Comprehensive Learning Assessment
Brand loyalty
Important Concepts Learnt
Brand loyalty is the habit that consumers develop of repurchasing one brand of a commodity over a considerable amount of time. The following are important concepts learnt in the course of this study. First, businesses should engage directly with their customers. This can be achieved using social media platforms whereby customers can inquire about different products offered by the store and get immediate responses. It makes consumers have a sense of belonging and feel appreciated by the company, which helps to build customer loyalty. Secondly, businesses should ensure consistency in their brands. Consumers experiences help in building brand loyalty. Therefore, maintaining a consistent brand will encourage consumers to repurchase the products and enjoy the same level of satisfaction. Additionally, consistency can be achieved by ensuring that physical features such as logos and colour of the product remain the same for easy identification by the customers. Thirdly, businesses should focus on improving their customer services to help build brand loyalty. For example, suppose you visit a store, and the sales representative enables you to find the products you are looking for and follows up to ensure you were successfully assisted. In that case, the high chances are that you will return to the same store to shop. However, if you visit a store and none of the sales representatives is willing to help you despite asking for assistance, chances are you might storm off the store and not shop at all. Therefore, customer services play a significant role in ensuring the success of a business. Finally, companies should invest in advertisements that will attract both potential and regular customers. Influencers on social media platforms can be an effective form of ads, especially when appealing to the young generation. This is because consumers find social media recommendations appealing which makes them want to try the products. Decidedly, consumer brand loyalty helps in increasing business sales.
Application to Workplace
Currently, I work with a particular store under the department of marketing management. The store deals with a variety of products such as clothes, foodstuffs and electronics. I applied the following concepts in my workplace. First, since consumer services help to create brand loyalty, the manager gave me the task of developing ways to improve our customer services. One, I suggested that the business employs additional sales representatives in each aisle to assist customers in finding various products. Two, for customers that purchased bulk electronic products, the store could offer after-sales services such as transporting the products to the customer’s premise. Secondly, I advocated for the store to hire a full-time social media manager who would handle all the social media platforms, engage with customers and give them immediate feedback at all times to help build brand loyalty. Finally, I recommended that the store hires a social media influencer to spend a day at the store and live post all her activities on her social media to help appeal to potential customers and encourage regular customers to continue shopping with us.
Children’s Marketing
Important Concepts
Marketing to children is essential because they cannot only make self-purchases but also influence their parents buying decisions. Marketing to children is necessary because they will become adult consumers in the future. Therefore, developing children brand loyalty is vital for the success of a business in the long-run. Studies show that children influence various decisions made by their parents such as breakfast and lunch choices, clothing purchases, software purchases and family retirement choices. The following are essential concepts learnt from this topic. First, most marketing companies that sell children products use the pestering power of children to influence their parents to buy commodities. Most of the times children nag their parents to buy different products that they might not otherwise buy because such parents want to desire to provide the best for their children or wants to feel good of not having enough time for their kids. Secondly, different advertising products in between children shows using animated graphics and music can also play a huge part in children purchase requests. Finally, marketers can use the internet for advertising to children. Nowadays, modern children have access to laptops, mobile phones and tablets which they can use to access internet services. Marketers can place various advertisement alerts on websites frequently visited by children to increase sales.
Application to Workplace
Since I work in a departmental store with the department of marketing, I advocated the application of the following concepts to help in children marketing. First, the store could use a television advertisement to influence children purchases request. Since studies show that advertisement of non-nutritious foods has increases the rates of childhood obesity, I requested the store also advertise healthy food products such as fruits and vegetables. Secondly, I recommended the strategic placement of various advertisements on websites frequently visited by children, such as gaming websites. Decidedly, marketer focus on developing brand loyalty in children hoping that they will continue to consume the same products as adults.
Consumer Behavior
Consumer behaviour focuses on the purchasing trends of individuals. Marketers focus on consumer behaviour to help them understand what influences their purchase decisions. The following are important concepts learnt in this topic. First, consumer behaviours are influenced by personal factors such as age, income, occupation and lifestyle. For example, consumers who earn higher income tend to purchase more products as compared to consumers with low income. Secondly, consumer behaviours are influenced by cultural factors. Culture helps to preserve the values and ideologies that a specific community possess. For example, selling pork and pork products around a Muslim neighbourhood will generate losses because to them, it is a taboo to consume such products. Thirdly, social factors such as family members and friends help influence consumer purchasing behaviours. For example, if your friend tries a product and enjoys the product chances are he/she will recommend that you try the same product to gain the same experience. Fourthly, psychological factors such as motivation and perception also help to influence consumer’s behaviour. Motivation acts as a driving force to consumer purchases. For example, if a consumer is thirsty, they get highly motivated to buy drinks to satisfy the thirst. Perception also plays a crucial role in influencing purchases decisions. If a consumer perceives a product to be good through advertisements, promotions and social media platforms, they will want to purchase that product.
Application to Workplace
Since I work under the department of marketing, I applied the following concepts in our store. I advocated for marketing campaigns for some of our products. Effective marketing campaigns if done right and regularly using the right marketing messages, can help persuade customers to change brands or buy more expensive alternatives. Additionally, I recommended that we use discount services and offer gifts after purchasing specific items to our customer to help increase sales.
Ethical Issues
Most workers face ethical issues within their workplaces. Depending on the working environment, different organizations face different ethical issues. The following are important concepts learnt during the study. First, discrimination and harassments are some of the ethical issues faced by many employees globally. Employees are discriminated and harassed based on their gender, age, religion or race. Nowadays, the law requires organizations to offer equal employment opportunities to all workers. However, some employees still undergo discriminations and harassments from colleagues. Secondly, ethical issues arise from the use of company technology. For example, improper use of the internet can result in loss of workers productivity and time which could have been used to conduct various business processes. Finally, toxic workplace culture is another ethical issue facing companies. For example, you might find that your boss wants to be bribed before he can give you a promotion or fellow workmates bullying other employees into doing their paperwork. Therefore, for a company to achieve success, it must ensure that it creates a conducive working environment free from manipulations.
Applicable Concepts
I work at a departmental store whereby some sales representatives manipulate fellow workers to cover for them while they take an authorized break. Additionally, some male workers used to discriminate and harass female workers, African-American workers and Muslim workers. To avoid this, I helped develop constructive dialogue forums conducted once a week, whereby employees would air out their views and recommendations openly without fear or criticism. Additionally, we developed policies and procedures to be followed in case any worker broke the code of ethics. Such workers would be laid off, face disciplinary actions such as forced leave without pay or face legal measures.
Households and their Impact on Consumer Behavior and Strategy
Households are gradually changing depending on size, location and demographics. Various factors in the household influence the purchase decisions of the customer. Consumers purchase products that are of necessity to them. Later the consumer preferences changes with a variety of durable goods. For example, the consumer may need television and purchase a 32″ television set. However, as time goes by and the consumer has bought all necessary items, the consumer might sell the television and instead buy a 65″ television set. Initially, when consumers are making essential purchases, they consider the price. But as time progresses, the consumer makes purchases based on quality. When consumers are purchasing household furniture’s such as bedroom suits quality, reliability and durability play an important role when making final purchase decisions. Additionally, other consumers focus on after-sale services such as guarantee and warranty before making a purchase. Therefore, businesses need to consider the above features, which will help them gain market superiority and increase market shares.
Cultural Practices Impact on Marketing Strategy
As stated above, culture influences consumer purchasing decisions. Therefore marketers must consider this factor before developing any marketing strategies. Additionally, social classes also influence consumer decisions. For example, highly educated customers tend to purchase healthy products as compared to less educated consumers. They use the knowledge gained to influence their purchasing products. Nowadays, most educated individuals have switched to vegetarian foodstuffs because they believe it will decrease their chances of getting cancer. Marketers need to consider the level of education of a particular demographic to develop strategies that fall in line with their tastes and preferences. Moreover, the geographical origin of the consumer will influence their purchasing habits. For example, if the people around you prefer to buy their groceries from the market rather than the grocery store because the market is close by, the chances are that you will purchase your groceries from the market. Marketers need to consider the geographical location of their customers when developing marketing strategies. For example, suppose a town experiences storms accompanied by heavy rains at the beginning of specific months which lasts for about a week. In that case, marketers can focus on developing strategies so that consumers can stock foodstuffs as they wait for the storm to pass.
Attitudes and Influencing Attitudes
Consumer attitudes towards a product influence their purchasing decisions. If the consumer develops a positive attitude towards a given product, they will buy it, and if the product satisfies their needs, the consumer may develop brand loyalty. Depending on the consumer’s experience on the product, it can result in negative or positive attitudes towards the brand. As a result, marketers use different forms of advertisements to either change the attitude of their consumers or to develop a positive attitude for potential consumers. The Coca-Cola Company is an example of successful companies that have developed positive consumer attitudes. This has helped in cultivating consumer brand loyalty making the company remain competitive and the largest soft drink producing company over a millennium. Family and friends can also influence consumer’s attitudes. For example, suppose a family member or friend tried a particular skin tone and developed big and painful pimples on the face after use. In that case, the chances are that the testimony she gives will help build a negative attitude towards the skin tone. You will not purchase the product because you do not also wish to develop big and painful pimples on the face.
Consumer Decisions Process and Problem Recognition
Before a consumer can make a purchase, they undergo a series of steps to ensure that the product they chose will satisfy their needs. The following are steps that consumers experience before making a purchase. First, identify a need. Most companies invest in various ways to influence customers on deciding what they need through marketing and the sales team. It is a stage where consumers are trying to generate leads. Secondly, information search. In this stage, the consumer conducts extensive research regarding the products that will satisfy their need. A few decades ago, individuals relied on friends, television, newspapers and radios to gather information on a product. However, due to the numerous advancements in technology, nowadays people use the internet to collect information. This can be done by reviewing online testimonials on consumers that have tried the product. Thirdly, evaluation of alternatives. After researching the product, the consumer evaluates alternative products by different companies are gauges them against the initially identified product. If the initially identified product has many advantages as compared to the alternative, the consumer will settle on purchasing the alternative product. Fourthly, the consumer makes the final purchasing decision. Finally, the post-purchase step. This is the most crucial step in building brand loyalty. However, most businesses ignore this step. After a consumer has purchased a given product, the business can get in touch with the customer enquiring if the product was up to their satisfaction. If the customer was not satisfied with the product, the business could recommend the customer to try alternative products. This helps to build long-lasting relationships because the consumer feels appreciated.