Company Overview
Company
Nestle came into existence in 1905. It is headquartered in Vevey, Vaud, Switzerland. Since the inception, the company has continually added up stories of success to its business. Nestle holds the reputation of being the largest food company in the world. The company offers range of products catering the needs of diverse customers (Nestle.com, 2018). It is involved in several joint ventures such as the follows (Nestle.com, 2018):
- With General Mills for the Worldwide Cereal Business
- With the Coca-Cola Company for the Beverage
- With Colgate-Palmolive
- With Indofood
- With Snow for Snow Brand Milk Products
- With Fonterra for offering dairy products
Product and/or location
The product list include baby food, breakfast cereals, medical food, bottled water, ice cream, pet foods, snacks and frozen foods. The range of products caters the needs of different customers ranging from children to adult customers. The company is not just known for one single product but, has established its popularity in more than one. Cerelac and Lactogen for infants, Nescafe for coffee lovers, Felix & Go Cat for Petcare and Maggi for noodle lovers are some of the most popular products in different regions (Nestle.com, 2018).
Consumer
Their consumers fall in variety of age groups ranging from infant to adolescents and to adult person. As already mentioned in the product section that there are different products for different age groups, the range of consumers of Nestle are diverse. In other words, this can be said that Nestle targets the every single age group with its innovative products.
Adolescence is the evolution stage from puberty to adulthood. In this stage, physical and psychological developments occur (Bjork & Pardini, 2015). Adolescents are generally the group which have more freedom from parents than pre-adolescents. The privilege which adolescents get does also include the freedom to eat the favourite foods and desserts. In most countries, the demands of adolescents are fulfilled with little or no sign of hesitation from parents. The worry about obesity and other diseases due to bad eating habits is restricted to few families only that have awareness for health (Shah et al., 2015). Hence, the freedom given to adolescents plays an important role in their action to fulfil their temptation. Eating a chocolate is one of their temptations. However, adolescents are attracted to a certain thing like taste, packaging, price and branding. Hence, it is important for marketers to have set plans to edge past the competitors and gain the trust of adolescents.
1. Cognitive factors
Explaining the respective pieces of literature
According to Brandenburg et al. (2015), cognition can be defined as a process which helps marketers in finding the hidden link between the needs and desires of customers. There is a variable hidden in between the needs and desires which is essential for marketers to identify and cognition is exactly the process that helps to fulfil such requirement. In the light of the stated fact, this can be said that marketers do extensive research works on identifying that particular hidden variable. The hidden variable can be identified by using the varieties of marketing tools to make customer realise the needs for a particular product. For example, in context of the chosen product “Kit Kat”, customers already have desires for the varieties of chocolates. Kit Kat had just made customer realise the difference that the company wants to deliver. The sense for the difference was created with a different product layout, the taste and the marketing strategy. According to Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs, there are basically the five levels of needs. It means that once the lower level of needs is fulfilled, it just opens up ways for higher levels of needs (Karnatovskaia, Gajic, Bienvenu, Stevenson & Needham, 2015). For example, it means trying the different flavours one after another.
Range of Products
Application on the selected segment
Kit Kat uses product innovation to offer customers the different flavours. The selection of varieties differs from one region to another depending on the type of consumer behaviour in the target market. Notably, it offers customers approximately around 200 hundred distinguished flavours largely of which are being manufactured or produced in Japan (Nestle.com, 2018). Cadbury which is one of the competitor companies to Kit Kat has a very limited range of flavours. Cadbury has its main focus on presenting the real dark chocolates to customers with high milk contents in it (Jaques, 2015). Both Nestle and Cadbury are different to each other to some extent in identifying the hidden variable in their target customers necessary for converting desires into needs.
2 Emotional factors
Explaining the respective pieces of literature
Murray’s Theory of Needs categorises the needs of customers into two categories namely the primary and the secondary needs. Primary needs are all those basic needs which are compulsory for customers. For example, need for water, food and oxygen. Secondary needs are generally the psychological needs such as need for achievement, nurturing and independence (Randheer, Almotairi & Naeem, 2014). Marketers use to form a bridge between the psychological desires of customers and the actualisation of needs travelling on which customers develop the intention to purchase.
As opined by Van den Broeck, Ferris, Chang & Rosen (2016), psychological needs encourage the intention of buying a product. The needs vary with the number of customers. For example, the majority of customers love the basic form of Kit Kat whereas there are many customers who love to try the different flavours of it.
Application on the selected segment
Kit Kat uses a variety of strategies to influence the emotions of customers. The first and foremost strategy is to offer customer the variety of flavours in different countries. The second most catching strategy was the design which is still very unique. Cadbury which is one of the top rated competitors of Kit Kat in most circles of world does not follow the same strategy.
1 Feelings
Explaining the respective pieces of literature
Feelings can be both positive and negative depending on the promotion strategy for the product and the actual product quality. Promotion creates the much-needed interest for product whereas quality of products tries to hold customers to a level it has committed to customers. ‘Feelings’ is actually in direct proportion with the product’s promotion and the product’s quality. This can be further understood with the help of “Theory of Planned Behaviour”. The theory helps to form a linkage between the one’s beliefs and behaviours (Hagger, Chan, Protogerou & Chatzisarantis, 2016). Customers may have certain set of beliefs in regards to their choice of products in a particular category of products. For example, few customers may have desires for chocolate in its basic form while some may also demand the different flavours. In the light of the theory of planned behaviour, it is necessary for marketers that they are able to establish a link between beliefs and behaviour.
Consumer Demographics
Application on the selected segment
There are ample of taste choices of Adolescents and it is very challenging for marketers to identify the taste of their target markets. Some adolescents love the pure chocolates while most others love to try the different other flavours as well. The marketers must take the help from the theory of planned behaviour and work extensively to relate the beliefs with behaviours. They can get an ample of information regarding the taste and the brand preferences of their target consumer. Therefore, it is recommended for firms that they invest high in marketing activities and encourage a variety of marketing research works, so that, they produce less errors in linking the customer’s beliefs with their behaviours (Hagger, Chan, Protogerou & Chatzisarantis, 2016).
2 Beliefs
Explaining the respective pieces of literature
Beliefs can be understood as an individual’s thought process behind doing or saying anything. This can also be explained from the attribution theory. The theory governs a process of reaching to a conclusion in context to what all have made customers behave in a certain manner (Rezaei, 2015). The theory thus emphasises on identifying the thought process of the target customers for the purchase of a certain product. For example, customers love to have both the Kit Kat and Cadbury; however, it is important for either of the companies to identify why each of those do not perform equally well in most other circles. They must also know the reasons why people love them. The positive part will encourage persisting with the identified characteristics while the negative one will ask for a few of inclusions. Inclusions can be in various regards like the introduction of new flavours or change in product quality.
Application on the selected segment
Kit Kat is the one candy bar which was marketed around with a concept of sharing. The layout is designed in such a way that it is very easier to share with friends, relatives or dear ones. It is not possible with others such as Cadbury or Snickers. Snickers can be considered as offering the same message; however, it comes in very big sizes known as “Slice n’ Share Snickers bar” which make it uneasy to hold and it also contains a lot of calories in it (Beneke, Floyd, Rono & Sherwood, 2015). Hence, it appears that no other brands read the mind of customers better than Kit Kat does this.
Individual Influences on Consumer Behaviour
The decision making process can be explained or understood from both theoretical point of views and also from the famous practices of world renowned companies. The theoretical point of views can be started with “The Theory of Consumer Behaviour and Decision Making” which states that there is different process involved in the decision making of adolescents. The theory governs a cognitive construction to understand or anticipate the expected outcomes of decisions. In this process, customers are presented as identifying their needs, then configuring the process to follow the product and finally end up by purchasing the intended product. Therefore, as per the theory, adolescents follow a different path till reaching the endpoint to purchase their desired chocolate. One thing is very important to note here is that the selected customers for this study have desires for chocolates. Marketers like every single chocolate making company uses the effective promotion strategy to present their each product as a fresh one that have a few changes in it such as the flavours or else (Pescher, Reichhart & Spann, 2014).
Motivation, feelings, attitudes and beliefs are often considered as psychological factors which influence the consumer decisions.
Motivation: It is important to understand a motive which is the inward drive to take action and satisfy a need. It is to be noted that a profoundly motivated individual is the one who is an exceptionally objective oriented person. Irrespective of the objectives, whether positive or negative, a few people bear a tendency to have a high-level of objective orientation, while others may have a lower level of objective orientation. Individuals may show distinctive levels of motivation in various parts of their lives. For instance, a secondary school junior might fail trigonometry (low motivation) while accomplishing champion level execution at the computer game Guitar Hero (high motivation) (Cantallops & Salvi, 2014).
The purchase becomes certain when the need is stirred to a sufficiently high level that it acts as a motive. Notably, a man can have a list of necessities that are not of urgency to cause the motivation to act, while there are others for which it is important for a motive to act. Powers that make a sense of urgency and motivation might be internal in occurrence. For example, individuals get eager, psychological (pondering sustenance makes one hungry) or environmental (there is a promotion for a Big Mac) (Maniatis, 2016).
To make an impact with motivation in the advertising practice, it is useful for marketers to see how motivation plays into a particular purchasing circumstance—what triggers shoppers to set objectives, take care of their need-based issues and make a move. Marketers may not target the individual unless and until, there is no data; however, a specific group such as adolescents in this study can be targeted effectively by understanding the process of purchase development. Marketers are aware of the fact that few of the products that are sold do not fit the needs of the target group. Despite the fact, desires for such products can be created. Once the stage of desire is attained, it is the all techniques that marketers can use to convert desires into needs. This further means a motive for the specific product is created (Maniatis, 2016).
Marketing Strategies Based on Individual Influences
The orientation of motive can be understood from Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs. The hierarchy states that an individual can be motivated at any of the five stages in the hierarchy, provided, that a realization for the need is created (Karnatovskaia, Gajic, Bienvenu, Stevenson & Needham, 2015). The five stages of the Hierarchy of Needs are psychological needs, safety & security, love & belonging, self-esteem and self-actualization. The needs occupy the different levels of the hierarchy where psychological needs are the first level while self-actualization, the last. It is believed that the effective marketing strategies can stimulate the sense of needs at any stage in the hierarchy. For example, the ad campaign by Procter & Gamble “Thank You Mom” featured the Olympic athletes & their parents and cited their caring relationships (Schmidt, 2016). In this advertisement, the needs for love & belonging is utilised to provoke the motivation for purchase.
There is another psychological factor like attitudes and beliefs speak that impacts the consumer behaviour. A belief can be understood as a passion a person holds about something. For example, “dark chocolate can be pungent “or” delicious” that depends on the beliefs. To some “dark chocolate may appear as useful for baking.” On the other hand, an attitude can be understood as a steady perspective of something which includes the belief, the emotional feeling and an associated behaviour (Ladhari & Michaud, 2015). For example, there can have the several perceptions for the dark chocolate which may be categorized as a belief (“the taste of dark chocolate is pleasant”), a feeling (“it is joyful to have the dark chocolates”) and an oriented behaviour (“dark chocolate is consumed every afternoon as a refreshment).
There can be the instances that people bear beliefs and attitudes for a range of things such as food, holidays, brands, family, places, politics, religion, and etcetera. Notably, beliefs and attitudes might be neutral, negative, or positive. Such beliefs and attitudes might be based on fact or opinion. It is up to the marketers and their capability to see how beliefs and attitudes stimulate the purchaser and their decision making. If there is a wrong or incorrect belief among the population or the target consumers, it needs to counteract from the effective marketing strategies (Ladhari & Michaud, 2015). For example, Pepsi was blamed to have intentionally included a syringe in a can of Diet Pepsi in the year 1993 (Kayabaº, Boyraz & Derdiyok, 2017). It was presented as if being an intentional act. However, the PepsiCo responded to it positively and had released public statements. Videos and a PR campaign was used to win back the attacked trust of customers and to reestablish a fact that Pepsi products have nothing to do with such things & that these are safe (Kayabaº, Boyraz & Derdiyok, 2017). It is of worth to note that beliefs and attitudes may not be translated into behaviour at every occasion. For example, someone may love to have pizza; however, that pizza must not be from Pizza Hut. The individual can go for other options to get the pizza but, never to Pizza Hut.
The selected target customers in this study are adolescents. Now, this is of importance to discuss the ways to improve the marketing strategies, so that, competency of Nestlé’s Kit Kat is increased. However, it does not at all mean that Nestle lack to have the effective marketing strategies. It is just to show that few other things can also be considered to make a much better impact. Following strategies are useful for an improvement in the existing marketing strategies for the target customer:
Product
According to Murray’s Theory of Needs, there are two sections of needs such as: Primary and Secondary. Primary needs include all things such as water, food, air and others. Secondary needs are the psychological needs which are the types of drives that encourage for purchase (Randheer, Almotairi & Naeem, 2014). Chocolate is best suited with the psychological needs as these are products which require a drive from customers. Therefore, it is the responsibilities of marketers that it has effective and productive marketing strategies which encourage customers to be profound with a desire for purchase. Adolescents may have various reasons to buy or have chocolates. They may also have preferences for brands. However, the desire for chocolates and the preferences for brands may not be the consequence of understanding. This may be because of several reasons like “being attracted by the marketing activities and also love the packaging”. The marketing activities can make to realise that this particular chocolate will be a different one from others and that it is the best choice (Felzensztein, Stringer, Benson-Rea & Freeman, 2014). Such perceptions when adolescents make it, it ends up with the purchase of the intended chocolate.
Notably, the lasting impact of the preferred chocolate is ensured if the preferred product has justified the perceptions. The fact helps to figure out that it is important to use only the appropriate contents for marketing. It must not be overly stated (De Pelsmacker, van Tilburg & Holthof, 2018). Customers have the tendency that their perceptions are met and satisfied as well. Considering these facts, it is recommended that Nestle must fulfil the highlighted criteria to remain sellable and competent as well. Additionally, Nestle must also ensure that it takes care of the quality part. Chocolates can be made health friendly with slight adjustments to a few of contents. This is needed also due to the rising awareness of obesity (Bhattacharjee, Mukhopadhyay, Joshi & Singh, 2017). However, any change must be communicated with effective channels of promotion to the target consumer, so that, target customers are educated on the concern.
Price
This is another very important segment which requires a better understanding of the market, the beliefs & attitudes of adolescents regarding the price and the motivational factors. This may vary with regions and the income status of the family. Apart from a few of chocolates, most of the chocolates are generally priced quite lower (da Silva Lopes, 2016). However, since chocolates do not fall in the primary needs of “Murray’s Theory of Needs”, few groups can avoid it due to being sensitive to pricing. Such groups may have the preference for pieces of stuff that are cost-effective and are good for the health also. Hence, it is important that pricing is done according to regions and the household income status (Weisstein, Kukar-Kinney & Monroe, 2016). It is suggested to Nestlé’s Kit Kat that it must offer a variety of chocolates, so that, every single group finds the one best suited to them. Variation in products is possible with different bar sizes of Kit Kat and also the number of bars in one packet. Pricing is an important marketing segment which contributes to the build up of perception in customers (Weisstein, Kukar-Kinney & Monroe, 2016).
Pricing war can be won by effectively monitoring the pricing strategies of other brands such as the competitors of Nestle. This gives an understanding of what can be the competitive pricing. It is not important that every product is priced low. It is rather more important that every product is more competitive than others in the market in regards to pricing and quality. Generally, the competitors of Nestle such as Mars and Cadbury can offer the competitive pricing. However, Nestle needs to find ways to edge past of its competitors. Kit Kat is the one product which comes in a format where four and less or more number of bars is attached together. This is one of the uniqueness that Nestlé’s Kit Kat has. Kit Kat can also have a list of other factors that could make the difference like health-oriented product which appeals the target customers (Graf et al., 2015).
Promotion
This is perhaps a very important segment of business which influences the buying perception of customers. According to the “Theory of Planned Behaviour”, marketers must be able to bridge a path between belief and behaviour travelling to which customer ends up purchasing the chocolate. As already stated, adolescents may have the number of beliefs oriented from the different attitudes. Some may like a dark chocolate while others may not. In a similar way, the Kit Kat in its basic form is loved by many; however, some may have different other demands. For example, there are number of flavours for Kit Kat alone in Japan (Nestle.com, 2018). It is clear that attitudes can be different and that beliefs as well. Marketers in Nestle must be able to understand the beliefs and attitudes of adolescents, so that, suitable products are offered to them. There is a need to stimulate the beliefs into behaviour to encourage for the purchase. In addition to this, marketers must also focus on the content of marketing to avoid any sort of overly stated act. For example, an orange flavour of Kit Kat may not be equally tasteful for more others who consume basically the original form of Kit Kat. If unnecessary promotions are done targeting such customers like “it is the best flavour ever from Kit Kat” customers will simply find no connectivity with it (Zekiri & HASANI, 2015).
6. Conclusion
Therefore, it is important for Nestlé’s Kit Kat that the marketer’s team are able to read or understand the beliefs, attitudes and motivations to make the much better impact. Target consumers for this study are adolescents. Their diverse behaviours in regards to beliefs and attitudes must be understood in order to make a much better use of it and bring a more satisfied result. Moreover, it needs to be the best option for customers in regards to price and product.
References
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