Consumer Behaviour

Executive Summary
 
The modern organization under the digital world have endless competitions as the development progress of each new digital product increases as well. In comparison of many digital products, Apple is believed to be one of the most innovative and revolutionized brand. Apple drastically increase its sales margin introducing the most innovative and undoubtedly the best since the year 2001. Introduction of Apple’s iphone and Ipad products have puts Apple.Inc on the highest levels of profit margin and market shares in the digital production line.

Apple’s great achievement comes from different factors including its concepts and technologies.
Apple’s report has also indicated that the iPad Air 2 has achieved an excellent sales performance. iPad Air 2 is smaller and lighter while remaining brilliant with its function . Apple’s success comes from a unique product positioning strategy which left most competitors confused and these strategies are the companie’s vision of its customers’ needs. Commonly, people who obtains an apple Ipad Air 2, usually are loyal customers from the previous generation, or new customers who are ready to spend on a premium product with the feel of luxury product.

Here we are going to discuss customers of Apple Ipad Air 2 tend to go through five stages of consumer decision making process. However, there are many internal factors (needs & motivation, personality & self-concept, involvement and perception) and situational factors (gift-giving and retail environment) that may influence this process. Lastly, I will provide some recommendations for Apple Ipad air 2 to promote the brand. .
 






















 
2.1 Five-Stage Consumer Decision Making Process Theory

The five stages is a good old concept to calculate and measure the customer’s buying process. This was first introduced following five stages by John Dewey in the 1910.


 Problem/need recognition

This is usually the first and most crucial step in the customer’s decision process. A purchase of a product cannot work without the need of recognition. So if there’s no need , there is no purchase. The need could have been activated by the internal stimuli., the need to feed oneself due to hunger, the need of food provides energy to the body, or external stimuli such as billboards or spread of words from surroundings such as friends and family.


Information search 


After the first process, the need is identified. It is time for consumers to search for information about solutions to the need. He/she will search more information depending on the level of his/she involvement. For example, buying rice from the grocery store requires little information and involvement but it is vice versa for purchasing a car. Apple Ipad air 2 requires high involvement due to the specifics of the product and the function of the product.



III. Alternative evaluation

After information has been collected, the consumer will start evaluating the different choices that offers him. He will start to choose the one that he thinks it’s best for him.

This stage of buying process is heavily influenced by an individual’s attitude , liking or disliking the product . Another reason that influence the evaluation process is the involvement of the individual. For an instance, if the customer is involved with the Apple Ipad Air 2 is high, he will evaluate a brands such as Samsung , Sony and other major competitors. If it’s low they would only evaluate the chosen brand itself.

Purchase Decision 

This is the 4th stage of Consumer decision making process where the purchase takes place according to Kotler , Koshy , Keller and Jha (2009) . The purchase decision can be divided into 2 factors , negative feedback from other loyal customers and the level of motivation to deny or receive the feedback. For Instance, after the 3 decision process stages, Eddy chooses to buy the Ipad Air 2. However, his good friend Shawn, who is a Ipad Air 2 purchaser , gave him a feedback that is negative. He might consider changing his decision on buying the Ipad. Another factor disrupting the decision could be an unforeseen scenario such as getting fired from a job or declaring bankruptcy.



V. Post-purchase behaviour 

Once the Apple iPad air 2 is purchase and used by the consumer, they will start evaluating the requirement of his original needs. If he had made the right choice of buying the iPad Air 2. He would feel a sense of satisfaction for the product. If not, a disappointment of the product because it does not meet the minimum expectations of the product

An opinion that will influence his future decisions and buying behaviour. If the product has brought satisfaction to the consumer, he will then minimize stages of information search and alternative evaluation for his next purchases in order to buy the same brand. Which will produce customer loyalty.

This last and final process may have a great impact for a brand. A satisfied customer will be likely to become a loyal customer.  The outcome will be positive or negative, either ways consumers will be able to share their opinion on the brand. Whether by family, friends or youtubers reviewing the product. 



Internal Factors and Situational Factors
 

Right here, Apple Ipad Air 2 could be applied to both internal stimuli and external stimuli. The product can be affected by the internal stimuli from one need of using the product because they felt the need to use the product for the technology, such as presenting on the ipad in a small meeting, entertainment purpose.  Potential Customers can be affected by external stimuli by the eye catching ads by Apple. The ads of Apple Ipad air 2 clearly shows that the product is a luxury, premium and bold with its latest design and tech speculations. This creates the need of one to feel and admire such product .

There are 3 classification type of needs and Ipad air 2 is classified as functional need. Functional need is the need that is related to a specific function of a product. Like Apple ipad air 2 supports customers needs by providing a need of convenience to access all sorts of entertainment, apps and it’s a multi-purpose device that is light and easy.


In Maslow hierarchy of needs, invented by the great psychologist, this is one of the best used classification of hierarchy of needs. It describes that every individual is “lead” to a certain needs that they want to achieve before moving on to another need.

Apple Ipad air 2 usually lays on the need of self- esteem in Maslow’s Hierarchy because it generates the feeling of ultimate luxurious and spending power on a product. It reflects that one is capable of affording an expensive device compare to a Samsung or Sony.         ..
 

 
Situational factors may include the gift-giving culture, the industry environment, market changes, policies and possible competitors, etc.
Some people buy products to give them to friends or family members. Thus, gift-giving is also a very important concept in purchasing behavior. Some people would suggest that gifts should be of practical value and it is acceptable to express the emotions with a small gift while others may suggest that gifts should be expensive and solemn (Gu et al 2013，270). Thus, those who care about qualities high-end gifts will probably choose the iPad Air. As for the industry environment, it directs the purchasing behaviors of customers. When the whole industry develops well and the products are updating frequently, customers are more likely to buy the newest editions to catch up with the trend.
The consumer will form an opinion to guide his decisions and his decision making process with  Internal information and External Information

Internal information is the information already exist in the consumer’s mind. It comes from earlier experiences from the product he bought or the opinion he may have of the brand. For example, Eddy bought and Ipad Air 1, and he finds the product very useful and helpful which solves his daily needs such as Alarm , presentation slides and entertainment. He might consider getting the IPad Air 2 because he’s old device has already been broken.

If Eddy couldn’t decide to get a new Ipad Air 2 , he might look for other information such as external information. External information comes from the people around you such as friends and family or review of Ipad Air 2 on youtube.  Other than that, they can come from sales person or advertising. So if, a consumer who wants to get an Ipad Air 2 , he might consult a family member that obtains the product or a friend.  During this process, Eddy will pay more attention to his internal and external information and he will list out why this will the Ipad Air2 will solve his problem.
 













3 Conclusions
 
Firstly, in the first decision process, the brand should then try every possible way to evoke the inner needs of purchasing Apple products. For example, it could create relevant topics of discussion.
In the information collection process, the brand should then take advantage of the customers’ individual characters like personality and self-concept to produce their advertisements. For example, the advertisements could stress the point of being different. Meanwhile, the brand could also co-operate with some stars to cause the celebrity effect (Wilson & Darke 2012，620).
In order to win a preference in the comparing process, the brand should develop a better understanding of the competitors in order to take the priority.

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