Analyzing Consumer Behavior of Toyota Corolla: MBA404 Report

This report delves into the consumer behavior surrounding the Toyota Corolla, analyzing market trends and survey data to understand customer preferences and buying patterns. It examines the current marketing strategies of Toyota Corolla, highlighting strengths and weaknesses, particularly concerning customer retention rates. Drawing upon consumer behavior models, such as Maslow's need theory and the theory of reasoned action, the report identifies key factors influencing consumer decisions, including quality, low maintenance costs, brand identity, and safety. The analysis reveals that while Toyota's marketing effectively communicates reliability and user-friendliness, there's room for improvement in areas like aesthetic value and targeting younger demographics. The report concludes with three strategic recommendations: positioning the Corolla based on aesthetics, targeting young singles, and implementing experience-based promotional campaigns to enhance customer engagement and drive long-term competitiveness in the market.

Running head: CONSUMER BEHAVIOR
Consumer behavior
Name of the student
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Author note

1CONSUMER BEHAVIOR
Executive summary
The aim of this report is to discuss about the consumer behavior for Toyota Corolla. Based on
the feedback generated from the market survey in the previous assignment and consumer
behavior models, the consumer behavior trends are critically analyzed from the perspectives of
the current marketing strategy of Toyota Corolla. It is identified that Toyota Corolla is trailing
behind in terms of the customer retention rate. Based on these identified factors, this report
recommended three strategic directions that can help in gaining long term business
competitiveness.

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Table of Contents
Introduction......................................................................................................................................3
Critical analysis...............................................................................................................................3
Recommendations............................................................................................................................6
Conclusion.......................................................................................................................................8
Reference.........................................................................................................................................9

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Introduction
Consumer behavior process is one of the most complex as well as important factors to be
considered by the marketers in designing the marketing process. This is due to the reason that
based on the determination of the consumer behavior of a targeted segment, the expectations and
the requirements of them can be identified. In the case of buying automobiles also, there are
number of different factors influence the consumer behavior process that should be noted by the
marketers. This report will discuss about the consumer behavior trend of Toyota Corolla car and
the related influencing factors (Griskevicius and Kenrick 2013). Toyota Corolla is the highest
selling car in the world with facing stiff competition in the forms of Volkswagen Beetle and Ford
F series. Toyota Corolla is also one of most market exposed car models in the world with having
its availability in almost all the countries in different ranges and specifications. Thus, extensive
availability and exposure of the brand is also contributing in the sales in larger number. In
addition, the market adaptable approach of the brand is also helping in increasing the sales. This
is due to the fact that the same Toyota Corolla is available in different specifications in different
countries based on the local market trend and specifications (Xiang, Magnini and Fesenmaier
2015). This is ensuring that the local market requirement is being met and higher penetration can
be achieved.
This report will critically analyze about the consumer behavior trends towards Toyota
Corolla on the basis of different theories and feedback generated in the last assignment. Based on
the identified factors, a few recommendations will also be discussed.
Critical analysis

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The feedback survey was done across different age groups however the majority of the
respondents are between 25 and 34 followed by the age group below 23. Thus, most of the
respondents are young adults and the survey results will denote the trend of the younger
generation as a whole. It is identified from the survey that more than half of the total respondents
bought Toyota Corolla before 2 and 3 years while a few bought the car this year. Thus, majority
of the customers of Toyota Corolla are new customers and it also proves that retention rate is
low. This is due to the reason that if the retention rate was higher, then customers using Toyota
Corolla for more than 5 years can get identified. According to the current marketing strategy of
Toyota Corolla, the rich heritage being carried by the brand is being communicated, which
shows that Toyota is leveraging more on increasing the retention rate in the long term. The
service warranty and conveniences are also being communicated to the existing and new
customers in retaining them. This is due to the reason that the more will be effective process of
after sales services, the more customers will retain their existing Toyota Corolla.
According to the Maslow’s need theory of consumer behavior, safety need in terms of
purchasing cars is after sales services. Customers are having the expectations of proper after
sales services and extensive service availability for their cars. In this case, the strategy of Toyota
is benefiting in gaining the sales of Corolla. This is due to the reason that Toyota is one of the
largest car brands in the world in terms of sales volume as well as market reach. Thus, customers
purchasing Toyota Corolla will be able to have extensive availability of service centers (Lee and
Hanna 2015). This is also motivating the new customers in purchasing Toyota Corolla for long
term. However, on the other hand, it should also be noted that all the expectations of the
customers are not getting fulfilled by the current market strategy of Toyota due to the reason that
not one respondent is identified using Toyota Corolla for more than 5 years.

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In terms of the influencing factors for the customers in buying Toyota Corolla, it is
identified that major section is buying the car for quality and low maintenance cost. It is
followed by brand identity and safety and price. Thus, it can be concluded that target customers
for the executive sedan segment where Toyota Corolla is operating expect low maintenance cost
and higher quality as their prime criteria for purchase. In addition, the customers also prefer
brand identity and safety as their purchasing criteria. Majority of these factors are well aligned
with the current marketing and communication strategy of Toyota due to the reason that the
promotion of Toyota Corolla is based on communicating the reliability of the car and low cost of
maintenance. In addition, the extensive branding of Toyota is further contributing in ticking all
the right boxes of attracting the potential customers. Almost all the promotional campaigns of
Toyota Corolla are focused on the user friendliness being offered by the car. In this case, it
should also be noted that the target segment of Toyota Corolla are the urban executive customers
leveraging on the user friendliness will help to motivate them.
According to the theory of reasoned action of consumer behavior, customers choose to
act based on their best interests. In the case of Toyota Corolla, the major reason of customer
preference is the reliability (Claudy, Garcia and O’Driscoll 2015). According to the respondents,
the peace of mind that is being gained from having a Toyota car is helping in selecting Toyota
Corolla for purchase process. In the survey, it is also identified that looks and aesthetic value are
the least preferred criteria for the target customers and as per the theory of reasoned action; this
factor is not their best interest. This is also evident in the current marketing strategy of Toyota
Corolla due to the fact that looks and aesthetic value of the car are not focused in promotional
activities. However, it should be noted that looks and aesthetic values are more for the younger

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generation and these factors will add to the augmented value of the products. This should be
considered by Toyota in their upcoming marketing strategy.
According to the Hawkins Stern Impulse Buying theory of consumer behavior, there are
certain impulses that influence and motivate the customers in determining the buying pattern of
them. In the case of Toyota Corolla, these impulses are majorly planned impulses. This is due to
the reason that buying process of car involved huge cost and planning for the customers (Aruna
and Santhi 2015). In the case of planned impulses, customers are having the fair idea about the
product to be purchased and they do not have the understanding about the differentiating factors
and specifications. In this case, the external and internal influences play their role. For example,
the marketing and communication strategy being followed by Toyota is helping and enabling the
customers in having the idea and understanding about the specifications of Toyota Corolla.
However, the major factors are the internal influences. This is due to the reason that in the
feedback survey, it is identified that majority of the new customers are willing to have the
feedback from their family and friends. Thus, the more will be the customer retention for Toyota
Corolla, the more will be the probability of gaining favorable user feedback. However, in the
previous section, it is identified that retention rate of Toyota Corolla is low among the young
adult age groups. Thus, it can be concluded that Toyota Corolla should be positioned in more
competitive manner especially for the younger customer segments. It is identified from the above
analysis that internal influences in the purchasing process of Toyota Corolla are not effective
enough for their long term viability.
Recommendations

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It is recommended that Toyota Corolla should be positioned in the market also on the
basis of aesthetic values apart from their existing positioning factors. This is due to the reason
that younger customers will be the major revenue generating segment for Toyota Corolla in the
coming years and this segment is having more preferences for aesthetic values and sporty
attributes of the cars (Maarit Jalkala and Keränen 2014). In this case, it is recommended that
Toyota Corolla should not only position on the basis of user friendliness but also on the basis of
looks and sportiness. This will increase the value proposition for the targeted customers. In
addition, it should be noted that in the current competitive scenario, positioning should be made
on the basis of number of factors in order to gain competitive advantages. Thus, with the help of
the diverse competitive positioning, Toyota Corolla will be able to gaining more competitiveness
in the market.
Furthermore, it is also recommended that the target customers of Toyota Corolla should
not only be the large families rather the young singles should also be targeted and the value
proposition should be designed accordingly. This is due to the reason that in the current time,
most of major car brands are available in different variants. For example, Honda Civic is a
competitor for Toyota Corolla and it is available in detuned sedan form as well as in sporty
coupe form (Jewell and Seanger 2014). This helps in targeting the different customer segments
along with their different expectations from a single car brand. In this case, it is recommended
that Toyota Corolla should also be offered in different forms according to the different
requirements. Hence, the existing target customers for Toyota Corolla will get increased in the
long term.
Lastly, it is recommended that the marketing and promotional campaigns should be
changed by Toyota. This is due to the reason that currently traditional marketing approach

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involving the offline and online mediums are being initiated by Toyota. On the other hand, it is
recommended that that they should focus more on the experience based promotional activities.
This will help the potential customers in gaining the real world experience of Toyota Corolla and
can have more effective purchase decision process (Schmitt and Zarntonello 2013). On the other
hand, the feedback for the brand will also be more effective by initiating the experience based
promotional activities. Based on the gained feedback and customer insights, the value
propositions of Toyota Corolla can be redesigned accordingly.
Conclusion
This report concludes that Toyota Corolla is trailing in terms of the customer retention.
There are different factors identified in this report that denotes that the current marketing strategy
of Toyota is effective enough and aligned with the expectations of the target customers.
However, exceptions are also identified such as lack of aesthetic value in the offerings. With the
changing market scenario and customer trends and preferences, it will be challenging for Toyota
Corolla to stay competitive without focusing on the aesthetic values. A few recommendations are
identified and discussed in this report that can be help Toyota Corolla in gaining long term
viability in the market.

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Reference
Aruna, S. and Santhi, P., 2015. Impulse purchase behavior among generation-Y. The IUP
Journal of Marketing Management, 14(1).
Claudy, M.C., Garcia, R. and O’Driscoll, A., 2015. Consumer resistance to innovation—a
behavioral reasoning perspective. Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, 43(4), pp.528-
544.
Griskevicius, V. and Kenrick, D.T., 2013. Fundamental motives: How evolutionary needs
influence consumer behavior. Journal of Consumer Psychology, 23(3), pp.372-386.
Jewell, R.D. and Saenger, C., 2014. Associative and dissociative comparative advertising
strategies in broadening brand positioning. Journal of Business Research, 67(7), pp.1559-1566.
Lee, J.M. and Hanna, S.D., 2015. Savings goals and saving behavior from a perspective of
Maslow's hierarchy of needs. Journal of Financial Counseling and Planning, 26(2).
Maarit Jalkala, A. and Keränen, J., 2014. Brand positioning strategies for industrial firms
providing customer solutions. Journal of Business & Industrial Marketing, 29(3), pp.253-264.
Schmitt, B. and Zarantonello, L., 2013. Consumer experience and experiential marketing: A
critical review. In Review of marketing Research (pp. 25-61). Emerald Group Publishing
Limited.
Xiang, Z., Magnini, V.P. and Fesenmaier, D.R., 2015. Information technology and consumer
behavior in travel and tourism: Insights from travel planning using the internet. Journal of
Retailing and Consumer Services, 22, pp.244-249.

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