MBA404 Consumer Behavior and Marketing Psychology: Coca-Cola Analysis

This report provides an analysis of consumer behavior, focusing on The Coca-Cola Company. It examines how consumer behavior is influenced by various factors like price, marketing, and personal preferences, referencing sociological, psychological, and economical factors. The report details the five steps of the consumer decision-making process: need recognition, information search, evaluation of alternatives, purchase decision, and post-purchase evaluation, using Coca-Cola as a case study. The report highlights how branding plays a crucial role in influencing consumer choices, especially during the evaluation of alternatives. The Coca-Cola Company's marketing strategies and their impact on consumer behavior are also discussed, alongside references to scholarly sources on consumer behavior and marketing.

Consumer Behavior and
Marketing Psychology
THE COCA-COLA COMPANY

Consumer Behavior
 Consumer behavior can be referred to as the study
which is conducted to understand responses of
consumers and what factors influence such attitudes
towards a specific product.
 Consumer behavior is greatly influenced and governed
by other factors such as sociological, psychological and
economical (De Mooij 2019).

Company Overview: The Coca
Cola Company
 The Coca Cola Company is a
multinational corporation which
manufactures beverages and syrups
which are non alcoholic.
 The company retails as well as
markets its products.
 It is most renowned and successful for
its product; Coca-Cola which was
formulated by John Stith Pemberton,
who is a pharmacist (Coca-cola.com
2019).

Consumer behavior and its
Nature
 There are factors which affect the behavior of consumers
which include price, marketing, utility, personal factors like
gender, age, buying motives and so on.
 Consumer behavior always get subjected to changes as
market keeps evolving (Haugtvedt, Herr and Kardes).
 The responses and behavior of consumer differ from one
person to another.

Five Steps of Decision Making
Process
 The goal of every company marketing its product intends to
capture the attention of the target audience.
 Even though there are various factors which influence
people’s decisions, there are five steps in the process of
decision making for the consumers.

Five Steps of Decision Making
Process

The Coca- Cola Company and
Consumer Behavior
 Need Recognition: A consumer is most likely to purchase
the product when he/she is thirsty or wants a liquid
drink.
 Information Search: A consumer can gain information
through various mediums. The consumer will go through
this step after having identified the need or want
(Ramya and Mohamed Ali 2016).

The Coca- Cola Company and
Consumer Behavior
 Evaluation of Alternatives: Branding plays a very crucial
role at this point as consumers should be able to choose
Coca-Cola over other options available such as Pepsi,
Thumbs Up and so on.
 Purchase Decision: This is the crucial point when a
consumer purchases the product after having gathered
information and assessment of the options available
alongside.
 Pose Purchase Evaluation: During this stage, the
consumers understand whether the products meet their
satisfaction or not.

References
 Ashman, R., Solomon, M.R. and Wolny, J., 2015. An old model for a new age:
Consumer decision making in participatory digital culture. Journal of Customer
Behaviour, 14(2), pp.127-146.
 Coca-cola.com (2019). [online] Available at: https://www.coca-cola.com/v
[Accessed 13 Dec. 2019].
 Cui, R., 2015. A review of nostalgic marketing. Journal of Service Science and
Management, 8(01), p.125.
 De Mooij, M., 2019. Consumer behavior and culture: Consequences for global
marketing and advertising. SAGE Publications Limited.
 Haugtvedt, C.P., Herr, P.M. and Kardes, F.R. eds., 2018. Handbook of consumer
psychology. Routledge.
 Ramya, N. and Mohamed Ali, S.A., 2016. Factors affecting consumer buying
behavior. International journal of applied research, 2(10), pp.76-80.