Kaplan University MKT301: Consumer Behavior of Five Hop Lager

This assignment analyzes the consumer behavior related to M&S Five Hop Lager, a craft beer. It begins by examining historical shifts in consumer preferences towards craft beers. The assignment explores how the product gains exposure and how consumers perceive it, especially within the younger demographic, highlighting the role of social media and marketing. It then delves into the stimuli elements, including the visual presentation of the bottle and product description, and the motivational factors that drive consumer interest in craft beers. The analysis incorporates concepts like customer knowledge schema and references key literature to support its findings, offering a comprehensive view of consumer behavior in the context of the craft beer market. The paper emphasizes the importance of understanding consumer perception and marketing strategies in the fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) sector, providing insights relevant for marketing students and professionals. The assignment showcases the influence of exposure, perception, and marketing on consumer behavior and preferences.

CONSUMER BEHAVIOUR
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author note

Five Hop Lagers
The Craft Beer Trends
in a modern world
HISTORICAL CHANGES
Alcoholic beverages, especially beer has always been and will continue to be the most widely
accepted, popular as well as consumer favorite drink. Not only has it been extensive in the
medieval period as well as during the world wars, the present trends of consumption of alcohol
also indicates a shift in the attitude towards beer with more people shifting away from
commercialized brands and incorporating craft beer in their drinking regime (Murray & O’Neill
2012). This is where M&S Five Hop Lager gains its popularity with the consumer mass.
EXPOSURE AND
PERCEPTION
Craft beer has been
perceived significantly
well, especially by the
younger generation. The
unique mixes of grains
used to produce the craft
beers is what gives it
exposure and competition
against the bigger
corporations. Social media
plays a vital role in the
exposure of craft beers,
especially through young
enthusiasts, who share
relevant content and thus,
help in publicity (Karp,
2018).
Stimuli elements
Marketing presence
Motivation factors The product draws upon the public acceptance of craft beer and
uses the motivational factors of a beverage product that goes
well in any social context (Aquilani et al., 2015) and with a
variety of savories, to bring to them a perfect craft beer made
using five different US and UK based herbs as the bitterweet
ingredients (Hughes & Simpsons 1996).
Marketing is the most crucial bit that comes after the
development of a product. Producers market the product through
appealing to the public perception of craft beer and the trends
that come with it. Properly identifying the beers as a customer
favorite by addressing the factors like taste, acceptance with type
of food, ABV percentage etc. act as the affective factors for
targeting customers (Murray and O’Neil 2012).
The stimuli elements for Five Hop Lagers
include a simple display of the bottle with its
mild brownish tinge depicting an intricate ‘5’
on the label, as a visual stimulant (Law, Wong
& Yip 2012). Besides, the product description
depicting an English countryside where its
crafted and the ‘five different hops’ along with
the choice of savories perfectly add to the
stimulants to be a consumer favorite (Moore &
Bovell 2008).
Customer knowledge
schema

Reference List
Aquilani, B., Laureti, T., Poponi, S. and Secondi, L., 2015. Beer choice and consumption determinants when craft beers are tasted: An exploratory
study of consumer preferences. Food quality and preference, 41, pp.214-224.
Hughes, P.S. and Simpson, W.J., 1996. Bitterness of congeners and stereoisomers of hop-derived bitter acids found in beer. Journal of the American
Society of Brewing Chemists, 54(4), pp.234-237.
Karp, J., 2018. Perceptions of Craft Beer Brands as Determined by Female Consumers in Ireland. [online] Esource.dbs.ie. Available at:
https://esource.dbs.ie/bitstream/handle/10788/3551/msc_karp_j_2018.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y [Accessed 24 Aug. 2019].
Law, D., Wong, C. and Yip, J., 2012. How does visual merchandising affect consumer affective response? An intimate apparel experience. European
Journal of marketing, 46(1/2), pp.112-133.
Moore, D.J. and Bovell, L.J., 2008. The affective-cognitive model of stimulus-based affect: Individual differences in response to the vividness of
product descriptions. ACR North American Advances.
Murray, D.W. and O'Neill, M.A., 2012. Craft beer: Penetrating a niche market. British Food Journal, 114(7), pp.899-909.