Psychology and Marketing: Consumer Behavior of Vegemite

This report provides an analysis of the consumer decision-making process, using Vegemite as a case study. It begins with an introduction to Vegemite, its characteristics, and its appeal to consumers. The core of the report focuses on the five-step consumer decision-making process: need recognition, information search, evaluation of alternatives, purchase decision, and post-purchase behavior. Each stage is examined in detail, with examples drawn from the author's personal experience and relevant research. The report explores internal and external stimuli influencing consumer needs, the role of information search (including online resources and personal recommendations), and the comparison of Vegemite with alternative products. The evaluation stage considers factors like price and ingredients. The report also discusses the application of Maslow's hierarchy of needs and drive theory to understand consumer motivations. Finally, the report references academic sources to support its analysis.

Consumer Behaviour
and Marketing
Psychology

Introduction
■ Before describing the five step consumer decision making process, I
think it is important to first know about the product well.
■ Considering research, Vegemite is a thick, black, salty spread made
from leftover brewer's yeast. It is not gluten-free product, however
practically a sugar free, fat-free and vegetarian product (Raman,
2018).
■ The taste of vegemite is little bit salty with a subtle bitterness and it is
eaten while slightly spread on toast or crackers with some butter.
However, some people like to eat by the spoonful directly from the jar.

Consumer decision making process
■ The first step in this process includes need recognition. In this process, the consumer
found it challenging to maintain balance between actual and desired states. It arises
when a buyer is exposed to an external and internal stimulus (Darley, Blankson and
Luethge, 2010).
■ Considering my case, I would say it was internal stimulus as due to hunger, it induces
me to purchase the product so as to satisfy exasperated needs. On the other hand,
this unfulfilled need leads to want the product. Moreover, due to its healthy attributes
such as fat free, sugar free and huge vitamins, I was more enticed to the product.
■ However, there were some issues related to the first step such as availability of more
options in terms of different tastes and cheaper price, that influence my buying
decision. Though, I go up with vegemite due to its exceptional flavour and special
ingredient.

Consumer decision making process
■ The second step after purchasing my product includes search process. This process is
differentiated into internal information search grounded on past experiences and
external information which includes public experiences and internet resources.
■ Considering my case, it leads to a positive experience when I went with some of my
friends and they told me to try this product and from that time, I felt in love with this
product.
■ In my opinion, this step plays an important role as the buyers need to use tools like
web to search for product information (Xu et al, 2011). It will also lead to an
advantage as customer can search and contrast different product and varieties with
each other including other elements such as price. Moreover, one also not need to
visit any supermarket or store to get this information. In my case, my friends suggest
me to purchase this product and I beforehand also searched the product information
on web.

Consumer decision making process
■ In third process, the buyer compares the product with others to gain
relevant benefits and drawbacks in order to reach on a final decision
(Pickett-Baker and Ozaki, 2008).
■ For example, the price of Jam Woolworth is less than vegemite,
however, it has lower vitamins as well as higher sugar components.
Product Brand Ingredients Price Size
Raspberry
Jam
Woolworth Gelling Agent,
Food Acid,
Sugar
Raspberry
(40%)
$2 250gm
Vegemite Vegemite Rich in vitamins
(B1, B2, B3 and
B9), sugar free
$4.7 235gm

Consumer decision making process
■ The fourth step is related to evaluation of alternatives with the
purchase method. Here, the consumer takes out the final decision
whether to buy the product or not. In this step, the distance plays a
major role as sometimes the customer change his decision while he is
on the way to the superstore or market.
■ For example, I live in Canberra and to buy vegemite, there is only one
supermarket which is around 8km far away from my location. As you
can see, I always prefer vegemite over others and while in
supermarket section, I always go for buying vegemite.

Consumer decision making process
■ Some times, there are cases where the customers feel unsatisfied due
to some problems concerning to feature or quality of the product. This
condition has a direct negative impact on future purchases (Herrmann
et al, 2009).
■ Considering my case, I have not dealt with any of the issues with my
product and in future, I always go with vegemite rather than any of
others.
■ After evaluation of the consumer decision process, I would
recommend two of theories that I have learned throughout the
session and that associate to my product.

Theories link with Consumer decision
making process
■ The first theory i.e. Maslow hierarchy of needs includes a five-tier model
of human needs with is represented in a pyramid including various
hierarchical levels. It is very important for an individual to get its lower
needs satisfied before reaching to upper tier.
■ The pyramid starts with physiological needs followed by safety needs,
then love and belongingness needs, esteem needs, and lastly self-
actualisation (Milner and Rosenstreich, 2013).
■ In contrast with this theory, it can be said that vegemite belongs to
psychological needs which represent basic needs. It can also classify into
love and belongings needs as I can enjoy this product with my family,
friends and peers.
■ The second theory is the drive theory that is emphasized towards
biological needs (cold, hungry, etc.). My case is of hungry, I will be more
satisfied to eat this product when I am hungrier.

References
■ Darley, W.K., Blankson, C. and Luethge, D.J. (2010) Toward an integrated
framework for online consumer behavior and decision making process: A
review. Psychology & marketing, 27(2), pp.94-116.
■ Herrmann, A., Heitmann, M., Morgan, R., Henneberg, S.C. and Landwehr, J.
(2009) Consumer decision making and variety of offerings: The effect of
attribute alignability. Psychology & Marketing, 26(4), pp.333-358.
■ Milner, T. and Rosenstreich, D. (2013) A review of consumer decision-making
models and development of a new model for financial services. Journal of
Financial Services Marketing, 18(2), pp.106-120.
■ Pickett-Baker, J. and Ozaki, R. (2008) Pro-environmental products: marketing
influence on consumer purchase decision. Journal of consumer
marketing, 25(5), pp.281-293.
■ Raman, R. (2018) What Is Vegemite Good For? Nutrition Facts and More
[ONLINE] Available from: https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/vegemite
[Accessed 22/04/2019].
■ Xu, H., Luo, X.R., Carroll, J.M. and Rosson, M.B. (2011) The personalization
privacy paradox: An exploratory study of decision making process for
location-aware marketing. Decision support systems, 51(1), pp.42-52.

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