together to cue and stimulate an individual into trying a product.† (Fill, 2009, p 180) At high levels of involvement price is not such a determining factor, with other factors playing a more significant role. Involvement does not juts affect the importance placed on price it also affects how a product is marketed to the consumer. This raises Ratchfords (1987) thoughts of involvement being linked with feeling and thinking. He sought to think how people thought about products and class them as high/low involvement and whether they were a product you bought rationally, what you thought of the product, or irrationally, how the product made you feel. In this instance the purchase of a Ferrari which would have been a high involvement/feeling product there is â€Å"a need for emotional advertising† (Baines et al, 2011, p91). With the shift in price it can be argued that the product has now became a high involvement/thinking product so more informative advertising is needed. Further links between price, consumer behaviour and price can be seen in Fill (2009, p 181) arguing that at low levels of involvement consumers will â€Å"decide upon their usual brand until they notice a price promotion† ,this then may be become there habitual buying pattern. As discussed earlier at high levels of involvement, more emotional and informative advertising is used there are many reasons for this including that factors such as lifestyle, social class and personality can all affect our hedonic consumption. In the sphere of personality there are three main approaches. Firstly the psychoanalytic approach Freud outlined how we are driven by subconscious drives in three parts our ID, Ego and Superego. It is argued that certain products are bought to fulfil our needs and urges such as the purchase of a Ferrari. The reduction of price may then not allow us to fulfil this urge. A differing approach is that of Trait theory, where we are classified by our types of personality. The purchase of a  £500,000 car may be seen as fulfilling one personality type, by reducing the price to  £20,000 the market segment may change and as â€Å"car manufacturers market products on the basis of personality types† (Baines et al, 2011, p96) this may change th e whole marketing process and the way this process is presented. The final school of thought is the Self Concept Approach that we â€Å"buy goods†¦ for the brand they represent and its relation to the buyer’s perception of their own self-concept or personality.†(Baines et al, 2011, p96). In this model it may be argued that price is a determinant factor as we may buy to show we can pay high prices to others. Added to this is the idea that the brand gives you a self-image therefore a change in the price can affect the branding and may lead you to a different purchase decision. The price change may also change what reference group a Ferrari would belong to it may no longer be an aspiration so may become less desirable. The change in price may however be beneficial when looking at consumer behaviour in relation to lifecycle and social class. Focussing on lifecycle â€Å"we hypothesize that people in the same stages of life purchase and consume similar kinds of products† (Baines et al, 2011, p108), a £500,000 Ferrari may fall into the stage of empty nest 1, where there is large disposable income, the shift downwards in price will allow a Ferrari to become more accessible to different stages of the lifecycle, thus making it more desirable to these groups. To conclude pricing, consumer behaviour and marketing activities are all linked. By determining whether the consumption is either rational or irrational we can investigate the level of involvement one may have with that product. This then allows us to look at how perceived values, price and quality link with the way the consumer behaves. As consumer behaviour study evolves from â€Å"early emphasis on rational choice†¦to a focus on apparently irrational buying needs† (Holbrook and Hirschman, 1982, p132) we are able to investigate other factors that may relate to consumer behaviour such as lifestyle, social class and what level of involvement is involved. As we can see in rational decisions there is a link between price and behaviour, with the benefits outweighing the costs, the same can be said at decisions of low involvement. However other extrinsic factors have to be considered when making higher involvement decisions. The decrease in price therefore may make the Ferrari more desirable if you are making the purchase at a low involvement level however at a higher level other factors need to be considered to give a true representation of its desirability. Reference List Books and Ebooks Baines, P. Fill, C. Page, A., (2011), Marketing, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press Fill, C. (2009), Marketing Communications : Interactivity, Communities And Content., 5th ed., Harlow: Pearson Education Limited Schiffman, L,G. and Kanuk, L,L. (2000), Consumer Behaviour, 7th ed., London: Prentice Hall International (UK) Limited Solomon, M., Bamossy, G., Askegaard, S. and Hogg, M. K. (2006) Consumer behaviour: a European perspective, 3rd ed., Harlow: Financial Times. Lecture Notes C18FM1 2012/2013 Online Journals Holbrook, M, Hirschman, E (1982),. The Experiential Aspects of Consumption: Consumer Fantasies, Feelings, and Fun, Journal Of Consumer Research, 9, 2, pp. 132-140, Business Source Premier, EBSCOhost, viewed 22 October 2012.

The Stereotypical Old-West Hero :: Exploratory Essays Research Papers

The Stereotypical Old-West Hero Gunsmoke was the longest running radio show ever made. It is based on the historical city of Dodge. The series is centered around the character of Matt Dillon, who is the U.S. Marshall at Dodge. Each episode is one of his adventures, usually with his fellow helper, Chester, in keeping the peace and bringing justice in the area. Dillon's independence, sense of justice, and keen problem solving ever epitomize the stereotypical old-west hero. No matter what situation arises in Dodge, or the surrounding area, Matt Dillon is able to resolve it most often without the help of anyone else except for his faithful follower Chester. Whenever Dillon hears of a problem, he immediately goes to see what the trouble is with Chester. He doesn't listen to anyone and only brings more people if it would go better with his plan. In the episode, "Tecetta", Dillon boldly asks three gunmen to give up their guns at a bar and then tells them to leave the next morning. He says it in such a way that is unquestionable and demanding of respect. And people listen! In the episode, "The Buffalo Hunter", when Dillon and Chester go searching for the villain, Gatloff, they run into one of his skinners whose been shot. Always the independent spirit, Dillon commands Chester to stay with the man saying, "I'll ride on by myself". Dillon's sense of justice is extremely refined. He always has a keen view on how to solve the problem at hand, and usually it is something that nobody else has thought of. Dillon makes claims such as, "I don't think someone would accidentally pour 50-60 lbs. of lead in their own face", to which Chester then replies, "Oh Mr. Dillon, I hadn't thought of that". When one of the new bar girls, Tacetta, is kidnapped by Dorgan, Dillon has a plan ready. He decides to take a group of 12 men rather than just himself and Chester so that they will intimidate Dorgan, who has been judged by Dillon as having a weaker character. Dillon also knows how to decide when to go after someone and when not to. In "The Buffalo Hunter" Dillon know that Gatloff killed his own worker, but, since he doesn't have proof, he waits until Gatloff does something else that will incriminate him. Similarly, when Dorgan is killed by Horn and Watson in "Tecetta", Dillon waits until Watson causes trouble as a drunkard to get the truth out of him.

Essay Horse Meat

The main problem out of the horsemeat scandal around Europe, according to specialists, (SOURCE) is not the threat to human health but more an issue of business ‘insecurity, as even major brands such as Nestle, Burger King and Findus fail to meet the high standards their consumers expect by selling different products than those specified in the labels and promotion of their brands (SOURCE).Other problem is the lack of efficient traceability along the complex supply chain for meat, where unscrupulous vendors substitute beef for horsemeat taking advantage of the lowest price and the fact that so many intermediates involved in the process does not make it easy to find a single responsible. The fact of this horsemeat scandal bursting in more than twelve countries in the European Union makes it compulsory to look over more strict global regulations for meat products, regarding production, transit and labeling.The problem is that food-safety regulations do exist but they are establish ed by national governments and easily get lost in the imports/exports activities, as there is still no formal legislation regarding the whole EU (SOURCE). â€Å"For processed foods, there is no global overview on where the food comes from,† says Monique Goyens, general director of the European Consumer Organization (Matlack, pg. , 2013). LabelingThe Food Standards Agency (FSA), from the UK, is an organism in charge of monitoring food safety and hygiene covering all the food supply chain, from slaughterhouses to final caterers. Their responsibilities cover: animal welfare, food safety and hygiene, labeling, nutrition, and law enforcement across the UK. (SOURCE http://www. food. gov. uk/about-us/about-the-fsa/#. UTT5GaKQU8o). In this way, one of its main objectives is to ensure costumer? s and business? safety by offering information and guidance upon best practices and legal regulations.Following information retrieved from FSA website, it is found that the European Parliament approved a new Food Information for Consumers Regulation (FIR) in July 2011, which should apply to all member estates within the EU (SOURCE); this information has been published in the Official Journal of the EU although transitional arrangements are being made at the moment, which means that these regulations won? t legally apply until 2014. The objective of the FIR, as Chapter I, Article I from the Official Journal describes, is o establish the requirements governing food information for suppliers, focused on labeling, in all the stages of the food chain to ensure the right of consumers to information and safe food (Official Journal of the EU, 2011, pg. 24). In this way, very specific information about labeling legislation can be found in Chapter III, about General Food Information Requirements and Responsibilities of Food Business Operators, as article 7 on Fair Information Practices reads: â€Å"1.Food information shall not be misleading, particularly: (a) as to the characteris tics of the food and, in particular, as to its nature, identity, properties, composition, quantity, durability, country of origin or place of provenance, method of manufacture or production; (b) by attributing to the food effects or properties which it does not possess; (c) by suggesting that the food possesses special characteristics when in fact all similar foods possess such characteristics, in particular by specifically emphasizing the presence or absence of certain ingredients and/or nutrients; d) by suggesting, by means of the appearance, the description or pictorial representations, the presence of a particular food or an ingredient, while in reality a component naturally present or an ingredient normally used in that food has been substituted with a different component or a different ingredient. â€Å" (Official Journal of the EU, 2011, pg. 27) As for the case of prepared meals (including frozen), where meat is just an ingredient among others, article 18 specifies: â€Å"1 . The list of ingredients shall be headed or preceded by a suitable heading which consists of or includes the word ‘ingredients’.It shall include all the ingredients of the food, in descending order of weight, as recorded at the time of their use in the manufacture of the food. † (Official Journal of the EU, 2011, pg. 30) It is also stated, in accordance to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (Article 114) that the indication of origin is mandatory for beef and beef products in the Union? s effort to follow the bovine spongiform encephalopathy crisis, which has increased consumer? s expectations (Official Journal of the EU, 2011).The EU Parliament believes it is compulsory to impose this declaration also to other well-consumed types of meat such as swine, sheep, goat and poultry. Still, they are many gaps left open as for horsemeat matters and the efficient application of the laws mentioned above during the transitional period for the establishment of the new FIR. When a food information law is introduced with new requirements, it is said that a transitional period should be granted for businesses and supplier to adapt to this new legislation.In the case of the new FIR, which was accepted in July 2011, the grace period will last until 2014. In the meanwhile, suppliers not complying with the new legislation are authorized to take out their products and labels to the market and stay there until they? re exhausted, even if the grace period is over before that occurs. (Official Journal of the EU, 2011) Nevertheless, much of these requirements already existed and were applied for national governments before the horsemeat scandal, ignoring EU? legislation and passing over â€Å"law enforcements† even from specialized food safety agencies like the FSA in the UK. Traceability and business? responsibility Meat passes through a very large chain of suppliers, where the priority is to get meat for the lowest price possible. With t he interest of getting more money and the vague, not enforced legislation, it seems easy to suppliers to sell less quality or different product s as what their consumer? s would like to buy.Consequently, in cases like the horsemeat scandal that Europe is facing, a responsible for the offence is hard to find. Still, it is fair to say that much of the responsibility relies in every business involved in this fraud, for letting unscrupulous suppliers and products inside their market on to their customers. Even if there didn? t exist any laws applied to this, it is the business? social responsibility to ensure that whatever is in their shelves for sale is safety and trustable.It is their duty, as responsible vendors, to do deep monitoring and recording requirements of the products and suppliers they work with every certain period, to ensure the quality and prestige of their brand and keep a track of where their products come from to ensure safety. Matlack, C. writes for the Bloomberg Bus inessweek Journal (February 2013) that frozen â€Å"beef† meals sold to Britain, Sweden and France supermarkets, were prepared in a Luxembourg factory who bought the meat from another French supplier, who got it from a Cyprot trader, who bought it from a Dutch trader, who obtained the meat from a Romanian slaughterhouse.None of them suppliers admit to know it was horsemeat what they were selling. Four different countries interfered in trading vast quantities of meat across national borders; bad supervision at any stage made it all went wrong. Since 2004, the General Food Regulation should be followed by all businesses and consumers interested in safety regulations for their foods regarding imports and exports, traceability, labeling and withdrawal of products.This regulation was approved by the FSA and the European Parliament and Council, is extended throughout Great Britain, and established the European Food Safety Authority (General Food Regulation, 2004). Within this docum ent, the following is established: (a) Articles 11 and 12, on imports and exports: â€Å"Food imported or exported into or from the EU to be placed in the market shall comply with the requirements of food law recognized by the EU, unless the importing country requests to follow other law and regulations†. (b) Article 14 which prohibits the placing of unsafe food on the market; c) Article 16 in so far as it prohibits labeling, advertising or presentation of food from misleading consumers; (d) Article 18 on traceability in so far as it imposes obligations on food business operators; (e) Article 19 which imposes obligations* on food business operators to act where food is not in compliance with food safety requirements. *Keep records of food, food substances and food-producing animals supplied to their business, and also other businesses to which their products have been supplied (General Food Regulation, 2004, pg6).

The History of the First Emperor of China - 1258 Words

On March 29, 1974, a couple of workers were digging a water well on the east side of Mount Li outside of the city of Xi’an. The workers uncovered a single terracotta figure and called the government authorities who investigated the matter. Soon, government archeologists were sent to the site. The unearthed great clay army that has baffled modern day craftsmen, intrigued archeologists, and amazed the general public. Before this discovery, no one knew about the First Emperor of China. Forty years later, we know a good deal about his legacy. Ying Zheng was born in 259 BCE to the King of Qin and his concubine. In 246 BCE, he took the throne at only thirteen. By the time he thirty-eight, he had unified the seven warring states involved in†¦show more content†¦Lack of historical records makes some historians question the association between the First Emperor and the construction of the wall. What is certain, however, is that if the First Emperor gave the orders to build the Great Wall, it was not built as we know it today. The walls would have been made of stones or earth, depending on what was more readily available. The philosophies of the time included Confucianism and Legalism, as simplified by modern scholar Arthur Waley in his book, Three Ways of Thought in Ancient China. Confucianism was considered bad and impractical, based on the idea that it was ruler-based and hind-sighted. The Legalists were considered good and practical because the administrations they set up were run by qualified men, used agriculture to stimulate the economy, and created clear laws. In fact, the First Emperor ordered the burning of several Confucius texts part of the Five Classics including the Book of Poetry and the Book of Documents. This was knows as the Burning of the Books. This burning also included other literature such as poetry, historical documents, and philosophical texts. This was done because the emperor felt threatened by those below him with something critical to say. [All] persons in the empire daring to store [these books] should go to the administrative and military governors so that these books may be indiscriminately burned. Those who dare to discuss the Odes and the Histories should be [executed andShow MoreRelatedThe Terra Cotta Army : China s First Emperor And The Birth Of A Nation965 Words   |  4 PagesJohn Mans book entitled The Terra Cotta Army: China’s First Emperor and the Birth of a Nation, published by Bantam Press. In this book review essay I will be talking about the Unification of China, The Terra Cotta Army, and the First Emperor. John Man’s main idea is the Unification of China in 221 BCE by king Ying Zheng also known as the First Emperor he ranks as one of the most historic events not only in Chinese history but also in world history. 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