Marketing's Impact on Australian Consumer Behavior: A Study of Woolworths and Coles

The provided content outlines the budget required for a literature review and secondary data gathering, which includes internet costs of $1000 and purchasing data from secondary sources not accessible free, totaling $2000. The cost of conducting this research will be maintained within this budget.

Running head: THE EFFECT OF MARKETING ON CUSTOMER BEHAVIOR IN
RELATION TO TWO RETAIL BRANDS OF AUSTRALIA
THE EFFECT OF MARKETING ON CUSTOMER BEHAVIOR IN RELATION TO TWO
RETAIL BRANDS OF AUSTRALIA
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author note

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THE EFFECT OF MARKETING ON CUSTOMER BEHAVIOR IN RELATION TO TWO
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Table of Contents
Section I...........................................................................................................................................1
Introduction..................................................................................................................................1
Background of the Study.............................................................................................................1
Problem Statement.......................................................................................................................2
Research Objectives and Questions.............................................................................................3
Justification of the Project...........................................................................................................3
Expected Outcome of the Research.............................................................................................4
Section II..........................................................................................................................................4
Conceptual Framework and Research Hypothesis......................................................................4
Impact of Marketing on Consumer Behavior..........................................................................5
Impact of Marketing on Consumer Behavior of Woolworths.................................................7
Conceptual Framework................................................................................................................8
Hypothesis...................................................................................................................................8
Methodology................................................................................................................................9
Research approach and sources of Data..................................................................................9
Proposed method of Data Collection and Research Analysis...............................................10
Section III......................................................................................................................................11
Structure of the Study................................................................................................................11

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THE EFFECT OF MARKETING ON CUSTOMER BEHAVIOR IN RELATION TO TWO
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Gantt chart.................................................................................................................................12
Project Budget and Budget Justification....................................................................................13
References......................................................................................................................................15

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Section I
Introduction
Marketing to consumers has various types of advantages to the marketers as well as the
consumers. Hundreds of companies in today’s world is seen to turn towards electronic medium
or traditional equipment to snoop on the shoppers towards their stores. This is done either by
conducting traditional marketing strategy or by making use of online marketing channels (Lim,
Tuli & Grewal, 2019). By doing this the businesses are trying to learn about the shoppers, their
traffic patterns and the changes that takes place in the buying habits of the consumers
(Srivastava, 2012). However, the decision on the type of marketing strategy to be used is a
crucial aspect for a business because different types of marketing tools has different types of
impact on the consumers and their behavior. Moreover, depending on the living style consumers
in different region has differences in their access to the type of advertising channels being used
(Nizar & Janathanan, 2019). Thus, it become crucial for the business to decide on the type of
marketing tool they should use to have a maximum influence on the consumer behavior.
Background of the Study
The study aims at investigating into the impact that marketing activities have on the
consumer behavior in two of the retail units of Australia such as Woolworths and Coles. Both are
known supermarkets of the country and the research proposes to investigate into the marketing
impact of these two giants on their consumers aligning it with appropriate strategies and theories
(Payne, Frow & Eggert, 2017). Thus, the research will investigate into the reason behind such
notion and help in stating whether marketing actually has an impact on the behavior of the

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company or not (Woolworthsgroup, 2019). In doing so the paper is intended to reference various
types of marketing tools and strategy that organizations use nowadays and their different impact
on the consumers.
Problem Statement
The use of marketing and promotional activity has gained great importance among the
businesses and has been a debatable topic. The complexities involved in the ability of different
promotional activities in influencing customers has further made the debates crucial. Some claim
that the effect of traditional promotional tools are more effective in influencing consumer
behavior, while others claim that it is the world of globalization and online media is the best
medium to reach out to the consumers (Srivastava, 2012). Such arguments have grown stronger
in retail industry because marketing forms one of the most important activity in retail sector such
as supermarkets, retail stores and others. Yang (2009) has stated that marketing allow them to
understand and have an insight into the purchasing behavior of customers such as their buying
patterns and attitudes. In addition to this, some of the research has stated that determination of
marketing strategy also depends highly on the profiling of the consumers (Malshe & Agarwal,
2015). Thus, it is an issue to determine the impact of marketing on consumer behavior due to the
existence of various types of marketing strategies and channels.
Research Objectives and Questions
The main purpose of the research is to analyze the impact of marketing including both
traditional and modern means of marketing on consumer behavior in two retail units of Australia.
More specifically, the research study aims to follow these research questions to meet its purpose:
RQ1- What is the role played by marketing in an organization?

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RQ2- What are the type of marketing media that can have an impact on the behavior of the
consumer in a market?
RQ3- what is the impact of traditional marketing in influencing consumer behavior?
RQ4- what is the impact of online marketing in influencing consumer behavior?
RQ5- How has marketing impacted the consumer behavior in Woolworths?
RQ6- How has marketing impacted the consumer behavior in Coles?
Justification of the Project
Conducting a research on marketing activity of the business and its impact on consumer
behavior is important for various reasons:
Firstly, it is seen that marketing forms a crucial activity of an organization because it is with the
help of marketing activities a business is able to target its customers. Recognizing the link
between marketing and consumer behavior is important for the business organization so that they
can plan their promotional strategies according to the need of the customers.
Secondly, with the increasing competition in the supermarket of Australia it has been
increasingly important for the two big retail units such as Woolworths and Coles to understand
their customer effectively and plan promotional strategies so that they can grow effectively
through this study.
Expected Outcome of the Research
The research proposal aims at having few research outcomes by the end of the project such as:

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 It provides an understanding of the role that marketing plays in an organization both in
long run and short run.
 It provides an idea into the factors that influence the organization to take up marketing
activities.
 It provides a view about the impact of both online marketing as well as traditional
marketing on consumer behavior in an organization.
 It provides an analysis into the impact that marketing activities of Woolworths and Coles
have on the behavior of the consumers.
Thus, the result of the research proposal will be a useful one for both the supermarkets that is
Woolworths and Coles in understanding the areas they are lacking and also make other retail
companies aware of the importance that marketing holds in their business.
Section II
Conceptual Framework and Research Hypothesis
Marketing is considered as an activity that is undertaken by the company to promote their
products and services over the time so that they can attain increased sale in future. Marketing is
known as the promotional strategy that an organization forms that includes advertising, selling
and other activities. Marketing activities and consumer behavior has long been studied by
scholars to understand the ways in which it influence the behavior of the consumers demanding
the product from a company (Srivastava, 2012). Marketing and consumers are closely related
because the businesses are seen to conduct marketing strategy with the aim to attract consumers
by influencing their purchasing behavior. Such an influence that marketing has on the consumer

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and on their behavior makes it important to conduct a research of past literature to study this
relationship (Villanueva, Yoo & Hanssens, 2008).
Impact of Marketing on Consumer Behavior
Marketing promotional activity is considered as one of the most important tool in today’s
business to again success through effectively placing their products in front of their customers.
This is because by adopting different types of strategies it is seen that the promotional activities
in an organization help in influencing the customers buying behavior (Oly Ndubisi, 2007). This
is because through effective marketing it is seen that a company is able to establish a brand
image that in turn allows the business to attract consumers (Srivastava, 2012). Nizar &
Janathanan (2019) state that marketing activity of a company helps in creating a psychological
effect on the consumers that in turn influence them to purchase that particular products. For
example when a customer looks at the T-shirt that a model is wearing in an advertisement, he/she
gets influence to purchase that look as good as that model. Hiring models for advertisements is
yet one form of marketing that are adopted by companies. This is a type of traditional
promotional strategy that a business adopts from time to time. Other traditional marketing
activity that is considered to have an impact on the buying behavior of the consumers are sales
promotion, store model and others (Yazdanifard & Mercy, 2011). However, the impact of
traditional model of marketing on the buying behavior of the consumers differs from age group.
This is because it is seen that traditional advertisements have more impact on consumer aged 40
and above. On the other hand, the consumers aged 17 to 29 are seen to get impacted more by
online marketing activity. Zhang (2015) in the paper has stated that the promotional activity of
the company is seen to be done to increase sales volume. It is seen that price related promotions

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help in bringing the customers that purchase the product only when some sort of price special is
available. These consumers are known as marginal buyers and such type of consumers are not
seen to persist for long. This shows that the impact of some kind of marketing activities on the
consumers are marginal in nature (Patrutiu-Baltes, 2016). Thus, the impact of marketing on the
purchase behavior depends on the type of promotions adopted such as price promotion, sales
promotions and others.
There has been an extensive research on the type of marketing mediums adopted by the
business over time and its impact. Among them online marketing also plays an important role
such as e-marketing, social media and others. E-marketing is seen to attract a wide range of
customers by communicating with them about the products and services that the company is
offering online. It is seen that online marketing has been able to impact the research behavior of
the customers (Chang & Zhang, 2016). this means that with the growth of online promotions the
customers are able to review the products, research on past reviews and do not rely on any
product easily nowadays before it is completely researched (Godey et al., 2016). This shows that
marketing activity of the business such as online marketing is seen to have an impact on the trust
or believe factor among the consumers. Zhang (2015) has further stated in the findings that
marketing has the ability to increase the rate of purchase among the buyers over a time. For
example online marketing has helped in increasing the number of purchases that the buyer makes
in a time. This is because of the ease of ordering, finding the product, payment benefit and other
benefits that online marketing has offered. Further, the notion of the consumers towards a brand
changes many time with the help of marketing because consumer get the chance to access the
floating information about other consumers and past purchases (Wang & Kim, 2017). Thus,

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marketing, especially online marketing has the ability to influence the way consumers purchase,
their thinking, their brand perception and others.
Impact of Marketing on Consumer Behavior of Woolworths
The impact of marketing is also seen to impact the consumer behavior of Woolworths
and Coles. These are the two supermarket giants of Australia that takes up intensive marketing
activities and it has various types of impact on the business. Woolworths marketing activities has
helped the company to form a strong brand image with the help of subtle advertising messages
and innovations. With the help of some of these activities the giant has been able take part in
many advertising and promotional strategy to reduce the conception among the customers that
they are expensive than the competitors. Its marketing investments focused on understanding
customers’ shopping behavior (Mitchelson, 2019). This has helped the brand to create a sense of
nostalgia among its customers. Moreover, the green branding marketing strategy that
Woolworths has used has helped in impacting the ecologically friendly connotation among the
customers. This means customer behavior towards Woolworths has gained more trust when it
comes to green or eco-friendly products (Woolworthsgroup, 2019).
Coles is yet another supermarket giant of Australia that is confident about consumer
behavior in the economy due to its marketing strategies from time to time. Coles took too biggest
marketing activities that is to stop giving free plastics to consumers and online advantages that
they are providing. It us seen this has had a positive impact on the purchase behaver of the
consumer because the average basket size is seen to have rose from before and become more
enthusiastic about shopping in Coles for their mini-collectable plastic groceries (Hewett, 2019).
This shows that marketing in Coles has always been customer focused and has impacted their

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MARKETING ACXTIVITY
Increased trust
Increased purchase rate
Better recognition
Bulk purchasing
Researching habit
CONSUMER BEHAVIOR
THE EFFECT OF MARKETING ON CUSTOMER BEHAVIOR IN RELATION TO TWO
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behavior positively over time. This is because customer of Coles trust that the brand forms
customer driven contents in their marketing strategy.
Conceptual Framework
Hypothesis
Hypothesis 1
H0- marketing does play some role in an organization both in long run and short run.
H1- marketing does play some role in an organization both in long run and short run.
Hypothesis 2
H0- Various factors influence the organization to take up marketing activities.
H1- the organization is not impacted by any factors to take up marketing activities
Hypothesis 3

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H0- online marketing as well as traditional marketing impacts the behavior of the consumers in
an organization.
H1- online marketing as well as traditional marketing does not impact the behavior of the
consumers in an organization.
Hypothesis 4
H0- marketing activities of Woolworths and Coles have an impact on the behavior of their
consumers.
H1- marketing activities of Woolworths and Coles does not have an impact on the behavior of
their consumers.
Methodology
Research approach and sources of Data
The paper has chosen qualitative research methodology design to conduct the research in a
manner that can help understand the research outcome most appropriately. Choosing a research
approach is most important in a research paper so that it is easy to come out with most
appropriate outcome. To conduct the research it was first important to understand the marketing
information that was available about Woolworths and Coles in the net. For the purpose the
website of the company and the news published in web was studied (Creswell & Poth, 2017).
Thus, a deductive approach has been selected for the paper in which information about the
marketing activities of the company and its impact on consumers are deduced from online
published sources along with some scholarly journals.

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Proposed method of Data Collection and Research Analysis
The method that the paper will use to collect data includes secondary data collection
method (Dörnyei, 2007). This means that the paper will make use of secondary sources such as
websites, scholars and others that is already been searched by some other scholars or researchers
and will be used in this paper. The population of the study are all the retail companies of
Australia big or small.
Sampling
The method used for this paper is systematical sampling in which only the known supermarkets
of Australia has been chosen for the study. The number of sampling for this study is 2 that is
Woolworths and Coles.
Variables and analysis
The paper has various variables involved in the study that will take part in the research. The
independent variable of the study will include marketing activities in a business. On the other
hand, the dependent variable of the study will include consumer behavior.
The method chosen for analyzing the collected data or information is qualitative analysis in
which the information collected from secondary sources will be analyzed in a descriptive manner
(Dörnyei, 2007). Such type of method is beneficial as it help the readers to understand the
outcome effectively.
Section III

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Structure of the Study
The structure of the research states the milestones that the researcher has to cross in order to
reach the outcome of the research effectively. This will consists of various chapters that will be
involved in the actual research paper.
Chapter 1- this chapter will consist the proposal for the research stating the research motive and
outline of the paper.
Chapter 2- this chapter will consist of an analysis of past works of literature on marketing and its
impact on consumer behavior. Both online and traditional marketing will be analyzed for the
purpose.
Chapter 3- this chapter will structure out the methodology being used in the research such as
literature review, review of secondary data sources, past surveys and others. It will also include
limitations and ethical considerations in relation to the research.
Chapter 4- this chapter will consist of findings and analysis section of the research paper that will
analyze the collected information.
Chapter 5- final chapter summarizing the entire research paper and any implications of further
investigation potentials. This will conclude the actual finding of the paper in a systematic manner
and also identify if there are any limitation of the work.
Gantt chart
The Gantt chart helps in planning the time that the researcher will take to conduct the
entire research and reach the final outcome. It helps the researcher to move systematically with
the entire research work.

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Activities First-
Thir
d
Week
Fourth-
Sixth
Week
Seventh
- Ninth
Week
Tenth-
Twelve
Week
Thirteen-
Fifteenth
Week
Sixteenth-
Eighteent
h Week
Nineteenth-
Twenty-
first Week
Dissertation
Topic
Selection
Assignment
Background
Research
questions,
aim and
objective
determination
Literature
review
Research
methodology
selection and
justification

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Time plan
scheduled
Data Finding
Data
Analysis
Draw
conclusion
Self
Reflection
Assignment
Submit
Project Budget and Budget Justification
The entire proposed budget for this research is $2000 that will help in completing the
entire investigation and analysis procedure according to the timeline propose above.
The budget will be required for many areas in which fund will be required to purchase anything.
Funds will be required in conducting the literature review and also to gather secondary data such
as internet cost. Without the internet it will not be possible to conduct the search. The budget for
internet cost will be $1000. Further, funds will be required for purchasing data from secondary
sources that is not accessible free. This wil require $1000. This shows that the total budget
required for the entire work will be $2000 and the cost of the entire research will be maintained
within this.

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five approaches. Sage publications.
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