Cultural factors
Cultural factors –The perceptions and wants of an individual are to a large extent learned through the cultural context. Culture is a major influencer of consumer behaviour because it is a way of life (Baptista & Oliveira, 2015).Cultures vary from one community to another. It is not a guarantee that a group of people who live close to one another will have the same way of life. It is therefore important for a marketer to design unique and exclusive strategies for every culture that they target. It is also important to note that cultures do change over time and therefore a product designed for a specific culture may become obsolete as another product flourishes or becomes fashionable(Claudy, Garcia & O’Driscoll ,2015).
Social Factors- Since human beings are social beings, interaction with other people is mandatory. It is through this interaction that human beings get to form their likes and dislikes. The likes and dislikes form the consuming behaviour like the type of clothes to wear or the type of hotel to book. The role of an individual in the society, the reference people that the individual interacts with and the social status of a person are direct influencers on consumer behaviour (Joshi & Rahman, 2015).
Personal Factors- these are factors that vary from one person to the other.it ultimately leads to varying set of attitudes towards products and services. It includes a collection of other factors such as the occupation, lifestyle, personality, age and life cycle state and the economic situation(Hazen, Mollenkopf & Wang ,2017)..
Psychological factors- these are the mental factors that motivate the buying of products and services. It includes other factors such as motivation, perception, beliefs and attitude.
Explain each factor in detail, using your own example to elaborate each step showing how each factor has affected you in your buying decision:
Factor 1: _Cultural Factors- under this factor there are other subtopics such as the social factors, culture and the cultural groups. I have had a fair share of the cultural factor. Being a staunch Muslim, I cannot eat pork. It a way of life that each and every person should abide to. Therefore, I cannot buy pork but I am allowed to eat beef. This has affected my consumption behaviour (Kumar & Ghodeswar, 2015). The other example is that as a Muslim, I always find myself buying a kanzu because it is the type of clothe that is common and culture dictates that it is the best clothe to wear on Friday while headed to the mosquitoes. It is however important to note that I am a fun of skinny jeans but my consumption behaviour has been affected by the culture.
Factor 2: Social factor- Under the social factors, there are three main factors. The groups and social networks, the family and the social roles and statuses. There are three main groups under the social factors. The reference group, the membership group and the Aspiration group. The reference group is a group of individuals that are considered as point of reference. This might impact individual desires and behaviours in some way. Membership group as the name suggests it is a group where the individual belongs to. An aspiration group is a group in which an individual wish to belong to.
Social Factors
The opinion leader comes as a result of the reference group. These people have special talent that make them superior to the others. The other example is the online social networks. This is the platform that enables individuals from different parts of the globe to communicate and socialise. It enables people from diverse cultures in different parts of the world to exchange ideas. It makes the world a global village. Examples include blogs, Facebook, twitter and WhatsApp. The social media has affected my consuming behaviour especially with the kind of music and clothes I want to wear. There are reference people who I have formed such as celebrities. I always want to wear the type of clothes they have.
The other factor under this is the family. The structure of the family assigns roles to each person. These roles influence the consuming behaviour of individuals (Rani, 2014). For example, the kind of clothes that my father buys are not the same as mine. My father buys official clothes while I prefer funky clothes.
The last factor under this section is the social role and individual status in the society. A social role is an activity which an individual does while status is the esteem that an individual is held by the community. Once people around you give you high esteem you begin to change your consuming behaviour. For example, when I graduated from high school it was a big deal back home. Relative held me with a high esteem and I could feel the pressure. Funny enough my consuming behaviour changed. This is because initially I loved to keep shaggy hair but with the kind of esteem that people held me with I had to change my preference.
Factor 3: Personal Factors – this factor describes five sub factors. The age and life cycle stage, occupation, economic situation, life style and personality and self-concept.
The age and the life cycle is a major influencer of the taste for different individuals in the family. It is evident as an individual grows, their taste changes with time. A good example is the taste for clothes right from childhood to adulthood. A toddler would prefer to have toys but as the child grows, the taste for toys is diminished. A family man would prefer to buy family related products.
Economic situation is a major influencer for consumption. Personal income and saving attitude have bigger consequences. For instance, a person who is on a saving budget would prefer to have essential commodities in life as opposed to an individual who has a high income. The individual would prefer to have luxurious products. As a student with little income, my consuming behaviour has been affected because I have to work with what is provided. The amount of money provided by my parents would not allow me to have luxurious products or live a luxurious life like going to the Hawaii on every weekend.
Lifestyle says more of a person than their social class. It is important to note that people don’t simply buy a product but rather the image of the product. Lifestyle represents different dimensions; the activities, the interests and the opinions. In my case, I love to buy black commodities because to me I feel like the image attached to a black commodity is power. My consumption behaviour is therefore influenced by black colour. Most often I find myself buying black commodities whether consciously or unconsciously
Personal Factors
Personality and self-concept describes the unique characteristics that individuals have. Personality especially describes self-confidence and sociability. There also exist brand personalities. Human beings can be categorized in five different brand personalities; sophistication, sincerity, competence, ruggedness and excitement. My personality in this case would be ruggedness, I love shaggy hair, torn jeans with cool sneakers. However, as I mentioned earlier on other factors occasionally influence my consumption behaviour.
Factor 4: the last factor is the psychological factors. Motivation, perception, learning, beliefs and attitudes form influence a person’s choice.
Motivation it is important to note that a need becomes a motive when it reaches some level of intensity. Even if a person tries to suppress their urge, the urge will immerge subconsciously in another way. A motive is a need that is persistently suppressing an individual to satisfy it. Often is the time I find myself buying products I that were not so important but I persistently wanted. For instance, a product like a Bluetooth set I purchased due to the long period of time that I wanted to but It so bad.
Perception is the process by which people select, interpret and organise information to form a meaningful picture of the world. A person’s actions and interaction in situations is wholly dependent on their perception. In my case, there are shirts with embedded writings which I cannot buy simply because of the perception of my mother. She perceives that shirts with embedded graffiti prints are demonic and advises me not to buy. However, given a chance my perception is that the shirt looks cool and I would buy it anytime given the chance.
Learning chances the taste of an individual. I remember that I was a fun of the Sayona stereo but ever since I learnt that there are better brands that last longer I changed my taste to buy LG. the other experience is the preference for suits. Learned persons prefer to wear suits than they would prefer to buy casual clothes.
A belief is a descriptive thought that a person holds for something while an attitude is feeling and tendencies towards an idea or an object. Beliefs and attitudes are major influencers of taste. For instance, some people will not but red coloured commodities due to the belief that the colour is associated with bad luck (Rödiger & Hamm, 2015). In my case, due to my attitude in fashion sense, there are some trending styles that I would not prefer. One example is the bag that is tied on the waist line of male teenagers. Although it is a trend, I don’t feel like it looks good on most people. My attitude towards that small pouch would not let me buy it.
Draw and describe both push and pull strategy in promotion and explain each of them in detail. Please use your own example to elaborate each strategy.
Describe and explain the push strategy: a push strategy is a promotional strategy that involves taking products directly to the consumer through whatever method and ensure that the customer is well aware of your brand at the point of purchase (Madanoglu, Alon & Shoham, 2017). As the term “push” suggests, the manufacturer of a product needs to perform in order to get the products to the consumer. It may include setting up distribution channels and persuading brokers and retailers to stock your products. A new business that is trying to develop its brand will opt for this strategy in order to generate exposure and the retail channel. However once the brand of a business has been established a pull strategy can be deployed.
Psychological factors
A good example of a pull strategy is the direct selling of products in a showroom or face to face by having trade show promotions that encourage the demand from the consumers.
Having an efficient supply chain which will ensure that your consumers have an efficient supply.
A point of sale terminal with display.
A pull strategy is that which involves the motivation of consumer so that they come seeking for your products and brand (Zhang & Benyoucef, 2016). It is a way of getting consumers come to you actively. A pull strategy requires a high end brand that is already recognised. This recognition can be developed through advertisements in the mass media or applying other forms of advertising. A pull strategy works on one principle; Create the demand, and the supply channels will literally come to your doorstep.
Advertising of products through the mass media and giving out promotions is a good example of a pull strategy. Besides that, good customer relations are an excellent pull strategy. Having sales promotions and offering discounts
What promotional Mix should Nike Use?
According to Oladepo & Abimbola (2015) there are numerous promotional mix that Nike should use. One of them is direct marketing. The direct marketing method will enable them communicate to consumers on a one on one basis. Direct marketing can be applied in various ways such as mobile messaging, displaying online ads in apps and website that generate a high traffic, creating fliers and catalogues for the Nike self-lacing shoes.
Product placement is an excellent promotional activity for a high end brand such as Nike. Nike should pay Netflix studio to include the brand of their shoes in their latest movies and shows.
Sponsorship is another promotional method that can be used. The Nike Company should sponsor the athletic games and take the advantage of the numerous number of people in the stadiums. It is through these sponsorships that Nike Company products will be known the world over. These events are usually showcased in different countries and therefore there’s a higher chance of increasing sales and getting to be known through these sponsorships.
Advertising their products through print media, radio, television banner ads motion pictures or even direct mail.
Discuss three macro and two micro environment factors.
One of the micro factors is customers. The more the customers the more the sales. The more the sales the more the profit. Purchasing power becomes greater where prices are affordable. Nike’s foot wear setting its price at 950 USD is too much for a pair of shoes (Fernandez-Feijoo, Romero& Ruiz, 2014). On the other hand, Nike has maintained its brand because of producing good quality shoes. The likes of air max and Jordan like by majority of the youth. This increases their sales.
The other micro factor is competitors. Nike has outshined the competitors by having revolutionary projects that produce innovative products (Matsushima & Khanna, 2018). Nike hyper adapt is one of these products. Nike must ensure that they are always ahead of the pack. The quality of their products must never be compromised.
Explain
Macro factors
According to Grimmer, Kilburn & Miles (2016) technology is one of the macro factors. The use of sensors, battery, and motor and cable system in the operation of the shoe is all about technology. The challenge comes where one has to get out of the shoe. Every other thing was figured out except how a consumer can remove the shoe. This shows that technology can solve problems but it can come with a fair share of challenges as well. Other technological advancements that Nike could include is the personalisation of the shoe products.
The other macro factor is the economic factor. Nike accommodates both the individuals with high status and the relatively low ones. The variety of products that Nike has makes this possible. Products such as the official wear as well as the athletics wear. Nike improves the living standards of the employees by offering job opportunities hence the economy of the country.
The existence of a company has to ensure an environment free from pollution is maintained.
There are various ways in which they can maintain. One of them is treating the gaseous emissions before releasing it to the air. The other one is recycling its waste products instead of dumping them. This ensures that the environments is kept free from pollution.
What they need to monitor and why
In both the environments the consumers are to be monitored. The characteristics of the consumer behaviour must be monitored so closely. The fact that the consumer taste can change over time, should make Nike seek other innovations to meet their need. It is through meeting consumer needs that the brand will stay on top of their competitors
What is new pricing strategy Nike use
Nike will let retailers advertise twenty-five percent discounts on Nike Merchandise year round (Olawuyi, 2017). This is a dangerous move as it has caused more consumers to shop online and therefore the brick and mortar stores have suffered a declining foot traffic.
What is base, variable, and segmentation for Nike and why
A factor that is used by Nike is the Demographic segmentation. Nike targets individuals according to their age, gender, life cycle generation and even the occupation. Consumer needs and wants often vary closely with demographic variables. Nike basically targets consumers between the ages of 15-40. Nike addressees this segment by deploying marketing campaigns. For instance, right before the 2014 world cup (Alt& Iversen, 2017). The company developed a video covering major soccer athletes with teenage soccer players. The variables that Nike considers while making the products include; the age, income and gender.
References
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