Demographic factors affecting Holmes consumer choice
The aim of this paper is to analyze the research findings in the study conducted on Holmes University. The study was conducted in Holmes University from a sample size of 34students to determine the factors that influence students to choose Holmes as the learning institution of choice in Australia. The analysis of the findings of the survey is done on several parameters. The variables under consideration are the psychographic and demographic factors that influence the choice of consumers to choose Holmes as their preferred learning institution (Ottman, 2011). The paper also analyzes the decision-making process that the students involved in choosing Holmes follow when making the decision on which institution of higher learning to join. The analysis is done by comparing various theories of consumer behavior and decision-making process and comparing it with the path taken by Holmes students. The paper also analyzes the factors that influenced their decisions to choose Holmes over other institutions. The final section of the paper evaluates how the students` motivation, personality and emotion affect their purchase decision. The final part of the report highlights ways in which the study can help improve marketing of Holmes as the preferred international University by international and local students.
The choice of consumers choosing from among many other institutions of learning is influenced by a combination of factors. Some of these factors are demographic factors. Demography refers to a group of customers sharing a collection of relevant market attributes. Any person can fall in any demographic group depending on the classification method used by the researcher. Demographic factors include shared values, physical attributes, environmental conditions, culture, political and cultural factors (Tybout, &Calder, 2010). Several demographic factors are combined to create a profile upon which individuals are classified. The demographic factors under study in the Holmes research study includes; age, gender, income level and place of origin. The following is an evaluation of the demographic factors that influence consumer decision when choosing Holmes.
The age of consumers is very crucial in determining, therefore, purchase behavior. This is because age is an important variable in decision making. When it comes to matters of higher education, the majority of students are between age 18-24 years old. There are 8 students aged between 25-34 years and only one student aged above 35 years. Age is a very important variable for marketers because; it enables them to segment their market and to do target marketing (Brinker, 2016). An analysis of the data collected from the study, therefore, reveals that age is very important available in decision making for Holmes customers. The information shows that the demand for education is high among young adults aged between 18 to 24 years. These are mostly students who enroll for undergraduate programs after completion of their high school education. The research shows that it is less likely that older students above the age of 30 may choose Holmes as their institution of choice. We can also conclude that the consumers of between age 18 and 25 years are very likely to choose Holmes as their learning institution of choice. This may be influenced by the dynamic nature of the institution and the orientation to technology by the institution. Most young people love a vibrant and innovative institution and this may explain why most young students prefer to study at Holmes.
Age
Gender is another very important demographic variable in consumer decision-making behavior. Gender can be simply interpreted as the sex of an individual and one can either be a male or a female. From the study, the gender of students at Holmes college is almost balanced. From the sample size of 20 students, 17 were male and only 3 were female. This shows that the disparity in age for students enrolling at Holmes is very huge. Gender is a key variable in the higher learning industry because, students make their consumption decisions depending on whether they are male or female even though their decision does not entirely depend on this factor (Kachru, 2015). The gender variable becomes significant in learning since there are some learning programs that are preferred by one gender more than the other. For example engineering, accounting and mathematics courses are perceived to be loved and preferred by men while humanity courses are preferred by women. Holmes college mainly offers accounting and management programs. This balances the two genders and therefore the male and female students are almost equal.
The place of origin of an individual also influences consumer choice (Knight, 2009). In regard to the Holmes College, the study indicates that students come from seven different countries in different continents. The number of students from Sri Lanka is highest at 6, China follows closely with 5 and then Nepal with 4. Consumer behavior is very much influenced by the home country of an individual. This is because, the culture, traditions, customs, beliefs and practices of people from different regions and countries influences the behavior of consumers and their preferences. The education needs of students are also determined by the origin of an individual (Stoke &Wilson, 2010). The place of origin influences the people’s tastes and preferences and this influences their behavior when it comes to consumption.
The level of income of an individual refers to the average amount of money a person makes in a particular period of time which could be a month or a year. Income is a key element in consumption because one cannot buy unless he/she is capable of paying for a commodity or service. Therefore, the amount one earns is s crucial determinant of their buying behavior since one cannot spend what they don’t have (Weinberg, 2009). From the study, the income levels of most of the students involved in the study are below15, 000 annually. The number of students who indicated that they earn less than 15,000 annually is 12. 5 others indicated that they earn between 15,000-17,000 thousand annually. Two students have no income at all and another one student earns over 20,000 in a year. The level of income of students determines consumer decision making but only to some extent. Most of the students do not pay their own fee and they depend upon their parent, guardian or other well-wishers to pay their fees. This, therefore, means that the level of income of a student does not determine the decision making for Holmes students.
Gender
The following are the psychographic factors that influence consumer behavior among Holmes students:
This refers to the ways in which a person views something based on information from various sources. This information may be true or untrue and may shape a person’s opinion and attitude towards an institution or a product.9Nihoul&Skoczny, 2015) This factor is very important for consumers when they are making buying decisions. Holmes is ranked highly in terms of accreditation and professional lecturers with 17 of the students giving a rating of between 3 and 4. An institution with a good perception is likely to attract more students than one which is perceived badly.
When individuals learn new ideas, they are likely to change their behavior on consumption. Consumers are more rational in their decision making as they learn more (Lamb, Hair &McDaniel, 2009). Consumers decision making is also faster with advanced learning and therefore the learning factor influence decision making by Holmes students since students with better and more information on the college are most likely to choose Holmes.
Every person has things and activities that they find interesting and that they like to do. These factors are very critical in decision making by consumers since they are likely to choose things they like and enjoy (Ferrell &Hartline, 2011). In the education sector, this variable is very important because different students have different interest. Some students are interested in technology-oriented courses others in business and others in mathematics. For Holmes, most of the students are people whose activities and interests are in management, business and accounting.
The following is the process followed by consumers of Holmes products as they try to make their consumption decisions:
The first step for Holmes consumers is recognizing that they are in need of education. Consumers have to develop a need for education as a result of different factors such as the desire to learn more, need for promotion at the workplace and desire to get a well-paying job. After the consumers have identified that a need exists in their education, they develop the desire to fulfill the need (Rajagopal &Castano, 2015). The consumers need to fill the gap between the current situation and the desired situation.Information search
This is the second step in the decision-making the process for Holmes consumers. After the consumer has identified their education need, they start searching for information on ways in which the need can be fulfilled. The information is obtained from different sources such as magazines, journals, newspapers, and internet sources (Knapp &Siegel, 2009). Consumers obtain all the available information on all the ways they can solve the identified problem.
Consumers review the collected information and analyze it to rank the available alternatives. The consumers in need of education rank the institutions of higher learning that are capable of fulfilling their education needs from top to bottom depending on a variety of factors that differ among consumers (Baker, 2014).
After a consumer has been able to make a choice on what they want to buy, the next step is buying the product or service. For a product, ownership is transferred upon payment of the agreed price (Kherson, 2009). Services are paid for either after or before they are provided. Once a consumer in need of education has assessed and ranked all alternatives and have chosen Holmes, they decide to apply for enrollment after which they are selected to join the institution. The consumers need to fulfill all the requirements of the institution before they can be admitted into the institution.
Place of origin
This is the final stage in consumer decision-making process. This stage is more intense for service market more than for products. After products or service has been offered to consumers, they use it and evaluate whether or not the services provided meet or do not meet expectations. If the services meet expectations, the consumer can buy the service again and will be a good ambassador for the organization (Arun &Meenakshi, 2011). Holmes students market the organization depending on the experiences they have in learning at the institution. They either recommend others to join the institution or not to join depending on their evaluation of services and products at the institution.
Motivation is a very crucial aspect in decision making by students of Holmes. This is because, motivation is the needs that have awakened the buyer to take a particular action (Kaufmann, 2015). The students have different goals and objectives when it comes to their education needs. Some students desire to just finish high school and not continue beyond there. Other student desire to achieve the highest levels of learning so as to raise their status in the society and others learn so that they can get a good job and live comfortable lives. Therefore, depending on the motivation of students, they will be able to decide on what to learn, where to learn and when to learn at Holmes.
The personality of an individual is very fundamental in decision making. Personality refers to the character traits of a person which determines how people behave, what they like, dislike and how they act. The personality of an individual is shaped by the environment. Some of the factors that shape personality include; culture, social background, traditions, and customs as well as education (Zarrella, &Zarrella, 2011). A combination of these factors shapes the personality of an individual. Holmes students make their decisions based on their personality. Student’s choices regarding the courses they take are very dependent on personality since personality influences what people like and what they don’t like.
Emotion is the state of mind of an individual and it is temporary. It is influenced by various factors in the environment of an individual (Jansson 2010). Emotions can be classified as sad, jovial, happy, angry or even excited. The emotional status of an individual influence their decision making(Patil & Bhakkad, 2014).For Holmes student, emotions do not have a significant effect on decision making since when decisions on the institution to join and the programs to undertake, most individuals take a lot of time to consider this decision. The time taken to arrive at this decision makes it difficult for emotions to play a role in decision making since emotions change from time to time.
Conclusion:
Consumer behavior is very important for marketers. This is because it helps marketers understand the factors that shape consumption patterns of consumers. This helps the companies to produce and offer services that are able to fulfill the needs of the consumers. This paper evaluates the findings of the research conducted in Holmes institute on the behavior of its customers. The findings of the research are analyzed based on various theories of consumer behavior to understand the factors that influence the buying behavior of Holmes consumers. The paper also analyzes the consumer decision-making process that is followed by Holmes students before arriving at the final consumption decision. The paper also analyzes the role of motivation, emotion and personality in influencing the purchasing decisions of Holmes students.
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