Consumer Behaviour Assignment Sample

MMK266 Consumer Behaviour  Assignment Sample

Introduction

Product Positioning is one of the significant form of marketing that reflects the benefits of the particular products to the target audience. In this report, the communication plan is prepared highlighting the product positioning strategy for the of the goat cheese products of Meredith’s Dairy. In addition to this, an evaluation of four messaging techniques is done and their pros and cons are also discussed. Once all of this is done, a facebook ad is prepared for the promotional purposes.

Positioning strategy

In the previous assessment, there were two consequences of consuming goat cheese products of Meredith Dairy. The first and foremost is that it results in positive physical fitness as the respondent believe that it is good for diet and keep body energetic throughout the day. The second consequence is that people can’t buy it on daily basis as it is expensive. Keeping both the consequences in mind, the selected market positioning strategy for the organisation is “Positioning on a specific benefit.”

The following technique is associated with the particular product of the company i.e., Goat Cheese in this case. It is seen that the product has many positive attributes and only single negative attribute (high cost). The common approach for the company is to differentiate the product on the basis of various benefits of the product (Alro, et.al, 2017). The organisation should first carry out research on the target consumer and their preferences and then develop any product. It is usually seen that people consider two factors, namely price and benefits to purchase any product (Altschwager et.al, 2017). If benefits outclass cost, then people can purchase even expensive products very often. However, if benefits are unable to outclass the higher cost of the product, then this would be very disastrous for the organisation and may cause some serious losses to the organisation (Morgan,).

The marketing team of Merith’s Dairy should project the positive consequence as the basis for the marketing and positioning of the goat cheese. With this positioning strategy, they can be able to highlight the most powerful attributes in front of the target audience(Gummesson, et.al, 2014). These attributes should not be claimed by any of the competitor in the market. In addition to this, these attributes should be able to justify the high cost of the product in comparison to those of the competitors. The attributes of the goat cheese comprise that it is having low fat, large amount of nutrition, and is easy to digest. This keeps the consumer active for a longer duration, control their body fat and weight, and keep them physically fit. All these benefits are essential to highlight in the messaging technique and promotion. All these benefits should clearly reflect that the product, being health-effective, its cost is slightly more than the commonly consumed cheese product of other companies.

There are many other benefits of the selected positioning techniques. These are enlisted below (Bazhan, et.al, 2017):-

1. The organisation can be able to outline all the positive attribute of the products in front of the target customers (Huhmann, 2017).
2. It can help the organisation to gain a head start and penetrate the market easily
3. The approach can justify all the short-comings of the product to the customers and persuade them to purchase it.
4. The positioning strategy won’t change even if some new features get added in the products.

Evaluation of potential messaging techniques

For the proper execution of the aforementioned positioning strategy for the goat cheese, the four messaging techniques are enlisted below. These technique would help in penetrating the market and reaching out target customer in a more effective way. Each messaging technique has its pros and cons that are also outlined here.

Celebrity Endorsement:Celebrity Endorsement is the establishment of the relationship among brand and any influential public figure whose personality fits with requirements of the brand and whose personality matches with the target customers (Prentice and Zhang, 2017). In modern time, there are many ways a celebrity can endorse a brand, such as physical appearances in advertisement, press release, social media promotion, etc. The celebrity can be athlete, actor, singer, musical artist, etc.

The benefits of celebrity endorsement include:-

• It would build credibility among the target customers. The celebrities are well-trusted by their followers. They can persuade them to use a particular product (Wang, et.al, 2017).
• It also builds the brand image and make it stand out. The consumer can differentiate the brand as they remember the celebrity advertising a product.
• It opens gates for new market opportunities. The company can even expand itself through subsidiary company.

The demerits of Celebrity Endorsement are:-

• Endorsement are usually expensive and may affect the marketing budget of the company.
• Popular stars might overshadow the product or brand if the advertisement focuses on them only.
• Any misdeed done by the celebrity may affect the sales of products.

Celebrity Endorsement can be used in the beginning of the positioning of the Goat Cheese. This would provide recognition to the product and people can be made aware of the benefits of the product. Once the product get well-established, this can be stopped.

Positive Message Framing:It is a one of the cognitive biases that is characterised by the manipulating the presentation of facts, figures, and other relevant information associated with the product. All the positive sides of the products are outlined in order to encourage potential consumer to purchase it (Bazhan, et.al, 2017).

The benefits of the positive message framing:-

• Easily motivates the customers to purchase the product
• It can result in happier thoughts about the brand and build greater synergy with message provider.
• Builds customer loyalty for a long period of time

Demerits

• It depends on the perception of people and even a single information against the product can ruin everything
• Company always has a fear of losing customers

From door-to-door marketing, the company can change the perception of the customers through a positive message framed particularly for Goat Cheese.

Comparative Advertising:In this type of advertisement, two or more brands or their products are compared based on a particular aspect or attribute. This usually helps the customers to make a more informed purchasing decision. This type of advertisement is considered as the direct advertising and is completely legal (Alro, et.al, 2017).

Benefits:-

• It provide better information to customers about a product, thereby enhancing consumer education about products.
• It improves the brand position by associating the brand with some famous brands
• It generates more attention and helps customers to make more rational decisions.

Demerits:-

• It usually results in misidentification of the products of the sponsoring brand
• The competitor may sue the brand or put a counterargument.

Merith’s Dairy can make use of this approach to show positive characteristics of Goat Cheese without particularly naming any competitor in its branding.

Humour Appeals: It is one of the widely used advertising strategies used by the marketing professional for persuading the potential customers to purchase a product. This is done by making them laugh on some humorous content and make them feel good. It is usually suitable when the product is not controversial and the main intention is to pay create the brand value for the company.

The key benefits are:-

• It is different from usual advertisement and people would remember the ad for the unique element for longer duration.
• The awareness is more as compared to aforementioned methods of advertisement

Demerits

• Criticism is also high in case of poor joke and brand image may get affected.

Development of a mock Facebook ad

For the promotion of Goat Cheese, the two messaging methods selected are celebrity endorsement and humorous appeal. The reason for selecting the two is that the product is new and is a bit expensive. The company requires to build trust among the customers (Lopes and Veiga, 2019). This can only be possible with the help of any celebrity with some humorous appeal. The latter strategy is selected in order to break the monotony in ads. People are bored of similar kinds of advertisement. It is important to leave a long lasting impression of the product. See Appendix

References

• Alro, A. D., Sivakumaran, B. and Marathe, R. R. 2017 “The Ad Format-Strategy Effect on Comparative Advertising Effectiveness,”  European Journal of Marketing, 51(1), pp. 99–122. doi: 10.1108/EJM-11-2015-0764.
• Altschwager, T., Conduit, J., Bouzdine-Chameeva, T. and Goodman, S. 2017 “Branded Marketing Events: Engaging Australian and French Wine Consumers,”  Journal of Service Theory and Practice, 27(2), pp. 336–357. doi: 10.1108/JSTP-04-2015-0108.
• Bazhan, M., Keshavarz-Mohammadi, N., Hosseini, H. and Kalantari, N. 2017 “Consumers’ Awareness and Perceptions Regarding Functional Dairy Products in Iran,”  British Food Journal, 119(2), pp. 253–266. doi: 10.1108/BFJ-06-2016-0270.
• Gummesson, E., Kuusela, H. and Närvänen, E. 2014 “Reinventing Marketing Strategy by Recasting Supplier/customer Roles,”  Journal of Service Management, 25(2), pp. 228–240. doi: 10.1108/JOSM-01-2014-0031.
• Huhmann, B. A. 2017 “Literacy Matters in Marketing,”  International Journal of Bank Marketing, 35(5), pp. 750–760. doi: 10.1108/IJBM-12-2016-0188.
• Lopes, E. L. and Veiga, R. T. 2019 “Increasing Purchasing Intention of Eco-Efficient Products: The Role of the Advertising Communication Strategy and the Branding Strategy,”  Journal of Brand Management, 26(5), pp. 550–566. doi: 10.1057/s41262-019-00150-0.
• Morgan, N. A., Whitler, K. A., Feng, H. and Chari, S. 2019 “Research in Marketing Strategy,”  Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science : Official Publication of the Academy of Marketing Science, 47(1), pp. 4–29. doi: 10.1007/s11747-018-0598-1.
• Prentice, C. and Zhang, L. 2017 “Celebrity Endorsement and Stock Market Return,”  Marketing Intelligence & Planning, 35(4), pp. 529–543. doi: 10.1108/MIP-10-2016-0197.
• Svensson, G. and Wagner, B. 2012 “Implementation of a Sustainable Business Cycle: The Case of a Swedish Dairy Producer,”  Supply Chain Management: An International Journal, 17(1), pp. 93–97. doi: 10.1108/13598541211212230.
• Wang, S. W., Kao, G. H.-Y. and Ngamsiriudom, W. 2017 “Consumers' Attitude of Endorser Credibility, Brand and Intention with Respect to Celebrity Endorsement of the Airline Sector,”  Journal of Air Transport Management, 60, pp. 10–17. doi: 10.1016/j.jairtraman.2016.12.007.