Analyzing Unilever's Success: A Case Study in Consumer Behavior

This case study analyzes Unilever's successful application of understanding consumer behavior to effectively market its products. It discusses social, personal, and economic factors influencing consumer decisions, referencing Shiffman's framework to explain Unilever's micro and macro-level assessments. The report outlines the advantages and disadvantages of Unilever's consumer behavior analysis, including market segmentation and increased competition. It concludes that understanding consumer behavior is crucial for companies to tailor their products and services, contributing to market growth and consumer satisfaction. Desklib provides similar solved assignments and study tools for students.

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Table of Contents

Introduction......................................................................................................................................1
How successful is Unilever in applying its understanding of factors that influence consumer
behaviour to market its products?....................................................................................................1
Factors influencing consumer behaviour with theories and examples...................................1
Pros and cons of analyses and adequacy of procedures used by Unilever.............................2
Conclusion.......................................................................................................................................3
References........................................................................................................................................4

Introduction
Consumer behavior can be defined as the study of the market by any organization so that
the examination of all the activities of the purchase and use of goods and services can be
determined. This examination includes the consumer’s emotions and attitudes along with the
preferences effect on the buying behavior (Kotler, Kartajaya and Setiawan, 2019). Chosen
organization for the case study is Unilever, it is one of the international leading consumer goods
company established in 1929 and headquartered in the United Kingdom. It offers products and
services like beauty care and food along with the wellbeing vitamins and supplements and many
more. The following discussion is based on the case study of how successful is Unilever in
applying its understanding of factors that influence consumer behavior to market its products.
Discussions are made on the factors influencing consumer behavior along with its pros and cons
which is followed by the adequacy of procedure used by Unilever with conclusion.
How successful is Unilever in applying its understanding of factors that
influence consumer behaviour to market its products?
Factors influencing consumer behaviour with theories and examples
According to the case it is given on Unilever and its consumer behaviour, there are three major
factors which have affected the consumer behaviour such as social factors and personal factors
along with economic factors.
 Social factors are the ones in which the consumer influences themselves because of their
surroundings to purchase the particular product or not. Such surroundings are the family
members and reference groups along with the roles and status. Nowadays culture factors
are also considered under social factors because culture is one of the societal expectations
and beliefs for example of subculture and social class of a particular person.
 Personal factors are the actors which differ from person to person which means their
personal characteristics and perceptions about the purchasing behaviour. For example, the
age of a person and the income along with the occupation and lifestyle. Moreover
motivation and perception along with the learning and attitudes are also included in the
personal factors because it highly differs from individual to individual (Augusto, 2020).
 Economic factors are specifically the decisions and buying habits of the person not on an
individual basis but as a group and how it is affecting the economy of the nation. This
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means that if the economy is weak then it reflects the struggling market and vice versa.
For example personal income and family income along with the consumer credit and
liquid assets which is followed by the savings by any household.
Shiffman framework is highly associated with the Unilever consumer buying behaviour
case study. It has the sequencing and systematic way of telling how Unilever has gained success
by understanding the factors which influence the consumer market in order to market its
products. The initial and the basic level the Unilever focuses is on the process and then comes
the ingredient and subsystems along with the product. These are the classification of micro level
assessments done by Unilever. After product, it starts with the portfolio then sourcing strategy
and company along with the sector and planetary. These are the classification of macro level
assessments done by the company. This is the entire framework used by Unilever in terms of
different risks and impacts on the consumer behaviour which relates with the indirect effect and
knowledge of systems as well (Narayanan and Das, 2021).
Pros and cons of analyses and adequacy of procedures used by Unilever
Advantages of the analysis of consumer behaviour by Unilever have given the benefit to
the company. This analysis has helped the company in formulating the right marketing strategy
by supporting the systematic way of segmentation of the market. It has also helped in the
development of new products with good innovation and creativity which has ultimately assisted
in the product orientation. This analysis has also aided the company in reorientation of packaging
which finally helps the consumers to study their behaviour (Sorresse, 2018).
Disadvantages of the analysis of consumer behaviour by Unilever have given some of the
trouble to the company. The major disadvantage is the competition in the market. This is because
every company wants their product to be sold to a large number of customers so they mould the
consumer preferences according to their product and convince them to purchase even at the false
promise of services. This is not ethically right. This particular thing has increased the greater
competition for Unilever and that is why it is becoming difficult for the company to study the
consumer behaviour according to their products and services offered in the marketplace
(Siddique and Sultana, 2018).
Adequacy of procedures used by Unilever includes the appropriate policies and processes
along with the system design in order to ensure that the company is reasonably expected to work
under the compliance with applicable anti corruption legislation which includes devising and
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maintenance of the system in terms of internal accounting controls. It also states that the
company is not involved in any unethical or illegal activity in the name of the organisation and
therefore has properly maintained the adequate procedures within the organisation.
Conclusion
It is concluded that consumer behavior is an important concept to learn and study so that
its applications can be applied in real world organizations. This is because it helps the companies
in studying the market and manufactures their products and services accordingly for large sales
and every generation. Therefore, it is important to analyze the different factors which influence
consumer behavior along with its theories and examples. It is essential to examine the different
pros and cons of the analysis made about factors. It is necessary to determine the adequacy of
procedure used by the organization and how effectively it can be implemented within the
company. Hence, the report covers all such areas in order to better understand the conception of
the consumer behavior.
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References
Books and Journals
Augusto, M.P., 2020. A study of Unilever’s online consumer-brand engagement in
Portugal (Doctoral dissertation).
Kotler, P., Kartajaya, H. and Setiawan, I., 2019. Marketing 3.0: From products to customers to
the human spirit. In Marketing wisdom (pp. 139-156). Springer, Singapore.
Narayanan, S. and Das, J.R., 2021. Can the marketing innovation of purpose branding make
brands meaningful and relevant?. International Journal of Innovation Science.
Siddique, F.B. and Sultana, I., 2018. Unilever Sustainable Living Plan: A Critical Analysis.
Sorresse, A., 2018. Brand Identity and Willingness to Buy. Proceedings of the Northeast
Business & Economics Association.
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