Attractive Displays Post Purchase Evaluation For Consumers example essay topic

1. The decision making process for canned tuna is as follows: (i) Problem Recognition - Consumers of canned tuna are motivated primarily by the need to satisfy their physiological need of hunger which is the most basic level of needs under Maslow's hierarchy of needs. Problem recognition can also stem from stock-outs where consumers run out of canned tuna supplies. In addition, motivation of purchase can be marketer-induced to incite new needs / wants by introducing consumers new uses of canned tuna through the introduction of new recipes (ii) Information Search - The purchase of canned tuna is a routine, repetitive and habitual behaviour, as such consumers largely rely information search internally based on their previous purchases of various brands of canned tuna. Nevertheless some consumers may rely on external search. For example, health conscious consumers will extend their search externally by searching for product information such as nutritional facts of the various brands of tuna.

Consumers who are price sensitive will search for price information and sales promotions in the form of discount coupons in newspapers ( ) Alternative Evaluation - Consumers will have in mind an evoke set of brands that they intend to purchase after engaging the above information search. Certain brands of canned tuna will also form part of the consideration set if there is substantial reminder advertising. Due to a perceived lack of product differentiation in general, the most common form of evaluation criteria are price and promotion where brands may be evaluated favorably on the basis of the best promotion and / or lowest price. Consumers who are brand conscious or loyal will also based brands as their evaluation criteria. (iv) Purchase Decision - As canned tuna is a low involvement product, consumers often simplify the purchase decision process and make use of either price-based or promotions-based heuristics. Nonetheless, consumers who are highly brand loyal will based their evaluation on brands regardless of price or promotion. It must be noted that for canned tuna, a low involvement product, the time between purchase intention and actual purchase is very short, as such some consumers may based their purchase decision on brand familiarity or loyalty.

Marketers can also affect purchase decision at the point of sales as a last touch point by enforcing reminder advertising with nice packaging, exhibiting brand names prominently, have a strong shelf presence and put attractive displays. (v) Post-purchase Evaluation - For consumers who have purchased a new brand of tuna, he or she may compare the consumption of the food with previous purchases which have formed the basis of consumer's expectation for the new brand of tuna bought. If the tuna taste comparatively similar or better, satisfaction occur, otherwise dissatisfaction of the product will result. Due to the general perceived lack of differences between brand alternatives and low involvement for the product, the most applicable response hierarchy model for canned tuna is that of a low-involvement hierarchy. Consumers will go through influenced by advertising but does not attempt to validate against his or her personal attitudes or belief. As such they may be positively affected by advertising which will translate to purchase behaviour. Attitudes for the product will be formed after consuming the product.

2. Being a low involvement good, repetitive advertising is needed to increase high brand exposure. The purpose is to remind consumers of the brand and to maintain high awareness so that they will be included in the evoked set. Reminder advertising that incorporates the jingle and mermaid icon serves to increase positive associations to the canned tuna. IMC in the form of point of sales displays is particularly vital in the last touch point to stimulate sales where it becomes a "moment of truth" right before consumers decide on an actual purchase.

Also, consumers focus more on peripheral cues such as music, characters, symbols, slogans and jingles rather than actual message content. Therefore, companies can develop a catchy jingle that is stored on the consumers' mind without any cognitive processing and becomes salient when the consumers enter a purchase situation. Similarly, they can make use of a "visual image personality" where personality symbols such as Starkist's Charlie the Tuna, COSI's mermaid and Bumble Bee's "Bee" to develop visual images that will lead consumers to identify and retain ads. Therefore, companies might want to use the various IMC elements to achieve a marketing program where the brand is represented by a personality symbol accompanied by a catchy jingle, with repeated advertisements focusing on a single simple product claim and supported by various promotions and discounts.

The IMC elements used by COSI are (i) sales promotions (which induce the purchase intention of consumers due to promotions-based heuristics), (ii) advertising (serves as reminder advertising, creates awareness), ( ) jingle (enables COSI to become part of the evoked set of brands due to its catchiness), (iv) mermaid icon (which when printed on the packaging serves as the last touch point and evokes brand loyalty), (v) PR and publicity events such as the sponsorship of the synchronized swimming team in the summer Olympics and the Jessica Simpson Faux Pas (creates brand awareness), (vi) direct marketing such as the mermaid club (satisfying consumers's ocio logical needs by creating a sense of belonging and a community for COSI consumers), (vii) interactive / internet marketing (online recipe generator helps to create new needs and wants in the form of new uses for tuna such as to encourage consumers to consume more of the company's products), (v.) selling of merchandise on the mermaid store (which serves as a walking form of advertisements and further enhances the brand image), (ix) their simple claim that their tuna taste like chicken (which gives the impression that the tuna is superior in taste)..