Solar Power Consumption in Australia and its Advantages to Households
Discuss about the Strategic Behavior and Target Market Selection.
Sufficient power supply for household uses has increased significantly in the contemporary world over the recent years. That fact has promoted these households to go searching for the most convenient source of power that can quench their power thirst that has existed for quite some time. In connection to that, it has been realized that solar power is one of the most convenient power sources of power as it is cheap and reliable as opposed to other sources. This source of power is mostly considered convenient because it only needs single purchase and it is easy to maintain. In Australia, the solar power consumption has proved to be doing quite well with the massive increase in firms producing solar panels over years.
This study targets that Australian residents of the middle age who have the capability of or are owning families. These people require a substantial amount of power that can be able to run electronic gadgets within their homes conveniently.
Campaigns for taking power back by the use of solar panels and battery have been there for quite a while. However, they have failed terribly because of being general in the target market they are focused to cover. As a result, therefore, if they are directed to the most relevant market, they will prevail.
Different scholars and authors have taken interest to study this topic possibly due to its immense importance. According to an imperative research that was conducted by (Berthon, 2016) “a record-breaking month of rooftop installations and a flood of large-scale solar farms could almost double Australia’s solar power capacity in a single year.” For years, the solar panel manufacturing industry was not doing quite well because of the fact that most of the residents were not motivated towards purchasing solar panels. However, the industry is currently doing exemplary well because of the number of the people that have opted to get into the use of solar power (Slater, 2017). While the industry had been putting all efforts to produce the best quality products that would be convenient to use and have value for money, the Australians we still not interested in the consumption of these panels (Cavusgil, 2015). However, it seems that currently, some limelight has shone unto them because most of the households are beginning to embrace solar power use. Having households opting for solar and battery power, it is anticipated, therefore, that the industry will begin to boom and do quite well in the coming years. It is no longer a matter of being convinced; most of the households have gotten the essence of consuming solar power thus embracing the practice with the due efforts. A research that was done concerning the solar consumption capability of Australian households showed that the number of solar panels installed by different households in the country improved by 69% in the year 2018 (Fornell, 2015). The research also holds that it is anticipated that the number is going to increase substantially over years. The increase has erupted from the sense that solar power is an uncompromised power source that ought to be embraced by every household for their general convenience and satisfaction.
Target Market Selection and Self-determination Theory
Another researcher who showed interested in the field found that solar power to be the most convenient and cheapest way to get power in the world. This research argues that opting for other power sources like coal, hydropower, among others is a mere wastage of resources and that households opting for these power sources will eventually turn to solar power usage after realizing that it is the most convenient source of power. He warns that it is not advisable to use these other power sources since the resources wasted in them could be channeled into other activities that generate income (Varadarajan, 2016). Another author looked into the topic and found that Australians mostly install solar panels during the January and this is probably because of the increase in the price of other power sources at that time as well as the warm weather in the region. The author advised all households to opt for solar power at all times, whether or not there is an increase in the cost of other power sources.
While carrying out an investigation, it is usually very imperative to choose the most appropriate theories. Choosing a theory depends on the problem that is being investigated, the target segment, among other crucial factors. Having considered all those factors, the investigation framework that was arrived at is the self-determination theory that falls under the broad category of motivation theories. One of the major aspects of the theory is that it “represents a broad framework for the study of human motivation and personality.” The theory is based on the fact that intrinsic motivations are able to bring about innovations without other external motivations. According to (Dickson, 2016), “the interplay between the extrinsic forces acting on persons and the intrinsic motives and needs inherent in human nature is the territory of Self-Determination Theory.” He adds that the theory shows “meta-theory for framing motivational studies, a formal theory that defines intrinsic and varied extrinsic sources of motivation, and a description of the respective roles of intrinsic and types of extrinsic motivation in cognitive and social development and in individual differences” (Kotler, 2016). The main reason as to why this theory was chosen is because of its appropriateness. In most of the times, it is better to have people make the decision for themselves on what to opt for and what to leave. However, because the theory holds that at times the extrinsic motivations influence intrinsic motivations, it becomes, therefore, imperative to show the target market the importance of taking power back and Leave them to make decisions on their own (Malhotra, 2016). The study aims at motivating people to take power back by the use of solar panels. To prompt their behavior change, all that is needed in this case is to lay of facts and importance of the practice and let them make intrinsic decisions. Having done that, households will start embracing the use of solar and battery power and thus the study will have achieved its goal.
Marketing Strategies for Promoting Solar Power Use
In marketing, there are usually certain specific goals that have to be met in the long run. To meet these goals, a marketing manager is indebted to put into practice several marketing strategies (Rust, 2016). In the zeal to take power back, several marketing strategies may be employed to make it meet some of these goals whereby having households purchase and use solar and batteries for domestic power supply is the main goal.
One of the most imperative marketing strategies that will be employed in this study is the use of creative videos. A substantial report compiled by (Lee, 2017) has proven that YouTube is the second largest search engine in the world after the Google. Most of the people turn to YouTube to get information conveniently since it has a visual impact unlike Google that only uses textual effects. The research has proved that the YouTube gets millions of views on daily basis and therefore several brands have maneuvered and excelled by the use of the platform (Jain, 2017). As a result, therefore, it becomes imperative to use this strategy as a means of appealing to people to turn into the use of solar and battery power to quench their power needs. This strategy will involve publication of creative videos explaining the importance of using solar power in the search engine so that people intending to make power choice may look at them and be self-convinced that solar power is the best option for their power need. The videos will involve logic justifications for solar power use as we as the practical use of the solar panels and their convenience as opposed to other power sources. The advantage of this strategy is that it is a cheap marketing strategy and more effective due to its audiovisual capability (Menon, 2015). Its disadvantage is that it requires the target audience to put an extra effort to get to YouTube which doesn’t always happen. The strategy has a link with the self-determinant theory in that it lets people make decisions based on their intrinsic motivations.
Another important marketing strategy is the use of social media platforms to reach out to the target market. The strategy is seen many business organizations maneuver and succeed to become some of the biggest corporations in the world. The take power back campaign will be done via social media platforms to let the target market aware of the campaign and leave them to think on their own to develop interest and make decisions without external interference. The strategy’s is advantages because it is cheap and reaches a wider market since a lot of people use social media (Knight, 2015). The main disadvantage of this strategy is that there are a few people who do not trust social media as a credible source of information and thus the strategy wouldn’t work well for them. The strategy has a substantial connection to the self-determinant theory in that it gives the target market the necessary information to enable them make the necessary decisions based on their intrinsic motivations.
The use of leverage influences would also be one of the most important marketing strategies. It has been used by several organizations worldwide and it has worked exemplary well. Organizations are getting individuals with a reputed name and established followership to become ambassadors of their companies or products (Ginsberg, 2014). This campaign, also, can use this strategy to let the individual influence their followers into embracing the take power back campaign. While using this strategy, care will be taken to ensure that the influencer represents the target audience (Jang, 2015). The main advantage of this strategy is that it helps in reaching the most appropriate market as the leverage influencer is chosen in terms of what market segment they represent. It also has the tendency to improve credibility. Its major disadvantage is that it is a costly marketing strategy. This strategy has a broad connection to self-determinant theory. Since the theory holds that at times extrinsic motivations are important in arousing the intrinsic decisions, it then becomes relevant.
Conclusion
To be able to convince households to take power back by using solar and battery power, the most appropriate marketing strategies have to be employed. Marketing strategies are very vital in reaching marketing goals and therefore, when used appropriately, they bear good fruits. However, this study has discussed several marketing strategies as being appropriate, the use of social media is the most appropriate in this case. It is the recommended marketing strategy since it is less costly and reaches a large number of people. The strategy is also convenient in the sense that it does not require the target market to have any technical know-how. It is also easy and makes marketing quicker and convenient.
References
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