Consumer Behavior and puffed rice

For the purpose of noting buyer behavior, I visited a neighborhood grocery store named ‘Redner’s Warehouse’, one of a chain of popular outlets in my locality. One can find a couple of these outlets on the very same highway, attached to petrol pumps. I elected to observe the behavior of buyers along two aisles in the outlet: the baking and frozen vegetable aisles. Simply staring at buyers is weird and, thus, I selected aisles where I actually had products to buy and could discreetly observe fellow buyers. My aim was noting variations in buyer behavior for diverse goods, besides variations in buyers themselves. For achieving more superior results, I chose to visit the store twice, on a weekday (Wednesday) and on a Sunday, during noon time. During the weekday visit, I found few buyers in for purchase, while on my weekend visit, the store was certainly packed with more buyers as compared to my previous visit.

I noted the behavior of 4 buyers on my weekday visit and 4 more on my weekend visit; thus, I observed eight buyers in total, whom I will address as A1, A2 (baking aisle, weekday visit), B1, B2 (frozen vegetable aisle, weekday visit), C1, C2 (baking aisle, weekend visit), D1 and D2 (frozen vegetable aisle, weekend visit).The precise date, time and noted behavior of buyers will be summarized in an Appendix, at this report’s ending. A buyer has to traverse several stages while deciding what to buy, namely, recognition, search for information, assessment of alternatives, decision to purchase, and behavior after purchase. My observations revealed, for instance, that buyers have numerous alternatives before them if they come to the store with the intention to buy chocolate chips. With the multitude of alternative brands of chocolate chips on store shelves these days, I myself face a tough decision when it comes to selecting a brand. The buyers I studied appeared to be deciding on their brand on the basis of price, value and brand familiarity. After selecting their brand, diverse buyers depicted diverse post- purchase conduct. While a few chose their chocolate chips, placed them in the shopping cart and headed straight to the cashier or to pick other items, others continued to seek other alternatives despite having already placed their product of choice in their shopping cart. The former display brand loyalty and familiarity, as they know the brand they have chosen will assuredly create the product experience they desire.

Buyer value may be defined as buyer satisfaction following a service/ product purchase, with regard to what they have traded off for the purchase. A majority of marketing strategists concur with the fact that creation of buyer value proves vital to not- for- profit as well as for- profit firms. In fact, the creation of superior client value proves pivotal to firms seeking a competitive market niche as well as a market leadership position (Smith & Colgate, 2007; Lai, 1995). For grasping the process of buyer decision- making, examining buyers’ value systems is essential. Buyers consider price of product as well as time taken for purchase and experiences with customer service personnel.

Certain buyers consider diverse client values whilst taking miscellaneous purchase- related decisions. They attempt to achieve cost minimization of all aspects (sacrifice and cost value) entailed in product buying, ownership, and utilization (Tversky, 2003). Buyers A1 and A2 exhibited the influence of sacrifice and cost value on their purchase decision. Both appeared to focus more on price of product, thus opting for items on sale or considerably discounted. Their choice of product ensured their overall expense decreased, which appeared to be their chief aim.

Meanwhile, the other buyers observed depicted hedonic and experiential value, revolving around how far a given item creates the right experiences, emotions and feelings for users (Tversky, 2003). For instance, buyers B1, B2, C1, and D1 chose their items (frozen veggies and chocolate chips) instantaneously from their respective aisle and didn’t so much as glance at the remaining brands, suggesting their loyalty to a given brand. This is because the items they selected assuredly offer them the desired user experience. Meanwhile buyers C2 and D2 were guided more by emotional value. For instance, when C2 (a mom) picked the M&M cookies, her kids displayed satisfaction with her choice, thus giving her satisfaction as well. She opted for the item that satisfied both herself and her kids.

The behavior of buyer C2 proves that kids do influence their parents’ purchase decisions. Children’s satisfaction with the purchase affects parental experiential value. Marketers are well aware of this fact and pay attention to it whilst marketing their brand. Page and colleagues (2008) note the many strategies adopted by marketers for targeting kids, namely, use of diverse package colors and sizes, activity elements, cross- promotion, and images of famous cartoon characters or toys. Retail outlets shelve such child- appealing product at the lowest level, for ensuring they catch children’s eyes.
Manufacturer and consumer motivation

Several buyers in the contemporary American economy are guided by product cost. For marketing to such individuals, producers as well as retailers provide offers, coupons and promotions (e.g., in- store promotion, yellow- sticker rates, deal days, and so forth). This approach proved effective on buyers A1 and A2, who both bought goods kept on sale. Typically, all grocery outlets these days have their own economical brand which targets cost- driven buyers and Redner’s Warehouse has named its brand ‘Great Value’. For appealing to the increasing segment of health- conscious buyers, marketers generally underscore their products’ health benefits via packaging and labels. For instance, bread labels identify wheat bread as being highly fibrous, which proves beneficial to healthy digestive system maintenance (Tversky, 2003). Fiber absorbs body fat and prevents its retention. Producers as well as retailers resort to similar approaches for targeting buyers portraying diverse value systems.

Packaging has a decisive part to play within the sphere of marketing communication. Choosing the correct color for one’s product package may clinch sales, while an incorrect color choice may end up proving detrimental for a given item. Speece and Silayoi (2007) claim that one will find only a very small population of buyers who pay any attention to the labels or other details provided on an item’s package. Many generally pay attention to visual aesthetics. Visual attractiveness proves vital to the marketing of a novel brand or product, as nobody knows about it and it has to be eye- catching in order to be noticed. Corporations struggle with increasing their products for better catering to the requirements of clients. In the process, they aim at influencing buyer behavior and perceptions through the association of specific colors with brand names and appropriate campaigns that make their offering more appealing to extant and prospective buyers.

Color of product package contributes significantly to manufacturer communication with consumers. Color may increase product appeal and encourage buyers to purchase it. The following 5 package color- related dimensions have been identified: significance of the color, views regarding a given color, color preferences, color attractiveness, and normative color. The element of color significance suggests that different colors have different significance for buyers (Javed & Javed, 2015). White, for example, has been associated with peace whereas green is considered a cool color. Views with regard to an item’s color will drive buyer purchase decision. Moreover, people depict greater likelihood to remember the colored part of an advertisement as compared to non- colored parts. The normative color element deals with buyers’ seeking influence from extrinsic factors. Buyers may favor particular colors over other colors for diverse products. For instance, a color favored for one’s car will not be favored for furniture. Preferences in color predict store buyer preferences.