GCU Lee Customer Characteristics & Buying Behavior Discussion
ANSWER
Part 1: Understanding Customer Behavior and Differences Between B2C and B2B
Consumer Characteristics Influencing Buying Behavior:
- Cultural Factors:
- Culture plays a significant role in consumer behavior. Lee’s artificial flowers may be influenced by cultural factors such as the importance of flowers in various cultures, the significance of different flower types, and cultural events or traditions that involve the use of flowers.
- Cultural norms and values related to environmental consciousness and gift-giving practices can also affect purchasing decisions.
- Social Factors:
- Social factors include reference groups and social classes. For Lee’s product, reference groups like friends, family, and influencers in the floral industry can impact purchase decisions.
- Social class may determine the customer’s preference for premium or budget-friendly artificial flowers.
- Personal Factors:
- Personal factors encompass age, occupation, lifestyle, and personality. The age group of consumers will influence their flower preferences. For instance, younger consumers may prefer trendy designs, while older customers may prefer classic arrangements.
- Occupations and lifestyles can affect the frequency of purchase, as individuals in event planning or interior decorating professions may buy in larger quantities.
Consumer Psychological Factors:
- Motivation:
- Motivation relates to the underlying reasons for purchasing artificial flowers. Customers may be motivated by the desire for long-lasting, low-maintenance decor, environmental concerns, or the need for a gift.
- Perception:
- Perception refers to how customers perceive Lee’s artificial flowers in terms of quality, scent, and aesthetics. Effective marketing should manage these perceptions positively.
- Emotions:
- Emotions play a vital role in the purchase decision. Lee’s flowers aim to evoke positive emotions associated with natural flowers, such as happiness and nostalgia.
- Memory:
- Memory influences repeat purchases. Creating positive memories associated with Lee’s flowers, such as excellent customer service or a pleasant unboxing experience, can drive customer loyalty.
Five-Stage Model of the Consumer Buying Process:
- Problem Recognition: The consumer realizes a need for artificial flowers, which could arise from a special occasion or a desire for home decor.
- Information Search: Consumers seek information about Lee’s artificial flowers, possibly through online research, reviews, or recommendations.
- Evaluation of Alternatives: Customers compare Lee’s product with competitors, considering factors like quality, scent, and price.
- Purchase Decision: After evaluation, the consumer decides to buy Lee’s artificial flowers.
- Post-Purchase Behavior: This stage involves customer satisfaction, which could lead to repeat purchases and word-of-mouth recommendations.
Differences Between B2C and B2B for Lee’s Artificial Flowers:
- Purchase Motivation: B2C customers are often motivated by personal needs or emotions, while B2B customers focus on business requirements, cost-effectiveness, and supplier reliability.
- Purchase Volume: B2B transactions typically involve larger quantities compared to B2C, which may involve individual or small-scale purchases.
- Decision-Making Unit: B2C decisions are usually made by individuals or households, whereas B2B decisions involve a more complex decision-making unit, including procurement teams and management.
- Sales Process: B2C sales are often direct to the end consumer, while B2B sales may involve negotiations, customized contracts, and longer sales cycles.
- Marketing Approach: B2C marketing emphasizes consumer-oriented messaging and emotional appeal, while B2B marketing focuses on product features, cost-effectiveness, and business benefits.
Part 2: Marketing Research Process
Research Problem for Lee’s Artificial Flowers: The research problem for Lee’s Artificial Flowers is to understand consumer preferences, motivations, and buying behaviors, as well as to identify opportunities for expansion in the B2B market.
Research Plan Using Secondary and Primary Data:
- Secondary Data: Utilize industry reports, market research studies, and competitor analysis to gather information on market size, growth rates, consumer preferences, and trends.
- Primary Data: Conduct surveys and interviews with both B2C and B2B customers to gather specific insights into their buying behavior and preferences.
Evaluation of Secondary Data:
- Secondary data suggests that the artificial flower industry is growing due to increased environmental awareness and the desire for long-lasting decor. Consumer and business opportunities include the potential for eco-friendly marketing and expansion into corporate gifting.
Primary Data Collection:
- Qualitative Research: Conduct interviews with a sample of consumers and B2B clients to understand their motivations, perceptions, and emotions related to artificial flowers.
- Quantitative Research: Create surveys with questions that allow for statistical analysis of customer preferences and buying behavior.
List of Ten Questions for Customer Understanding:
- How often do you purchase artificial flowers?
- What factors influence your choice of artificial flowers over natural ones?
- Do you consider scent an important factor when buying artificial flowers?
- What emotions or memories do you associate with flowers in your home or workspace?
- Are you more likely to buy artificial flowers for personal use or as gifts?
- What influences your decision to purchase from a specific brand or store?
- Are you aware of the environmental impact of artificial flowers, and does it affect your purchasing decisions?
- How do you typically discover new products or brands related to home decor?
- What features or scents would you like to see in artificial flowers that are not currently available?
- If you are a B2B customer, what criteria do you consider when selecting suppliers for artificial flowers?
Data Collection Methods:
- Sampling Plan: Randomly select a representative sample of both B2C and B2B customers from different demographics.
- Contact Methods: Conduct online surveys, phone interviews, and in-person interviews as appropriate.
- Data Mining: Analyze survey responses and interview transcripts for patterns and insights.
Consumer and Business Opportunities:
- Initial research suggests opportunities for marketing Lee’s Artificial Flowers as an eco-friendly alternative to natural flowers.
- Insights from primary data may reveal specific customer segments to target and potential product improvements.
- In the B2B market, there is potential to cater to corporate clients for events, gifting, and office decor. Understanding their needs and preferences will be crucial for expansion.
This comprehensive marketing research process will provide Lee with valuable insights to develop a targeted marketing strategy, enhance product offerings, and expand into the B2B market successfully.
QUESTION
Description
In 2021, Lee Jones put the final touches on a product she had worked on for years in her garage. Lee graduated with a degree in chemistry from a well-known school in Indiana. However, she has always had an entrepreneurial spirit. Initially called Lee’s Artificial Flowers, the product broke new ground by creating patented, artificial flowers that look real and smell like a flower. In other words, roses smell like roses, and tulips smell like tulips. However, Lee’s flowers will never expire. The scent typically lasts three months and can be replaced with new scented cartridges. As a lover of flowers and the environment, Lee has always felt flowers should remain on the earth.
She launched a website and opened a small store in a strip mall at the beginning of 2022. With modest sales, Lee hired several employees to assist with manufacturing, sales, and administrative duties. In the summer of 2022, a popular morning show interviewed Lee about her new product. This interview led to lots of other popular coverage on television, and in magazines, blogs, and podcasts. Because this product was starting to break on a national scale, she could secure a business loan for $500,000. Lee’s biggest concern was her lack of business knowledge, mainly in marketing.
Lee has just hired you as a marketing manager/consultant to assist her in taking the business to the next level. In your initial consultation with Lee, she suggested that many sales were purchased as gifts. Another segment of customers applied to the home furnishings category. The raw materials required for artificial flowers are paper, cotton, parchment, latex, rubber, sateen (for large, bold-colored flowers and arrangements), and dried materials, including flowers and plant parts and berries, feathers, and fruits. For more upscale silk flowers, silk, rayon, and cotton are the fibers of choice. The cartridges that provide the scents are produced in Lee’s manufacturing facility.
Generic Goals
Sell several hundred thousand units.
Create awareness of new product line to new, prospective clients.
- Incorporate digital marketing.
- Hire more employees.
- Target B2B clients.
- Identify the best distribution model for selling to customers.
- Part 1 for Unit 3: The more you know about your customers, the better position you are in to serve them and create a marketing strategy. In your initial consultation with Lee, you asked about her customers. You realized that Lee did not understand her customers well, what motivates them, the influencers on customer purchases, and the purchase decision process. Using the concepts discussed in Chapters 3 and 4, as well as secondary research, address the following items.
- Checklist:
Investigate three consumer characteristics: cultural, social, and personal factors influencing consumer buying behavior for Lee’s products.
Investigate how the four consumer psychological factors: motivation, perception, emotions, and memory influence consumer buying behavior for Lee’s Artificial Flowers.
Illustrate the five-stage model of the consumer buying process as a diagram for Lee’s Artificial Flowers.
- Compare and contrast at least five differences between B2C versus B2B for Lee’s Artificial Flowers.
- Part 1, you realize you do not have all the information you need to understand your customers, particularly in the area of B2C. Kotler et al. (2022) suggest that to take advantage of all the resources and practices available, good marketers adopt a formal marketing research process that includes five steps:
- Define the problem.
- Develop the market research plan.
- How will you collect the information?
How will you analyze the information?
- How will you come to a decision?
- Using the concepts addressed in Chapter 5, address the following items.Checklist:
- Compose the research problem for Lee’s Artificial Flowers.
- Create the research plan using secondary and primary data.
- Evaluate secondary data; what does secondary data suggest in terms of market size, growth rates, consumer and business opportunities, and trends for this industry?
- For primary data, include if you will utilize qualitative, quantitative, or both. Defend your rationale for each choice.
Provide a list of ten questions (open and close-ended) to help Lee better understand her customers.
- Explain how you will collect the information for the sampling plan, contact methods, and data mining.
- Evaluate the consumer and business opportunities based on your initial research.
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