Consumer Behavior and Marketing Psychology of Pepsi

This report analyzes the changing consumer behavior and its reasons in regards to the Pepsi drink. A survey was conducted to understand the aspects that affect the demand and behavior of the customers. The report concludes that Pepsi is a well-known brand of carbonated drinks worldwide.

Pepsi
Consumer Behavior and Marketing Psychology
9/17/2018

CONSUMER BEHAVIOR 1
Table of Contents
Introduction................................................................................................................................2
Overview of Pepsi..................................................................................................................2
Purpose of Survey..................................................................................................................3
Development of Survey Instrument.......................................................................................3
Survey Sample (Administration process)...............................................................................3
Data Analysis and Findings...................................................................................................4
Question 1..........................................................................................................................4
Question 2..........................................................................................................................4
Question 3..........................................................................................................................5
Question 4..........................................................................................................................5
Question 5..........................................................................................................................5
Question 6..........................................................................................................................6
Question 7..........................................................................................................................6
Question 8..........................................................................................................................6
Question 9..........................................................................................................................7
Question 10........................................................................................................................7
Conclusion..................................................................................................................................8
References..................................................................................................................................9

CONSUMER BEHAVIOR 2
Introduction
Understanding the behavior of the consumer is very essential before framing any strategy or
launching the product in any market. If the business got unsuccessful in analyzing the exact
response of the customers for a specific product, the company has to deal with huge losses
(Stephens, 2016). Consumer behavior is complex because every customer has diverse attitude
and mind towards consumption, purchase, and product disposal. Studying the behavior of the
customer support in marketing the services and products successfully and this could be done
with the help of a survey (Utami, 2016). A survey is one of the methods of research used by
businesses to collect data from the pre-defined respondent's group to get information on
different topics of interest (Bryman, 2016). As there, is constant change in the standard of
living, fashion, technological advancement, and trend, the attitude of the consumers varies
towards the product purchase. Hence, the survey can support in identifying the changing
attitude of the customer towards a product due to trend, and fashion. This report is being
framed in order to understand the changing behavior of the customers for the product Pepsi,
with the help of a survey comprised of different questions. A proper analysis will be
presented of the responses provided by the participants of the survey.
Overview of Pepsi
Pepsi is one of the known carbonated soft drink produced by PepsiCo. Caleb Bradham
originally established it in 1893 as Brad's Drink, but it was retitled as Pepsi-Cola in 1898, and
then in 1961 as Pepsi (Supporting Quality, 2018). The original recipe of the drink includes
vanilla and sugar. The aim of creating Pepsi was to boost the energy and aid in digestion.
Pepsi is one of the biggest companies of beverages in the world, with products accessible in
around 200 countries. In 1965, it adopted its name when the Company Pepsi-Cola initiated its
contract with Frito-Lay; Inc. Headquarter of the company is in New York (Quality, 2018). In

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the initial stage of the 21st century, the company started focusing towards expanding its
operations in different nations, particularly Russia, which was considered as the second
biggest market of the company (Pepsico, 2018).
Purpose of Survey
Buyer behavior means the behavior that is reflected by an individual at the time they
purchase, dispose, or consume any specific service or product. These behaviors could be
influenced by numerous factors. Furthermore, it also involves examination for a product,
assessment of product where the customer assesses diverse elements, consumption, and
purchase of the product (Gbadamosi, 2017). For every business, it is very essential to
examine the behavior of the customers to understand the demand and supply of their services
in the market. Therefore, to recognize the demand and behavior of customers towards Pepsi,
this survey was conducted with the help of 10 different questions. Moreover, it also helped in
examining the influence of driving forces such as lifestyle, culture, attitudes, family,
individual and group differences, and perception on the changing behavior of the customer.
Development of Survey Instrument
The instrument that was used to conduct the survey is Survey Monkey Application. It was
covered with 10 questions aimed at different perspectives such as culture, perception, group
and individual differences, attitude, lifestyle and family, and motivation. All the questions
were framed after detailed research and analysis of the consumer behavior and changing
trends in the market. The questionnaire was comprised of multiple-choice and open-ended
questions. Besides this, different perspectives and factors were examined to understand the
reason behind altering consumer behavior.

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Survey Sample (Administration process)
The survey was presented to 16 people, among them there were 5 males and 11 females. The
survey was conducted fairly with the effective participation of all the people. Participants of
the survey were very corporative as they took out some time from their busy schedule to
provide their precious feedback for Pepsi.
Data Analysis and Findings
Question 1
The participants in the survey were professionals; they were familiar with the Pepsi brand. It
has been analyzed that around 33.33% of the participants have a good opinion of Pepsi, as it
is one of the old brands of carbonated soft drinks (Refer to Appendix 1). Besides this, the
company makes use of a different strategy to market its products such as using endorsing
celebrities to increase its sales by encouraging customers (Psychedelic, 2015). Moreover,
only 5.56% of the participants voted for the negative reaction for Pepsi.
Question 2
This question was asked to know, what people think about the quality of Pepsi and 50% of
the participants responded for Pepsi to have high quality because the company is customer-
centric and give major priority to their health (Refer to Appendix 2). Since the products of
Pepsi are sold in different countries around the world; hence, it has a responsibility to
maintain the trust and health of its customers. Pepsi has framed some rules and regulations
for maintaining the quality of its products, therefore, to do so it takes all the inclusive
measures to encounter the highest quality and food safety standards. Moreover, the company
has introduced a global Food Safety strategy to meet important food safety goals (Pepsico,
2018). These goals comprise protecting PepsiCo brands and business status by assuring
healthy “on the ground” food safety and controlling agreement and delivering the design of

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the product that builds in quality and safety by appropriately adhering to the standards of
quality, procedures, and specifications (Pepsico, 2018).
Question 3
According to the survey analysis, it could be said that the quality of the Pepsi is above
average because it helps in boosting the energy of consumer and aid the digestive system.
Moreover, there were just 11.11% participants, who said that the quality of Pepsi is below
average (Refer to Appendix 3). Pepsi has a quality certificate of the Global Food Safety
Initiative (GFSI), which is the worldwide know third-party organization. This organization
conducts self-governing reviews to check the manufacturing sites' food safety practices of
management (Pepsico, 2018).
Question 4
According to the feedback from the participants, it has been seen that from the total number
of 16 participants around 8 of them desire to replace Pepsi with fresh fruit juices (Refer to
Appendix 4). This is because fresh fruit juices are comprised of different vitamins and
proteins as compared to Pepsi or any other carbonated soft drinks. Juicing extract, the fluid
from the fruits or vegetables that is in the form of a liquid comprised of plant chemicals,
minerals, and vitamins found in the fruit. Therefore, most of the people think fresh fruit juice
is a better option than Pepsi or carbonated soft drinks.
Question 5
In today's dynamic environment, there are different options or substitute products present in
the market that offer a similar type of benefits to the customers. This makes the customer
increase its demand in search of a unique and different product (Sygna, O'Brien and Wolf,
2013). Therefore every business conducts an analysis to identify what new a customer wants
in the product that can meet their changing needs. The purpose of this question was the same,

CONSUMER BEHAVIOR 6
to known the changing demand of the customers for Pepsi. From the analysis, it has been
identified that most of the participants wanted that company should work on providing Pepsi
in different flavors as well as packaging (Refer to Appendix 5).
Question 6
Opinions of customers and trends are very essential for every business to survive in the
market successfully. They reflect the actual place of the product or service in the market.
Customers provide their views on the different type of issues like how good is the service or
product. Is it meeting your requirements? Does it taste good? (Kureemun and Fantina, 2011).
In order to know the place of Pepsi on the market, this question was framed and it was
analyzed that most of the participants consume Pepsi because it tastes good (Refer to
Appendix 6). However, there were some respondents, who commented on the quality of the
product, but it is known that Pepsi is one of the carbonated drinks that follow all the safety
measures in the production process.
Question 7
Brands need to acknowledge the ensuing value a product has on the customer in answer to the
efforts in marketing provided by the company (Mortimer, 2017). Brand image is essential as
optimistic insights are ensured by emotional and functional experiences. The biggest
challenge that marketer deals in making a powerful brand are to ensure that the experiences
of service and product delivered to the customers generate desired results (Mortimer, 2017).
The analysis conducted to known how strongly customers relate to the brand image of Pepsi
and it has been analyzed that 8 participants provided a positive response to strongly relate the
brand image (Refer to Appendix 7).

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Question 8
The analysis regarding the emotion is related to Pepsi reflects that it is refreshing and boost
the energy of the consumer. However, on the other side, the same number of participants said
that it is unhealthy and harm their health. 5 of the participants said that they relate Pepsi to
the celebration (Refer to Appendix 8).
Question 9
According to the survey, it has could be observed that Pepsi is mostly consumed by adults
and kids because it is famous among this age group (Refer to Appendix 9). This is due to the
marketing strategies conducted by Pepsi targeting the youth generation.
Since its beginning, Pepsi has continuously targeted the segment of youth. The altering
sentiments and demands of the younger age group in the nation have resulted in variations in
the standing of Pepsi (Design Shack, 2018). This could be noticed from the alterations in the
logo, means of communication, taglines, and advertisement messages. Pepsi has leveraged
every type of musical celebrities over years, from Britney Spears to Ray Charles (Idea Make
Market, 2018). All these efforts were made by the company to attract more and more adults
and teenage groups.
Question 10
The survey asked participants about what is the biggest motivation for them to purchase
Pepsi, to understand the reason people consume Pepsi. From the analysis, it has been
identified that Pepsi is available at every near place to the customers such as retail store,
supermarket, and convenience stores (Refer to Appendix 10). Pepsi has a wide market
presence, which is based on its well-organized network of distribution. It makes use of
different type of distribution systems depending on the needs of the customers, characteristics
of the product along with domestic trade practices (Pratap, 2017).

CONSUMER BEHAVIOR 8
Pepsi with its distributors and bottlers operates the DSD systems that permit it to offer
beverages and snacks to different retail stores. The company offers its stock in the retail
stores that support in attaining maximum appeal and visibility. This system is appropriate for
the products refilled more frequently and for merchandising and promotion (Pratap, 2017).
Conclusion
From the above analysis, it could be concluded that Pepsi is one of the well-known brand of
carbonated drinks worldwide; however, it deals with huge competition from the players to
gain the maximum market share. The report has analyzed the changing consumer behavior
and its reasons in regards to the Pepsi drink. For this, a survey was conducted comprised with
1o questions to understand the aspects that affect the demand and behavior of the customers
and those aspects are attitude, lifestyle, and family, culture, group and individual differences,
perception, and motivation. The highest motivation that let customers' consume Pepsi is its
easy availability in the market. Moreover, the taste of the product is another appealing factor
that affects the consumer behavior. From the survey, it was also observed that customers
desire to have different flavors of Pepsi to experience a new delight.

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References
Bryman, A. (2016) Social Research Methods 6th ed. U.K: Oxford University Press.
Design Shack (2018) Pepsi vs Coke: The Power of a Brand [online]. Available from
https://designshack.net/articles/graphics/pepsi-vs-coke-the-power-of-a-brand/ [accessed 17
September 2018]
Gbadamosi, A. (2017) Young Consumer Behaviour: A Research Companion 1st ed. U.S:
Routledge.
Idea Make Market (2018) Branding Strategy of Pepsi [online]. Available from
https://ideasmakemarket.com/2012/03/ideasclash2-0-entry12-branding-strategy-of-pepsi.html
[accessed 17 September 2018]
Kureemun, B., and Fantina, R. (2011) Your Customers' Perception of Quality: What It Means
to Your Bottom Line and How to Control It 1st ed. U.S: CRC Press.
Mortimer, N. (2017) Pepsi's brand image has improved 44% following ad fiasco [online].
Available from https://www.thedrum.com/news/2017/04/16/pepsis-brand-image-has-
improved-44-following-ad-fiasco [accessed 17 September 2018]
Pepsico (2018) About Pepsi [online]. Available from http://www.pepsico.com/About
[accessed 17 September 2018]
Pepsico (2018) Product Safety & Quality [online]. Available from
https://www.pepsico.com/docs/album/policies-doc/product-safety-and-quality-a-z-topics.pdf
[accessed 17 September 2018]

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Pratap, A. (2017) Pepsi Marketing Mix [online]. Available from
https://www.cheshnotes.com/pepsi-marketing-mix/ [accessed 17 September 2018]
Psychedelic, S. (2015) Why Pepsi is Better than Coke [online]. Available from
https://delishably.com/beverages/Why-Pepsi-is-Better-than-Coke [accessed 17 September
2018]
Quality (2018) Pepsi [online]. Available from https://quality.mu/beverages/pepsi/ [accessed
17 September 2018]
Stephens, D.L. (2016) Essentials of Consumer Behavior 1st ed. U.S: Taylor & Francis.
Supporting Quality (2018) Pepsi [online]. Available from
http://www.supportingquality.ie/participatingbrands/pepsi/ [accessed 17 September 2018]
Sygna, S., O'Brien, K., and Wolf, J. (2013) A Changing Environment for Human Security:
Transformative Approaches to Research, Policy and Action 1st ed. U.S: Routledge.
Utami, H.D. (2016) Consumer Behavior 1st ed. Indonesia: Universitas Brawijaya Press.

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Appendix
Appendix 1

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Appendix 2

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Appendix 3

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Appendix 4
Appendix 5
Appendix 6

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Appendix 7

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Appendix 8
Appendix 9

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Appendix 10