Marketing Report: Internal and External Influences on Consumers

This report delves into key marketing principles, focusing on consumer behavior and its influencing factors, including Maslow's hierarchy of needs and social influences like family and opinion leaders. It examines the application of these concepts to the VitalZing Fresh Mix brand. The report further explores brand equity, its importance, and the factors influencing pricing strategies, providing examples for Vital Zing and Water Drops. It outlines the development of marketing channels, including intensive and selective distribution, as well as direct and indirect channels. Finally, the report addresses communication channel development within budget constraints, suggesting strategies like internal PR, internet advertising, publicity, and direct promotions to enhance brand visibility and customer engagement.

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Marketing in Practice
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MARKETING in PRACTICE
1. Internal Influence on customer behaviors.
1) Explain about Maslow’s hierarchy
The customer’s behavior are influenced by the Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. This is
a motivational theory in psychology that has five tiers of human needs often structured in a
pyramid. The needs at the bottom of the pyramid must be first satisfied before individuals can
attend to higher needs. From the bottom of the pyramid, the needs are psychological needs,
safety and security, love and belonging and the highest form is self-actualization. A
customers behavior is influenced by the position that he or she is in the Maslow’s hierarchy
of needs diagram. The customer buys what he or she is in need of at the moment and this
fundamentally influences his behavior (Baker, 2014).
2) Relate it to Fresh Mix (Only)
VitalZing fresh mix soft drinks range have incorporated an innovative dispensing
system. The innovative systems is known as the BlastMax dosing cap technology that
provides a fresh mix and a healthy effective natural solutions. This is unlike any other soft
drink produced in the market in the $140 million dollar industry. It enables active ingredients
to be added to NZ spring water at the point of consumption. This is to keep the nutrients
fresh. The supercharged water are developed by elite team of nutritionists who ensure that the
water is effective, healthy and free from unnecessary ingredients. This influences the
customer’s behavior as they look to buy the best product available. Fresh mix has become the
favorite and hence being purchased by the consumers unlike other soft drinks. Although it
has become a fan favorite, it has yet to create its own niche in the market.

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3) Leave out Physiological & Self Actualization as it is irrelevant.
In Maslow’s theory of needs, physiological, security, love and belonging, esteem and
self-actualization are the pyramid itself. Growth stems from the desire for a person to grow.
The desire to move up the pyramid is not always unilateral. Some depends on the seasons in
life when one experiences losses including loss of a job and divorce. Safety needs includes
protection form elements, order, stability and freedom from fear. Love and belonging needs
involves having the feeling of belonging and the need for interpersonal relationships. Esteem
needs is categorized two, one is the esteem for oneself, independence, dignity and
achievement and the desire for reputation and respect from others (status and prestige).
2. External influence on consumer behaviour: social influence.
1) Give 2 examples of social groups- opinion leader, role, family, reference
group, and subculture.
There is always an external influence given by social groups and opinion leaders. A family
plays a major role in influencing the consumer behavior. If in the family a particular product
is not bought, then this will influence the perception of the product to the most. If from the
beginning the family has been buying a product, then continuing to buy the product no matter
the price or quality will continue. Secondly, the subculture influences on consumer behavior.
If the culture to buy something has been there in one’s own consumer behavior, then the habit
continues.
2) Role: Role as a teacher

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The teacher’s role is to teach. If he teaches, the student is meant to take the teaching and put
them into practice. A teacher’s role influences every behavior that comes to the influence the
consumer externally.
3) Opinion leader: influencer
An influencer tries to sway the consumer into buying the product that he or she is
influencing. Ones the consumer has been influenced he will buy the product and upon using it
and determining the quality will buy it more if it satisfies their needs (Menon, Bharadwaj,
Adidam, & Edison, 2015).
4) Family: mother
A mother is an important person in one’s life. Mothers influence families with their choices.
3. Brand Equity (P1)
o What is Brand Equity?
This is a marketing term that is used to describe the value of a brand. The value is determined
by experiences with the brand and the consumer perception of the brand. It can either be
positive or negative.
o Why is it important?
The importance of brand equity is to increase the market share and also increase the value of
the market.
1. Asset to the brand
2. Price premium

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3. Increases the market share
4. Easy product line extensions
o What can you achieve from it?
With strong brand equity you can achieve a lot of market share and increase in the value of
the brand in the market.
4. Pricing (P2)
What are the factors that influence pricing?
1) Water for everyone: competition, production cost, stock
Some of the factors that influence pricing includes competition, stock quality and production
costs. A company’s price levels send significant signals about the quality of the products. A
customers compares the prices of the company to those of its competitors
2) Vital Zing: Target customer, competition, Channel. Vital Zing :
The target market for Vital Zing is the young and energetic who are fond of drinking soft
drinks. The competition for the company are the big multinationals like Coca-Cola and Pepsi
while the channel for distribution is the intensive and the indirect distribution channels.
3) Water Drops: Niche market, Direct, Indirect channel supply
For water drops the niche market is the whole NZ market. Direct distribution channels is
where Vitalzing uses direct contact to customers to distribute its products. Indirect channels is
where the company uses other distribution channels for distribution.

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5. How would you develop a channel?
1) Intensive, selective channels.
For Vitalzing has to engage in intensive distribution channels. This is when the company
aims at saturating coverage in the market from all the available outlets. This is when a
customer has a variety of brands to choose from.
Selective distribution channels involves a producer using a limited number of outlets to sell
their products in a given geographical area.
2) Mention direct and indirect channels.
Direct distribution channels is where Vitalzing uses direct contact to customers to distribute
its products. Indirect channels is where the company uses other distribution channels for
distribution.
6. With a constraint in budget how would you develop a communication channel?
1) PR
For the company, having an internal PR team will be good since outsourcing a PR will be
more costly.
2) Advertising

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The internet is a good platform for advertising. Leveraging on millions in social media and
advertising in the mainstream social media sites will be the best strategy.
4) Publicity
A positive publicity will create a brand that will attract a lot of customers. Good publicity is
easy to maintain and therefore less expensive (Solomon, Dahl, White, Zaichkowsky, &
Polegato, 2014).
5) Direct promo
Direct promotion is to attract the direct line customers. Promotion elevates the brands.
Vitalzing can do cheap promotion with significant impact to the market.

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References
Baker, M. J. (2014). Marketing strategy and management. Macmillan International Higher
Education.
Menon, A., Bharadwaj, S. G., Adidam, P. T., & Edison, S. W. (2015). Effective Marketing Strategy-
Making: Antecedents and Consequences. In Proceedings of the 1997 Academy of Marketing
Science (AMS) Annual Conference (pp. 224-224). Springer, Cham.
Solomon, M. R., Dahl, D. W., White, K., Zaichkowsky, J. L., & Polegato, R. (2014). Consumer
behavior: Buying, having, and being (Vol. 10). London: Pearson.