24202 Consumer Behaviour Research 2022

24202 CONSUMER BEHAVIOUR
INDIVIDUAL RESEARCH REPORT
Student Name:
Student ID:

Table of Contents
Primary research.........................................................................................................................3
Secondary research.....................................................................................................................4
Reference list..............................................................................................................................6
Appendix....................................................................................................................................7
2

Primary research
Information about interviewees
In this interview, 5 consumers of Myer have been interviewed. Among these consumers,
majority are aged between 20 to 30 years. In addition, majority of the respondents are female.
3 consumers live in Australia for less than 10 years while the majority of respondents live in
urban areas. It can be seen that 4 of 5 respondents lives in urban regions of the country.
Description of brand strengths or competitive advantages of Myer
There are different strengths of Myer that are identified from the interview process. Among
which, provision of value to consumers is their greatest strength that helps them to gain
competitive advantage. As stated by Menon et al. (2016), provision of value to customers
helps to increase satisfaction level of customers. Moreover, the majority of interviewees have
rated product quality of Myer as good, which is another brand strength. Paul et al. (2016)
stated that good quality products help to gain consumer loyalty and reduce the risk of product
replacement. A promotional campaign like My Store is another essential factor that has
helped Myer to gain competitive advantage. Message to customers can be provided through
the help of this promotional campaign. Hence, brand image and awareness can be improved.
Core marketing problems faced by Myer
From the interview, different core marketing problems can be identified. Range of products
is a major problem as the majority of consumers have ranked this firm average concerning
these criteria. In comparison to other competitors like Kmart has achieved a higher ranking
during wide variation in products. Another essential marketing problem is behavior and
knowledge of store personnel. As said by Hussain and Ali (2015), skilled and
knowledgeable store personnel can help to describe products well and increase buying
experience of consumers. Recruitment of unskilled workers and lack of training has increased
this problem for Myer. In comparison, respondents are satisfied with behavior and knowledge
level of personnel in Kmart. Myer is also behind in loyalty reward program as compared to
competitors like Kmart and BigW. These competitors provide rewards that make consumers
feel special and important. Return policy is another problem that can be identified. This is an
3

essential marketing policy that helps to increase satisfaction of customers. While other
competitors like Kmart provide transparent and helpful return policy, Myer has failed to
provide this convenience to their customers.
Links between marketing problems and consumer theories
Different theories like the theory of reasoned action can be linked with the identified
problems. According to this theory, a consumer can make decisions regarding purchasing a
product if specific results are expected (Montano and Kasprzyk, 2015). Return policy, loyalty
rewards can motivate consumers to make positive decision because they can expect positive
outcomes by purchasing the products. Moreover, motivation need theory can also be linked
with the identified problems. According to this theory, decision-making process of consumers
are based on few factors like physiological and safety needs. Marketers can create artificial
needs by providing a wide range of attractive products and an appropriate description of
products by trained personnel. These marketing techniques can help to insist or motivate
consumers to make purchase of products.
Secondary research
Name of article
Retailers beware: On denied product returns and consumer behavior
Overall goals of article
Goal of this article is to aware retailers about the impact of their deny of product returns on
consumer behavior.
Method of research
In this research project, two hypotheses have been developed. These two hypotheses were for
understanding the effect of retailer’s return policy on consumers. Two factorial designs
including Low vs High Situational involvement and Low Vs High expectation in controlling
return have been considered. 120 students of undergraduate and part-time MBA have been
selected as a sample in this case. This sample has been selected as these people often shop
and return. A voluntary survey has been done with near about 40% of the full-time
4

professionals, who are doing MBA in evening. Statistical analysis has been done with the
gathered data from survey.
Links between conclusion and identified marketing problems
At the end of the chosen article, it has been concluded that less control over return policy has
a great impact on the consumers. It has been found that Myer does not mention about product
return in their advertisements. It means that consumers of these organizations are not getting
information about return facility of this retail firm through their promotional method. As
mentioned by Dailey and Ülkü (2018), customers want to have control over the return
process and projecting this process through advertisement may draw the attention of many
potential customers. From the conclusion, it can be understood that return policy can also be
considered while developing a marketing plan to gain trust of customers. If customers can
return disputed products easily, it may help them to be loyal to the concerned firm. As Myer
is not including return process as an offer in their promotions, they are losing many potential
customers. On the other hand, Nickson et al. (2017) have stated that, if rivals promote their
products by showcasing their return policy, there is a high chance of losing current customers
to rivals. Due to lack of knowledge and skills in-store representatives, customers of Myer
may face trouble in returning products and it can negatively impact on the consumer
behavior. Hence, there is a link between the conclusion of the chosen article and the
identified marketing problems.
Relevancy of conclusion of the article to address identified marketing problems
The selected research paper has discussed the theory of psychological reactance and this
discussion is potential to help in addressing identified marketing problems of Myer.
Conclusion part of this paper has mentioned that less control on product return process has a
negative impact on consumer behavior. This theoretical approach and the conclusion is
helping in understanding identified marketing problems. It is clear that Myer is not using
return process for improving marketing. Lack of knowledge and skills in-store personnel is
creating trouble to customers while returning products. On the other hand, lack of loyalty
reward programs is preventing this firm to please angry customers. These areas can be
improved as per changing behavior of consumers.
5

Reference list
Dailey, L.C. and Ülkü, M.A., 2018. Retailers beware: On denied product returns and
consumer behavior. Journal of Business Research, 86, pp.202-209.
Hussain, R. and Ali, M., 2015. Effect of store atmosphere on consumer purchase intention.
International Journal of Marketing Studies, 7(2).
Menon, R.V., Sigurdsson, V., Larsen, N.M., Fagerstrøm, A., and Foxall, G.R., 2016.
Consumer attention to price in social commerce: Eye-tracking patterns in retail clothing.
Journal of Business Research, 69(11), pp.5008-5013.
Montano, D.E. and Kasprzyk, D., 2015. Theory of reasoned action, theory of planned
behavior, and the integrated behavioral model. Health behavior: Theory, research, and
practice, 70(4), p.231.
Nickson, D., Price, R., Baxter-Reid, H. and Hurrell, S.A., 2017. Skill requirements in retail
work: the case of high-end fashion retailing. Work, employment and society, 31(4), pp.692-
708.
Paul, J., Sankaranarayanan, K.G. and Mekoth, N., 2016. Consumer satisfaction in retail
stores: theory and implications. International Journal of Consumer Studies, 40(6), pp.635-
642.
6