Case Study Analysis: Consumer Behavior and Brand Marketing Strategies

This case study analysis examines consumer behavior in two different contexts: the purchase of refurbished cars and the branding of Irn-bru soft drinks. The first case explores the factors influencing consumer decisions, including family influence, price sensitivity, and social factors. It also delves into effective marketing strategies for a refurbished car showroom, emphasizing the importance of customer satisfaction and targeted advertising. The second case study focuses on Irn-bru's branding strategy, comparing its approach before and after the entry of competitors. It analyzes consumer preferences for soft drinks, the impact of advertising, and the significance of brand values versus product features. The analysis also discusses the concepts of use, exchange, and sign value in relation to product marketing. The document concludes by summarizing the key insights from both case studies, emphasizing the importance of understanding consumer behavior for successful marketing.

Running head: CONSUMER BEHAVIOR AND BRAND ANALYSIS
CONSUMER BEHAVIOR AND BRAND ANALYSIS
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1CONSUMER BEHAVIOR AND BRAND ANALYSIS
Case study 1
Introduction
A refurbished car is a vehicle which had been used previously by different owners
which is then sold to an outlet involved in the business of selling refurbished cars. This case
study talks about one such showroom selling refurbished cars and the buying behavior of the
customers visiting that showroom. The following discussion is structured to in three sections
to answers the questions in the case study.
Discussion
Answer 1
The decision making process varies from customer to customer. When an individual
buyer purchases the product then that customer is the sole decision maker of that purchase.
However, as in this case study when the buyer takes along their family then the group
members influence the buyer’s decision-making process. For a product as expensive as a
refurbished car with high risk as it can be bought again only after a long period of time, the
buyer’s family members would make long decisions to ensure that they are purchasing the
right product. Each of the family would want a car suiting to their own preference like the
child would involve in decision-making for choosing the color, the spouse and husband
would make decisions based on price, comfort and durability whereas their old parents would
look for a reassuring brand. Buyers going with their friends would ask for their suggestions
regarding the brand and service quality. Therefore, family has the major influence on the
buyer’s decision-making based on the product size (Rani 2014).
Answer 2
Buying behaviour refers to the attitudes, decisions and actions that influence the
customer while purchasing a product (Ramya and Ali 2016). Price is the most influencing

2CONSUMER BEHAVIOR AND BRAND ANALYSIS
factor while purchasing a refurbished car. The buyer first analyses how much they can spend
for buying a refurbished car. If the price of the car is in accord with the buyer’s pocket then
the analysis moves on to the product risk. As these cars have an uncertainty associated with
their performance the buyers generally go for a test drive. Next there are social factors
involving families, friends and reference groups influence the consumer buying behavior. In
the case study, it can be seen that the family influence the buyer as they will be enjoying the
ride and also there are reference groups with whom the consumer relates themselves. The
software engineers and businesspersons are mostly influenced by the cultural factors which
includes the social culture, social status as it is evident from their buying of automatic cars
(Raheem, Vishnu and Ahmed 2014).
Answer 3
The case study mentions that the focus of the marketers should be on the sales rather
than brand endorsement therefore the advertisement should be focused on the purpose of the
showroom, selling refurbished cars. The showroom marketers should advertisement that their
product is different from the others in the market.
For the promotion of their showroom, the marketers should feature clean cars in the
raised platform. They can also develop a website, as most of the people prefer going through
the websites before visiting the showroom. Word of mouth will be the most useful promotion
in this case therefore the marketers should focus on satisfying their existing customers so that
they could bring in more customers (Murry and Schneider 2016).
Effective communication with customers will be most helpful in persuasion and
closing of sale. The marketers should connect with their customers and focus on their
problems and benefits more than the product functions. Marketers should be able to make the
customer believe and earn their trust thereby closing the deal.

3CONSUMER BEHAVIOR AND BRAND ANALYSIS
Conclusion
From this case study, it can be concluded that customers generally buy refurbished
cars for their first time use and their family have a major influence during the decision-
making process.

4CONSUMER BEHAVIOR AND BRAND ANALYSIS
Case study 2
Introduction
Irn-bru, manufactured by A.G.Barr, is the brand name of a carbonated soft drink sold
in U.K. however, their main heartland being Scotland (Spinnbarkeit 2014). This case study
deals with the brand advertising of Irn-bru before the entry of rivals in the beverage industry
and campaigning post their arrival. The following section is structured in three parts
answering the questions in the case study.
Discussion
Answer 1
Consumers purchase soft drinks based on their marketing strategy ranging from
product packaging, slogans used, to the music played in the commercials. The choice of their
soft drinks constitute their want to connect with that brand, the actors appearing in the
advertisement become iconic figures for the teenagers especially. When a customer purchases
a soft drink it is due to their psychological state rather than for taste and thirst quench. The
brand which shows more glossy and fantasized advertisements have a more chance of earning
customer loyalty. In this case, study Coca-Cola and Pepsi uses the authentic culture of USA
and pop culture respectively as their branding strategy. The branding they followed resonated
with the minds of teenagers, the targeted customers of soft drinks. Whereas, Irn-bru
represented their brand having metalling properties without promoting any fiction, which was
not attractive to the teenagers thereby, losing their market share. Therefore, soft drink needs
proper brand values by giving preference to user values rather than product values in order to
gain loyal consumers (Tariq, et al 2014.).

5CONSUMER BEHAVIOR AND BRAND ANALYSIS
Answer 2
Before the arrival of competitors like Coca-Cola, Pepsi and other new entrants Irn-bru
followed a product based brand advertising. As the drink was linked with the main identity of
Scots, the sales boosted in Scotland. Brand awareness of Irn-bru was done by showing
originality of the product involving the Scottish identity and the metallic properties. With the
arrival of beverage giants in U.K. and their extensive advertisement made it difficult for Irn-
bru to sustain in the market. They figured out that by promoting the originality of the brand
Irn-bru is losing their target customers, teenagers. Therefore, after a good market research the
brand came up with a new campaign method. Rather than featuring iconic figures, music and
fiction like Pepsi and Coca-Cola, Irn-bru stuck to their originality. However, they added some
humour to their campaign by uniting the teenagers to see past the fictional advertisement of
their competitors (Leishman 2019). Unlike their previous campaign they targeted teenagers of
age between 15 to 19. Irn-bru also stopped featuring Scotland with their brand and the
metallic property rather the nation as a whole (Leishman 2017).
Answer 3
Use value refers to the product features used to satisfy the human needs and demands.
Exchange value signifies the price of product value, which can be used to obtain another
product. Sign value refers to the role of difference while mentioning the hierarchy of product
used as exchange values. These exchange value of a product depends on two factors: time
and place. As time changes the value of that product will also change and the value also
varies from place to place. For example, water has a very high use value however low in
exchange value. If the place factor is applied then it can be observed that for a person,
standing in the middle of a desert, will be ready to exchange anything for water. Therefore,
water has a high exchange value for that person. If water is compared to diamonds it is seen
that diamonds has a higher sign value as it is more scarce than water. Therefore use value can

6CONSUMER BEHAVIOR AND BRAND ANALYSIS
exist without exchange value as it depends on the product utility while sign value is totally
depended on exchange value (O'donnell 2016).

7CONSUMER BEHAVIOR AND BRAND ANALYSIS
Conclusion
Hence, from the above case study it is concluded that the brand recognition of soft
drinks should be consumer based rather than product based as consumers are more attracted
to brands which resonates with their personality.

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References
Leishman, D., 2017. “Original and Best”? How Barr’s Irn-Bru Became a Scottish Icon.
Études écossaises, (19).
Leishman, D., 2019. Drawing National Boundaries in Barr’s Ba-Bru Comic Strip
Advertising. European Comic Art, 12(1), pp.65-87.
Murry, C. and Schneider, H.S., 2016. The economics of retail markets for new and used cars.
In Handbook on the Economics of Retailing and Distribution. Edward Elgar Publishing.
O'donnell, R., 2016. Adam Smith’s theory of value and distribution: A reappraisal. Springer.
Raheem, A.R., Vishnu, P. and Ahmed, A.M., 2014. Impact of product packaging on
consumer’s buying behavior. European journal of scientific research, 122(2), pp.125-134.
Ramya, N. and Ali, M., 2016. Factors affecting consumer buying behavior. International
journal of applied research, 2(10), pp.76-80.
Rani, P., 2014. Factors influencing consumer behaviour. International journal of current
research and academic review, 2(9), pp.52-61.
Spinnbarkeit, 2014. Devolution?(AG) Barr humbug. Faculty Dental Journal, 5(3), pp.140-
140.
Tariq, M.I., Humayon, A.A., Bhutta, M.H. and Danish, R.Q., 2014. Impact of effective
advertisement on brand equity and brand switching behavior; Study of food and beverages
industry in emerging market. Research Journal of Recent Sciences

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