MKT 20025 Consumer Decision-Making Process: H&M Case Study

This report examines the consumer decision-making process, particularly focusing on H&M's marketing strategies and their impact on consumer behavior. Part A includes responses to discussion activities related to Tasmanian wine culture and H&M's Christmas advertisement, analyzing consumer perception and attitudes. Part B delves into H&M's strategies concerning need recognition, information search, alternative evaluation, purchase decisions, and post-purchase behavior, providing insights into how H&M influences consumers. The report also offers recommendations for H&M to address negative publicity and enhance customer satisfaction through improved customer service and corporate social responsibility initiatives. This analysis highlights the various stages of the consumer decision-making process and how companies can strategically influence consumer choices.

Running head: CONSUMER DECISION MAKING PROCESS
Consumer decision-making process
Name of the student:
Name of the University:
Author note:

1CONSUMER DECISION MAKING PROCESS
PART A
Week 2 response
The need of a consumer drives his or her purchasing pattern. The environment he or
she resides in could affect these needs. In this case study, it is observed that people are
heavily influenced by the culture, food, art and so on. Therefore, the Tasmanian Wine sellers
have offered the cultural experience along with their product to its consumers. This has
contributed in the hike of purchasing of wine among consumers, as they feel connected with
the Tasmanian culture. The Tasmanian wine producers are expanding their sales by including
cultural cellar door experience where visitors could enjoy the local artists along with gorging
himself or herself in wine.
Week 3 response
The H&M television commercial for festive season is accurate in consumer
perception as it has all the elements that the consumers could sense in the advertisement. The
advertisement features a fictitious world with a hint of modern touch to it. The concept of the
ad film appeals to the consumers as it has themes related to the holiday season. The
advertisement even features popular stars such as Nicki Minaj which would impact on
consumers’ selection of advertisements. The ad film features a message which has a happy
ending to it therefore the consumers exposure towards the advertisement would be more.
Week 4 response
The first ad campaign used in United States have a strong message to it that can
change consumers’ attitude towards texting and driving. The advertisement shows how the
main lead of the advertisement ‘Todd’ is judged by everyone as he is texting while he is
driving. Now, we all know that being judged by the society is something that everyone
despises. Therefore, the advertisement chooses the right situation that would change

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consumers’ attitude after watching the advertisement. Similarly in the second advertisement
campaign named ‘Get your hand of it’ the advertisement shows a situation that how people
are risking their lives texting and driving. They show interpreted version of texting and
driving which is driving blindfolded. Thus, the situation could lead to disaster and thus, it has
a capability of changing people attitude as well.
Week 5 response
In the first clip the Behavioural Learning Theory is observed which comes under the
section of classic conditions. The repetitive message throughout the clip to provide chocolate
evokes an idea among consumers the need for chocolate. The second clip as well depends on
the classic conditioning as a well-known face such as Lebron James is used for the
McDonalds commercial. Such implications evoke a repeated feeling that impacts on the
minds of the consumers.

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PART B
Introduction
Hennes and Mauritz popularly known as H&M is a multinational apparel retail
company that serves millions of customers with fresh fashion brands such as MONKI, Cheap
Monday, and so on. The target market for the company are consumers who have a need for
trending fashion products comprising men, women and children. They have segmented their
target market accordingly such as women and men ranging from 18 to 45 years old along
with children ranging from 1 to 15 years old. In this subsequent report, the focus would be on
H&M’s market strategies and planning with the help of which they influence consumer’s
decision making process.
Consumer Decision Making Process
The company has adopted various strategies that impacts on the consumers’ decision
making process.
Need recognition
The consumers of apparel industry are demanding as they have an urge to purchase
clothes which are trending in the fashion industry. H&M recognises this demanding need of
the consumers and delivers products which are trendy and fresh fashion styles. The targeted
consumers of the company belongs to middle class and upper middle class hence, consumers
have a demand for affordable products that suffices their fashion need. The company
recognises its target customers and accordingly sets the price range. The new pricing strategy
of H&M has been an immense success as the company gained immense profit after lowering
their price tag (Malviya 2018). The company promises its customers of selling products that
are affordable and trendy in a sustainable way. Consumers are heavily influenced by those
companies which provide products in a sustainable procedure. The company recognises this

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need among consumers and market their product accordingly. H&M put continuous effort of
providing products to its targeted customers in affordable prices that satiates the fashion
needs of both middle class and upper middle class section of the society. The advertisements
that are featured in the television commercials depicts this idea in an appealing procedure.
This influences the consumers’ decision making procedure as they are visually tempted with
the television commercials that aim to provide trending fashion apparels in affordable prices.
Information search
H&M is a well-known brand that the majority of consumers could easily locate. If the
consumers are unaware of the company then H&M have extensive advertising strategies
where consumers could externally find information about the company. The billboard
advertisements and television commercials featuring some of the popular faces of the film
and television industry has gained the company to maximise its reach over an extensive
population (The Drum 2018). The internal research of consumers regarding the company
triggers the purchasing decision among them as the company is highly popularised name
worldwide (Carraher 2014). The company has a well-maintained websites for various
locations in the world such as United States, Britain, and so on (Hm.com 2018). These
websites sell products online and even includes information regarding the company and the
brands that the company sell. The company offers staple products that the consumers are used
to and recognise. Some of the factors that influence the consumer’s search choices are market
characteristics such as price range, information availability, advertising, and so on. The
product characteristics also seem to influence the consumer’s search options, as consumers
tend to search products that have a positive influence (Clemes, Gan and Zhang 2014).
Another factor that affect consumer’s search option is consumer characteristics such as
shopping orientation, product involvement and so on.

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Evaluate alternatives
Consumers tend to purchase those products that satiates their need (Cătălin and
Andreea 2014). In this scenario, consumers could enumerate the following criteria that might
ease their purchasing decision.
 The price of the product always helps an individual to clear his or her
confusion for purchasing a product (Beneke, Greig and Mukaiwa 2013). In
this aspect, H&M provides affordable pricing that satiates most of the
consumers need. The target consumers of H&M generally belongs to middle
class and upper middle class thus, affordable pricing option is the need of such
consumers.
 The brands that are included in a particular apparel company also influences
the consumers purchasing decision (Seiler 2013). The well-known brand
alternatives available extensively can always influence a consumer to choose a
specific company for purchasing purpose. For instance, consumers are likely
to look for options that have a wide of range of brands in their shops. In this
case, H&M provides a decent number of brands under its retail company.
 The terms and conditions of sale is another criterion that the consumers
consider while looking for alternatives before purchasing a product (Shen
2014). A complex selling condition can influence consumers to search for
other alternatives that offer a more satiating consumer terms and conditions of
sale. In this scenario, H&M provides terms and conditions which are not
complex and are rather according to the needs of the customers.
Purchase
By this stage, consumers have evaluated all the alternatives that are available in the
market and now have made the decision to purchase the brand that he or she has intended to

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buy. However, there are two aspects that could change a consumer’s decision to purchase and
these are –
 Negative review from others could heavily influence consumer’s buying behaviour at
this stage (Cantallops and Salvi 2014). For instance, currently H&M is facing
backlash, as the advertisement was termed racist (ABC News 2018). A negative
review as such could influence consumers to not buy products of the particular brand.
The customer review also heavily influe3nce the consumers purchasing behaviour.
The feedback regarding the brand or the product could influence a consumer to
whether buy or deny the decision to buy that particular product.
 Another aspect that might influence the purchasing decision of a consumer is
unexpected situation that may disrupt the buying behaviour (Malthouse 2013). For
instance, losing a job or the shutdown of the store could disrupt the buying behaviour
of a consumer. These situations are unexpected as it might occur any time. These can
heavily affect the purchasing decision of a consumer. Losing a job means that the
consumer would not be financially capable of purchasing at the moment. This effects
on his or her purchasing behaviour.
Post purchase
At this stage of consumer decision-making procedure, the consumer has purchased the
product and would be or using it. Customer satisfaction comes at this stage that is extremely
important for the organisation who is selling the product (Wu 2013). A good review from the
customer post purchase could benefit a company or organisation for a long-term. It is also
noted at this stage that if the customer is satisfied with the purchased product then he or she
might end up purchasing from the same company next time. This would benefit the
organisation for a long run, as it will gain a loyal customer. H&M currently have a customer
service platform on its online websites that responds to customers post purchase . The return

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and refund policy heavily that the company offers at this stage could satisfy customers to a
certain extent. If the customers are not satisfied with the purchase products then he or she
might return or replace the product online. The customer could even choose the refund option
where the customer could get the spent money back. Although, the company has not adopted
any innovative measure at this stage still the present procedure is satisfactory.
Recommendations
1. It is observed that H&M is facing some major backlash from its racist advertisement
and this has garnered negative review for the company. In order to repair this image,
the company could market its product in a positive attitude. With the help of
advertisements, the company could give out a positive message to the society. The
company bring out their prior examples that will help clients and customers to regain
their trust on the company. The company could organise an event that would support
a cause or help raise an issue. Therefore, engaging in corporate social responsibility is
the best way to repair its damaged image among the consumers. The company should
remove the advertisement immediately as the longer it stays the longer it will create a
bad reputation for the company. The company should even release a statement
regarding the advertisement, as doing so will give out a positive attitude of the
company.
2. H&M shall adopt some innovative measures that would satisfy customers further in
the post purchase stage. If a customer is not satisfied with the product then the
customer service department should instantly respond to it. Delayed responses could
create a bad relationship between the customer and the company. The return and
refund policies should be smooth and instant. In order to satisfy the customers, the
company shall give out some complimentary gifts. This would create a good
impression on the customers for a long run. H&M is not abrupt with its customer

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service as well thus, it is important that the company should improve its customer
service by providing necessary training and increasing workers in the particular
department.
References
ABC News. 2018. H&M stores trashed in protest over 'racist' ad. online Available at:
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-01-14/people-protest-against-racist-ad/9327196 Accessed
13 Aug. 2018.
Beneke, J., Flynn, R., Greig, T. and Mukaiwa, M., 2013. The influence of perceived product
quality, relative price and risk on customer value and willingness to buy: a study of private
label merchandise. Journal of Product & Brand Management, 22(3), pp.218-228.
Cantallops, A.S. and Salvi, F., 2014. New consumer behavior: A review of research on
eWOM and hotels. International Journal of Hospitality Management, 36, pp.41-51.
Carraher, S.M., 2014. Consumer behavior, online communities, collaboration, IFRS, and
Tung. Journal of Technology Management in China, 9(1).
Cătălin, M.C. and Andreea, P., 2014. Brands as a mean of consumer self-expression and
desired personal lifestyle. Procedia-Social and Behavioral Sciences, 109, pp.103-107.
Clemes, M.D., Gan, C. and Zhang, J., 2014. An empirical analysis of online shopping
adoption in Beijing, China. Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, 21(3), pp.364-375.
Hm.com. 2018. H&M offers fashion and quality at the best price. online Available at:
https://www.hm.com/au Accessed 13 Aug. 2018.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a8XWLUwQm94

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Malthouse, E.C., Haenlein, M., Skiera, B., Wege, E. and Zhang, M., 2013. Managing
customer relationships in the social media era: Introducing the social CRM house. Journal of
Interactive Marketing, 27(4), pp.270-280.
Malviya, S. 2018. H&M sales double as pricing strategy pays off. online The Economic
Times. Available at: https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/industry/services/retail/hm-
clocks-in-rs-700-crore-sales-in-nine-months/articleshow/60870770.cms Accessed 13 Aug.
2018.
Seiler, S., 2013. The impact of search costs on consumer behavior: A dynamic
approach. Quantitative Marketing and Economics, 11(2), pp.155-203.
Shen, B., 2014. Sustainable fashion supply chain: Lessons from H&M. Sustainability, 6(9),
pp.6236-6249.
The Drum. 2018. Ad of the Day: H&M sparks a sultry flamenco of femininity (with added
Winona Ryder). online Available at: https://www.thedrum.com/news/2018/03/22/ad-the-day-
hm-sparks-sultry-flamenco-femininity-with-added-winona-ryder Accessed 13 Aug. 2018.
Wu, L., 2013. The antecedents of customer satisfaction and its link to complaint intentions in
online shopping: An integration of justice, technology, and trust. International Journal of
Information Management, 33(1), pp.166-176.

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