The Impact of Buyer Intentions on Marketing Mix Elements in Universal Store

This research aims to identify the critical marketing mix elements in Universal store and how they are influenced by the buying behavior of university students. It will help the business in making modifications to their offerings and marketing elements based on the evaluation of marketing mix elements and students' buying behavior.

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Name of the student
Name of the university
Author note

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Topic: The impact of buyer intentions on marketing mix elements in Universal store
1. Research problem
1.1 Background
The research will aim at identifying the critical marketing mix elements in Universal
store and the manner in which the buying behavior of the university students might be
influenced. The delineation of the student’s buying behavior will be supporting the concerned
business venture in bringing forth modifications in the offerings and the marketing elements. The
evaluation of the marketing mix elements of the concerned business will help in identifying the
drawbacks and align the same with an assessment of students’ buying behavior (Lu, Chang and
Chang 2014).
Schivinski and Dabrowski (2016) stated that the marketing mix elements of an
organization helps the same in attracting the attention of the target audience towards the
propositions. On the other hand, Familmaleki, Aghighi and Hamidi (2015) noted that the
enumeration of the marketing mix elements are dependent on the assessment of the buying
behavior and the preferences of the customers. Moreover, Kudeshia and Kumar (2017) also
stated that organizations plan their marketing elements in the mix after assessing the needs and
preferences of the customers in the market.
Ioanăs and Stoica (2014) stated that the knowledge of the needs and preferences of the
customers help an organization in developing the marketing operations from product
development to the distribution of the same. However, the concerned business undertaking has
little knowledge on the preferences of the customers and their buying behavior, which has
challenged the capabilities of the same in attracting the attention of the university students.

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Davari and Strutton (2014) noted that the marketing activities are undertaken by a business in
order to attract the attention of the target customers towards the offerings. However, the
concerned organization failed to identify the preferences and needs of the university students, the
target customers, which incapacitated the marketing mix elements (Morwitz 2014). On the other
hand, the lack of suitable marketing operations of the business affected the sales volume
drastically. Khemchotigoon (2014) noted that promotional activities that are undertaken by the
organizations helps the same in attracting and influencing the buying behavior of the target
customers.
The concerned business has taken no initiative of promoting the range of offerings to the
customers, which has affected the capabilities of increasing the sales volume. On the other hand,
the lack of promotions also affected the capabilities of the organization in making the target
customers aware of the brand image or the quality of the offerings. The marketing mix elements
are based on the assessment of the psychological and behavioral needs and preferences of the
customers (Ye and Zhang 2014). Therefore, the assessment of the buying behavior of the
customers and the marketing propositions of the concerned business will help in identifying the
possible ways through which the sales volume might be enhanced.
1.2 Problem statement
The research will examine the relationship between the marketing mix elements of the
venture and the student’s buying behavior for identifying the possible steps that might be taken
for enhancing the sales volume.
The research will help the decision maker in identifying and establish the relation
between the marketing elements and the buying behavior of the target group of consumers. The

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research will help the decision maker in identifying the different recommended activities that
might be undertaken for enhancing the sales volume through modifications in the marketing mix
elements depending on the buying behavior of the customers.
2. Research questions and hypothesis
2.1 Research question
The research questions for the study will be:
 What are the marketing mix elements used by the concerned business?
 What are the buying behavior patterns of the target customers of the concerned business?
 How is the buying behavior of the customers related to the marketing initiatives of the
business?
 What recommended activities might be undertaken by the concerned business for
maximizing the sales volume?
2.2 Hypothesis
H0 – Marketing mix of the concerned business is not related to the customer buying behavior
H1 - Marketing mix of the concerned business is related to the customer buying behavior

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Sales
Consumer buying behavior Marketing mix elements
Product
Price
Promotion
Distribution
Brand image
Price
consideration
Product quality
3. Key variables and constructs
3.1 Conceptual definition
The research will aim at assessing the different changes that might be undertaken by the
organization in order to enhance the sales volume. In this relation, Consumer buying behavior is
the independent variable, which helps an organization in maintaining the efficiency of the
operations while adhering to the preferences of the consumers. On the other hand, the marketing
mix elements of the organization are the dependent variables, as they are determined through an
assessment of the preferences of the customers. The dependence of the marketing strategy of the
business is being portrayed as a concept in the research. The suitable identification of the
preferences of the customers will be helping the business in enhancing the sales volume of the
same. Faith and Agwu (2018) stated that the pricing strategy, product development, promotions

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and distributional strategies are created by businesses through an assessment of the preferences
of the target customers. On the other hand, Mirabi, Akbariyeh and Tahmasebifard (2015) stated
that the delineation of the buying behavior of the customers helps an business in influencing the
same for making the buy of the offerings. In this context, the research will examine the
relationship between the marketing activities that are undertaken by the same and the manner in
which it is related to the identification of the buying behavior of the consumers. The delineation
of the variables and the construction of the conceptual framework will help in guiding the
research to its estimated outcome.
3.2 Operational definition
The method that will be utilized for undertaking the research is through the creation of
the primary survey questionnaire consisting of close- ended questions. The questionnaire will be
circulated among the students of the university and the feedbacks of the same will be gathered
based on the expectations of the same from the concerned business. The researcher will be
utilizing the positivism philosophy, which will assist the same in identifying the psychological
and behavioral elements of customer behavior relating to the product offerings made by the
organization. On the other hand, the positivism philosophy will also help the researcher in
delineating the principles of marketing and the manner in which it is dependent on the
delineation of the needs and preferences of the customers.
The explanatory research design will be adopted for the study in order to identify the
cause and effect relationship between the marketing initiatives of the organization and the buying
behavior of the customers. On the other hand, the implementation of the explanatory research
design will help in forecasting the recommended actions that might be undertaken by the
organization in order to maximize the rate of sales volume.

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The responses from the primary questionnaire will be analyzed through the regression
analysis method. The P value that will be enumerated as a result of the regression and will be
checked if it is below 0.05 (P value < 0.05). If the P value is below 0.05 the researcher will
consider the Alternative hypothesis while proposing a positive correlation between customer
buying behavior and the marketing initiatives of the organization. A predictive model will be
created through the enumeration of the P value, which will justify the relation between customer
buying behavior and the marketing.
4. Sampling
The sample size for conducting the survey will be 200 respondents. The higher number of
respondents will be assisting the researcher in facilitating unbiased outcome of the study. On the
other hand, Tipton et al. (2014) stated that the variations in the responses might be easily
analyzed through the selection of a large sample size. Responses will be collected for 6
consecutive days from 1pm-4pm. The respondents will be the university students who have prior
experience of buying products that are offered by the concerned business. Stratified sampling
method will be undertaken in order to enhance the research study through collecting responses
from a subpopulation of students, rather than sampling every individual student in the campus. It
will be helping the researcher to save cost and time for undertaking the research without
compromising on the quality of the paper.

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5. Reporting, costs and timing
Task Week
1
Week
2
Week
3
Week
4
Week
5
Week
6
Week
7
Week
8
Week
9
Selection of topic
and search for
justification
Constructing
literature
Selecting
appropriate
methods
Data collection
through
quantitative
survey
Data analysis and
representation
Reviewing the
outcomes
Conclusions and
recommendations
Submitting draft

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of the project
Printing and final
submission
The costs that will be incurred by the researcher while undertaking the survey for four
hours a day is AU$160, as the cost of taking a survey for 15 minutes in Australia is projected as
AU$10. On the other hand, the cost of undertaking the survey for 6 consecutive days will amount
to AU$960.

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Appendix A: Questionnaire
1. What is your age?
a. 20-30 years
b. 30- 40 years
c. 40-50 years
d. 50 and above
2. What is your gender?
a. Male
b. Female
c. Prefer not to say
3. How do you judge the products?
a. Price
b. Brand image
c. Referral from relatives
d. Extensive promotions
e. Quality

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3. Choose among the following promotion methods that might be undertaken by the
organization as their advertisement strategy?
a. SEO
b. Digital Marketing
c. Social media marketing
d. Events and promotion
4. What changes do you expect from the business?
a. Diverse product range
b. Lower priced offerings with higher quality
c. Sales promotional offers
d. None of the above

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Appendix B: References
Davari, A. and Strutton, D., 2014. Marketing mix strategies for closing the gap between green
consumers' pro-environmental beliefs and behaviors. Journal of Strategic Marketing, 22(7),
pp.563-586.
Faith, D.O. and Agwu, E., 2018. A review of the effect of pricing strategies on the purchase of
consumer goods. International Journal of Research in Management, Science & Technology (E-
ISSN: 2321-3264) Vol, 2.
Familmaleki, M., Aghighi, A. and Hamidi, K., 2015. Analyzing the influence of sales promotion
on customer purchasing behavior. International Journal of Economics & Management
Sciences, 4(4), pp.1-6.
Ioanăs, E. and Stoica, I., 2014. Social media and its impact on consumers behavior. International
Journal of Economic Practices and Theories, 4(2), pp.295-303.
Khemchotigoon, Y., 2014, March. The relationship between consumer animosity, marketing
mix, perceived product quality, consumer satisfaction and intention to purchase of consumer
behavior. In International Conference on Trend Multidisciplinary Business and Economics
Research.
Kudeshia, C. and Kumar, A., 2017. Social eWOM: does it affect the brand attitude and purchase
intention of brands?. Management Research Review, 40(3), pp.310-330.

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Lu, L.C., Chang, W.P. and Chang, H.H., 2014. Consumer attitudes toward blogger’s sponsored
recommendations and purchase intention: The effect of sponsorship type, product type, and
brand awareness. Computers in Human Behavior, 34, pp.258-266.
Mirabi, V., Akbariyeh, H. and Tahmasebifard, H., 2015. A study of factors affecting on
customers purchase intention. Journal of Multidisciplinary Engineering Science and Technology
(JMEST), 2(1).
Morwitz, V., 2014. Consumers' purchase intentions and their behavior. Foundations and
Trends® in Marketing, 7(3), pp.181-230.
Schivinski, B. and Dabrowski, D., 2016. The effect of social media communication on consumer
perceptions of brands. Journal of Marketing Communications, 22(2), pp.189-214.
Tipton, E., Hedges, L., Vaden-Kiernan, M., Borman, G., Sullivan, K. and Caverly, S., 2014.
Sample selection in randomized experiments: A new method using propensity score stratified
sampling. Journal of Research on Educational Effectiveness, 7(1), pp.114-135.
Ye, L.R. and Zhang, H.H., 2014. Sales promotion and purchasing intention: Applying the
technology acceptance model in consumer-to-consumer marketplaces. International Journal of
Business, Humanities and Technology, 4(3), pp.1-5.