MN5006QA Case Study: Analyzing Unilever's Consumer Behavior Marketing

This case study critically analyzes Unilever's successful application of consumer behavior principles in its marketing strategies. It explores various models of consumer behavior, including the sociological model, family decision-making model, and the Nicosia model, highlighting how Unilever leverages these understandings. The analysis further delves into the psychological, personal, and social factors influencing consumer behavior, using examples such as Dove's 'Campaign for Real Beauty,' Sunsilk's market positioning, and Lifebuoy's association with hygiene. The report concludes that a deep understanding of consumer behavior is crucial for a firm's sustained market success and effective marketing policy development.

MN5006QA
Individual Assessment
1 – Case Study

Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................2
MAIN BODY...................................................................................................................................3
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................5
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................6

INTRODUCTION
Consumer behaviour is one of the most important factors which determines whether or
not firms are able to consistently perform on a high level in their respective target market
segments and is mostly concerned with their buying decisions and behaviour (Mothersbaugh,
and et.al., 2020). This report will include critical analysis based on the organizational context of
Unilever which is one of the most successful multinational retailers in the world which was
founded in 1929 and has its headquarters situated in London. This report will highlight the major
factors which influence consumer behaviour by featuring a critical overview of the way in which
Unilever applies its understanding of consumer behaviour in order to effectively market its
multiple product lines.
MAIN BODY
How successful is Unilever in applying its understanding of factors that influence consumer
behaviour to market its products?
One of the major ways in which businesses succeed in the market in terms of generating
decent profits and keeping their competitive edge sustained for a long period of time is by paying
close attention to consumer behavioural trends. By analysing and forming business strategies and
metrics based on the way in which consumers get swayed and manipulated to purchase a
particular product line or brand, companies like Unilever successfully build long lasting business
relationships with its clientele and obtains frequent market success. There are many factors
which influence consumer behaviour in a variety of ways as this field of business administration
and management is quite complex and customer profiles and psychology varies a lot in response
to any kind of stimuli released by Unilever’s marketing department (Khan, Aalsalem and Khan,
2018). Some of the major models of customer behaviour have been listed herein to better

understand how people are influenced to buy particular products such as ones developed by
Unilever.
 Sociological model – This model of consumer behaviour state that people are part of
various formal and informal associations with various groups and strata’s found in
society and they get influenced in a major manner through these groups and their
associated buying habits. Marketers of companies such as Unilever’s conduct extensive
market research to understand the way in which specific communities and families
behave to position their products for maximum benefit
 Family decision making model – This model helps in understanding the complex
buying decision dynamics which occur in families which are both joint and nuclear in
nature. This model helps marketers to identify the different roles which each family
members plays in regards to influencing their collective buyer behaviour. The family
members are classified into a maximum of 6 roles which include user, influencer,
preparer, gatekeeper, buyer and decider
 The Nicosia model – This model employs a system based approach in which human
being is treated as a systematic object and they are subjected to stimuli in the form of
inputs and the expected buyer behaviour is termed as the output. According to this model,
the communication which the firm introduces in the market to go along with their
products forms the initial attitude which the customer has towards any product. Unilever
positions its products in such a way that they seem like necessities to have which
according to this model, detracts consumers from choosing alternatives.
Out of all the above mentioned models which influence customer behaviour, there are also
certain factors which influence consumer behaviour in a major way. Unilever has achieved major
success in 3 particular dimensions which have allowed it to corner the retail market with the help
of major brand such as Dove, Sun silk and Lifebuoy. Some of the understanding of these 3
concepts have been highlighted beneath with the way in which Unilever used them for its market
benefit.
 Psychological factors – Unilever has displayed a keen understanding regarding the way
that certain customers can be influenced by crafting a specific message which is aimed at
mentally stimulating them. The best possible example can be seen in the way that

Unilever has used the marketing of Dove to target the way that women feel when they are
compared unfairly to fake beauty standards which are all over social media here days. By
creating a marketing campaign which gives the message that women are naturally
beautiful, they get psychologically connected to the brand which has been a major reason
behind success of dove
 Personal factors – The age and income of Unilever’s targets market has also been used
by the company to devise effective sales promotion techniques which have also been a
major force behind the success of the company. One of the most extensive examples of
this is how Unilever has marketed and positioned Sun silk in the market as it is cheap, has
great quality and it is advertised in a way that people of all income groups can at least
afford one sachet or even one whole bottle depending upon their requirements. Sun silk
has also been diversified by Unilever by offering products for both men and women.
 Social factors – One of the most major ways in which Unilever has displayed its
understanding of the way in which consumer behaviour can be influenced is through its
social understanding of its multiple product lines. This example can be seen in the way in
which it has marketed Lifebuoy soap in countries like UK where the marketing and
promotion has been done in such a way that the soap has come to be associated with
being a basic hygiene necessity for people. By making people associate a product like
soap with complete form of protection, people learn to follow the herd and this has
resulted in Lifebuoy become a major part of billion-dollar market share of the company
(Mohammad and Drolet, 2019).
CONCLUSION
The above concluded report went into detail regarding the way in which consumer
behaviour forms the basis of the firm’s marketing policies and procedures and its importance in
making the firm attain constant success in the market. The report included 5 major factors which
influence consumer buying decisions and overall behaviour and then it focused on social,
personal and psychological factors which determine a firm’s product success in any industry. It
was concluded from this report that in order to attain success in the market, companies must

make sure they understand buyer behaviour and the factors that influence it in a proficient
manner.

REFERENCES
Books and Journals
Mothersbaugh, D.L., and et.al., 2020. Consumer behavior: Building marketing strategy. New
York, NY, USA: McGraw-Hill Education.
Khan, W.Z., Aalsalem, M.Y. and Khan, M.K., 2018, January. Five acts of consumer behavior: A
potential security and privacy threat to Internet of Things. In 2018 IEEE international conference
on consumer electronics (ICCE) (pp. 1-3). IEEE.
Susanty, A., and et.al., 2021. Analysis of the tendency of transition between segments of green
consumer behavior with a Markov chain approach. Journal of Modelling in Management.
Mohammad, A.P. and Drolet, A., 2019. The influence of age and time horizon perspective on
consumer behavior. Current Opinion in Psychology, 26, pp.94-97.