Marketing Management: Consumer Decision-Making Report on Samsung S10

This report provides a comprehensive analysis of consumer behavior, specifically focusing on the five-stage buying decision process. It examines the factors that influence purchasing decisions, such as brand, convenience, dependency, price, product features, and social influences. The report uses the...Read More

MARKETING
MANAGEMENT

CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
FINDING AND ANALYSIS..........................................................................................................1
Purchase behavior........................................................................................................................1
Five stage model of purchasing decision.....................................................................................5
RECOMMENDATIONS.................................................................................................................7
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................8
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................9
APPENDIX....................................................................................................................................11

INTRODUCTION
Behavior of consumers with respect to purchasing a product is influenced by wide range
of factors or elements. Consumer behavior refers to the study of the methods through which
groups, individuals and organizations select, purchase, utilize and dispose of products, ideas,
experiences and services for satisfying their wants and needs (De Mooij, 2019).). The buyer
decision procedures refers to the processes of making decisions undertaken by consumers
regarding potential market transaction before, during & after buying any product or service.
These buying decisions are influenced by many stages which will be discussed in this report. The
five stage model of buying decision process will be applied on Samsung S10 mobile phone. The
analysis will include secondary data and information in order to evaluate the significant
components of the discussion in the report. In addition, a specific recommendation will also be
included in the study to understand and improve decision making process and provide better
customer experience.
FINDING AND ANALYSIS
Consumer behavior is the study of how people are making decisions about spending their
important and valuable resources such as effort, money and time on any product or service for
consumption (Shin & et.al., 2018). The methodology utilised to examine consumer behavior is
known as consumer research. Consumer research takes place at each and every stage of the
consumption procedure such as before purchasing, during making and after purchasing. The
study of consumer behaviour or consumer research is created as an extension of the marketing
field that helps in enabling marketers in predicting consumer’s attitude or behavior within the
market place & also understanding the reasons why consumers made particular decisions for
purchasing products to services. Since there are different individuals in the market with distinct
interests backgrounds, needs and wants, it is very important for the organisations or marketers to
segment the market and design or develop products which may satisfy the needs and wants of
each and every type of customer in the marketplace.
Purchase behavior
The examination not purchase behavior assist in identifying answers to three main
questions, 1. Identify the reason behind a purchase made by consumer, 2.Factors affecting the
purchase, 3.The changing factors within the society or market place. There are wide range of
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studies conducted on the basis of two significant models developed by Hawkins, Best, and
Coney and Engel, Kollat and Black well (Wang, 2018). The first model is an extension to the
second model by Engel, Kollat and Black well model, by enhancing the scope of the initial
approach of including internal and external factors influencing purchasing decisions of
customers. The model of consumer behavior developed by Hawkins, Best and Coney states that
the needs not consumers are affected by external factors such as culture, demographic factors,
social status, subcultures, reference groups, family, and marketing activities. Internal factors
including learning, perception, memory, attitudes, emotions, personality, and motives also
influence needs and desires of consumers. These external and internal influences combine for
developing life style and self concept of consumers, which in turn driving their desires and
needs. These influencing factors lead consumers into a five stage process of decision making,
which begins with needs and problem recognition. Once, consumers recognize their needs, they
start searching for information and alternatives. Later, they are evaluating alternatives available
and take a decision to purchase (Kozak & Kozak, 2018). The process of decision making ends at
post purchase evaluation. The five stage decision procedure was developed on the basis of the
assumption that consumers are making decision of buying products or services in a rational
manner & are assessing alternatives before making a purchase decision. For example, in my case
I recognized that my smart phone that I was using was very old which was creating a lot of
problems for me. The older smart phone was not compatible for using many applications and
high resolution games. I also need to make video calls with my family as I live far away from
them; my older phone fails to provide good quality during video calls that was very
disappointing and problematic for me. Therefore, I recognized that there is a need to buy a new
phone with all new features and technology (Noguchi & Stewart, 2018). There are many factors
the influence the smartphone purchasing decision, these factors are as discussed below -
Brand - Brand is not only a symbol or name, the brand develops an impression in the minds of
customers about the quality of product or service it offers to them. If the branded products satisfy
the customers, they would make word of mouth promotion or recommend the products to others.
It can be effective in influencing other consumers to buy products or services form that particular
brand. It has been observed that brand have much positive impact on female customers as
compared to male customers (Nikhashemi & Valaei, 2018). There are evidences that brands are
creating a higher influence on individuals who have limited capabilities of purchase. Individuals
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also like branded products because of the perception of their performance, service, quality and
social status linked with the brand. Considering another important factors for technological
advancement that is age within the younger consumers. The younger generation has better
knowledge about technological advancement in smart phones and this influence their purchasing
decision. In my case, I always trust a popular smart phone brand Samsung as I was already using
a phone of the same brand. Samsung is known to offering smart phones of every price range with
lots of functions with high quality of after sales services. I have knowledge that Samsung smart
phone have high screen resolution and better cameras. So, I was attracted towards purchasing a
Samsung smart phone, but my friends also suggested to me to try Apple iPhone which another
popular smart phone brand in the world.
Convenience - Due to time scarcity consumers appreciate convenience. Convenience means to a
condition in which work is made easy, simple and require less exertion, without any difficulty of
distress (Harris, 2019). Smart phones are providing a high level of convenience; it is lighter &
smaller as compared to laptop that makes it easier to carry everywhere. The proliferation of
internet and Wi-Fi make Smart phones highly connective and convenient. It has been proposed
that social needs, influences, and convenience are the basic elements that affect the individual's
dependency upon Smart phones. I completely agree with the fact that Smart phones are highly
convenient in connectivity and communication, earlier people used to go to internet cafes and
telephone booths for talking to their friends and family or surfing internet. Even I went to cyber
cafes for making a video call with my family. As I saw that nowadays Smart phones are coming
with high speed of internet and camera quality, they had been used to make easy calls to see
friends and family. I really wanted to buy a phone to enjoy convenience of using a smart phone.
Dependency - Dependency on anything refers to its utilisation intensely & habitually, and
reluctance to stay away from the same (Evans, 2018). The smart phone is very much
conventional device for messaging or talking, individuals can make use of them for a wide range
of purposes such as emailing, banking, sharing photos, playing games, documenting & social
networking. According to statistics, people in Malaysia utilise Smart phones for approximately
20 hours for online surfing in a week. According to some sources it has been identified that high
level of dependency on Smart phones can result to big problems, and reduction in
communication & social skills, as texting becomes a very common method for communication. I
am not much addicted to using mobile phone, but as it is very fast in surfing internet I may use it
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more often for online surfing, shopping and mainly for social networking. I wanted to purchase a
phone that can be used intensely without any difficulty with high level of battery capacity so that
I can operate it longer if needed without any problem.
Price - Price refers to the value which is willingly paid by customer for the exchange of goods or
service, price is known to be a very important factor that is influencing buyers to make a
purchasing decision. In the year 2013, the government of Malaysia granted rebate of RM200 on
Smart phones to individuals aged from 21 to 30 years as well as to people who earn less than
RM3000 on monthly basis. It has been identified that price is a significant factor while making a
smart phone purchase decision among young population in Malaysia (Mohamed & et.al., 2019).
In addition to this, it has also been determined that price along with after sales customer service
plays a vital role in enhancing customer satisfaction but it can't be ignored that price of the
product drives major influence as compared to any other factor. Before making a purchasing
decision I already have a mindset that I would buy a latest phone by Samsung under RM3000,
such as Samsung S10 which is very attractive and reasonable in terms of pricing as compared to
other brands. I didn't expected that I could buy a impressive phone under this budget but as
Samsung's pricing it gave a huge competition to Apple iPhone by offering a luxurious and classy
smart phone in this price range which was affordable for me.
Product features - Software and hardware are very important features of a smart phone, it has
been identified in studies that 56% of individuals are attracted towards the design of a smart
phone, 38.5% to WiFi connectivity, 34.2% to power of computing & 30.2% to the pricing of the
phone. It has been argued that software features are more important in people's smart phone
purchase decisions as compared to the hardware features. Other features such as weight and
cameras of the smart phone also influence the decisions of customers. On the other hand size and
color are considered as additional factors for motivating consumers (Orquin, & et.al., 2019). I
belong to the 56% individuals which are influenced by the design of the smart phone. When I
looked at the Samsung S10 device I was really impressed by its slim design, it was so much
attractive. I also got influenced by its camera quality as well as pricing played a major role in my
purchase decision.
Social needs and influences - The social needs are the social necessities of an individual, and in
context to Smart phones, these needs are keeping in touch with family, associates and friends. It
has been identified that having a smart phone is a social necessities for the young generation and
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its significant facilities of socialites. This generation looks for mobile applications that suit their
lifestyles and needs or desire (Koottunkal & et.al., 2019). In addition to this, the purchasing
decision is also highly influenced by friends, family status, role models etc. When I was going
through the prices of decision making I was seeking suggestions from my family and friends. My
brother told me to try the S10 by Samsung, but my friends forced me to check Apple iPhone 11.
I tested both the smartphone, and was really impressed by the performance of both the devices.
Although, I was much influenced by Samsung S10 because of its price which was very attractive
with so many product features it the smart phone.
Five stage model of purchasing decision
Figure 1 - Five stages of purchase decision making
(Source: De Mooij, 2019)
Need recognition
This is the first stage of purchase decision making process, there is some sort of problem
arises that develops a need to purchase a product or service. These needs are satisfied by a
customer by exchanging a amount of money with the product or service from a brand. I
discussed in the above findings that I was using a old phone that doesn't support many mobile
applications and also has a bad quality camera. Therefore, it developed a need for me to buy a
new smart phone for myself (Van Heuven, & Wen, 2019).
Search of information
This can be segregated into two forms i.e. external and internal. Inside search reflects the
past data and experience of person through which future course of action can be decided (Park &
Song, 2019). In any event, when a customer is attentive towards lucrative scheme, it does not
that it will be expected in one instance, but it is decided on the basis of aggregated data. This can
be any data or message which is been developed from the past encounter of purchase memory
and hence it affects the buying decision significantly (Faulds et.al., 2018). Basically, focused
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brands give options with respect to purchasers who are happy to identify the best alternative to
satisfy their needs or wants; even same set of items is been offered by them. In order to buy the
best smart phone for myself I used internal sources of data, by asking my friends and family who
are being using Smart phones. Mainly my friends helped me to increase my knowledge regarding
Smart phones, and my brother who was already using Samsung S10 smart phone shared his
experience with me to get informed about that device which helped me a lot in this decision
making process.
Evaluation of Alternatives
When a choice is recognized as the best/appropriate arrangement as indicated by the
people needs in the wake of aggregating adequate data, they attempt elective assessment
(Kowalska-Pyzalska, 2018). Contingent upon their thought processes or objectives, buyer build
up a criteria for assessing decision options, for example which option is the least difficult to
utilize or to orchestrate, or what are different clients needs, in light of the fact that there is a need
to affirm whether the data is precise and to confirm that the item will turn out as envisioned. In
this stage I used different sources such as internet, smart phone users, websites of the smart
phone brands etc. I compared all the Smart phones in the price segment and also evaluated the
phones suggested by my friends. When I tested all the Smart phones such as Samsung S10,
Apple iPhone X and 11, I understood that they all are very amazing Smart phones in the market.
I was impressed by all the three phones. But there was a price difference among the three
devices. There was not a big difference between S10 and iPhone x, it was only RM200 or
RM300 and iPhone 11 above my budget of RM3000. Therefore, I evaluated that Samsung S10 is
the best choice for me.
Final decision
This stage plays a vital role in the entire decision making process, the customer finally
decide which product or service is best for him or her. Searching about the product provide
information about the products available from which consumer selects one product that he or she
thinks is the most satisfactory. But the next stage, evaluation stage includes comparison and
analysis of the product in detail. Such as customers’ reviews, best alternatives available for the
product, their benefits as compared to the product chosen etc. Final decision stage is highly
influenced by the evaluation stage as it can change the perception of the consumer and he or she
can change their decision for purchasing a product they were almost going to buy before the
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evaluation. I identified from the evaluation stage that even though the closest alternative for
Samsung S10 was Apple iPhone X and 11, as they are offering same high quality features as
offered by Samsung. But the evaluation stage also helped me identify that Samsung S10 possess
almost same features as Apply iPhones in lower price which made me confident to make final
decision of purchasing Samsung S10.
Post purchasing decision
After the utilization, the buyer at that point encounters certain degrees of fulfillment or
disappointment, and assesses the reason for the decision made in choosing the other option. Two
potential results are gotten from this stage fulfillment or discord. At the point when shopper
encounters disharmony towards the buy, the decision is devaluated and the buyer starts the way
toward looking, acquiring data and assessing different choices for future purchasing choice. It is
a stage when the buyer chooses whether or not to move from simply executing the product to a
full adaption; that is, regardless of whether to utilize the item over and over or repurchase or not.
Since customer consistently has a decision in regards to the items need, recurrence of use, etc. At
the point when people are agreeable in utilizing a particular item consistently, they will prescribe
it to others from utilizing the item too. In the last stage, I analysed that Samsung S10 smart
phone was a great choice; it has an attractive design, impressive software, very good cameras
and power backup (Cao, Ajjan & Hong, 2018). Overall the performance of this smart phone was
very good and I was highly satisfied and happy to make this purchase decision.
RECOMMENDATIONS
As per the above finding and analysis it has been identified that consumer behavior can
easily be influenced by different factors such as price, features, brands etc. It can make a huge
difference in making purchase decision. It is highly recommended for the organisations or brands
to ensure that their branding or promotion is very attractive and effective to influence consumers
to change their purchase decision and buy their products or services. It is also recommended to
develop a talented marketing team which can analyze the needs of consumers so that it can get
easier for the brand to develop and design a highly satisfying product as well as the pricing
should be done accordingly. There should be wide range of options available for the consumers,
from low price to high price with high quality so that consumer can be motivated. Alongside, it
is also suggested to brands that they should use social media platforms for promoting their
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products and services, as it is quick and needs low investment as well as influences a large
audience easily.
CONCLUSION
The above report concluded that Consumer behavior refers to the study of the methods
through which groups, individuals & organisations select, purchase, utilise and dispose of
products in order to satisfy their needs. This study identifies that consumer behavior or purchase
decision can be influenced by a variety of factors such as price, product features, social needs,
brand etc. The report also concluded that that each of the factor is very important in the overall
purchase decision making process. In context to Smart phones, the main influencing factor
identified was price and design. The report also discussed five stage model of purchase decision
making process which included need recognition, information search, evaluation, final decision
and post purchase decision. These stages are different phases of a purchase decision making that
is discussed using the smart phone purchasing decision process.
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APPENDIX
Product
Consumer decision making process
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