Consumer Behaviour

Contents

Introduction. 2

Secondary research on the purchases of the TV.. 2

III) Primary Research:  Interviews. 4

IV.. 5

A.. 5

Reference. 9

Appendix. 10

Introduction

Last year around December, I purchased a 40 Inch 4k Smart Samsung TV and installed in my house.  The primary aim of the television is to be able to get and watch TV programmes but mostly the TV was to be used to catch up on the news.  The purchase process for the TV was a bit longer.  I realized I needed the TV since I was busy at work and sometimes the internet does not package the news in a manner that I wanted.  It was more of entertainment news and I wanted to watch the political news and the business news daily. I had wanted a TV that will allow me to record the news and watch it later while am eating or doing something else   The television was an item that would fulfill all my goals.  after a thorough a search and exploring all my alternatives I settled on the Samsung which was $ 700 dollars at the time of purchase.  The topic of consumer motivation in the study if consumer behavior will allow the manufacturers and the consumers to both understand how people arrive at purchasing decisions. Motivation is the key to any purchasing decision as it forms the basis for someone to keep the urge to purchase the product is, therefore, a critical and integral element for study in the of consumer behavior.

For this consumer behavior research, I interviewed my neighbor who had also purchased a 55-inch Sony TV right around the time that I purchased mine.  I posted on Facebook, I would like to interview someone with a TV.  The next person was a lady who had purchased a simple 50-inch digital screen for her use in the house.

 Secondary research on the purchases of the TV

According to Chand (2015), consumer behavior is the keen study of the consumers and how the either individually or as a group, are able to make a decision to purchase, use and dispose of the goods and services that satisfy their wants.   In that regard, marketers must be able to understand what moves the consumers to purchase the products and with that, they will be able to develop ideal marketing strategies and advertisements steps.

According to Chand (2015), consumer behaviors are influenced by several factors.   For a consumer to purchase a product they will be influenced by the pricing of the product, packaging, design and position and distributions.   Mallaiah et al., (2018) study found that personal factors such as the aged, income level and education of the consumers will also determine consumer behavior.   The consumers are also affected by factors such as the motives of the buying, the perception that people have on the product, and attitude that the consumers have on the product.   Other sectors include the situational factors such as the purchase of the surround and the time factor.   Additionally, the consumers are highly motivated by the social factors such as the social status and reference groups fairly and friend that they belong to (Alam and Sarafat, 2018).  Last but not least, consumer’s behavior is also affected by the social class of the individual, cases and subs caste, and religions.

To fully understand the consumer behavior, the marketers must critically analyze all these factors of the consumer then they can know which factor among all these factors is the dominant determinant. After the factor is identified the consumer can then customize or alter their strategies products or any other thing to align to their factor so that they can gain an advantage in the sales. Studies have also shown that consumer behavior also undergoes a continuous change over time, it is different with every customer, it is unique in each geographical region, it leads to purchasing decision, it is unique for each service and product, improves the individual stands of leaving and can show the manufacturers the status of leaving of their consumers (Alam and Sarafat, 2018).   One of the main reason for conducting the studies on consumer behaviour is to be able to determine how they can accurately price the products, design them promote, package, position and where to distribute it. The knowledge is critical as it is the difference between staying competitive and losing the market.  For this, analysis the focus is on the consumers’ behavior of the Television sets in America.  Even though I bought a smart television series, the analyses focused on the television sets generally.

TVs have been an integral part of the American people over the years.  In that regard, many scholars have conducted studies on the TV especially in consumer behaviors. Over, the years, with the rapid technology advancements, the consumers’ behaviors for the TV has also been changing. The technological advancements and the role of the TV have greatly influenced the purchasing behavior, and process for the people that own the TV (Aviv et al., 2018).

From that insight, Applied Material conducted a research on the consumer behavior o of the TV purchases crosses the world. The study methodology used were questionnaires that were structured, the study used both probabilistic sampling and stratified sampling. In stratified sampling, the study ensured that they divided the areas of interest into groups and then only selected respondents that had bought a television set over the last five years.

According to a survey that was conducted by the Applied Materials, the study realized that when consumers want to purchase a television set, 37% of the consumers there must be the presence of a special sale or the price is friendly (McDaniel, 2015).  I that price of the product and the advertisement was a great influence on whether they are owing to purchase or not.

The results were bit variant when applied to the Asian Market. The Asian market, India, and China cited that size increase, TV model and new brand as their largest motivation. In China, 57% of the respondents agreed that they followed the three sets while in India the number was at 28%. The US market was a bit more inclined the technology advancement of the Television series according to the research. Generally, due to the innovations and the manufacturers have managed to increase the quality of production but still maintain user-friendly prices, and launch the 4K UHD TV the purchasing of the television sets rose by 30 million units for the year (Aviv et al., 2018).

The same study also outlines that an individual can also purchase a TV so that they can keep up with the socio-economic status of the people around him.   Most of the respondents in several surveys responded that they like to have the biggest television sets in the neighborhood. Others agreed that they liked to increase purchase the television screened that will allow them to show off to their peers and see how they are more up to date with the technology.  Keeping in mind the technology advancement, many consumers have agreed that they had to go the television and watch most of their video streaming services and programmes using mobile devices or tablets.   85%, 80 % and 51% of respondent in China, India, and America respectively agree that the table is considered the second television (McDaniel, 2015).  However, even though the technology is catching up and almost eliminating the television in the market. In the US the watch time for the televisions is still high by more 3: 1 in watch time when compared to the usage of the tablet usage (McDaniel, 2015).

Mallaiah et al., (2018) highlighted that the technological world is changing and it also affecting the consumer behavior of purchase the television sets. There has been a significant shift in how the TV content is consumed by the people. It also shows that people are ready to explore other option to align with the opportunities that represented with the new technology.  TV service providers have launched the residential broadband installations that has allowed more than 94% of homes to be connected according to a report from the white house in 2017 (McDaniel, 2015).  Likewise, there is else availability of the Wi-Fi which allows people to stream the videos more on their phones and the tablets.   Additional stream videos options like Netflix have increased subscriptions.  The relationship between the increased internet and other have a delicate relationship between the TV purchased and not considered (McDaniel, 2015).

The television sets have been evolving with time. The consumer behavior relating to the way the consumers purchase the televise sets has been evolving with time too. For example, with the robust takeover of the smartphones and the tablets, the TV sets were set to go out of the market within less than a period of 20 years. However, ten years down the line and the TV sets are still in the market (McDaniel, 2015). In light of this, it is important to examine consumer behavior andthe trends. Especially what motivates the consumers and how they make the decisions to purchase the products, not just for the television’s sets only but also other products that will help business and other manufacturers.

 III) Primary Research:  Interviews

The primary research for the study was on two purchasers that purchased products.  The methodology of the study and data collection was however done by exclusive interviews of the respondents. The main approach of the study was to collect qualitative data.  However, the qualitative approach will be later used to compare with the quantitative data collected from the other researchers.  The study used open-ended questions that allowed the correspondents a lot of freedom to answer the questions the way they liked. However, the research also had some closed-ended interview question with options that involved ranking your responses.

The study focused on two respondents who had recently purchased a similar product just the same as I had purchased.   That way it will be easy to relate their motivations to my motivations.  It will also allow us to determine the dominant factors that affect or motivate people when they are purchasing that product.

The interviewees that participated in the study had the following profiles. The male who lived in my apartment was a white male that was in his late thirties. The individual is among the lower middle-income earners.  He had no family and was still studying. He owned restaurant around the neighborhood which performed well.  My second corresponded not was a laying her middle twenties.  She was an African American student who was studying law in a nearby college.  They were all well informed when it comes to purchasing the products.

 IV

A

From the purchases, one key thing I learned about consumer behavior is that motivation is the driving force of all the things (Alam and Sarafat, 2018). The forces that motivated to make purchases were also key when we were supposed to purchase the products.  Before purchasing the product, even though voluntary or involuntary we all observed the due process of the consumer buying process.  Everyone had the problem recognition phases the information stage followed by the evaluation of the alternatives made a purchase decision, initiated the trade.   Even though the procedure was the same we had a different purchasing piece approach and had different customer buying behavior.   Purchasing of the Televisions set was extensive decision making as it was complex and required our involvement.  Before purchasing we spent a lot of time researching and deciding on whether to purchase it or not.

From the purchasing decision, it is clean that was affected by three factors when making the decision.   The factors included personal decisions, psychological decisions, and social decisions, Under the psychological factors motivations that Will be able to watch the political and business news was one of the main factors that motivated me to purchase the products. looking at the other respondents they also had their own motivations that made them purchase the products. perceptions also affected the consumer significantly as I believed that only Samsung TV will be able to meet my needs. However, pricing, technological features and the ease of access to the product as three of the highest motivational features.  As I was scrolling through in my Facebook page and found the adverts and followed it up. Information provided by the manufacturers and the sellers convinced me to purchase the products.  In that, the knowledge I had about the products and the attitude I had formed from the information already supplied to me. An individual personality and their lifestyle also determine if they are going to purchase the product (Aviv et al., 2018).

I was also able to determine from the interviews about how the opinions leaders and the families, friends can influence the consumer behavior.  The respondents claimed that friends and families also had an input in what they purchased. Mostly friends had to keep up with their friends, families, on the other hand, could either criticize or give a suggestion depending on the social economic background of the individual.

All these factors had a unique interconnection in how at the end an individual finally manages to purchase or makes the decision on whether to buy r ignore a certain product.   Even though we purchased the same products we purchased the different products and that can be attributed to the difference in the personal psychological and the social difference that we all have.  Therefore, manufacturers must make a point of understanding all these to understand what they will have to deal with when the launch the products to the customers (Alam and Sarafat, 2018).

B

The main products that were purchased are the TV sets.  However, the TV set that I purchased and that the male correspondent bought was more the same. However, the other resident who was a female purchased a digital screen which was somehow outdated. The main reason the first correspondent purchased the TV set was that it was affordable and was smart TV able to connect with his appliances.  The other respondent purchased the digital TV which was way cheaper t $ 200 dollars purchased it entirely because of the affordability.  After going through her profile it is clear that her social economic background played a huge factor in why she had to purchase the TV even though it was outdated it was the only she could afford.

If the price of the brand was a non-issue, most of us would have purchased the Apple brand (DeMooji, 2010).  However, the products were overpriced and were only available in select stores countrywide.  After launching the product initial price was over 1 thousand dollars while the Samsung alternative is $ 700 dollars.

Before purchasing the products, everyone conducted their own research to determine what is the alternative products that he or she could purchase and it will fit their products. I relied on social media and the trending products on Amazon, the same as the first respondent. However, the lady opted to use a referral from a friend that she trusts with electronic stuff to find her product that she likes.  She did not participate fully in the purchasing process and only went to collect the product.  Her perception was that she will not be able to identify a product that will fit her want. On the r we had we were active participants that participated in all the sets.

C

Comparisons of the behaviors of the purchases

According to my first correspondent who had purchased the Sony Television, the main reason why he had decided to purchase the television is that Sony had launched a new product to fit in the current market and it was surprisingly affordable. The Television set that he bought was only $ 850 dollars but it could fit his home requirements.   Since the product was cheaper he wanted it to fit in his home connectivity of all entertainment systems. My main reasons for purchasing the television set is a bit different from why he purchased his television set.  I wanted to have a television set so that I can be able to see the political news and the business news.  However, the house already has other 21^st century devices and I figured that since Samsung has launched a product that will allow interconnectivity between my computer, music system and phone.   The screens were an avenue that will allow me to keep up with the latest technology. Mostly I wanted to fit the profile of the tenants in that building.   of the tenants, in the place, I was living back then had a smart television TV.  It seemed odd that I am the only that was using my computer for all the other activities. Other companies that had the same kind had of the product had overpriced the product and they were beyond my range of affordability. I was therefore left with the option of Samsung 40-inch television.   The second correspondent outline that the main reason she purchased the 55-inch digital TV was that she wanted a large television set and the one she bought was affordable.

The interviews were exclusive so I interviewed the correspondent further to determine other factors that motivated or impacted them when they wanted to purchase the products.   The first responder was from the same building as I do. The building has provided the tenants with free Wi-Fi. That means that we can use the internet for free as the costs have been subsidized and only a small cost is added to our rents since we share a subscription.  The respondent admitted that it was among one of the reasons that he decided to purchase the smart Television. From then onwards he will not have to strain himself to a small screen of the phone or the tablet when watching movies on the online platforms or listening to music.  The third correspondent also purchased the television because they were given a free broadband by the hostel that she lived in

From that analysis I discovered one thing when purchasing the same product, people may be affected by the same factors when making the decision to purchase the product. However, since we were all making the decision independently the order did not matter.  From the analysis, my main motivation was to watch TV and catch up the news since the internet did not have the exact content I was looking for. However, when purchasing the price, its technological features, Wi-Fi in the apartment and social status mattered.  For the first respondent, we had the same motivation, only their order of priority was very different.    His first motivation factor was the price was completely affordable despite being a new product from Sony. The second motivation was from the free Wi-Fi from the apartment, then the alternative big screen other than using the phones and tablets small screens.  The third correspondent primarily purchased the product to catch her daily Tv shows as she did not want to spend a lot of money on the internet.  Her second motivation was that the TV set was readily available and affordable.

D

From the observation, the price and affordability of the product are more dominant than the product differentiation. For example, while Apple dominates the smartphone despite their relatively high prices, they have not been able to do the same with the smart TV market despite having one of the best products.   When marketing the first thing that the marketers can use is to ensure that the affordability of the products is on point.  While the marketers

The second approach is the use of social media marketing to do market differentiation.  Using the social media and the micro-targeting feature of Facebook, one can effectively ensure that that specific piece of information reaches specific people. The tool allows marketers to target a particular piece of information to a particular intended population. If marketers are able to effectively use the tool, they will be able to capture the 21^st-century buyers.  Most buyers go online to research for products before they purchase them. They will then either order it online or go and pick it at the store (DeMooji, 2010).

From the analysis, many people purchase certain items when they are anticipating something.  For example, in last year most of us purchased television sets in anticipation of the FIFA world cup. The same happens when people anticipate super bowl, NBA, and other world sporting event or other events. Marketers should, therefore, ensure they launch their product a few months to the events and align the advertisement or the promotion messages in anticipation of the event. Therefore, people who are waiting for that event will purchase the products in anticipation of the product.

E

I purchased a Samsung smart TV for its affordability, up-to-date technology, and its user-friendliness. Additionally, I had a few products from the company that allowed me to connect it to the stereo systems, phone and even though my computer was a MacBook it still connected.  The marketers of the Samsung TV should carry out a qualitative market research on their customers.  The company can carry the research through social media, phones or follow up that will allow them valuable information about how the product is performing in the market. The manufacturer should also use the lean startup approach when introducing any product in the market as it will help them understand the customer needs. The qualitative research on the product will also allow them to gain a competitive advantage over competitors like Sony, Apple and Skyworth TTV as they will know what the market wants before they launch the next product.  The analysis will reveal the demographic characteristic, the motivations factors, what do customers consider alternatives or supplements for their products and from which places do thy purchase the products more. With that information, Samsung will be able to act accordingly and provide s goods and services that fit all the requirements (Mallaiah et al., 2018).

Reference

Alam, B., & Sarafat, P. (2018). Branding Effect of Consumer Purchase Decision on Soft Drinks in Bangladesh.

Aviv, Y., Wei, M. M., & Zhang, F. (2018). Responsive pricing of fashion products: The effects of demand learning and strategic consumer behavior.

Chandi ., S Consumer Behavior: Definition and Nature of Consumer Behavior. Your Article Library. http://www.yourarticlelibrary.com/marketing/market-segmentation/consumer-behaviour-meaningdefinition-and-nature-of-consumer-behaviour/32301

De Mooij, M. (2010). Consumer behavior and culture: Consequences for global marketing and advertising. Sage.

Mallaiah, G., Ramana, D. V., & Murthy, B. S. R. (2018). An Empirical Study of the Factors Influencing Consumer Behaviour in the Electric Appliances Market. International Journal, 6(1).

McDaniel M., (2015) Why We Buy: Motivations for New TV Purchases. Applied Materials. http://blog.appliedmaterials.com/why-we-buy-motivations-new-tv-purchases

Appendix

The following are the survey questions and that I used I gave to the interviewees to respondents to

to

Survey questions

Age

gender

• Before purchasing the television what factor did you consider most (your motivation to purchase) (rank from one to the last, 1 being the one with the highest priority)

1. i) Pricing ii) design iii) packaging iv) Branding v) easily available vi) user interface vii) Technological features viii) trying to keep up with friends

• Did you participate in all the purchase processes of the TV set?
• Where did you the advertisement for the TV set that you purchased
• Is there any other product that influenced your need to purchase the product?
• Did any of your family members friends or peers influence your decision to purchase the proud? Did you listen to them?
• Did you actively participate in the purchase process?
• Is there any event that motivated you to purchase the product?
• Can you say that you like to own the biggest TV in your neighborhood?

Findings and results

The following are the results from the two respondents

Reference

Alam, B., & Sarafat, P. (2018). Branding Effect of Consumer Purchase Decision on Soft Drinks in Bangladesh.

Aviv, Y., Wei, M. M., & Zhang, F. (2018). Responsive pricing of fashion products: The effects of demand learning and strategic consumer behavior.

Chandi ., S Consumer Behavior: Definition and Nature of Consumer Behavior. Your Article Library. http://www.yourarticlelibrary.com/marketing/market-segmentation/consumer-behaviour-meaningdefinition-and-nature-of-consumer-behaviour/32301

De Mooij, M. (2010). Consumer behavior and culture: Consequences for global marketing and advertising. Sage.

Mallaiah, G., Ramana, D. V., & Murthy, B. S. R. (2018). An Empirical Study of the Factors Influencing Consumer Behaviour in the Electric Appliances Market. International Journal, 6(1).

McDaniel M., (2015) Why We Buy: Motivations for New TV Purchases. Applied Materials. http://blog.appliedmaterials.com/why-we-buy-motivations-new-tv-purchases