Consumer Behavior: Analyzing Marketing Strategies of Nike and Apple

This discussion post analyzes the consumer behavior and marketing strategies of two major companies, Nike and Apple. The post examines how Nike targets athletes and sports enthusiasts with high-quality products and utilizes celebrity endorsements and sponsorships to influence consumer behavior, particularly in developing countries. It highlights Nike's use of motivational advertising, such as the "Just Do It" campaign, to create emotional engagement and brand aspiration. The post also explores Apple's approach, focusing on its premium product quality, strong brand image, and extensive advertising campaigns across various media platforms. It emphasizes the role of social factors, including reference groups, in influencing consumer behavior for Apple products. The discussion highlights how both companies understand their target audiences and use different marketing tactics to build brand loyalty and increase sales. The post is a response to a peer post on the topic of consumer behavior and marketing.

Running head: MARKETING AND CONSUMER BEHAVIOR
MARKETING AND CONSUMER BEHAVIOR
Name of the student
Name of the University
Author note

1MARKETING AND CONSUMER BEHAVIOR
Student Post
The company Airbnb Inc. provides an online marketplace for the arrangement of
lodging and house rental facilities in the form of homestays for customers all over the world.
The company was founded in the year 2008 and is primarily based in the United States of
America, with its headquarters in California. The services offered by the company to its
customers includes “bed and breakfast” facilities for travelers and tourists. The company
conducts its business operations in almost 65,000 cities across 191 countries (Airbnb.co.in,
2020). The company also has a positive brand identity and image in the tourism and
hospitality industry owing to the efficiency of the marketing strategies adopted by them.
The targeted customers of the company include individuals ranging from students,
employees, travelers and professionals who look for cheap yet good quality of lodging
services for their travels. The services provided by the company are accessible by consumers
belonging from low and middle-income groups. In order to reach out to these customers
effectively, the company has adopted advertisement strategies that bring out the best features
of their services. The company has primarily focused on the formation of a strong community
among the consumers through innovative campaigns. One such campaign includes the
‘#OneLessStranger’ campaign, which had been marketed using social media such as
YouTube (O’Regan & Choe, 2017).
The campaign of ‘#OneLessStranger’ received a positive response from the targeted
customers due to its emotional appeal of extending hospitality to a stranger. However, the
company still has a potential of growth and development through the adoption of marketing
strategies that appeal to the interests of a larger customer base. The limited scope of the
business operations of the company could also be diversified in order to gain a competitive
advantage in the tourism and hospitality industry.

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Question: What marketing strategies can be adopted by Airbnb to expand their customer base
further?
References
Airbnb.co.in. (2020). Holiday Homes & Apartment Rentals - Airbnb. Retrieved 11 March
2020, from https://www.airbnb.co.in/a/?
af=43720035&c=.pi0.pk45645997356_389651777029_c_298108212175&sem_positi
on=&sem_target=kwd-
298108212175&location_of_interest=&location_physical=9061866&ghost=true&gcli
d=EAIaIQobChMItai_yISS6AIVgpGPCh3LngTYEAAYASAAEgIb7fD_BwE
O’Regan, D. M., & Choe, J. (2017). Airbnb: Turning the collaborative economy into a
collaborative society. In Collaborative economy and tourism (pp. 153-168). Springer,
Cham.

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Response to Peer Post
Question: Do you think Nike has a proper understanding of its consumer behavior?
The targeted customers of Nike are mostly athletes and sports enthusiasts with high
purchasing power. The products and services offered by the company to its customers are of
high quality which provides them with adequate value for the high prices. However, such
premium prices of the products restricts the scope of their business operations and thereby
their customer base. In order to expand the scope of their business, the company has engaged
in the expansion of their business operations in developing countries with adequate
availability of resources. Furthermore, the promotional strategies adopted by the company for
their customers in these countries include celebrity endorsements and sponsorships in major
sports events.
In this regard, the company has been able to achieve a proper understanding of its
consumer behavior. To substantiate, it can be said that the targeted customers of the company
in the developing countries are mostly the sports enthusiastic youth and athletes who look up
to role models in their respective fields of sport. By endorsing various popular sports-persons
across the world, the company has been able to obtain the emotional engagement of the
targeted customers, thereby inducing greater number of sales. Furthermore, it has also aimed
to improve its presence in the sports market of these countries with the help of sponsorships
in major sports events held in these countries.
Other strategies used by the company to utilize the consumer behavior efficiently
include the incorporation of motivating advertisements in their promotional strategies. The
historic campaign of the company – “just do it” itself induces a sense of aspiration among the
consumers and provides them with the idea that consumption of the product offered by the
company can improve their performance, overcome difficult challenges in their field and

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boost their confidence significantly (Creativereview.co.uk, 2020). In doing so, the branding
of the company reminds its customers of the traditional narrative of a champion.
References
Bergkvist, L., Hjalmarson, H., & Mägi, A. W. (2016). A new model of how celebrity
endorsements work attitude toward the endorsement as a mediator of celebrity source
and endorsement effects. International Journal of Advertising, 35(2), 171-184.
Creativereview.co.uk. (2020). The history of Nike's Just Do It slogan - Creative review.
Retrieved 11 March 2020, from https://www.creativereview.co.uk/just-do-it-slogan/