Consumer Behaviour

To truly understand the consumer’s needs one must listen to what the consumer wants and desires, it takes very little effort on the part of Company Q to understand the needs of its consumers. The effort we make can be the difference between a store’s success and a store going bankrupt. Insuring that Company Q's stores standout amongst its competitors in the marketplace will help give Company Q a competitive edge.

The most current Nintendo home console is the Nintendo Wii U. This console has received criticism due to its poor graphics, strange touch screen controller, and unpopular launch titles.

However, as the Wii’s target market is slightly different from that of either the Xbox 360 or the PS3, it is of less concern in the short-term. Nintendo’s dominance of female console gamers, however, is of serious concern. In 2008, the Wii outsold the PS3 and Xbox combined, indicating Nintendo’s strength in the market, as well as the growing eminence of female gamers as a target for game and console developers.

Nintendo eschewed this philosophy most dramatically with the Wii, catering directly and unabashedly to the casual subset of gamers. As only one example, complex gamepads with a dozen buttons and knobs were replaced with a controller more akin to a remote control, a device with which any American would be familiar.

Wii is currently emerging in K-12 classrooms as a means for teaching the arts, physical education, English as a second language, science, geography, and other topics in innovative ways. Rethinking how children learn has been beneficial to kids and playing an organized game can teach the child leadership and listening skills as well as patience, social collaboration and teamwork. (SOUTER 2008). All these skills are needed later in life to become productive

“What do I have to do to earn a [Nintendo] DS?” asked my third-grade self.  My mother replied with, “You don’t need one—why do you want one?” My reason was very convincing: “Everyone else had one.” We then had a discussion about having fun and fitting in. I agreed with her because I did genuinely understand that playing on a DS or any game was not the only way have fun and spend time and that I could fit in even if I didn’t have one.

Nintendo’s emphasis on creative games and interesting story lines changed user perception of gaming. High quality of gaming introduced a new breed of consumers.” (wikipedia)

2. Which of the following is NOT one of the broad factors manufacturers must consider when establishing a strategy for getting their products into the hands of the ultimate customer?

Sony, Microsoft and Nintendo have been competing for a decade with Sony dominating the market throughout most of the years because of their superior technological products. The video games industry faces an entirely new rivalry situation. In 2008, Sony lost its strong position on the market, because of Nintendo’s success with their dynamic Wii over Sony’s high-tech PlayStation 3 and Windows’ Xbox 360. Although the Wii was technologically much less advanced than PS3 and Xbox 360, the Wii's cheaper price, ease of use, innovative motion-sensitive controller, and simple but fun games, made the console a hit all demographics from 9 to 65 years old, male and female. All these factors resulted in Nintendo’s Wii dominating sales and surpassing Sony’s by an impressive ratio of 2:1.

It is notable (From Exhibit 2b in the Responding to Wii case – Harvard Business Review) that Nintendo has been successful in keeping positive operating profits despite being a weak competitor during the previous 2 generations. Nintendo has shown prudence in waiting out 2 battles and coming up with a unique offering which has changed the way the market perceives gaming. Sony should concede defeat this generation of gaming, while maintaining balance through strong service to existing market.

The fifth and final force is that of the intensity of rivalry. This is the strongest force in the video game industry. Nintendo was very strategic in targeting an audience that Microsoft and Sony neglected. While Microsoft and Sony focused on the typical gamers, males ages 18-34, Nintendo focused on a broader audience “everyone” when creating their Wii. In the video game industry rivalry Microsoft and Sony are battling for the same market, while Nintendo has much of its audience all to itself. This is why

The key facet responsible for the Wii’s popularity lies in the innovative design, which “calls to action” the player with physical movement. The writer views the wireless motion sensitive game console as a new, simple and fun method of gaming for all age groups. As a result, it may appeal not only to the traditional expert video game player like the PS3, but other individuals outside that segment. It thus

The role of technology is vital in this industry as it focuses on technological efforts for competitive advantage. Every new development uses new technology. Though there are restricted innovations in the gaming industry, the speed of technological transfer is very high. Nintendo’s role from playing cards to toys to video games and then with each console introduced, included many technological changes. Technological up gradation increased hardware costs and discouraged innovation. The online capability of Nintendo Wii was a major change in the technology of the video game industry though they were not able to do as well as their competitors (Sony, Microsoft).

Nintendo however is not present in this new market and therefore it is very important to take in consideration to enter this new area because at the moment the company does not have products that satisfy those new needs resulting in the loose of sales and consequently revenues.

5. Explain the concept of The NeedScope System. What does the marketing model and archetypal framework.