Consumer Buying Decisions and Social Media: A Toyota Report

This report provides a detailed analysis of consumer behavior, focusing on the automotive industry and specifically, Toyota. It examines the consumer buying decision-making process, including need recognition, information search, evaluation of alternatives, purchase decision, and post-purchase behavior, and discusses its relevance for marketing managers. The report also explores alternative theories of buying behavior, such as cultural and internal influences, and provides an overview of Toyota's new product launch, the Sienna. Furthermore, it highlights the importance of social media for modern businesses and its impact on consumer attitudes, emphasizing the significance of creating and monitoring content, developing mobile strategies, thinking locally, and being social to influence customer behavior. The report concludes by critically evaluating the relevancy of the consumer decision-making model in today's marketing landscape.

Consumer behaviour
final assignment

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
TASK 1............................................................................................................................................1
The consumer..............................................................................................................................1
Difference between consumer and customer..............................................................................1
Consumer buying decision making process................................................................................2
Relevance of this process............................................................................................................3
Alternative theories.....................................................................................................................3
New product name and overview ...............................................................................................4
Importance of this process for marketing manager.....................................................................4
Marketing strategy to influence customer...................................................................................4
Critically evaluating about relevancy of model to today's consumer decision making process
and it helps in modern day marketers.........................................................................................5
TASK 2............................................................................................................................................5
Social media................................................................................................................................5
History of social media...............................................................................................................5
Importance of social media to modern day businesses...............................................................6
Importance of social media to consumer attitudes......................................................................7
Social media makes marketing more effective in planning and also in controlling marketing
activities......................................................................................................................................8
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................8
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................9

INTRODUCTION
Consumer behaviour is defined as a study of various ways from which customers,
individuals, groups or organisations select, use or buy or dispose goods or services of a particular
organisation in order to satisfy their needs and requirements (Alalwan, Rana, Dwivedi and
Algharabat, 2017). It is also termed as actions of various customers in marketplace and also
motives for that particular actions. In this report, Toyota has been taken into consideration. It is
the worlds second the largest automotive manufacture and is the worlds market leader in sales of
hybrid electric vehicles.
In the following report, consumer buying decision making process is being discussed
with help of relevant theories and stages related to buying process. Further, this report also
discuss about new product of Toyota along with the overview of that particular product. In
addition to this, this assignment also highlights on importance of social media to modern day
business and attitudes of consumers.
TASK 1
The consumer
Consumer is that individual that buys products or services for their own use and not for
manufacture or resale (Campbell, Martin and Fabos, 2018). They are a person those who makes
decision regarding purchase of a particular product or service and also gets influenced by
advertisements and marketing functions.
Difference between consumer and customer
The difference between consumer and customer is that customer is the one that buys
products or services from business and consumers uses that products.
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Consumer buying decision making process
Consumer buying decision making process mainly describes that journey of customers
that they go through before buying any kind of product and services offered by Toyota. Thus, to
understand this process of customers buying becomes essential for the salespeople or marketer as
this will assist them in aligning sales strategy accordingly (Chaffey, 2016). Therefore, five stages
has been described as per below context-
 Need recognition- this is the first and important stage in consumer buying decision
process. The marketing manager of Toyota must try to first recognise requirements of
customers and also way in which it can be satisfied.
 Information search- in this stage information is been gathered by consumer about a
particular product they desire to buy. This information is therefore collected either by
family, friends, neighbours or anyone else who have used product of a particular brand
before.
 Evaluation of alternatives- later after collecting all the possible information that is
required to consumer of a product, they will later evaluate information regarding various
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Illustration 1: Consumer Buying Decision making process
(Source: 5 Stages of consumer buying decision process, 2012)

alternatives. They will identify wants satisfying power of alternatives, its quality and also
features and accordingly make decisions of buying a particular product.
 Purchase decision- after evaluating all the alternatives that are present, consumer makes
decision of buying a suitable product or services. They may also postpone the plan of
buying, if there is any kind of confusion. At such time, marketing manager of Toyota
must try to provide them with some extra and important information that will lead them
in attracting large number of customers towards a particular brand.
 Post purchase behaviour- this stage highlights on behaviour of customer after buying a
particular product in terms of satisfaction or dissatisfaction. Thus, marketing manager of
Toyota must try to satisfy their potential customer by providing them with what they
actually want. This will help them in attracting many other customers towards them.
Relevance of this process
This process mainly helps marketing manager of Toyota in forecasting behaviour of
customer related to purchase of particular product (Chaudhary, Khan and Ali, 2017). This also
leads them in understanding those factors that may influence buying behaviour of customer. This
assist particular company to market their product on a perfect time to right customers.
Alternative theories
 Cultural theory of buying behaviour- cultural influence can easily affect buying
behaviour of an individual. Culture refers to as set of beliefs and values that they have
learned in community context. These values and beliefs assist them in certain types of
buying behaviour. Thus, social class of an individual may also influence their buying
behaviour or even their membership in any kind of group.
 Internal theory of buying behaviour- there are many people those who love to shop and
will examine every product and will also try to compare their price and will make
decisions accordingly. Lifestyle of a particular person also has an ability of influencing
buying behaviour of an individual.
New product name and overview
Toyota has recently launched new product in market as Toyota sienna. This model ranked
5 in minivans. It has a score of 8 out of 10 that is based on evaluation of 71 pieces of research
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and data elements by using various sources. It comes in 5 main trim levels and are further
available in sub-trims. It is therefore paired with an eight speed automatic transmission.
Importance of this process for marketing manager
Thus, it becomes important for marketing manager of Toyota as it helps in ensuring the
marketers so that they consider the whole buying decision making process rather than that
decision that related only to purchasing. This model or process also implies that all customers in
market go through all stages of this process in every kind of purchase they make on daily basis.
Thus, it becomes important challenge for manager of Toyota in order to identify about
information sources that are the most influential in target markets (Gaber, Labib and Salem,
2018).
Marketing strategy to influence customer
 Create and monitor content- they must try to engage with conversation that is going on in
terms of a particular brand. This will help them in developing an advantage over that who
choose of not participating. Thus, owners of Toyota may also participate in this game in
order to establish domain authority in their matter of subject through valuable content and
also in creating strategy that is related to online marketing.
 Have a mobile strategy- this strategy if adopted by Toyota then it will lead them in
attracting huge volume of customers towards the brand. This means that if customers find
content online, then they may feel easy to compare between different brands and select
the one best suitable for them. Thus, marketing manager of Toyota has to make sure that
marketing plan must consider those customers that are potential and are using mobile for
accessing to Internet.
 Think locally- Toyota must also think in such way that customers can easily buy their
products and services. They must dial into that location that is termed as ideal for
customers and must ensure that they are leveraging about that location where probability
is high of customers to buy a particular product.
 Be social- marketing manager of Toyota must take every opportunity that is related to
conversation facilitator. They must try to make it easy for those customers that finds the
brand and also pays attention on product that is released by Toyota. Engaging with those
people in meaningful ways through social media will also create same reputation as while
engaging face to face.
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Critically evaluating about relevancy of model to today's consumer decision making process and
it helps in modern day marketers.
Consumer behaviour is termed as that study related to people in terms of making
decisions about their wants, needs or they act regarding product, company or a service. There are
three factors that affect this behaviour of a consumer which includes psychological, personal and
social (Hale and et.al., 2017). It is important for the marketer of Toyota product to know and
understand behaviour of an individual or various groups that actually opt for. This includes
purchase, products and services and also sharing of experience regarding satisfaction of their
needs and wants. This is also important as it allows a particular brand in order to increase market
share by anticipating shifts related to wants and requirements of customers.
There are many factors that may affect buying behaviour. In addition to this, level of
motivation also affects purchasing behaviour of customers.
TASK 2
Social media
Social media is collection of channels that are related to online communications which is
therefore dedicated to community based input, interaction, content sharing and also collaboration
(Nielsen and Schrøder, 2014). It is also termed as that tools which is used by people in order to
share content, profiles, opinions, insights experiences, etc. thus, social media is termed as act of
connecting on platforms of social media. It is a technology that is web based that leads in
facilitating social interaction between huge group of people via some type of network based site.
This networking is also used for local networks also.
History of social media
The earliest methods that were involved in communicating across great distances were
using written correspondence and that was deliverer by hand from one to another person. They
were also known as letters. The first site of social media that everyone agree was a website
known as Six Degrees. This website allowed in creating a profile and later find friends or make
friends. It was launched in 1997 and lasted till 2001. Thus, after inventing blogging, social media
began exploding in huge popularity. There were sites named My Space and LinkedIn that gained
huge prominence in early 2000s. YouTube was launched in 2005 that created a new and
innovative way for people in order to communicate and share information with each other across
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great distances. Later Facebook and Twitter came into existence by 2006. These were termed as
the most popular social networks on Internet. There are number of sites of social networking and
out of them many are linked to allow cross posting. From this it can be considered as this social
networking sites will exist in some form for as long as humans in world are alive (Solomon and
et.al., 2014).
Importance of social media to modern day businesses
Social media helps the marketer of Toyota to validate particular brand. If social media is
present in Toyota and is performed in correct manner, it assists them in telling customers that
their brand is active. In other words, it has power of increasing loyalty of customers. It has given
various opportunities for Toyota in connecting with those people that are the most important part
(Trainor, Andzulis, Rapp and Agnihotri, 2014). This also leads in reaching immediately to
individuals in various areas. In addition to this, it also helps in keeping up with competition. It
has been estimated that about 2 million business use Facebook promotion for their products and
services. Its importance has been discussed as per below context-
 Leverage social Advertising- Social media may be used in terms of advertisements.
Social network has launched ads in 2005, it therefore managed in reaching 9.16B in ad
revenue in first quarter of 2017. Thus, it has been analysed that social media is going to
stay for long years.
 Reaching new audience locally and globally- Taking Twitter into consideration, it
becomes easy for Toyota in order to connect with current customers or seeking out new
audience. It has been believed by a particular brand that with help of offering added value
to online audiences, social media will later help them in engaging and nurturing existing
ones and attracting new ones towards a particular brand.
 Increase brand awareness- social media is termed as one of the natural place that helps in
reaching new and potential customers that are highly targeted. They can use various
websites to advertise their product and services that has been offered by them. This assist
Toyota in order to attract huge volume of customers towards a particular brand and also
in increasing profitability.
 Improve customer service- Social media helps Toyota in gting instant access to receive
feedback from customers. It is invaluable as it leads in growth of a particular product t
retention of customers.
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 Gain market share- If social media is being used in adequate and appropriate manner than
Toyota can make it much easier for customers that are potential so that they can easily
find a particular brand of their choice. It also leads them in gaining huge amount of
market share and high profitability. It also helps them in achieving huge loyalty customer
base.
 Staying top of mind- There are number of social media users those log into accounts at
least once in a day. And there are number of users those log into account multiple times a
day. Thus, this provides an opportunity for Toyota in order to connect with potential
customers or fans every time as they log in. they must try to keep their post innovative
and creative which followers may feel glad to see and push themselves towards it. This
will help them in keeping the brand on top of a mind and they will feel happy to make a
purchase of a suitable product.
 Cost effective- It is also one of the most important, stress-free and also profitable
platform related to digital marketing that can be further used in order to increase visibility
of a particular business. Thus, it is free to create or sign up in an account it is termed as
cost effective. It therefore leads in attaining greater return on investment and also hold a
bigger budget for any other kind of marketing and payments related to business.
Importance of social media to consumer attitudes
Social media has a positive impact on attitude of customers. It has also been revealed that
users of social media if use these platforms for long time then they update their profiles in
frequent manner and also displays favourable attitudinal responses to social media marketing
communications (Tuten and Solomon, 2017). It has been identified that social media is most
important source of information for various types of customers. Moreover, it has been considered
as true that social media leads in providing various conditions to customers from all over the
world so that they can communicate with each other in easy and quick way. Therefore,
customers today are turning away from traditional media that includes television or radio. They
are attracting towards social media for searching relevant information. Thus, it has been claimed
in fair manner that, relationships between company and consumers has been taken historical turn
and has formed two types of social media communication.
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Social media makes marketing more effective in planning and also in controlling marketing
activities.
Social media is termed as an increasingly important tactic in Toyota's marketing activities
and planning and it has been estimated that they manage social media as a separate activity.
Social media is that marketing tool that provides brand with real world results that continues to
grow with time. It has power of building personal connection and also in building such
relationships that can leverage in growth of Toyota. Social media helps in validating brand.
Thus, marketing plan is also important in order to develop promotional strategy as it assist
Toyota to identify its target markets and also in setting measurable goals. It plays vital role to
achieve long term success of a particular organisation. It also leads in growth and change in a
positive way in bottom line.
Thus, no one can deny that social media marketing has number of advantages for both startuyps
and also established brands. If cited company update right social media marketing strategy than
it will help them in increasing traffic , better SEO, improvement in loyalty of a brand, customer
satisfaction in healthy way and many more things. In addition to this, it has also been determined
that competition is increasing day by day on social media. It depends on a cited company that as
soon as they start its use, more easily and smoothly they can enjoy the growth of a particular
business and loyalty customer base.
CONCLUSION
From the above report it has been concluded that consumer buying decisions process
plays significant role in buying decision making. Marketing manager of Toyota has to go
through various stages so that they can analyse their needs and requirements and satisfy them
accordingly. Further, it has also been analysed that social media plays vital role in marketing
strategy of a particular business. It has also been analysed that Toyota make complete use of
social media networking platforms for advertising or promoting products and services that has
been offered by them because huge volume of people are attracted towards social media which
will help them in pulling high quantity of consumers towards a particular brand.
REFERENCES
Books and Journal
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Alalwan, A.A., Rana, N.P., Dwivedi, Y.K. and Algharabat, R., 2017. Social media in marketing:
A review and analysis of the existing literature. Telematics and Informatics. 34(7).
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Campbell, R., Martin, C. and Fabos, B., 2018. Media essentials: A brief introduction.
Bedford/St. Martin's.
Chaffey, D., 2016. Global social media research summary 2016. Smart Insights: Social Media
Marketing.
Chaudhary, A.H., Khan, M.A. and Ali, R.A., 2017. Effect of Integrated Marketing
Communications on Consumer Buying Decision of Internet Service (An Empirical Study
of Mobilink in Multan City). Journal of Research in Marketing. 8(1). pp.630-635.
Gaber, H.R., Labib, A.A. and Salem, K.O., 2018. THE EFFECT OF MARKETING
DECEPTION ON CONSUMER BUYING DECISION ON FACEBOOK. AN
EMPIRICAL STUDY ON UNIVERSITY STUDENTS IN LIBYA. European Journal of
Business and Innovation Research. 6(3). pp.12-18.
Hale, B. and et.al., 2017. The History of Social Media: Social Networking Evolution!. History.
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finding, and engaging with news: An eight-country cross-media comparison. Digital
journalism. 2(4). pp.472-489.
Solomon, M.R. and et.al., 2014. Consumer behavior: Buying, having, and being (Vol. 10).
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Trainor, K.J., Andzulis, J.M., Rapp, A. and Agnihotri, R., 2014. Social media technology usage
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Tuten, T.L. and Solomon, M.R., 2017. Social media marketing. Sage.
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5 Stages of consumer buying decision process. 2012. [Online] Available through:
<https://managementation.com/5-stages-of-consumer-buying-decision-process/>
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