Consumer Behavior Theories Applied: An Apple Inc. Online Retail Audit

This report provides an in-depth analysis of Apple Inc.'s online retail strategies through the application of key consumer behavior theories. It examines how Apple utilizes cognitive learning by presenting informative advertisements and tutorials to attract and retain customers. The report also explores the approach-approach motivational conflict created by offering multiple versions of similar products, catering to diverse customer needs and potentially leading to post-decision dissonance. Furthermore, it discusses how Apple's products cater to a specific social stratum, shaping consumers' self-perception and social identity. The Freudian theory is applied to understand the unconscious motives driving purchase decisions, suggesting that Apple products may fulfill desires for wealth and social status. The report concludes by emphasizing the importance of understanding consumer behavior for market development and recommends further research to enhance Apple's client base and sales.

Running head: ONLINE RETAIL AUDIT
ONLINE RETAIL AUDIT
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
The following report has shed light on the effectiveness of the consumer behavior strategies that
have been observed to be influencing the purchase decision of the clients of one of the major
technological companies of America, Apple Inc. The report had undertaken a discussion on the
several theories of consumer behavior like the theory of cognitive learning, the theory of the
approach-approach motivational conflict, the theories of consumption and self and the Freudian
theory of consumer behavior.

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Table of Contents
Introduction..........................................................................................................................3
Cognitive Learning..........................................................................................................3
Approach-approach Motivational Conflict......................................................................4
Consumption and Self......................................................................................................5
Freudian Theory...............................................................................................................6
Conclusion...........................................................................................................................7
References............................................................................................................................8

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Introduction
The following paper attempts a discussion on the online strategies that are implemented
by the American technology magnet, Apple Inc. Apple Inc. is one of the most famous technology
manufacturers that have been based in the United States of America. The company is best known
for the sale of the computer software, the consumer electronics and several other online services
to the clients of the company who are generally known to have been belonging to several
countries all over the world. The company is known to be one among the Big Four of technology
and is counted on the same measurement platform along with the technology magnets of Google,
Facebook and Amazon. The technology company is observed to have been selling several
hardware products as well most of them being the smartphones under the brand name of IPhone,
tablet computers under the name of IPad, the personal computers under the name of Mac, the
portable media player, IPods, the smartwatch, Apple Smart watch, the digital media player,
Apple TV and the smart speaker, HomePod. The various software products of the company
include the several operating systems, the iOS and the macOS, the media player, iTunes, the web
browser, Safari as well as the professional applications and the online services like Apple Music,
iOS App Store, Mac App Store, the iCloud and the iTunes Store (Apple 2019).
Cognitive Learning
The company in discussion, Apple Inc. is known to have implemented various measures
in order to attract potential clientele to the products and the services that are offered by the
company as well as retain the existing clients of the company by offering them better options in
terms of the services as well as the products. The company is known to have been holding on to
the existent clientele and attracting potential clientele through the implementation of the
cognitive learning (learning pg. 71) (Solomon et al. 2014). The advertisements that are put forth

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by the company is known to have been putting forth the required impact on the minds of the
concerned client thereby leading to the conditions wherein the clientele belonging to the targeted
section of the society would be attracted to invest their finance on the products of the company.
The company is observed to have been putting forth eye-catching commercials regarding the
features of their products thereby helping the concerned clientele learn more about the products
of the company (Apple 2019). This strategy further helps the company to create a large client
base that is required for the expansion of the business in the international markets as well as
generate more revenue in the markets wherein the company is observed to have been operating
in the present times (Bartels and Johnson 2015). The company in discussion, is known to have
published many tutorials on YouTube on the proper workability and the operations of the
concerned product in discussion (Apple 2019).
Approach-approach Motivational Conflict
The company is known to have been marketing an array of different versions of the same
product which leads to the conditions wherein the clientele is presented with a huge number of
options for their perusal. The concerned technological company is known to have been pushing
the clientele towards the implementation of the Approach-approach motivational conflict
(motivation pg. 97) (Solomon et al. 2014). This approach towards the motivation of the clientele
state that the clientele needs to choose from the available products that are almost similar to each
other. This helps the company to reach out to the clientele belonging to various social strata as
well as attract the potential clientele who might have different needs that vary on the basis of the
profile of the concerned client. The theory in discussion finds its resting point in the fact that the
consumers of a certain product or a service majorly acts out of the need for the consistency that
the people seek in their daily lives. The theory suggests that the concerned clientele undergoes a

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tension during the time of the creation of a conflict between the behaviors and the beliefs of the
concerned human being (Robinson, Boyd and Persich 2016). The areas wherein the concerned
individual needs to make a choice presents a major area of the conflict. The decision-making
activity that needs to be undertaken by the concerned client of the technology company leads to
the case wherein the person has to make a choice between two products that are differentiated
through very subtle measures. The consumers of the company have also been facing the conflicts
after they have finished the buying procedure (Aldao and Wisco 2015). The products that are
launched within a short span of time interval in between them are generally observed to have
very subtle differences among them thereby creating a post-decision dissonance among the
clients on their availing a certain product of the company in discussion, Apple Inc. (motivation
pg. 98) (Solomon et al. 2014).
Consumption and Self
The company in discussion, Apple Inc. is known to be serving a certain section of the
society which is majorly observed to belong to the middle and the upper-middle class. These
people are basically observed to be affluent enough to buy the products and the services that are
priced above the range that might be availed by the not-so-affluent members of the society. The
behavior of the concerned consumers of the various products that are marketed by the technology
magnet reveals the fact that the different products play different roles in the life and the activities
of the concerned client (Giovannini, Xu and Thomas 2015). This helps the concerned consumer
to choose from the array of the products that are provided by the company in discussion, Apple
Inc. The products that are marketed by the organization in discussion tend to shape the self of the
concerned consumer through the suitability and the necessity of the product in the daily life of
the concerned individual (self pg. 124) (Solomon et al. 2014). The various products that are

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marketed by the company in discussion are known to have been used by the clientele who belong
to a certain social stratum. The theoretical aspect of the factor states that people generally buy
products under the influence of the reflection of their own in the eyes of others (Iqani and
Schroeder 2016). The products and the services that are used by the client are known to be
helping the client to determine their own perceived self. This in turn helps in the creation of a
certain image of themselves in their own minds that helps in their own identification (Mandel et
al. 2017). The consumption behavior of a certain person also assists in the judgements regarding
their identity as well as provides a certain idea of the social stratum to which the person belongs
(self pg. 125) (Solomon et al. 2014).
Freudian Theory
The Freudian theory of consumer behavior assists in the development of an insight to the
several dilemmas and conflicts that are faced by the human mind in the process of the buying or
availing a certain product or service. The major issues that have been highlighted within the
Freudian theory refer to the conflict between the desire of the concerned individual for the
gratification of the needs of the person and the responsibility of the person as a social citizen
(Kiboro, Omwenga and Iravo 2017). The theory as suggested by Freud states that the human
mind operates in accordance to the several unconscious motives that underlie the purchase
decision of a person (personality pg. 151) (Solomon et al. 2014). The theory further states that
the human beings are generally unaware of the various issues that prompt them into buying a
certain product or availing a certain service (Orji et al. 2017). The theory suggests that the
consumers of a certain product generally tend to buy the product on the basis of the various
unfulfilled desires that the products signify. The products on the other hand according to the
Freudian theory represent the underlying desires that are established in the form of the various

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products and the service usages that are undertaken by the concerned client (Parsons, Maclaran
and Chatzidakis 2017). The client who have been purchasing the products of the technology
company in discussion, Apple Inc., might be regarded to have been desiring to own a
considerable amount of wealth (Zhang and Benyoucef 2016). The theory as stated by Freud
states that the people who have been buying certain products tend to attain their goal of attaining
a goal that is generally socially unattainable or unacceptable through the procurement of the
product (personality pg. 152) (Solomon et al. 2014). This helps them in attaining the social
status that they might want to achieve but are incapable of bringing forth the achievement.
Conclusion
In lieu of the above discussion, it might be stated that the behavior of the clientele of the
can be evaluated on the basis of the four major factors that influence the purchase decisions. The
factors majorly refer to the memory and learning, the perception, the self and the motivational
factors. The advertisements that are put forth by the company is known to have been putting
forth the required impact on the minds of the concerned client thereby leading to the conditions
wherein the clientele belonging to the targeted section of the society would be attracted to invest
their finance on the products of the company. The company in discussion might be advised to
undertake more research into the behavior as depicted by the clientele of the organization in
order to develop a better market for the sale of the products and services as well as bring about
an increase in the client base of the organization.

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