Marketing Analysis : Marketing And Marketing

This essay will explore the notion that a consumer society is a divided society. By using the information presented in the making social lives booklet it is hoped this essay will present itself clearly in its dialogue offering concise points of discussion relevant to the topic at hand. This essay will look at what consumer society is, how it evolved and why society might be considered consumerist also at how different members of society consume and why these things contribute to the opinion of divisions within a consumer society.

We are all University Students that currently live in Halifax Nova Scotia, but have all grown up in various places. Two of our members are from Ontario and the remaining members from various parts of China. Given this geographical separation, our group has some obvious diversity in our individual consumer profiles. This is partly due to our different cultures and values. Our families also greatly influence our contrasting consumer profile - with our differing ethnical backgrounds, different social classes and varying religions. Conversely, we all fit into the age bracket of 18-25 so share some similar purchasing behaviour as millennial consumers (Kardes et la., 2011, pg 38). We have all been apart of many of the same world changes, such as 911 and global warming. This greatly sways our prespective on which products we can identify with and our preferences. Likewise, we all are at the same life stage (Kardes et la., 2011, pg 8). We are all young adults, finishing up university and starting our independent lives with limited disposible incomes. We tend to make most of our purchases online, allowing us to find the best deals in the least amount of time. Most of us find that food is our number one expense and value the bonds people make while sharing a meal. Many of us find it difficult balancing our busy lifestyles and school, but work to covercome these challenges. All of these inflencers guide our purchasing habits.

As I reflect back over these last five weeks I now have a clearer view of marketing and how it affects not just the consumers of the world and the companies with their marketing managers, but how it affects me. Yes, I am a consumer who clips coupons, budgets my finances, and looks for sale items and this marketing class has taught me that marketing is more than selling or advertising. Marketing managers have a difficult job, as marketing involves identifying, meeting and satisfying the needs of customers or clients with goods and or services. Coming up with different strategies and marketing mixes is challenging because we live in a changing world with people who needs and financial situations are different. Yet still marketing engulfs every part of our daily lives. From what type of breakfast we eat, to where we shop, and even in our work environment. As I examine marketing, I will blend aspect to my career path as I make myself marketable for the future and aid my employer in the growth and survival in the economy.

Today, people consume for necessity and pleasure. The act of consuming goods may allow one to fit in, feel confident, or participate socially in shopping culture. Consumerism has become a universal behavior amongst most people and

For the last two years, Central Store has been working with SEE-LA to improve its fresh produce, promotion of healthier foods and its customer service. The store has received government grants to purchase equipment to meet their needs. For example, the store now has a compact display refrigerator to place fresh fruits and vegetables cups and other premade healthy food options. Furthermore, the store has also been given a bigger produce display refrigerator to accommodate the needs of the community.

The marketing company offers three advertising services-the TV commercial, the cellular phone application (app), and the Facebook page for their customers. The prices are one million dollars, five hundred thousand dollars, and two hundred fifty thousand dollars respectively. However, if a customer paid for the complete package including three advertising services, the total cost will be one million and five hundred dollars. The customer would pay two hundred fifty thousand bonuses to the company if the App is downloaded five hundred thousand times in the first month. Additionally, the customer must pay 50% of the total price when he signs the contract, and the remaining 50% of the total cost would be divided into two installments. The

All major consumer theories can be grouped into four categories, namely economic, psychological, psycho-analytical, and socio cultural theories. They are based on the simple law of conumption that consumption increases as aggregate income increases, assuming the habits of spending are constant and political and economic conditions are free and perfect (Solomon, et al., 2013).

The competitive positioning paradigm, drawing largely on the work of Porter (1980, 1985), dominated strategic management in the 1980s. It emphasized the idea of strategic fit between the organization and its environment so as to achieve competitive advantage, referring to this as competitive positioning. “When the prospective market can clearly see how the company 's product differs from the others, it will be easier for the company to guide them to purchase the product.  A key element of the positioning strategy is the value proposition” (Campbell, et. al. 2002).

According to our text, consumer behavior is defined as “the study of individuals, groups, or organizations and the processes they use to select, secure, use, and dispose of products, services, experiences, or ideas to satisfy needs and the impacts that these processes have on the consumer and society”. This means that companies are using this knowledge to influence consumer’s decisions not only about which product to purchase but also about which college to attend, which charities to support, how much recycling to do, whether to seek help for an addiction and much more. Since the beginning of this course I have been able to see that what I buy is not just a random occurrence, everything I purchase from gasoline for my car to the makeup I wear can be tracked using consumer behavior.

Consumer behavior is defined as the behavior that consumers display in searching for purchasing, using, evaluating and disposing of products and services that they expect will satisfy their needs. Consumer behavior focuses on how individual make decisions to spend their available resources on consumption related items. That includes what they buy, why they buy it, when they buy it, where they buy it, how often they use it, how they use evaluate it after the purchase and the impact of such evaluations on future purchases and how they dispose of it. As individuals all differ in many ways in likes, dislikes, attitudes, cultural background, income level, etc. Despite such differences, there is a common factor among all of

Sproles and Kendall(1986) view this construct as “basic consumer personality”, analogous to the concept of personality in psychology (p.268).Research on this construct can be categorized into three main approaches: the consumer typology approach (Darden and Ashton, 1974; Moschis 1976); the psychographics/lifestyle approach (lastovicka, 1982;Wells, 1975); and the consumer characteristics approach(Sproles, 1985;Sproles and Kendall, 1986; Sproles and Sporles, 1990). The unifying theme among these three approaches is the tenet that all consumers engage in shopping with certain fundamental decision making modes or styles including rational shopping, consciousness regarding brand, price and quality among others. Parenthetically, the focus on this topic seems to be an American preoccupation since no studies could be located from researchers in other countries.

Franchising refers to the franchisors in a form of contract that allows franchisees to be compensation for the use of its name, trademarks, and proprietary technology, product and operation management, in other business activities and business models. (Siebert, 2004)

Personal factors can affect consumer buyer behaviour. For example, factors such as age, occupation, economic situation, lifestyle and personality can all have an impact on the buyer’s purchase decisions. In this case, the buyers are in their late twenties

The psychology of how the consumer is influenced by his or her environment (e.g., culture, family, signs, media);

Consumer behaviour is influenced by demographics and psychographics factors. Within the demographics factors are age, sex, education level, income level, marital status, occupation, religion, while psychographics factors include individual’s motivation, attitude and beliefs among others. According to Macinnis and