An Analysis of Customer Behaviour and Toyota's Marketing Strategy

This report delves into the intricate relationship between customer behavior and marketing strategies, focusing on the automotive giant, Toyota. The study begins by examining the concept of consumer behavior, exploring how customers make choices and the factors that influence their preferences in the market. It then provides an overview of Toyota's product offerings, specifically the Corolla, highlighting its features, performance, and market positioning. A critical analysis follows, evaluating Toyota's marketing strategies, such as pricing penetration and guerrilla marketing, in light of consumer behavior theories like the theory of reasoned action and impulse buying. The report also considers the impact of social media marketing and the importance of product reviews and recommendations. Recommendations are provided, including the development of customer behavior modeling, strategic market positioning, leadership adjustments, and enhanced communication strategies to target specific consumer segments and improve overall marketing effectiveness. The conclusion summarizes the key findings, emphasizing the importance of understanding consumer behavior for effective marketing and the need for continuous adaptation to meet evolving market demands.

Running head: CUSTOMER BEHAVIOUR AND MARKETING STRATEGY OF
TOYOTA
CUSTOMER BEHAVIOUR AND MARKETING STRATEGY OF TOYOTA
Name of name
Name of the university
Author note

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Executive summary
The aim of this paper is to evaluate the understanding of the issues of consumer behaviour
and marketing strategies. This paper will be dwelling into the issues with greater detail in
order to understand the factors impacting the consumer behaviours in the market. It will also
discuss the marketing strategies adopted by Toyota in order to analyses the underlying factors
important for decision and choices of the consumers. The scope of the paper will be to
critically underline the theories of consumer behaviour in order to have a broad
understanding of the issue that consumer does not always buy according to their impulses and
there are number of other factors associated with the process. Hence it is expect to provide a
clearer understanding of the same and provide recommendation in accordance with the
current loopholes of the marketing strategies.

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Table of Contents
Introduction................................................................................................................................3
Overview of the product.............................................................................................................3
Critical analysis..........................................................................................................................4
Recommendations......................................................................................................................6
Conclusion..................................................................................................................................8
Reference....................................................................................................................................9

4CUSTOMER BEHAVIOUR AND MARKETING STRATEGY OF TOYOTA
Introduction
The study will be focusing on the issue of consumer behaviour and the marketing strategy of
the chosen industry, Toyota. The issue of consumer behaviour is important for the purpose of
identifying the choice and preferences of the customers in the market. It is defined as the
process of understanding how the customer behaves within the market in terms of their
choices made (Schütte 2016). This is also reflective of the facts of why they chose certain
products over others and what the driving forces behind such choices are. It is also important
to understand the fact that if customers are making choices of one particular product, what are
the rationale for such actions and which products are in demand in the market place(Zeugner-
Roth et al. 2015). The aim of this paper is to analyse the issues of customer behaviour and
analysing Toyota’s present marketing strategy in order to understand the factors that help to
derive the customer behaviour.
Overview of the product
The aim of the reports is to present the critical understanding on the issue of consumer
behaviour and the marketing strategies of the company, Toyota. This paper will be
highlighting the current marketing strategies of the company in align with the consumer
behaviour. The Toyota Corolla has one diesel engine and one petrol engine on offer while the
diesel engine has the capacity of 1344 cc , for the petrol engine it is 1798 cc
(Toyotabharat.com, 2019). This also has the manual and automatic transmission system and
the mileage capacity of 14.28 to 21.43 kmpl. This offers a luxurious experience with along
with the seating arrangement for five people. In terms of performance, it has the highest
speed of 200 kmph and a fuel tank capacity of 55(Toyotabharat.com, 2019). Toyota Corolla

5CUSTOMER BEHAVIOUR AND MARKETING STRATEGY OF TOYOTA
has an acceleration of 6.78 seconds on the third gear and a record of good performance than
the rest of the Toyota cars(Toyotabharat.com, 2019). For grabbing the attention of the
targeted consumer, this car offers the audio system remote control along with the Bluetooth
connectivity and touch screen. It also has the speakers in the front along with the integrated
2DIN audio(Toyotabharat.com, 2019). This specific car has good number of speakers of 6
and an additional USB with the auxiliary output. It has been observed that this company has
been able to attract customers due to the three parameters of exclusive features, service
quality and design.
Critical analysis
With due consideration of the facts and figures presented, it is important to note that over
64% of the young population drive Toyota cars as their prefer the service quality and the
features of the cars than the other brands like BMW. This has been further observed that the
word of mouth techniques used by the company has been a boon for the same to attract more
number of customers to their brand. In addition to this, it is also crucial to mention that their
good service quality in the market has been one of their large market share(eugner-Roth et
al. 2015). Moreover, this is also important for this purpose to understand the fact that there
are individuals who prefer the features more than the other factors for the purchasing these
cars(Zhang et al. 2015). For example, the 28% of the population has been driving cars for
long with special features and better quality. This is important at this juncture to understand
the fact that theory of reasoned action theorised by Fishbein and Ajzen in the late 60’s
which explains the fact that there are certain pre-conceived and ideas that guide every
decision one individual makes(Ajzen 2015). These pre-existing attitudes are responsible for
certain particular outcomes among individuals making choices. According to this theory, in
case of any particular product consumers tend to get affected by the process of reasoned

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action that is associated with the positive results and it is important for the company to ensure
that the consumers are channelized through the sales pipelines(Heding et al. 2015). It is
crucial to understand that most of the theories have agreed in the ground that consumers
make any decision on the basis of a long period of thought taking the time to make rationale
choices for the same(Schütte 2016). There are number of external variables and influences
that tend to make the right decisions for the consumers. In this case, it is important to note
that Toyota has been able to understand the marketing strategies for the purpose of targeting
the customers in order to bring them under their market reach. One of the marketing strategy
adopted by Toyota currently has been the “ pricing penetration strategy” that is setting low
prices for the products to be sold in the market for the customers in order to enhance the
market share and penetrate larger than the other competitive partners(Jindal et al. 2015).
Another important strategy adopted by the company is the “ Guerrilla marketing strategy”
which is one of the unconventional techniques for drawing the consumer attention(Jindal et
al. 2015). In addition to this there are number of evidences of the company adopting the
social media marketing for the purpose of targeting the consumer. The theory of Hawkins
stern impulse theory, it is important to understand the fact that purchasing one particular
products are guided by impulse and it is important for this purpose of attract and understand
the impulse of the buyers(Kautonen et al. 2015). However there are four different types of
impulsive buying like the purely impulsive buying, the reminded impulse buys, suggested
purchases and the planned impulsive buyers. On case of the purchases made of the Toyota
buyers, it has been observed that the most of them belong to the fourth type since it is them
who are impacted by the social media marketing of the products and are the planned
impulsive buyers(eugner-Roth et al. 2015). It is also significant to note that the company has
undertaken a digital way of reaching to the customers since people are mostly impacted by
the activities of the social media marketing(Mammadli et al. 2016). Considering the

7CUSTOMER BEHAVIOUR AND MARKETING STRATEGY OF TOYOTA
current market strategies in the market, it is important for the purpose of the company to
understand the fact that there are number of influential factors than derives the customers
towards the products or the service(Schütte 2016). Firstly, it is important to review the
products time to time since 88% of the population believes that the personal
recommendations on a regular basis. This helps the company to have the idea about the
choices made by the people. It has been also observed that the majority of the choices are
derived from the choices made by the products most promoted in the market(Mammadli et
al. 2016). Moreover according to the cognitive theory, it has been observed that products or
things are being influenced which are simple and easy to understand and does not include any
further complexity.
It is important to understand at this juncture that the company has expanded over 200
countries and it is due to their integrated and extensive marketing and communication
plan(Jindal et al. 2015). The Toyota motors have also diversifies their products in the
international markets by penetrating the Asian and European markets.( Jindal et al. 2015) In
order to determine customer behaviour , there are number of techniques each industry is
expected to undertake. For this purpose, it is important to understand the Toyota’s
marketing strategies. In case of Toyota, the current marketing strategy of Toyota has been
focusing on the age specific diversification of cars. Their approach has to be developed in
order to cater to the diversified products and services in order draw the attention of the
consumer.
Recommendations
 One of the crucial aspects of understanding the trends in consumer behaviour is the
development of the customer behaviour modelling which is mathematical construct

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for deriving the understanding the most common behaviour of the consumer
behaviour in the market. This will be helpful for Toyota to understand in ways
consumer behaves under certain circumstances. This is based on the process of data
mining of the customer data to answer some of the prominent questions like what
kind of products they generally buy?
 Strategic positioning of the market in the market under strong leadership. For
example, it is important to understand that the company had been facing the
challenge of leadership and their single handed decision on number of issues. For
example it has become one of the issues that self-determination might not become a
feasible option for the company to undertake. Hence it is important or the company to
understand and revisit their leadership style in order to bring the necessary changes
in this regard.
 It is significant to understand the fact that the company has market segment of
people belonging to the age between 30 to 50 and most of them belong to the middle
income group(Jindal et al. 2015). Hence it is recommended to penetrate their share of
market in the provinces with people having middle income groups.
 It is important for the company to ensure a competitive marketing strategy in o order
to create an impression in the market that they ensure quality and it is affordable ta the
same time.
 Communication process is too developed along with their social media
communication since it is important since every brand needs to understand the
consumer preferences in making choices. Hence Toyota has to develop a robust
system of developing a communication system that can cater to the interest of the
company and the customers. In order to complete this process of analysing the
consumer preferences in the market it is important for the company to conduct

9CUSTOMER BEHAVIOUR AND MARKETING STRATEGY OF TOYOTA
number of surveys and keyword research to find out the most common trends in the
market. It is further recommended to keep the existing customer base happy in order
to attract new brand of customers.
 It is important to further improve the market segmentation and create the premium
cars for the elite groups of customers. It will also be helpful for diversification of the
product portfolio. Product diversification and innovative strategies are important for
the purpose of targeting large number of customers.
Conclusion
The issue of customer behaviour is one of the most debated issues in the academics of
marketing. It has been observed that marketing strategy of the company has been one of the
crucial aspects of deciding nature and scope of their sell in the market. It is important in this
regard to understand the fact that there are theories that explains the notions of consumer
behaviour in the market. Considering these theories, it has been highlighted that Toyota has
undertaken number of steps in this regard to ensure that the right product is reaching to the
right customer. However what has been observed is that there are number of loopholes and
lacunae in the current strategies adopted by them and Toyota has to undertake a more detailed
approach to make their marketing strategies more targets specific. Hence it can be concluded
that the company needs to develop the right methodology of developing a tool that can
predict the consumer behaviour in the market.

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Reference
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Zhang, K.Z. and Benyoucef, M., 2016. Consumer behavior in social commerce: A literature
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Heding, T., Knudtzen, C.F. and Bjerre, M., 2015. Brand management: Research, theory and
practice. Routledge.
Jindal, S., Laveena, L. and Aggarwal, A., 2015. A comparitive study of crisis management-
Toyota v/s General motors. Scholedge International Journal of Management &
Development, 2(6), pp.1-12.
Kautonen, T., van Gelderen, M. and Fink, M., 2015. Robustness of the theory of planned
behavior in predicting entrepreneurial intentions and actions. Entrepreneurship Theory and
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tools, and inspiration for sustainable branding. Routledge.
Mammadli, A., 2016. Social media and advertising as a marketing tool in business (doctoral
dissertation, istanbul aydin university institute of social sciences).
Schütte, H. and Ciarlante, D., 2016. Consumer behaviour in Asia. Springer.
Toyotabharat.com. (2019). Toyota India | Official Toyota Corolla Altis site. [online]
Available at: https://www.toyotabharat.com/showroom/corolla-altis/ [Accessed 8 Jun. 2019].

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Zeugner-Roth, K.P., Žabkar, V. and Diamantopoulos, A., 2015. Consumer ethnocentrism,
national identity, and consumer cosmopolitanism as drivers of consumer behavior: A social
identity theory perspective. Journal of international marketing, 23(2), pp.25-54