Consumer Behavior & Channel Strategy

This paper evaluates the use of CRM tools and consumer behavior theory in analyzing the target market and marketing strategy of Telstra. It also analyzes the channel strategy of Telstra and provides recommendations for strategic choices. Various potential CRM tools and the definition of consumer behavior theory are discussed. The paper concludes with recommendations for enhancing customer satisfaction and improving the relationship with customers.

Running head: BUS201/BUS2001
Consumer Behavior &
Channel Strategy

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Consumer and Channel Relations
Table of Contents
Introduction.................................................................................................................................................2
Various potential CRM tools.......................................................................................................................2
Definition of Consumer behavior theory.....................................................................................................2
Use of Consumer behavior theory to analyze the target market of Telstra..................................................3
Use of Consumer behavior theory to analyze current marketing strategy of Telstra....................................3
Analysis of channel strategy of Telstra........................................................................................................4
Reflection of theory to evaluate strategic choices and Recommendations...................................................5
Conclusion...................................................................................................................................................6
References...................................................................................................................................................7

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Introduction
The primary purpose of the paper is to evaluate the use of various potential CRM tools that can
enhance the satisfaction level of the customers regarding the products and services offered to
them. To understand the concepts of customer relationship management and the use of consumer
behavior theory, Telstra Corporation has been undertaken. Telstra Corporation is one of the
fastest growing telecommunication companies operating throughout different parts of Australia.
The detailed analysis if the channel strategy used by Telstra Corporation will be provided. By
Consumer behavior theory, few of the crucial strategic choices will be proposed to enhance the
relationship with the customers.
Various potential CRM tools
Customer Relationship Management (CRM) is a process of developing strategies to manage the
relationship of the company with their customers (Girchenko, Ovsiannikova, and Girchenko,
2017). It enables the organization to stay connected with their potential customers and to gain
revenue. The organization uses CRM tools to control the relationship with their respective
customers such as:
- With the use of Data management tools, the customer or marketing data can be brought
together by the company.
- The company uses segmentation tools to target customers.
- It can execute or manage campaigns in various channels with the use of campaign
management tools.
- Social media tools are used to interact with the customers and to use the data of the
follower.
- To analyze or interpret data, the company can use the reporting and analytical tools.
Definition of Consumer behavior theory
Consumer behavior is considered to be a process that psychologically deals with consumers in
purchasing goods or offering services (Stancu, Haugaard and Lähteenmäki, 2016). The consumer
behavior theory is used to target suitable markets for the organization by creating marketing
plans. The consumer behavior theory are classified into four broad categories:-

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Consumer and Channel Relations
1. Economic theory
2. Psycho-analytical theory
3. Psychological theory
4. Socio-cultural theory
Use of Consumer behavior theory to analyze the target market of Telstra
The application of the consumer behavior theory is considered to be vital for the marketers
because it helps them in knowing about the customers as an individual or in groups (Cruz,
Gutiérrez-Artacho, and Bernardino, 2017). It also helps in understanding the experiences and
demands of the customers regarding the products and services offered to them. By using the
consumer behavior theory, Telstra Corporation effectively targets their respective customers and
delivers satisfactory services to them. The target market audience of Telstra is people from all
age groups since their strategy reveals that if babies could use phones, then they would be on the
sights of Telstra. The target audiences include business people, school kids, man, woman, old
and young people, farmers, workers and all people those can use mobile phones. The firm offers
different service packages for different age groups of people like for people from ages 16-24
years uses more data rather than making calls, and these includes schools and college students
(Telstra.com.au, 2019).
On the other hand, the firm offers more call packages to the older people to connect them from
their loved ones, and these strategies are purely based on the demands and the needs of the
customers by evaluating the consumer behavior theory. Moreover, the primary target market of
the company is the people from major cities as they have an urgent need for using the latest
technologies with the help of 4G and 3G services. The secondary target market for the firm is
from the middle, or the lower income group of people and the firm has introduced many
packages for them.
Use of Consumer behavior theory to analyze current marketing strategy of Telstra
The theory of consumer behavior helps in analyzing the market opportunity for Telstra. The
company can identify the requirements and needs of the consumer with the help of consumer
behavior theory (Teng and Wang, 2015). It involves all the aspects of buying behavior of the
consumers for making decisions. The consumer behavior is very significant for the purpose of

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marketing. The consumer behavior has imperative effects on the market strategy of the Telstra
Corporation. The effects are described as:
 Research through the Internet: The companies are now using the internet in large
volume to find out the activities of consumers which helps them in promoting sales or to
know the market conditions. They can choose an area of the market which is specific for
them to promote and sell their respective products.
 Elaboration of likelihood model (ELM): The marketing company takes the help of ELM
to find out the best route of communication for consumers. The organization will use a
central route of communication to communicate with consumers as it leads to a
significant cost or effort.
 Complexity in deciding by consumers: There are various types of products or brands
which makes consumer's decision complex (Varadarajan, 2015). The consumers will do
a lot of research for deciding that whether the products are either expensive or high-end.
 Forecasts for sales: It is used in estimating the number of sales during the specific
period. Sales forecast includes various methods for estimating accurate data and it can
be categorized as qualitative as well as quantitative forecasts. The former is based on the
opinion of experts, and the latter is based on past sales.
 Demand and supply of products or services: Consumer behavior affects demand and
supply of products and thus, it needs to be considered by the firm.
 Psychology of consumers: Psychographics is a method to find out more details about
customers, and it consists of the classification of the customers as per their attitudes,
opinions and personalities (Vidal, Rodríguez, Campdesuñer and Vivar, 2017).
 The sense of marketing: It helps the company to clearly understand the external market
to get a competitive advantage.
Analysis of channel strategy of Telstra
A channel strategy is that strategy in which plan is made by the vendor to take away the goods or
services to the customers with the use of the various chain. An organization builds its channel
strategy to gain customer relationships in the market. Telstra Corporation Limited uses the
channel strategy for operating throughout the market of Australia by offering products and
services to the customers and hence it improves the experience of consumers. It has been

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analyzed that Telstra adopted various strategies to simplify their products or to improve
customer’s relationships (Yazdanpanah and Forouzani, 2015). It is seen that the Telstra 2022
strategy has been set up to provide benefits to all its shareholders, employees as well as
customers. The corporation wants to remain the most trusted premium brand of Australia in
telecommunications by applying the strategy of 2022. This strategy is set up to target the
customers for providing every product of telecommunications with a good experience. It has
been analyzed that firm wants to provide various opportunities to its new partners for increasing
the growth of the channel. The company has to implement crucial steps to have a positive impact
on the customers. The analysis reveals that Telstra was facing a loss in terms of building
relationship with the customers by using the process of cross-channel. To solve the situation, the
company started a new strategy to improve its conversation with the customers. The
organization uses various traditional and developed channels like emails or socials media
channels to communicate with their customers. It also sends 330,000 welcome packs to the
customers through direct mail (Varadarajan, 2015).
Reflection of theory to evaluate strategic choices and Recommendations
It needs to be understood that there are various factors which helps the consumers to make their
purchasing decisions. The primary motive of the theory is to take care of the satisfaction level of
the customers regarding the product and services offered by the organization (Haubro et al.,
2015). I understood that the evaluation of the strategic choices needs to be based upon the
experiences and needs of the customers as it will help in facilitating the overall growth of the
firm to a large area. Considering the consumer behavior theory, there are few of the strategic
choices that are recommended to the firm. It is recommended that the firm needs to restructure
their plans and services that are provided to the customers based on their actual needs as it will
help in boosting the overall growth of the firm. I analyzed the fact it is vital for the employees
associated with the firm to understand the desired use of the various CRM tools as it will help
them in enhancing the experience level of the customers by assisting them with a superior quality
of services (Agnihotri et al., 2017).
The first choice is the creation of the newly owed business infrastructure unit that will remain
engaged in delivering the superior quality of product and services to the consumers. Secondly,
there should be a proper radical transformation of the various plans and packages offered to the

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customers to enhance the experiences of the concerned consumers (Carter and Yeo, 2016).
Thirdly, there should be an enhancement of the technology services based on the CRM tools
which will help in enhancing productivity (Biswas and Roy, 2015). Moreover, proper training
should be provided to the employees to assist customers with excellent care regarding the
products and services offered by the firm. It is also recommended that the technology and
services should be boosted with the help of implementing the latest technologies and providing
proper training to the employees.
Conclusion
The paper effectively concludes the use of the various CRM tools with the help of consumer
behavior theory. Telstra Corporation uses various CRM tools, and there is a crucial need to bring
some modifications to boost the overall experiences of the customers so that the relationship with
them can be made stronger. The paper also provides important recommendations by evaluating
the strategic choices which will help in facilitating growth by bringing the desired elevation in t
execution of the business procedure of the organization. Proper training should be offered to the
employees as it will help in assisting the customers as per their needs and demands.

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References
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based CRM technology and social media use on post-sale service behaviors in India. Journal of
Business Research, 81, pp.144-154.
Biswas, A. and Roy, M., 2015. Green products: an exploratory study on consumer behavior in
emerging economies of the East. Journal of Cleaner Production, 87, pp.463-468.
Carter, S. and Yeo, A.C.M., 2016. Mobile apps usage by Malaysian business undergraduates and
postgraduates: implications for consumer behavior theory and marketing practice. Internet
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Cruz, T.M., Gutiérrez-Artacho, J. and Bernardino, J., 2017, April. Open Source CRM Tools for
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Girchenko, T., Ovsiannikova, Y. and Girchenko, L., 2017. CRM System as a Keystone of
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Haubro, A.P., Lomholt, H.A., Lueg, R., Nielsen, S.V. and Knudsen, U., 2015. Tactical and
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Stancu, V., Haugaard, P. and Lähteenmäki, L., 2016. Determinants of consumer food waste
behavior: Two routes to food waste. Appetite, 96, pp.7-17.
Telstra.com.au. (2019). Telstra sets a new strategy to improve customer experience, simplify the
structure and cut costs. [online] Available at: [Accessed 7 Feb. 2019].
Teng, C.C. and Wang, Y.M., 2015. Decisional factors driving organic food consumption:
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Varadarajan, R., 2015. Strategic marketing, marketing strategy and market strategy. AMS
review, 5(3-4), pp.78-90.

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Vidal, G.G., Rodríguez, A.S., Campdesuñer, R.P. and Vivar, R.M., 2017. Strategic Choices of an
Entrepreneur Using Statistical Decision Theory. Journal of International Business and
Economics, 5(1), pp.75-84.
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