Consumer Behavior of Zealong Tea: A Marketing Analysis Report

This report provides an in-depth analysis of the consumer behavior associated with Zealong tea, a brand originating from New Zealand that focuses on organic and residue-free tea production. The report examines Zealong's marketing strategies, including branding, packaging, and product positioning, particularly highlighting their emphasis on quality, health benefits, and the use of the 'New Zealand Oolong' name. It also explores the function of attention and perception in consumer behavior, discussing how marketing efforts, such as attractive packaging and brand naming, influence consumer choices. The report further investigates the success factors of Zealong, emphasizing their premium product quality and effective communication strategies. Finally, it contrasts consumer behavior between Asian and Western cultures, noting the impact of cultural backgrounds on tea preferences and the implications for marketing strategies. The report references various academic sources to support its analysis and provides insights into Zealong's market positioning and consumer engagement.

Consumer Behavior of Zealong Tea
Background:
• Zealong tea began its operations in the year 1996 from New Zealand itself.
• Tea is farmed organically and is residue free.
• The products are available in four flavour tones which are- our, aromatic, dark and
black
The fluctuating weather conditions of NewZeland make it a perfect for the purpose of
growing tea. The company also practices a number of different approaches for gaining
competitive advantage over other similar market players. As mentioned by East, Singh,
Wright &Vanhuele (2016), the company has a no compromises approach to quality which
places its products at the nice both nationally and internationally. Some of the aspects which
could be certified by the company to gives a market advantage over others are that the tea is
farmed organically and is residue free. With the growing health and environmental concern
many people have stopped using chemically processed food products worldwide. As
commented by Biswas & Roy (2015), people worldwide are shifting towards the use of more
and more organic substances as well as food product.
Marketing strategies
• Zealong places special importance upon branding and positioning such as
developing elegant package designs.

• To gain a competitive advantage Zealong has also focused upon building high quality
tea ware items
• purity of the product which could help in the optimisation of the health and well being
of the customers
• Zealong picks up only the top three leaves which are also emblem onto the package.
Additionally, the company palces special importance upon its brand name, where it
uses the name New Zealand Oolong, where ‘oolong’ means black dragon
tea("zealong.com", 2018). It is a perfect match for Newzeland grown product.
Additionally, the colour black is symbolic of national pride of NewZeland which helps in
connecting with the sentiments of the local people. However as argued by Parsons,
Maclaran&Chatzidakis (2017), the colour black is associated with negative emotions in
many countries across the world.
Therefore, the bold decision to go black was used as a marketing gimmick by the
company to gain global market attention. To gain a competitive advantage Zealong has
also focused upon building high quality tea ware items. This was offered as a free gift
material along with the tea pouches which also ensured that more number of target
customers would purchase the tea packets. Some of the aspects zeroed in by the company
for gaining market advantage over others such as purity of the product which could help
in the optimisation of the health and wellbeing of the customers (Godey et al., 2017).
Function of attention and perception in consumer behavior
• Perception of choice varies in different customers in the matter of choosing products

• The marketing can play essential part in altering the perception of the people
One of the crucial parts of all marketing plan is to understand the perception and behavior
of the customers. With the help of the effective brand communication strategy it is possible to
influence the mind of the customers as they chose a particular brand of product. The major
strategy includes that of the attractive packing systems (Hudson et al., 2016).
The main purpose of marketing perception is to ensure that the features that are used within
the products are according to the needs of the customers. Proper exposure of the product and
service will enable a brand to get poplar with the target customers (Oliver, 2014).
Techniques that Zealong uses to influence the stimuli
• The company gives priority to the packing systems to increase the attractiveness
• The naming of the brand Zealong means black dragon tea. This naming helps in the
purpose of attracting the customers.
The attractive looking packages is considered to be one of the essential components of the
stimulus influencing agents that are being used by the Zealong brand to influence upon the
target group of customers. The naming of the brand is also one of the essential marketing
strategy, that will help the customers to easily connect with the product value of the company
(Zealong.com., 2018).

Success of Zealong as a brand
• The success of the organization depends on their brand positioning strategy
• The company maintains high level of purity in the product that helps in the process of
generating brand reputation.
As mentioned earlier Zealong tea provides higher level of information to the people that
is an essential part of the market positioning strategy. The major cause for the success of the
company over the past many years is due to their ability to maintain premium product quality.
They also promote the element of health and wellbeing that is highly associated with drinking
of the premium quality of tea (Zealong.com. 2018). .
Variation of Stimuli between Asian and Western cultures
• Due to the stimuli the people in the western culture prefers the brand value of the tea.
While the Asian culture stimuli is solely dependent on the native taste of the tea.
• The stimuli of the people in the west can be manipulated with the help of attractive
branding and packing system.
• On the other hand, due to the popularity of the tea products in the Asian region, the
stimuli of the given culture depend totally on product quality.
• It is important to interpret the difference between the two customer behaviors of the
two cultures.
It is important to note that there is a variation in the perception of the customer is highly
influenced by the cultural background of an individual (Chetcuti et al., 2016). People of the

European region mainly prefers the brand and packing value of the tea that is unlike the
people of the Asian culture, whose stimuli can be generated only by the native good taste of
the tea. Due to the variation in the lifestyle and food habits business has to implement
effective marketing strategy (Bacile et al., 2014). The market researchers need to understand
the difference between the two attitudes of the two cultures that can be interpreted from the
marketing data collected from the primary sources. This can help them to deal with the issues
of different forms of marketing strategies needed in diverse cultural background.
Relevant Examples
• Zealong has been able to establish themselves as one of the leading tea manufacturing
brand that in New Zealand.
• The major cause of the company’s success is mostly due to their effective market
communication strategy.
• The effective market positioning strategy of the company includes direct interaction
with the customers and providing them with free samples of the product quality.
The main cause of success of Zealong as a tea brand in the market of New Zealand is
mostly because of their effective brand positioning strategy. They are also able to better
communicate with the customers and thereby gain popularity with the western society.
With the help of their communication strategy, it is possible for the customers to better
connect with the brand (Petersen et al., 2015).

References
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463-468.
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study on AIESEC (Bachelor's thesis, University of Malta).
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Applications in marketing. London: Sage, 55-65.
• Godey, B., Manthiou, A., Pederzoli, D., Rokka, J., Aiello, G., Donvito, R., & Singh,
R. (2016). Social media marketing efforts of luxury brands: Influence on brand equity
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perceptions and marketing behaviors. International Journal of Research in Marketing,
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Routledge.
• Parsons, E., Maclaran, P., &Chatzidakis, A. (2017). Contemporary issues in
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• Petersen, J. A., Kushwaha, T., & Kumar, V. (2015). Marketing communication
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• zealong.com. (2018). https://zealong.com/tea/. Retrieved 31 March 2018, from