Consumer Behavior Vegan Branch of Tesco Assignment Sample

Understanding Consumer Behavior Study of Individuals, Groups, and Organizations' Actions and Reactions Towards Products or Services

Consumer Behavior Is Referred To As The Process Of Study Of Individuals, Groups, Or Organizations And Their Actions And Reactions Towards The Purchase, Use, And Disposal Of A Particular Commodity Or Service.

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Consumer behavior is referred to as the process of study of individuals, groups, or organizations and their actions and reactions towards the purchase, use, and disposal of a particular commodity or service. Consumer behavior is mainly the preferences, emotions, and attitudes customers have towards a particular firm, commodity, or service. The study of consumer behavior initially emerged as a sub-category of the science of marketing in the 1950s. However gradually it was discovered to be a much vaster branch on its own consisting of subjects like sociology, psychology, ethnography, economics, and social anthropology as a whole. This report will be focussing on the consumer behavior pattern of Tesco’s newly launched frozen and chilled vegan range.

Consumer Journey Map

Vegan Consumer Analysis

The Vegan range of Tesco was launched very recently in the year 2021. Almost 3 percent of the entire population of the United Kingdom is vegan. The number of vegans residing in the country tripled since 2016. The general population of the UK is more inclined toward a plant-based diet, and as a result of this companies are also enthusiastic to invest in their research and development departments. According to market research, about 770 new vegan products were launched in the January of 2022. About 63.5 percent of the UK population has been said to purchase vegan goods, and 50.8 percent of the meat-eating population has considered a replacement of their diet in certain arenas. About 48 percent of British adults use plant-based milk and the vegan community soared up to 46 percent between 2021-2022.

The age group of vegans in the UK ranges from minors to senior citizens and the population is spread throughout the country. However, a lot of the vegan population feels that vegan food is not as tasty as it is healthy(Annas 2022).

Vegan Food Non-Vegan Food

Vegan VS Non-Vegan; the population of the UK 2020-2021

Vegans are generally considered to be more health conscious, about 65 percent of the British population agreed that. About 53 percent of British consumers of vegan products consider their purchase to be influenced by environmental factors. About 21 percent of the vegans in the UK consider their income to be less than average to support their vegan lifestyle(Statista. 2022).

Comparison of personal finances of vegans to the average English citizen

Target Customers

As projected, vegan consumers preferably tend to buy from a firm that is environmentally and socially woke. These consumers are people who wish for the benefit of the environment as it consciously or subconsciously affects their purchasing patterns and power. According to a survey, about 43 percent of the English population is environmentally woke, of them 37 percent are women and 34 percent are men. The women range from an age group of high school students to homemaking adults in their late forties or early fifties. This is the population that needs to be targeted. About 65 percent of grocery shoppers in the UK are females(Food Matters Live. 2022).

Comparison between men and women who indulge themselves in grocery shopping in the UK

Consumer Journey Map

This report will specifically speak about the newly formed vegan section of Tesco called ‘Wicked Kitchen’ and the ‘Plant Chef’. This range of Tesco provides a wide variety of products to its vegan customers right from casseroles, spaghettis, and curry. These commodities are frozen or chilled and are ready to cook. The profits of the firm have increased to almost 37.7 percent from 2018-2022. A huge portion of these profits is attributed to the newly launched vegan range of the firm(Forsyth, J., 2022).

Components	Variables
Buyer persona	Most buyers in the UK or over the world are extremely environmentally conscious. These customers will only purchase products from firms that are socially woke and give back some contribution to the environment. This section of the population also considers themselves to be healthier in comparison to the meat-eating population.
Target Customer	The primary target customers of the vegan section of Tesco are women. In a survey, about 37 percent of the vegan population of the country is women. Furthermore, the age range of these women ranges from 15-60. Hence this is a huge market for penetration. Finally, most grocery shoppers in the country are women, which makes them easier targets(Yougov.co.uk. 2022).
Touchpoints	Women are considered to be more socially woke and emotionally driven towards any activity in consideration of men. These actions are biologically induced within them. hence, the aspects of environmental sustainability and social responsibility will automatically be more appealing to them
Customer actions	Even if a customer or a family or a social group cannot completely alter their diet, the provocation of their peers as well as social responsibility and health consciousness has allowed many groups to alter at least a percentage of their diets to vegan. This may be a part of the breakfast menu such as milk or switching to vegan sandwiches or sausages.
Available resources	Tesco's primary resource for marketing and capturing its customer base is its low pricing strategy. Secondly, their vast range of products and able distribution techniques that are widely and equally spread throughout the country adds to the advantage(the Guardian. 2022).

Hence, the path toward purchasing is fairly simple for this section. An environmentally and socially woke population (mostly comprising of women) who are fit and conscious wish to purchase products that are benefitting and rewarding to the environment and promote sustainability. This leads to an increase in sales and a narrowing down of effective marketing techniques for this section of the population.

Factors that affect different stages of consumer behavior

B2C Business

According to research and studies, five primary factors affect consumer behavior at different stages. the following table will showcase the factors, the impact of the factors, and the stage in which the factors tend to affect the consumer behavior

Factors	Impact	Stage of Consumer Behaviour
Psychological	According to Maslow's theory of hierarchy needs, it has been proven time and again, that people tend to generate interest in something unknown. The perception of a particular product or service is the primary initial driver towards the acceptance of the same. In this case, the perception is built through the idea of environment and social sustainability. The aspect of learning comes in the second venture(Wang 2018). Cognitive or conditional learning of an unknown arena constantly exposes the consumer to built ideas for the acceptance of the product or service. Finally, the aspect of attitudes can be described through the idea of being physically fitter and healthier by consuming plant-based products that are arguably easier to digest and hence healthier for the body.	Planning of the Purchase
Social	Social factors refer to the peer and surrounding pressure of an individual to try something new. Families or social groups can be effective drivers of this phenomenon. For example, even if one of the family members, is vegan in this case, then some number of vegan products need to be purchased for their consumption. The availability of a product at home will automatically generate interest from the rest to try it out. For social groups such as friends or relatives, this group can suggest to their peers to try a product with which they are impressed. This also works as an effective marketing method for the firm.	Product research
Cultural	There is a range of cultural aspects that affect the very idea of veganism. Although most socio-cultural aspects of consumer behavior encourage the customers to go for veganism as a whole. There are certain aspects like the Muslim population which is almost 4.4 percent of the population of the UK that is against such practices, especially during the festivals such as Ramadan.	Purchasing
Personal	The social factors include occupation, residence, background, and so on(Cheng et al., 2021). The acceptance of a potential sustainable development diet requires some amount of education and knowledge about the proceedings that are taking place around the world. The background of the people can be varied and so their residence.	Post-Purchase
Economic	Vegan products are considered to be slightly pricier than general items. Considering the case study of Wicked Kitchen and Plant Chef. The average price range of these products starts from £20 and goes on till as high as £350. This price range is definitely above the average price range. Hence the economic factors that are associated with veganism are somewhat at loggerheads with the other existing factors that drive customers towards this norm as a whole.	Market research and pre-purchase of the product.

B2B Business

The operations as well as the overall setting that includes the entire supply chain management, customer retention, and analysis of consumer behavior will be entirely different in the case of a B2B business when standing in competition to a B2C business. The factors that affect the consumer behavior of a B2B business are explained as follows:

• Status Quo Bias: According to Daniel Kahneman the status quo bias effect identifies the change or alteration that is expected to be too risky in its nature. Unless there is an absolute emergency from the end of the customer, the customer will generally prefer the comfort of the existing status quo. A very vibrant example of this is that innumerable sales opportunities end only because the customer does not wish to alter the existing status quo. A very simple way of understanding the situation is that if a brand wishes to alter the existing status quo of a business-to-business operation then the brand will have to make the customer understand that the existing status quo is unsafe and hence it requires alteration. Through this, the new brand can establish the value of change(Pandey and Mookherjee 2018).
• Loss Aversion: According to the study, a consumer makes a change in its operating establishment in a business only it is on the verge of a potential threat. In other words, the possibility of a potential gain is the only thing that drives a consumer towards change. This is also referred to as value selling, where the business overs better value to its associate for the betterment of both the bodies.
• Decision Paralysis: A recent study named 'The Challenger Customer' published that the chances of a successful business are inversely proportional to the number of stakeholders involved in the process. However, the research has also illuminated that the number of stakeholders has risen to almost 6.8 percent in a highly valued B2B business. This has led to the requirement of a powerful representative champion to prevent decision paralysis.
• Impact of early influence: For a very long time; BANT (Budget, Authority, Need, and Timeframe) was considered to be the only means of qualifying sales opportunities although this was later eradicated(Pathak et al., 2022). The implications of B2B sales need to be target and opportunity oriented. The most valuable opportunity leads to a positive influence on the investors of the agenda that encourages effective business operation.

Marketing Mix

This section will illuminate the marketing mix of Wicked Kitchen and Plant Chef along with emphasizing the aspect of consumer behavior in each of them.

Marketing Mix	Description	Impact on Consumer Behaviour
Product	In totality, Tesco has over 40,000 available products in the market. The vegan branches of Tesco such as Wicked Kitchen and Plant Chef have over 40 to 300 products respectively in their present stock. The product range has always been one of the most important areas of success in Tesco. In the UK the vegan population is showing an upward mobile graph but still the overall vegan population is considerably low (3 Percent in the entire country). Since Tesco is also inclined towards maintaining an efficient value chain, it needs to make sure that a very minimal number of products go to waste. Hence the firm only develops products when there is a consumer requirement for them (Lahtinen et al., 2020).	As the consumer gets a wide variety of choices from the firm and in sections that are not easy to find, the consumer will not disrupt this stable connection, where it is more or less satisfied with the quality of the product as well as the prices of it as a whole.
Price	Tesco has been renowned for its effective pricing strategy throughout its career in the retail market. The main plus point of Tesco is that it keeps its prices considerably low when compared to the average market rate. Tesco, as a retail brand sells by margin and not by value, and hence the firm can afford to keep the prices low for its product. However, in the case of the vegan branches of the firm, since the manufacturing margin of these products is higher than the standard ones, the prices of these products are above the average price range. The prices of vegan products range from £20-£350.	The mean or average salary for the residents of the United Kingdom is £31,000. The given price range of the vegan products is higher than average but it is lower in comparison to the vegan products of other firms that claim to be 100 percent organic and so on. Although the consumer is skeptical about the purchase of these products however the strategic pricing makes Tesco the first choice if decided.
Place	Tesco has a total of 4,074 stores all over the country of the United Kingdom. The most concentration of these stores is in the Republic of Ireland and the UK. Such a wide spread of network of Tesco stores makes its products easily available in all regions of the country. Since physical presence is an important factor of conventional marketing, the concentrated presence of the firm throughout the country makes a positive impact on the psychology of the firm that helps in generating trust in the customers(Thabit, T. and Raewf 2018).	As mentioned in the pricing strategy, the aspect of place plays a pretty similar role. The increase in the visual citing of the store and the concentration of the products within the stores generate interest among the consumers to buy the same.
Promotion	Tesco has implied effective means of advertising throughout its career in the retail market. It has promoted a variety of its products through television advertisements and sponsorships, discounts, charitable events, and so on. Wicked Kitchen and Plant Chef have also promoted methods likewise, furthermore, campaigns were created within the country, and stores gave out free samples to the buyers initially to develop an interest in the product.	The campaigns emphasized the importance of a plant-based diet, and how it moves towards environmental sustainability and social responsibility. These were the factors that attracted the target audience.

Conclusion

To conclude the given report has adequately focussed on the aspect of consumer behavior concerning the vegan branch of Tesco, Wicked Kitchen, and Plant Chef. The report also focussed on the statistical analysis and justification of consumer behavior regarding this branch in the United Kingdom. A substantial portion of the report focussed on the comparison between the factors that lead to alterations in consumer behavior in B2B and B2C business models. The final portion of the report focussed on the marketing mix of the vegan branch of Tesco along with its effects on consumer behavior.

References

• Annas, C., 2022. How To Build A Customer Journey Map. [online] AB Tasty. Available at: <https://www.abtasty.com/blog/building-customer-journey-maps/> [Accessed 16 September 2022].
• Chen, J.V., Chotimapruek, W., Ha, Q.A. and Widjaja, A.E., 2021. Investigating Female Costumer’s Impulse Buying in Facebook B2C Social Commerce: An Experimental Study. Contemporary Management Research, 17(2), pp.65-96.
• Food Matters Live. 2022. How many vegans in the UK?. [online] Available at: <https://foodmatterslive.com/article/how-many-vegans-are-there-in-the-uk/> [Accessed 16 September 2022].
• Forsyth, J., 2022. Tapping into veganism’s popularity in the UK. [online] Mintel. Available at: <https://www.mintel.com/blog/food-market-news/how-can-food-companies-effectively-tap-into-veganisms-popularity-in-the-uk> [Accessed 16 September 2022].
• Lahtinen, V., Dietrich, T. and Rundle-Thiele, S., 2020. Long live the marketing mix. Testing the effectiveness of the commercial marketing mix in a social marketing context. Journal of Social Marketing.
• Pandey, S.K. and Mookerjee, A., 2018. Assessing the role of emotions in B2B decision making: an exploratory study. Journal of Indian Business Research.
• Pathak, B., Ashok, M. and Leng Tan, Y., 2022. Value co-creation in the B2B context: a conceptual framework and its implications. The Service Industries Journal, 42(3-4), pp.178-205.
• Statista. 2022. United Kingdom: usual grocery shoppers by gender 2020 | Statista. [online] Available at: <https://www.statista.com/statistics/1256034/share-of-uk-consumers-who-usually-shop-for-food-by-gender/> [Accessed 16 September 2022].
• Thabit, T. and Raewf, M., 2018. The evaluation of marketing mix elements: A case study. International Journal of Social Sciences & Educational Studies, 4(4).
• the Guardian. 2022. Tesco sets 300% sales target for plant-based alternatives to meat. [online] Available at: <https://www.theguardian.com/business/2020/sep/29/tesco-sets-300-per-cent-sales-target-for-plant-based-alternatives-to-meat> [Accessed 16 September 2022].
• Wang, Y., 2018. The factors of consumer behavior and the sharing economy: A quantitative study.
• Yougov.co.uk. 2022. YouGov. [online] Available at: <https://yougov.co.uk/topics/health/articles-reports/2022/02/02/profile-peek-vegans-us-and-britain> [Accessed 16 September 2022].