Toyota and Hybrid Marketing: Segmentation, Strategy, and Analysis

This report provides a comprehensive analysis of Toyota's hybrid marketing strategies, focusing on consumer behavior, segmentation, targeting, and positioning. It begins by examining Toyota's Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) initiatives and their integration with societal, consumer, and profit-driven goals, highlighting the 'Toyota Way' and its impact on brand equity. The report then delves into Toyota's mission of producing high-quality, sustainable vehicles, emphasizing the role of technological innovation and the application of Porter's Generic strategies. It also explores how consumer buying behavior is influenced by intrinsic and extrinsic motives, particularly in the context of the Prius, and analyzes the consumer decision-making process. Furthermore, the report details Toyota's segmentation, targeting, and positioning strategies for the hybrid market, including geographic, demographic, and psychographic segmentations. Finally, it discusses the execution of Toyota's hybrid marketing strategy, including planning, implementation, and evaluation using digital marketing perspectives. The report references various academic sources to support its findings, providing a well-rounded view of Toyota's marketing efforts.

Running head: TOYOTA AND HYBRID MARKETING
TOYOTA AND HYBRID MARKETING
Name of the student
Name of the university
Author note

1TOYOTA AND HYBRID MARKETING
Table of Contents
Answer to Question 1......................................................................................................................2
Answer to Question 2......................................................................................................................5
Answer to Question 3......................................................................................................................8
Answer to Question 4....................................................................................................................10
Answer to Question 5....................................................................................................................12
References......................................................................................................................................16

2TOYOTA AND HYBRID MARKETING
Answer to Question 1
Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) approaches of Toyota are observed to be
effectively integrated with society, consumers and the company’s profits that support its value-
gaining strategy development in ensuring business success.
Figure: CSR Societal Marketing of Approaches of Toyota
(Source: Simãoand Lisboa 2017)
 Profit Responsibility: In fulfilling the CSR profit responsibility Toyota, the company
has implemented the strategy of “The Toyota Way” in which it makes an increased attend
to improve processes and products, building trust along with empowering the teams and
individuals. Through implementing this CSR approach the company has attained better
profit margin over years supported by its CSR initiative of continuous improvement and
respect for people (Simãoand Lisboa 2017).
 Stakeholder Responsibility: CSR initiatives of Toyota also includes addressing
stakeholder responsibility where it majorly focuses on maintaining consumer satisfaction
through focusing on addressing issues such as women development and supporting
marginalized communities of the society. Toyota has also made partnerships with certain

3TOYOTA AND HYBRID MARKETING
organizations in facilitating increase in awareness among consumers regarding its
offerings. In enhancing brand equity, Toyota Vehicles are supporting National Parks its
major stakeholder group that is its consumers (Lamonge, Lapian and Tumbuan 2019).
Through this CSR initiative the company has successfully promoted its hybrid vehicles as
visitors of the national park get to travel in Toyota’s donated noise ad emission reduction
vehicles.
 Societal Responsibility: The business of Toyota has grown over years because of its
greater role in developing the society within which the company operates its business.
For instance, the company generated Toyota USA foundation with making contribution
of $10 million with a mission of its business a leading corporate citizen (Simãoand
Lisboa 2017). This social responsibility program of the company supports development
of environment, education along with safety for strengthening the communities. Through
implementing this CSR initiative Toyota has attained better market success involving
constant challenge spirit along with enthusiasm for new ideas.
From analyzing the negative CSR impacts such as defective gas pedals in its automobiles and
increased emissions over years has affected the company’s reputation of being socially
responsible. Such incident has also impacted the company’s successful business activities;
Toyota has considered implementing digital and brand marketing strategies that has facilitated
the company in developing brand equity. For instance, in increasing brand equity if it’s Prius
model the marketing manager if Toyota developed innovative digital marketing strategies and
invested in a mobile-first social campaign (Hutchinson, Burgess and Herrmann 2014). This
digital marketing strategy has been effective in reaching out target Prius customers through

4TOYOTA AND HYBRID MARKETING
introducing pre-launch firms on FacebookKeller’s Customer Based Brand Equity (CBBE) model
is employed on analysing the effective implementation of brand equity strategies by Toyota.
KEY
:
1: Very Weak 2: Weak 3. Moderate 4: Strong 5: Very Strong
ELEMEN
T
STRENGTH VALUE ADDED WEAKNESSES VALUE LOST
1. Brand
Salienc
e
 Very
Strong
 Strong  Moderate  Weak
2. Brand
Performan
ce
 Strong  Very
Strong
 Strong  Moderate
3. Brand
Image
 Very
Strong
 Strong  Moderate  Strong
4. Brand
Feelings
 Strong  Moderate  Very
Strong
 Weak
5. Brand
Judgment
 Moderate  Very
Strong
 Strong  Very
Strong
6. Brand  Very  Moderate  Weak  Strong

5TOYOTA AND HYBRID MARKETING
Resonance Strong
Σ = Very strong Σ = Strong
Answer to Question 2
The mission of the organization, Toyota, is to produce high quality automobiles without
compromising on the quality of the offerings. On the other hand, the company also focused on
contributing to the society and the economy through the economy through the exposition of the
‘Toyota Way’ (Hutchinson, Burgess and Herrmann 2014). Sustainable mobility of an
organization is reliant on the practices through which an organization satisfies the needs of the
current generation without compromising the interests of the future generation. The application
of the Lean principles and the alignment of the activities of the same with the economic, social
and environmental sustenance related needs supported the venture in contributing to its mission.
Hutchinson, Burgess and Herrmann (2014) opined that the technological innovations that are
undertaken by the organizations support the same in influencing the sustenance related needs of
the same. The organization developed a three step process of improving the efficiency of the
operations through building on the quality of the offerings, building trust and confidence among
the stakeholders and empowering collaboration among teams (Simãoand Lisboa 2017). The
different processes that are planned by the organization supported the same in enhancing the rate
of sustainable mobility.
The organization also developed a five year action plan for reducing the emission of
harmful toxins in the atmosphere with the objective of enhancing the rate of environmental
sustenance (Sexton and Sexton 2014). The different changes that are being initiated by Toyota is

6TOYOTA AND HYBRID MARKETING
reliant on the minimization of wastes from the different production processes through application
of Kaizen and JIT (Just In Time) principles (Yadav, Joshi and Rahman 2015). Eneizan, Abd-
Wahab and Obaid (2016) opined that the application of Total quality management and induction
of latest technologies supported the organization in enhancing the rate of operations while
aligning the sustenance mobility with the mission. The organization aimed at developing hybrid
vehicles through mixing new concepts with the old Prius, which enhanced the sustenance of the
venture. It has been noted that the concerned organization adhered to the triple bottom line
approach with the objective of supporting the competitive edge related needs of the same. The
changes in the quality management and operational processes supported the organization in
ensuring the sustainable edge of the same. The mission of the organization is to hold a
respectable position in the automobile industry which is facilitated through the development of
Green vehicles (Shukor et al. 2015). The green vehicles of the organization focused on
maintaining the air quality which assisted the organization in grabbing the first position among
Honda, Ford and General Motors (Lulhe and Date 2015). It has been noted that the developments
that are made by the venture supported the same in continuing with the efficiency of the
operations in alignment with the needs of the customers.

7TOYOTA AND HYBRID MARKETING
Figure: Porter’s Generic strategies
(Source: Ito 2014)
The application of the Porter’s Generic strategies like cost leadership and differentiation
supported the organization in continuing their operations based on the fulfillment of needs of the
current generation without losing their focus on the environmental impacts. The organization
developed green vehicles and reduced the rate of carbon emissions through the evolution of a
range of cars that would support in their mission of continuing their operations through
sustainable operations. Dumortier et al. (2015) opined that the different changes in the process
design and the strategies supported the venture in enhancing the rate of operations and its market
position in alignment with the strategic mission of sustenance and growth of the venture. The
different changes in the process design and the other operational initiatives are led by the vision
of success in America. On the other hand, the mission of Toyota is to build a respectable
position for the same while competition with the existing market players (Leng et al. 2015). In

8TOYOTA AND HYBRID MARKETING
this relation, the technological innovations in the line of offerings and the sustenance based
policies of the same supported the venture in attaining the common objectives.
Answer to Question 3
The buying behavior of the consumers are generally influenced by the quality of the
offerings and the price that is being quoted by the organization for the utility. However, most of
the customer decision making process is reliant on the intrinsic and extrinsic motives, which is
influenced by the marketing activity of the organizations. In this relation, Toyota developed
Prius, which is a petrol-electric hybrid vehicle (Leng et al. 2015). The marketing and positioning
that is being done by the organization assisted the same in attracting the attention of the
environmentally conscious consumers. The enhancement in the demand for hybrid models
supported Toyota in expanding their venture in different parts of the world.
Hibino, Noguchi and Plenert (2017) opined that Toyota marketed Prius as the most
energy efficient vehicle with lower rates of emission which drew the attention of the customers
who are concerned of environmental degradation. The marketing campaign by the organization
supported the same in influencing the buying behaviour of the customers who wish to conserve
the environment and believes in their individual contribution to the ethical conservation process.
However, Ito (2014) opined that mostly, around 65% of the customers switched to the hybrid
models for supporting their extrinsic motives of popularity, image or status over intrinsic motives
of conservation. At this point, there are different factors based on behavioural aspects of the
consumers which influenced the buying habits of the customers while making a choice between
conventional models and the hybrids (Simão and Lisboa 2017).

9TOYOTA AND HYBRID MARKETING
Figure: Decision making process of buyers
(Source: Simbolon 2015)
The decision making process of the buyers initiate with stimulus or the urgency of a need
which is one of the major factors that led the customers of Toyota to make a buy of their hybrid
models to support environmental sustenance. The stimulus is based on problem recognition and
web search through which the consumers grab the knowledge o0f the offerings that are presented
by Toyota. After making the web search, the consumers evaluate the alternatives to hybrid
vehicles succeeding which they make a decision of buying Toyota’s unique offerings. The
intrinsic motives drew the attention of the customers who are concerned about conservation.
However, customers who liked to show off their status while buying a hybrid paying twice the
price of a conventional petrol driven model was also considered by the organization. Therefore,
the promotional campaign was designed with the objective of drawing the attention of both the
types of customers with the objective of maximizing the sales volume of the venture. The
diverse range of promotional practices supported Toyota in continuing with the efficiency of the
operations in alignment with the needs of the customers. Shukor et al. (2015) opined that the
different modifications in the process design and the competitive pricing strategies supported
Toyota in developing a strong market base for the same. The identification of the behavioral

10TOYOTA AND HYBRID MARKETING
constructs of the customers supported the organization in maintaining the efficiency of the
operations in alignment with the needs of the venture.
The different considerations that are being undertaken by the customers while making a
buy of the hybrid models are reliant on the practicality and operationalization of the hybrid
models. On the other hand, the organization also adhered to the expectations of GenY
(Millenials)who preferred performance over the price of the commodities (Sexton and Sexton
2014). The assurance of the performance and security that is being provided by Toyota also
attracted the attention of the customers. Therefore, the consumer characteristics relating to their
intrinsic and extrinsic motives influenced the buying behavior of the same while purchasing
Toyota Hybrids.
Answer to Question 4
 Segmenting: Based on geographic segmentation the primary target consumer market of
the company’s hybrid car segment is deemed to be the emerging nations and the major
markets of Europe (Simbolon 2015).Moreover, based on the market segmentation,
Toyota targets its market based on geographic aspects. As the company operates in
several nations, it also segments its target consumer market in developed nations like in
US, Australia, UK and European nations. The price sensitive consumer groups are
considered to be the major target market for Toyota.Based on the demographic consumer
segmentation of Toyota, the company has selected its target consumer market between
the age group of 30 to 50 years that are married and have family responsibilities
(Lamonge, Lapian and Tumbuan 2019). Focused on the socio-economic market
segmentation, Toyota has targeted consumer market including educated and infirmed
adults for its automobile brands.Toyota has also segmented its market based on

11TOYOTA AND HYBRID MARKETING
psychographic aspects that includes early adapters that queue up to purchase latest
products as fast as possible.
 Targeting: Targeting the consumers will also rely on the segmentation along with
positioning aspects of Toyota Company’s consumer group.Toyota is already positioned
as one of the leading automobile company within its domestic marketplace. The price
sensitive consumer groups are considered to be the major target market for Toyota. The
target market strategy of the company is relied on the principle of “launching the suitable
car for the suitable target market”.The target consumer market for Toyota based on its
market segmentation includes consumers that are individuals’ buyers along with the
corporate and fleet buyers. The individual consumers are targeted by Toyota through
implementing traditional forms of marketing and advertising. On the other hand the B2B
consumers are targeted by Toyota through institutional selling, advertisements in
business press along with specific marketing campaigns focused on attracting them.The
typical profile of Toyota’s target consumers indicates that the company attracts
consumers with high disposable income and is willing to spend more on the environment
friendly cars.Another target market for Toyota includes environment friendly consumers
that are socially as well as environmentally conscious and tend to purchase goods that fit
their desired imperatives (Davies 2017). The target market for Toyota is selected based
on the company’s market segmentation for its hybrid cars that majorly depend on the
features and services of the concerned product base.
 Positioning: Focused on the target consumer market Toyota has launched several car
models over years which are intended to focus on specific market segment in which it
operates. In addition, Toyota has positioned itself as environmentally sustainable