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Activity 1
Introduction
In activity one, the evaluation of how marketers of “Piranha Advertising And Marketing Solutions”are “responding to influence buyer perceptions and behavior at various stages of the decision-making process”, “explanation and evaluation of the stages of the consumer decision-making journey”, and “explanation of the significance of mapping a path to purchase and understand consumer decision making” will be assessed.
1. Analyis of how marketers respond in order to impact buyer perceptions and behavior at various stages of decision - making process
A marketer’s primary objective is to grow market share by acquiring and keeping new consumers. The most successful method is to monitor, analyses, and control customer behavior. Contemporary marketing strategies are well capable of doing this objective.
Endless advertising
Regular marketing efforts have a significant impact on the purchasing behavior of clients. They pick a brand over another simply because the first one’s advertising is more prevalent (Stankevich, 2017). Customers trust certain businesses more than others simply as they have superior blogs, more visually appealing material, and employ opinion leaders who foster good brand connections.
Emotional connection
Contemporary marketing aims to convince and build emotional ties with companies and goods. People may forget when and where they watched a specific advertisement, but when they see the products on the shelves in a supermarket, they are instantly overcome with a feeling - delight, comfort, confidence, and so on. This occurs because the advertisement they watched elicited an emotion in their brain. When they viewed the product, their brain immediately connected it to a certain feeling. This link will function flawlessly when buyers are deciding between numerous identical goods from various companies.
Contextualization
Nowadays people live in a marketing environment, where everything is marketed and purchased. It’s neither good nor bad; it’s simply the new marketing fact that dictates what a person will wear tomorrow or what percentage of the income they will spend on dining out. With few exceptions, it is more or less applicable for everyone, from a family in their late 30s to a young millionaire nerd barely out of high school.
Establishing trends
Consider the blogs of current businesses as an example. They appear to be more themed media than commercial tools. Businesses try to share their knowledge with consumers to promote themselves as a key source of information in certain sectors. As a result, they generate a plethora of material, particularly viral content that establishes consumer trends and determines purchasing behavior. Today, public image and trustworthiness are more significant than the actual goods.
Management of attention
Due to the massive volumes of information people absorb daily, the capacity to focus attention has deteriorated significantly. The only successful strategy for capturing and retaining attention is to establish a lasting emotional connection. That is precisely what contemporary businesses do through their marketing activities. Marketing redirects attention away from specific trends and goods and onto others (Kemp et al.,2018). It instructs on what to focus on today, replacing it with fresh information can aid in occupyingthebrains.
2. The steps of the “consumer decision-making journey” -
Recognize the issue
The customer is aware that he or she has an unmet need which must be supplied. For example, a newly enrolled student in a degree program may be assigned duties that must be completed by a stated deadline. His computer must be portable in order for him to use it at home and at college. And that is when he discovered he had a laptop-related issue.
Information search
After conducting a successful information search, the buyer is presented with various options, the evoked set. For instance, an undergraduate interested in purchasing a laptop would acquire research about laptop manufacturers like “HP”, “Dell”, “Mac”, and “Acer” (Schamp, Heitmannand Katzenstein, 2019).
Alternatives evaluation
This is where the client evaluates products on a competitive basis using specified criteria such as “efficiency”, “durability”, “warranty”, “pricing”, “after-sale services”, and “quality”.
For instance, the undergraduate who researched laptop companies such as “HP”, “Dell”, “Mac”, and “Acer” now will evaluate the product based on its price, longevity, speed, warranty, performance, and color.
Purchasing choice
Choose a purchasing alternative, which may comprise a product, a package, a retailer, or a method of purchase. For instance, after evaluating numerous laptop brands, the student decides to purchase an “HP laptop” due to its “long battery life”.
Purchase
This may range from choice, the “time-lapse” between “decision and purchase”, and “product availability”. This is the point at which the customer makes the final decision and effectively purchases the product (Karimi, Holland and Papamichail, 2018).
3. Explanation of the significance of “mapping a path” to purchase and understand consumer decisionmaking
“Consumer journey mapping” is significant because it is a tactical tool for gaining a better knowledge of consumer expectations and for optimising the customer experience. Customer journey planning is crucial for both small and medium-sized enterprises and large corporations. Customer expectations are changing for businesses of all sizes; clients now expect a 'Omnichannel' approach to customer care, marketing, and sales. The consumer experience is a fundamental component of personalization. According to recent research, 84% of people believe that just being treated like an individual rather than a number is crucial for retaining the business (Willems et al., 2017). “Customer journey mapping” helps SMEs to provide personalised experiences across all touchpoints – for each client, across all channels.
Customer journey mapping provides a slew of benefits, including the following:
Provides the ability to improve the client onboarding process
Compares the customer experience that the consumers desire to the one that they receive
Recognizes the distinctions between buyer personas.
Organizes the “buyer journey” logically.
However, the primary benefit is just gaining a better understanding of the clients. The more the customers’requirements could be understood, the more, it can be possible to personalize their experience to their specific requirements.
Conclusion
In the first activity, how marketers of “Piranha Advertising And Marketing Solutions respond to influence buyer perceptions and behavior at various stages of the decision-making process, as well as the “explanation and evaluation of the stages of consumer decision-making journey” and the “importance of mapping a path to purchase and understanding consumer decision making” has been evaluated.
Activity 2
Introduction
Activity two will be comprised of a “comprehensive and justified evaluation of the different factors that affect decision-making and purchasing behavior”, “comparison of the key differences of the decision-making process in the context of B2C and B2B”, and “evaluation of the different approaches to market research and methods of research that can be used by “Piranha Advertising And Marketing Solutions” to understand the decision-making process in both B2C and B2B contexts”.
1. A thorough and justified examination of the various elements influencing decision-making and purchase behavior
Several variables influencing decision-making and purchase behavior are as follows-
Situational Considerations
Store locations affect behavior. Starbucks has done an excellent job of strategically placing its locations. Physical aspects that may influence businesses could be even the design of a store. According to research, “strategic fragrancing” leads to customers remaining in stores longer, purchasing more (Fuet al., 2020).
Social Situation
Social circumstances might have a major impact on purchasing habits.
Time
The time of day, the season, and the number of times customers perceive to affect what they purchase.
Justification for the Purchase
The purpose of shopping also has an impact on the amount of time spent shopping. Emergency clinics have sprouted up in strip malls around the country in recent years. One motive is for convenience. The other is purely pragmatic.
Mood
A bad mood might detract from a consumer’s willingness to purchase (Linet al., 2019).
Individual Factors
Self-Concept and Personality
Personality is a term that refers to a person’s temperament, explains why people are distinct, and incorporates a person’s unique characteristics. Marketers have found consumers’ self-concepts have a direct connection to their purchasing habits. According to marketing studies, individuals purchase things to improve their self-esteem—to move closer to their ideal selves.
Gender, Age, and Life Stage
While demographic characteristics such as income, education, and marital status are significant, the effect of gender, age, and stage of life heavily impact purchasing decisions. Men and women require and purchase distinct things. Additionally, they buy differently and have varying views on shopping.
Lifestyle
Numerous research found lifestyles of consumers impact their buying decisions.
Psychological Factors
Perception
Consumers are surfing the web, watching the TV, and monitoring their c phones for making buying decisions.
Learning
Consumers’ learning is the process through which individuals alter their behavior in response to new knowledge or experience.
Attitude
Attitudes are notoriously persistent, and since they are founded on individuals’ values and beliefs, they are difficult to alter.
Socioeconomic Factors
Culture
Culture is a passed-down way of life and is frequently regarded as the most influential factor in a consumer’s behavior. Culture dictates how to live and has a significant impact on the items acquired.
Subcultures
A subculture is a group of individuals within a society who are distinct from the mainstream culture yet share common interests, professions or employment, faiths, ethnic origins, or geographic location.
Social Classification
While wealth contributes to the definition of social class, the major determinant of social class is occupation. Consumers from the same socioeconomic class demonstrate certain similarities in their purchasing habits.
2. A comparison of the significant distinctions in the decision-making processes between B2C and B2B
“Business-to-business (B2B)” and “business-to-consumer (B2C)” are two distinct business concepts. Their primary distinction is in their target audience, which dictates how marketing methods are differentiated.B2B marketing approach is distinct from marketing to the general consumer (Cortez and Johnston, 2017).
Process of Decision-Making
Making decisions in B2B is a lengthy process that frequently requires considerable effort to convince directors from a particular organization. This could be attributed to the fact that B2B transactions involve significantly more money.
Consumers make a decision, often very quickly, whether or not to purchase a product in a B2C firm. They may consult their friends, read reviews, or seek recommendations, but the time required is significantly shorter than in the B2B purchasing process.
Thus it can be said that-
B2B: Because the choice to purchase products or services would determine the results of the business which purchases it, the transaction requires reasonable thought, a longer deliberation period, and continuing seller support. An example of this may be- a newly established brand seeking the help of Piranha Advertising and Marketing Solutions for getting started in the business arena (Fernandezet al., 2021).
B2C: Typically, the sale is less logical and more impulsive. The process is more expedient and decision-making is more personalized. Any usual purchase, starting from physical store, to online shopping may be an example in this case.
3. Evaluation of various market research methods and research methods used to gain a better understanding of decision-making procedures in both consumer and business-to-business situations
“Cognitive View”
“Cognitive View” describes decision-making from the standpoint of a thinking issue solver. According to the cognitive perspective, decision-making is an emotive or thinking process that can be reasonable or irrational and based on explicit or implicit assumptions. The key tenet of this concept is that a consumer is constantly on the lookout for information until a satisfying answer is discovered. Once a good solution is identified, the data collection procedure is terminated.
According to a “cognitive perspective”, the consumer does have a predefined objective. The next phase is to develop an action plan or a strategy for achieving the goal. The third phase is to carry out and monitor this action plan. The last stage is the accomplishment or failure of the Goal ().
“Cognitive Learning and Consumer Decision-Making”
Each decision-making process starts with a reorganization of needs or an objective. The term "cognitive learning" includes a pre search for a second opinion. After the consumer has determined his aim, his psychological field is activated. Cognitive learning, in conjunction with attitudes, personality, and prior experience, will shape a consumer's impression. As a result of this view, a consumer will be motivated to make purchases (Pandey and Mookerjee, 2018). “Passive View”
The “passive view” argues that they can be manipulated by marketers’ self-serving interests and promotional activities. To a certain extent, this model is plausible. However, the passive approach fails to recognize the consumer’s equal role in the purchase decision-making process. Before making a purchase, the consumer conducts research and evaluation.
This paradigm is appropriate in B2C situations where the customer is completely uninformed of the product and the marketing can manipulate the consumer. The passive view is extremely disputed in B2B.
“Consumer Choice and Passive View”
In the “passive view model”, marketers often employ their marketing mix to impact the consumer’s perception, personality, learning, and attitude about the product, as well as to drive the consumer to purchase it.
The “Innovation Decision Model” is extremely powerful at influencing the consumer’s psychological domain and hence inducing the consumer to purchase a particular product.
“Economic View”
“Economic theory” assumes a system of perfect competition, in which customers always make rational choices. In reality, this model is unsuitable, as there can never be a condition of perfect competition. Additionally, the customer cannot make sensible choices all of the time. Because to make reasonable choices, a consumer must be informed of all available items, viable alternatives, and their characteristics. Having access to all of this information is nearly impossible in today’s fast-paced environment.
“Consumer Behavior and Economic View”
“Economic decisions” are largely determined by the consumer’s demands, attitude, personality, cultural context, and marketer’s efforts. The economic perspective of a buyer is determined by their personality trait of finding out the product’s potential and value. Buyers satisfy their demand for actualization by comparing the product’s price and quality to available alternatives.
Marketers continue to believe that the consumer’s economic perspective on an item has little practical significance. From an economic perspective, the customer engages in comprehensive decision-making through comparison (Zhouet al., 2021). Thus, marketers use tactical pricing tactics that include discounts and offers to efficiently inspire consumers’ impulses.
“Emotional View”
“Emotional marketing” believes in appealing to people’s emotions and impulses. This school of thought thinks that each consumer purchase is accompanied by particular emotions such as joy, love, fear, and fantasy.
“Consumer Choices and Emotional Views”
An “emotional view model” is concerned with the consumer’s personality and attitude. Consumers’ emotions associated with a particular product influence their purchasing decisions. Over the years, marketers have exploited emotions in their advertisements and marketing campaigns to impact the consumer’s personality and attitude.
Conclusion
The second activity has been included with a comprehensive and justified assessment of the “various factors that influence decision-making and purchasing behavior”, “a comparison of the key differences in the decision-making process between B2C and B2B”, and an “assessment of the various approaches to market research and research methods that can be used by “Piranha Advertising and Marketing Solutions” to comprehend the decision-making procedure in both B2C and B2B”.
Activity 3
Introduction
Activity three will examine thoroughly the “critical evaluation of the application of appropriate theories, concepts, and models that influence and impact upon the decision-making process”, the “critical evaluation of how marketers influence each stage of the decision-making process making”, and the “evaluation of how marketers of “Piranha Advertising And Marketing Solutions” can influence the different stages of the decision-making of B2C and B2B”.
1. Critical Assessment of the application of relevant ideas, concepts, and models that affect and effect the decision-making process
Four psychological elements drive customer behavior: “Motivation”, “perception”, “learning”, and “attitude” or “belief system” (Adamkovi?and Marton?ik, 2017). Motivation refers to the internal requirements of the consumer. The way the target client perceives the world or learns about the product, whether online or in person, can also put an impact. Finally, belief systems can impact all of the above. Consumers make purchasing decisions based on each day. When consumers decide on the product, they think about deciphering a need.
Ads are critical in marketing. Utilizing Google Ads, social media advertising can guarantee that the business is visible to key members of the niche audience. This works on learning.
Customizable email templates. Consider which aspects of the brand elicit the strongest responses from customers. Enhance branding by utilizing Constant Contact’s branded templates to effortlessly create consistent, sophisticated letters. This works on perception.
Automated emails can assist in reconnecting with and swaying hesitant customers, particularly during the research phase – or with an empty cart during the purchasing process. This works on motivation.
Constructing websites aid in enabling to quickly and easily development compelling websites that simplify online buying for clients. Simple-to-use platforms and websites can assist in retaining satisfied customers.This works on learning.
Engagement on social media marketing keeps the brand’s committed customers and followers engaged (Kusevet al., 2017). Social networking can result in recurring consumers, strong word-of-mouth referrals, and dependable evaluations.This works on perception.
It is critical to maintaining a long-term connection based on trust and involvement to transform a paying client into a brand champion. Utilize internet resources throughout the consumer decision-making process to establish a connection with consumers from the start.
2.Critical evaluation of how marketers influence each stage of the decision- making process making reference to and applying relevant methods and models or examples.
As explained earlier, there are five stages in the process of the decision making process of a customer, and it is possible for the marketers to utilize each stage for steadily influencing the customers’ thought process. When businesses are able to determine when their target market starts developing these needs or wants, they can avail the ideal opportunity to advertise their brands, thus influencing them right from the stage of needs recognition (Stankevich, 2017).
The information search stage of the buyer choice process is always evolving as consumers demand increasing amounts of information about products that meet their demands. Additionally, information can be gathered through recommendations from others who have had prior experience with a product. Not every channel is in an organization’s control; all a marketer can do is leverage as many channels as possible, such as social media platforms, emails, and print media, to promote the company’s products/services and emphasize positive user experiences. This procedure also assists the marketer in emphasizing the distinctive characteristics of the company’s product/service in terms of pricing, quality, durability, and uniqueness, so completing the stage of alternative evaluation.
If these stages are taken care of, the customer would make the purchase decision of the product/service. The marketer can request the customer to provide positive feedback about his/her experience of using the product/service, and can make use of it in his future marketing activities, as mentioned above. Requesting for feedback would also help him to create a feeling of satisfaction in the customers’ mind, since they feel valued when the company seeks their opinion and takes it seriously. This would further influence the customer by creating a much better brand image in his/her mind. He can make use of the feedback received in the last stage, evaluating the customer’s post-purchase behavior (Wang and Yu, 2017). Positive remarks can be used to tactfully the negative remarks (if any) and create an overall positive image of the company in his future marketing operation for the same company.
3. Analysis of how marketers might affect the various stages of the B2C and B2B decision-making processes
When it comes to explaining B2B buying behavior, there are four critical criteria that salespeople must consider:
Status quo bias
The status quo bias recognizes that change is frequently regarded as risky. The ramifications for value selling are obvious: to convince a consumer of a need for change (Pandey and Mookerjee, 2018).
Aversion to loss
Many researchers discovered that decision-makers were 2-3 times more inclined to take decisive action in reaction to a threat of loss than in response to an opportunity for gain. This is in direct opposition to the impulses of many less accomplished or less effective salespeople, who are considerably more likely to focus on the prospect of gain than on the potential of suffering.
Paralysis of decision-making
According to CEB research published in “The Challenger Customer,” the likelihood of making a favorable purchase choice decreases according to the number of stakeholders involved. When an individual is involved, the probability of success is approximately 80%, but gradually reduces until, when six or even more stakeholders are involved, the probability of obtaining consensus on whether and how to act falls below 30%.
Early influence’s effect
BANT (budget, authority, need, and timeliness) was a common method of qualifying sales possibilities in the past. It encourages sales representatives to rule out early chances that are not yet established projects. Sellers who encourage their sales representatives to pursue only BANT-qualified opportunities significantly disadvantage themselves.
For B2C it can be explained as-
Attract consumers
Packaging and point-of-sale displays are critical, even more so now that millennials and new generations frequently utilize smartphones during the shopping process (Zhou et al.,2021). One in every three persons uses a smartphone application when buying in-store.
Demonstrate brand online
Consumers’ choices are always influenced by the events of others. Because social media has amplified this effect, e-commerce businesses are increasingly turning to “unboxing video” as a strong technique for influencing consumers.
Conclusion
In the third activity, the methodical examination of the “systematic application theories, concepts, and models that affect and impact the decision-making process”, the “crucial evaluation of how marketers impact each stage of the decision-making process”, and the “critical evaluation of how marketers of “Piranha Advertising And Marketing Solutions”can impact the various stages of B2C and B2B decision-making” have been done.
References
Activity one
Karimi, S., Holland, C.P. and Papamichail, K.N., 2018. The impact of consumer archetypes on online purchase decision-making processes and outcomes: A behavioural process perspective. Journal of Business Research, 91, pp.71-82.
Kemp, E.A., Borders, A.L., Anaza, N.A. and Johnston, W.J., 2018. The heart in organizational buying: marketers’ understanding of emotions and decision-making of buyers. Journal of Business & Industrial Marketing.
Schamp, C., Heitmann, M. and Katzenstein, R., 2019. Consideration of ethical attributes along the consumer decision-making journey. Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, 47(2), pp.328-348.
Stankevich, A., 2017. Explaining the consumer decision-making process: Critical literature review. Journal of International Business Research and Marketing, 2(6).
Willems, K., Smolders, A., Brengman, M., Luyten, K. and Schöning, J., 2017. The path-to-purchase is paved with digital opportunities: An inventory of shopper-oriented retail technologies. Technological Forecasting and Social Change, 124, pp.228-242.
Activity Two
Cortez, R.M. and Johnston, W.J., 2017. The future of B2B marketing theory: A historical and prospective analysis. Industrial Marketing Management, 66, pp.90-102.
Fernandez, A., Zaraté, P., Gardey, J.C. and Bosetti, G., 2021. Supporting multi-criteria decision-making across websites: the Logikós approach. Central European Journal of Operations Research, pp.1-25.
Fu, H., Manogaran, G., Wu, K., Cao, M., Jiang, S. and Yang, A., 2020. Intelligent decision-making of online shopping behavior based on internet of things. International Journal of Information Management, 50, pp.515-525.
Lin, X., Featherman, M., Brooks, S.L. and Hajli, N., 2019. Exploring gender differences in online consumer purchase decision making: An online product presentation perspective. Information Systems Frontiers, 21(5), pp.1187-1201.
Pandey, S.K. and Mookerjee, A., 2018. Assessing the role of emotions in B2B decision making: an exploratory study. Journal of Indian Business Research.
Activity Three
Adamkovi?, M. and Marton?ik, M., 2017. A review of consequences of poverty on economic decision-making: A hypothesized model of a cognitive mechanism. Frontiers in psychology, 8, p.1784.
Kusev, P., Purser, H., Heilman, R., Cooke, A.J., Van Schaik, P., Baranova, V., Martin, R. and Ayton, P., 2017. Understanding risky behavior: the influence of cognitive, emotional and hormonal factors on decision-making under risk. Frontiers in psychology, 8, p.102.
Pandey, S.K. and Mookerjee, A., 2018. Assessing the role of emotions in B2B decision making: an exploratory study. Journal of Indian Business Research.
Stankevich, A., 2017. Explaining the consumer decision-making process: Critical literature review. Journal of International Business Research and Marketing, 2(6).
Wang, Y. and Yu, C., 2017. Social interaction-based consumer decision-making model in social commerce: The role of word of mouth and observational learning. International Journal of Information Management, 37(3), pp.179-189.
Zhou, Z., Ding, Y., Feng, W. and Ke, N., 2021. Extending B2B brands into the B2C market: Whether, when, and how brands should emphasize B2B industry background. Journal of Business Research, 130, pp.364-375.
