Marketing

Introduction

The sphere of goods and services promotion as one of the most rapidly developing sectors requires the active involvement of relevant strategies and techniques providing the assessment of significant factors. Marketers resort to various resources, including both theoretical aspects, for instance, the modern principles of preserving customer interest, and practical techniques related to the introduction of innovations. Promotional work is the area where consumer participation plays an essential role and largely determines and companies’ policies. This work is aimed at describing such concepts as customer value, satisfaction, and loyalty in the context of marketing management and their benefits for business organizations.

Customer Value, Satisfaction, and Loyalty in Marketing Management

The concepts of value, satisfaction, and customer loyalty are important criteria influencing current trends in companies’ operations and governing target asset allocation strategies. It is also essential to note that these terms are interconnected and intersect constantly. According to Xu, Peak, and Prybutok (2015), “both customer value and satisfaction are significant antecedents of customer loyalty” (p. 174). Therefore, each of the phenomena should be considered in more detail concerning marketing management.

Customer Value

Sellers’ resources are not inexhaustible, and their desire to establish contact with customers and thereby ensure a stable profit is justified. For this purpose, as part of marketing activities, measures are taken to assess customer value, the category that, like Ali, Kim, Li, and Jeon (2018) remark, allows identifying a group of buyers with the greatest investment attractiveness and plan further activities based on the obtained indicators. Sellers are interested in the recovery of their investment in relationships with clients; therefore, marketers aim their activities at determining prospects for interaction with consumers and the value of each customer’s contribution.

Customer Satisfaction

The degree of customer satisfaction affects client re-purchase decisions and feedbacks. This, in turn, stimulates demand and contributes to promoting certain products in the market. Xu et al. (2015) argue that this concept “transforms the initial consumption and purchase to post-purchase phenomena such as attitude change, re-patronage, and brand loyalty” (p. 177). An opportunity to influence the preferences of consumers and achieve their recognition opens up significant prospects for marketers, for instance, selling a large number of products, obtaining stable profits, and other positive outcomes of promotional work. Therefore, customer satisfaction is one of the valuable aspects of marketing management.

Customer Loyalty

Customer loyalty involves the commitment of consumers to one brand or a specific product. The basis of this phenomenon is client contentment with the quality of a particular product, its presentation, service, and other aspects that form a positive attitude. The result of this commitment is repeated purchases, and marketers seek to improve these indicators by creating new involvement strategies.

Ali et al. (2018) note that the experience gained “can be considered to be a vital determinant of customer loyalty,” and due to modern capabilities and technologies, buyers have an opportunity to appreciate the ingenuity of sellers (p. 2). The difficulty lies in the fact that competition is the inevitable outcome of any active business. As a result, marketers are forced to make efforts to provide a certain company with a stable client base and, consequently, profits.

Importance of Focusing on Customer Value, Satisfaction, and Loyalty

Since all three considered marketing concepts are closely interrelated with one another, their importance to the success of a company’s activities can be viewed in a general context, although each of the phenomena has its unique features. According to Chen and Wang (2016), creating a positive business environment means complying with the conditions for effective interaction between customers and sellers to avoid the loss of demand and profits.

The significance of the concepts under consideration is largely due to competition as the inevitable phenomenon of the modern market. In case buyers stop preferring products of a certain brand, their owners will not only lose their potential source of income but also will not be able to hold leading positions, which is fraught with the complete loss of business status. However, if marketers of the company achieve customers’ interest in specific goods and services, as evidenced by ever-increasing demand, such an organization acquires the image of a reliable and strong participant in the business sphere. Therefore, the concepts of customer value, satisfaction, and loyalty should be taken into account when planning a development strategy.

Among the priorities of any company, it is necessary to note the formation of prerequisites for effective relationships with customers. Such factors may include brand awareness and a good image, high quality of goods sold and services provided, product competitiveness, and positive interaction with consumers.

As Chen and Wang (2016) state, all these aspects help to ensure that those clients whose needs can be fully satisfied are ready to return to a particular seller. In this case, a permanent target audience appears, which is of particular value to any company due to the large volume of purchases made. The value of this interaction is also related to the fact that potential clients may get acquainted with the positive experience of other people, thereby increasing product awareness and the success of a certain organization in the market.

Marketers’ ability to retain customers contributes to the financial growth of companies and largely determines business success. When utilizing data about what values are essential for customers at a specific period, what needs are considered to be the most relevant, and on what factors the changes in preferences depend, promotional work specialists can develop appropriate product introduction strategies. Therefore, in the context of marketing management, the considered concepts of long-term customer relationships play a significant role.

Conclusion

Such concepts of long-term customer relationships as customer value, satisfaction, and loyalty are the essential factors of successful marketing management. The advantages of these criteria include sellers’ opportunity to assess consumer interest and retain buyers. The economic growth of business organizations, which is carried out due to a constant target audience, is the evidence of marketers’ effective work about all the strategies considered.

References

Ali, F., Kim, W. G., Li, J., & Jeon, H. M. (2018). Make it delightful: Customers’ experience, satisfaction and loyalty in Malaysian theme parks. Journal of Destination Marketing & Management, 7, 1-11. Web.

Chen, C. F., & Wang, J. P. (2016). Customer participation, value co-creation and customer loyalty – A case of airline online check-in system. Computers in Human Behavior, 62, 346-352. Web.

Xu, C., Peak, D., & Prybutok, V. (2015). A customer value, satisfaction, and loyalty perspective of mobile application recommendations. Decision Support Systems, 79, 171-183. Web.

Introduction

The significance of marketing in the 21-st century is immense. The marketing process involves almost every person and company and constitutes an important element of success (Kotler & Keller 2012). Marketing plays a major role in resistance to harsh economic problems. Without proper demand, such as business operations as accounting, finance, and others will not be able to provide organizations with profit.

Marketing has an impact not only on individuals and companies but also on society. With its help, it becomes possible to introduce new services and products that make people’s lives easier (Kotler & Keller 2012). However, it is not always an easy task to make the right strategic decisions in marketing. An important constituent of the process of such decision-making is the analysis of consumer behavior which incorporates social and cultural aspects (Kotler & Keller 2012). The role and aim of marketing in economic and social circumstances require the emergence of a new theory (Webster & Lusch 2013).

According to Webster and Lusch (2013), the biggest mistake of marketing that has existed for more than half a century was concentrating on customers’ self-centered motivation instead of focusing on individuals as consuming members of the community. Therefore, Webster and Lusch (2013) suggest that marketing needs to redefine and modernize its intellectual realm and purpose to provide people with better life quality.

Achrol and Kotler (2012) also remark the need for a new paradigm in marketing. The authors note that the evolution of marketing can be traced from the functional model to the marketing management model and, finally, to the exchange model. Achrol and Kotler (2012) suggest a three-component description of modern marketing which includes sun phenomena (the experiences and sensory arrangements of consumers), phenomena (structures of marketing), and superphenomena (advancement and sustainability).

In their investigation of the effectiveness of relationship management, Kang, Oh, and Sivadas (2013) suggests a new approach to marketing which they call a relationship assessment method. The authors outline several variables that have a positive impact on marketing relationships: communication, cooperation, dependence, trust, satisfaction, termination cost, relational norms, and transaction-specific investments (Kang, Oh & Sivadas 2013). Therefore, researchers agree that marketing plays a crucial role in the 21-st century and that it is necessary to develop and implement new strategies of marketing practices in order to reach high customer satisfaction and good profit.

Relationship in a B2C Market

With the advent of e-commerce, a B2C (business-to-customer) market has gained increased popularity (Zhang 2013). B2C is used to increase customer satisfaction since it is more emotional and personal than B2B (business-to-business). The search for efficiency and convenience is one of the key characteristics of B2C Internet consumers (Zhang 2013). B2C e-commerce provides individual customers with the opportunity to find products and services they need at the most suitable price (Ariff et al. 2013). A B2C market allows shoppers to satisfy their needs and demands by creating particular relationship patterns.

Needs are not created by markets; they precede markets (Kotler & Keller 2012). To make a relationship between consumers’ needs and manufacturers’ suggestions, marketers identify target markets that help to address the needs of particular customers. Recently, I had a need satisfied through a relationship in a B2C market. I needed a lamp, and I was looking for a company that would suggest benefits rather than focus on some features. While B2B markets did not pay sufficient attention to consumer benefits, B2C markets did. Therefore, I decided to buy a lamp from a B2C market.

Reference List

Achrol, RS & Kotler, P 2012, ‘Frontiers of the marketing paradigm in the third millennium’, Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, vol. 40, no. 1, pp. 35-52.

Ariff, MSM, Yan, NS, Zakuan, N & Ishak, N 2013, ‘Web-based factors influencing online purchasing in B2C market; view of ICT professionals’, Review of Integrative Business and Economics Research, vol. 2, no. 2, pp. 572-586.

Kang, B, Oh, S & Sivadas E 2013, ‘Beyond relationship quality: examining relationship management effectiveness’, Journal of Marketing Theory and Practice, vol. 21, no. 3, pp. 273-287.

Kotler, P & Keller, K 2012, Marketing management, 14th edn, Pearson, New York, NY.

Webster, FE & Lusch, RF 2013, ‘Elevating marketing: marketing is dead! Long live marketing!’, Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, vol. 41, no. 1, pp. 389-399.

Zhang, Q 2013, ‘Research on customer satisfaction in B2C e-commerce market’, in W Du (ed), Informatics and management science IV, Springer, London, pp. 283-292.

Apple Incorporated remains one of the most profitable companies in the world. It innovates, designs, and markets superior products to its customers. The targeted stakeholders have developed positive attitudes and feelings about the processes, services, marketing experiences, and strategies associated with this company. The purpose of this paper is to analyze the evolution of Apple’s product portfolio and its major innovations. It also describes its innovation model and connects it with the established product strategy.

Apple’s History: Product Portfolio Evolution and Innovations

Apple began in 1976 as a designer and marketer of the Apple I computer. It employed new designers and eventually developed an efficient product line. In the 1990s, the emergence of new computers in the market affected its competitiveness (Zhang, 2018). The company evolved to begin producing the iMac in 1998. By 2001, it had acquired several companies, thereby being in a position to increase its products and software portfolio (Zhang, 2018).

Between 2007 and 2011, this company managed to produce the first iPhone and Apple TV (Gehani, 2016). The iPhone would change the company’s image and performance forever. Within a few years, it went further to produce the iPad and the iPod. The success of these devices was attributable to the company’s ability to design innovative products that delivered the best experience to every customer.

Apple’s development of its graphical user interface (GUI) system was also an inspirational and innovative move. The company went further to popularize it, thereby becoming a model for future computer graphics, taskbars, and icons (Zhang, 2018). This achievement made it possible or encouraged many people to start thinking differently about computers. The user-friendly interfaces became the signature or true representation of every product or device from Apple. GUI would eventually be integrated in various Apple’s devices.

In 2007, they introduced its iTunes store to sell music to different customers (Baer, 2015). The App Store would later be launched in 2008 (Gehani, 2016). This online platform made it possible for the organization to market its apps for the iPod Touch and the iPhone. This achievement was innovative since it transformed the way people purchased music content and software apps. The introduction of the tablet-like iPad in 2010 became a turning point for this organization (Gehani, 2016). This analysis reveals that Apple has been increasing and supporting its product portfolio since its establishment in 1976. This historical analysis reveals that every product has been supported by innovative tendencies or practices.

From the above discussion, it is agreeable that the concept of innovation has been critical towards improving performance and increasing this corporation’s competitiveness. In order to achieve its objectives, Apple’s innovative procedures have followed these three routes: updating current products and services, improving and transforming its devices, and introducing new ones (Baer, 2015). For instance, the company has been keen to focus on the changing demands in the market and deliver products that can meet the needs of the users.

Each of its products and devices has been undergoing continuous transformation and improvement depending on the available technologies. These goals have been realized through the power of continuous research and development (R&D). Additionally, this company has been on the frontline to update its current devices, software, and applications (Zhang, 2018). For instance, every new iPhone device presents additional features, run on advanced iOS system, and it is capable of delivering additional experiences to the users. The corporation has made a number of achievements due to its ability and decision to focus on the trends in the global market.

The idea of innovation at Apple is subdivided further to the notions of product development. For instance, it has considered the power of cost reductions in an attempt to deliver similar experiences to the targeted users at reduced prices. A good example is the company’s ability to produce iPhones with different storage memories for various customers, including 8GB, 16GB, 32GB, and 64GB (Gehani, 2016). Roger’s five characteristics of innovation are applicable to this company. In terms of relative advantage, the corporation has been able to present devices that fulfill both current and future needs of different users (Fradin, 2016).

The idea of compatibility is pursued by ensuring that every product or app is in accordance with existing values and demands of future adopters. The products are in accordance with the notion of trialability since they are capable of delivering positive results (Gehani, 2016). The concept of complexity is also applicable because it ensures that people change their behaviors and interactions with the devices. Finally, the innovation process resonates with the idea of observability. This is true since the benefits and results of every device are noticeable to others.

Innovation and Product Strategies

The emergence of strong competitors in Apple’s market has forced its leaders to pursue the power of innovation and implement sustainable strategies to attract more customers. Although its rivals offer cheaper software, apps, and smartphones, this corporation has pursued its premium strategy to overcome the challenge of competition (Gehani, 2016). This company engages in innovation to produce new products and improve existing ones continuously.

Product development is augmented by the company’s ability to embrace the power of effective packaging. The end result is that the organization has promoted the idea of quality over quantity (Son, Kim, Park, & Kim, 2018). As described above, Apple’s product portfolio has remained quite small. This model has made it possible for the designers to focus on the above five attributes of innovation. The buyer eventually gets reliable products that deliver high-quality experience (Son et al., 2018). While other companies might be providing new products, the case remains different for Apple since it pursues a unique innovation approach whereby existing ones are improved continuously. This means that old versions get additional features and parts.

The corporation has innovated and produced a unique iOS for its devices. It has gone further to control its access, use, and availability. This means that users will get unchanged software that guarantees quality and experience. Its attention to detail guides engineers and programmers to present new products whenever necessary (Son et al., 2018). Existing ones get advanced features depending on customers’ reviews, complaints, and suggestions.

Finally, the innovation-product strategy is supported further using the concept of 4P marketing mix. This means that the company uses a premium pricing policy for its products. It has specific stores and online platforms whereby customers can launch complaints and purchase their favorite devices (Karabulut, 2015). In terms of place, it uses its online stores and platforms to sensitize and inform more customers. The use of social media networks, advertisements, and referrals is an innovative practice that continues to transform Apple’s promotional strategy.

Conclusion

The above discussion has identified Apple as a leading brand that uses powerful innovative procedures to introduce new products and improve its current portfolio. These approaches have continued to support the needs of different customers, thereby making it possible to increase its profits. Companies that want to remain successful should, therefore, consider the innovation, product, and marketing strategies. Such efforts will ensure that every new device or service resonates with the changes recorded in the industry.

References

Baer, D. (2015). How Tim Cook implants Apple’s culture into new employees. Business Insider. Web.

Fradin, D. (2016). Apple’s product portfolio management. Spice Catalyst. Web.

Gehani, R. R. (2016). Corporate brand value shifting from identity to innovation capability: From Coca-Cola to Apple. Journal of Technology Management & Innovation, 11(3), 11-20.

Karabulut, A. T. (2015). Effects of innovation strategy on firm performance: A study conducted on manufacturing firms in Turkey. Procedia – Social and Behavioral Sciences, 195, 1338-1347. Web.

Son, I., Kim, J., Park, G., & Kim, S. (2018). The impact of innovative technology exploration on firm value sustainability: The case of part supplier management. Sustainability, 10(10), 3632-3648. Web.

Zhang, Q. (2018). Research on Apple Inc’s current developing conditions. Open Journal of Business Management, 6(1), 39-46. Web.

The purpose of this paper is three-fold. Firstly, it provides a summary of the article “Consumer conformity: review and applications for marketing theory and practice”, and then a highlight of the keywords that link the article with the topics of conformity and peer pressure is provided. Finally, an explanation or analysis of the article that gives the critique of the concepts in the article is provided.

Marketing applications are best explained by interpersonal influences. A considerable number of product choices and purchase decisions are guided by referent others. Individuals conform to the demands of the group in order to gain acceptance, however, there is limited literature that explains comprehensively the effect of conformity pressures in the marketplace. The foremost purpose of this article is to investigate conformity by exploring the numerous factors that prejudice individuals to be traditional to the influence of their peers. It further explains an advance theoretical model of conformity, and a suggestion of the conformity theory application in marketing is evident.

The article explores certain keywords, which include, among others, consumer conformity, brand loyalty, persuasion, social influence, and consumer conformity models. The articles point out the controversy in the definition of consumer conformity. This is attributed to the variation in factors such as referent others, persuasions, and conformity. The report further articulates that most of the consumers perceive that the use of media ads as a marketing strategy orientation in the process of product development resulted in a number of challenges and benefits. The main challenges that pertain to the adoption of this marketing strategy, as mentioned by the selected respondents, include: strategy development costs, heavy training and skills development expenses, insufficient human resources and outdated information technology infrastructure among others. The consumers also consistently perceive that with the adoption of this marketing strategy for business, a significant number of benefits could be accrued including: easy access to information, competitive advantage which in turn results to good positioning of the business in the market, improved customer services and satisfaction among others. This promote the willingness of consumers to take risks and invest in the competitive economy having realized that their sustainability in the market is dependent on how well they integrate their purchase decisions strategies (Lascu and Zinkhan 11).

The term personality may be common but its connotation to consumer behavior to many is less known. Personality is essential in determining, identifying and considerate insights in relation to consumer preferences and patterns. Personality refers to an individual’s consistent ways of reacting to the environment surrounding him. Personality derives from a combination of the social environment or external influences and biological or genetic traits of a person. The personality of a consumer is two-fold; service or product oriented. Service-oriented consumers look for relationships with the producer, manufacturer or seller of the product. On the other hand, product-oriented consumers patronize a service or product based on the commodities itself. Motivation/ persuasion, on the other hand, refer to a force that ignites behavior leading to the satisfaction of a need. The needs of consumers are hierarchical in nature, therefore, once the psychological needs are satisfied consumers shift their attention to the satisfaction of learned needs. Ideally, it suggests a build-up approach that requires the study of lot of customer data that leads to the identification of similarities that will aid in making up segments that have undifferentiated needs, through media ads it is possible to identify different consumer needs. The article had the same viewpoint when they maintain that it is more suitable to use a build-up approach as compared to a breakdown approach in turbulence markets. Segmentation process should therefore, begin with identifying the differences between customers then moving on to locate their similarities that will aid in segmentation.

The consumer undertakes a number of steps in the buying decision process. These steps will aid the consumer in executing a purchase of a good or service. The steps involves; problem recognition, that is the consumer perceives a need that wants to be satisfied; information search which entails the establishment of value; and evaluation of alternatives is the next step since it incorporates assessment of value. In addition, buying decision come next where the consumer decides to buy a given product or service. Finally, the post-purchase behavior where the consumer reacts to the decision made earlier to purchase the product or service. New technology has lead to a reduction in physical touch and personal conduct between clients and customers through internet purchase. The establishment of ever-lasting relationship with customers is possible due to customer buying characteristics such as honesty, trust, cooperation and commitment between certain customers and the company. The analysis revealed that trust as a consumer-buying characteristic plays a vital role in maintenance and development of a successful relationship in the company because of the nature of consumer buying behavior.

This article has set out to explore the impact of strategic marketing media ads on performance. The findings of the article indicate that there is a direct and positive relationship between strategic marketing media ads implementation and performance. The study leads to the conclusion that media ads implementation has a direct and positive relationship with the performance of the company, hence guaranteeing its survival.

Works Cited

Lascu, Dana-Nicoleta and Zinkhan, George. “Consumer Conformity: Review and Applications for Marketing Theory.” Journal of Marketing Theory and Practice, 7.3 (1999): 1-12. Print.

Shopping malls have one primary objective – to satisfy the needs of their clients. That is why most shopping malls have an expanded infrastructure targeting the versatile needs of the consumers. This paper focuses on how Westfield Doncaster Shopping Center could improve their customers’ shopping experiences compared to its competition – Chadstone Shopping Center. The paper covers two marketing objectives and two research objectives and provides a brief description of the future research plan and design.

Marketing Objectives

Westfield Doncaster Shopping Center has a wide assortment of goods to offer; moreover, it provides the consumers with a range of diverse services such as play areas for children, free Wi-Fi, parking, styling services, and phone charging. However, its competitor Chadstone Shopping Center has an image of a store with exclusive fashion items and attracts tourists.

The first marketing objective is to expand the range of services at Westfield Doncaster Shopping Center and begin attracting tourists. Potential strategies to accomplish this goal include creating special offers for tourists, adding unique experiences, interesting sites to visit, and souvenir departments.

The second marketing objective is changing the image of the Shopping Center to reflect a more exclusive and memorable profile. For example, Chadstone Shopping Center emphasizes its fashion department. Westfield Doncaster could focus on customer satisfaction and offer loyalty programs, rewards, gifts – this strategy would help attract more buyers due to better experiences.

The rationale behind both marketing objectives is the expansion of the customer market segment of the Center by means of the improvement of shopping experience offered. According to the study by Liu (2007), loyalty programs improve the relationship between the sellers and the buyers; also, Uncles, Dowling, and Hammond (2003) specify that loyalty programs need to come in combination with the brands and services offered and the overall image of the store. Overall, the researchers find that loyalty programs can produce a significant influence on consumer behavior (Meyer‐Waarden 2008).

Research Objectives

The first research objective of this project is to achieve the rate of response high enough to make conclusions about the reliability and transferability of the results. Shopping malls usually have a large customer base, and that is why the size of the sample for both research questions needs to be sufficient. The questions will target the shoppers (just any adult buyer for the second objective and tourists for the first objective).

The collection of data will be structured in the form of a simple questionnaire (multiple-choice, possibly) to direct the responses and achieve better compliance because the respondents would not be willing to take part in lengthy interviews. Also, the interviews would hold confusing data requiring careful interpretation whereas questions will collect data in a more controlled and easy to process manner.

The second research objective will be to locate the respondents for the first issue – tourists and assess their needs as to the assortment of goods and services offered by Westfield Doncaster Shopping Center and also its significance as a place to visit. It is possible that one or two open-end questions could be added to the questionnaire to allow this group of respondents to express their desires as to the improvement of their shopping experience at Westfield Doncaster Shopping Center.

To sum up, the research will target adult buyers in general and tourists in particular as two different groups of respondents whose needs will be assessed separately for a purpose to achieve two marketing objectives – improve the image of the Center as a place focusing specifically on pleasing the consumers and attract tourists as a customer segment.

References

Liu, Y 2007, ‘The long-term impact of loyalty programs on consumer purchase behavior and loyalty,’ Journal of Marketing, vol. 71, no. 4, pp. 19-35.

Meyer‐Waarden, L 2008, ‘The influence of loyalty program membership on customer purchase behaviour,’ European Journal of Marketing, vol. 42, no. 1/2, pp. 87 – 114.

Uncles, MD, Dowling, GR, & Hammond, K 2003, ‘Customer loyalty and customer loyalty programs,’ Journal of Consumer Marketing, vol. 20, no. 4, pp. 294 – 316.

Introduction

The sheer proliferation of social media platforms such as blogs, wikis and online forums has created an unprecedented opportunity for companies to take advantage of this new social trend to promote particular products and services via online social platforms. Nearly 22% of all online activity within the U.S. alone is spent on social networking websites and as such is indicative of the consumer market share that social media platforms could potentially provide to the company should it utilize such a marketing tool (Pullen, 59 – 61).

Furthermore, it has been proven using social media programs such as viral marketing initiatives that a certain degree of “hype” can be generated for a particular product or service yet only cost a fraction of a standard advertising campaign (Kaplan and Haenlein, 253 – 260).

Thus from a cost-benefit standpoint the utilization of social media platforms as marketing tools is not only advantageous for the company in terms of brand promotion and gaining a certain degree of market penetration into potentially untapped consumer segments but it can do so at a relatively low cost and as such presents numerous potential avenues of approach by which the company can generate consumer awareness of its products (Kaplan and Haenlein, 253 – 260).

Utilizing Facebook

One way of utilizing social media in advertising the company’s products and services is to create a Facebook fan page for the company to help better connect itself with its current customer base. What must be understood is that by creating a fan page this allows subscribed Facebook fans to receive updates from the company in the form of product launch dates, overall product availability, performance and other factors that can contribute to its sale (Wilner, 71 – 81).

A fan page creates a “human” face for the company in that by posting daily news regarding the particular industry the company is in this helps consumers to better understand the company and thus create a greater degree of product awareness which translates into a higher likelihood of product patronage.

It is also interesting to note that through the fan page the company can also better facilitate particular promotions such as discounts, special contests and other such methods of promotional marketing that are meant to entice greater public interest over a particular product (Wilner, 71 – 81).

Various companies ranging from the alcoholic beverage maker Jack Daniels to the computer manufacturer Asus have Facebook fan pages and this has enabled them to create a larger consumer fan base since instead of the company merely being a nameless entity that consumers buy products from it is subsequently transformed into an entity with particular views, positions on current events and even a sense of humor when it comes to posting its daily wall posts (Wilner, 71 – 81).

Conclusion

It is based on the various perspectives that I have elaborated on that I highly recommend that the company venture into at least some form of social media marketing to better connect itself with its customers.

There is little risk in utilizing this particular marketing tool and the potential rewards are massive in terms of greater brand awareness, better consumer relations and the creation of a particular image for the company that goes beyond merely being a business entity but rather is one connected to an open attitude regarding current events, the needs of consumers and being a company that is modernizing instead of being stuck in the dark ages of consumer marketing.

Works Cited

Kaplan, Andreas M., and Michael Haenlein. “Two hearts in three-quarter time: how to waltz the social media/viral marketing dance.” Business Horizons 54.3 (2011): 253-263. Business Source Premier. EBSCO. Web.

Pullen, John Patrick. “Dollars, sense and social media marketing.” Entrepreneur 39.6 (2011): 59-61. Business Source Premier. EBSCO. Web.

Wilner, Sarah J. “Networked narratives: understanding word-of-mouth Marketing in Online Communities.” Journal of Marketing 74.2 (2010): 71-89. Business Source Premier. EBSCO. Web.

Introduction

Marketing in an integral part in product development as it creates awareness of the existence of a products or service in the market; the initial stage in developing a marketing strategy is marketing research. There are different approaches to a marketing research; they need to be combined when making a marketing strategy.

Nancarrow, C., Tinson, J., & Webber, 2007, in their article, Roots marketing the marketing research opportunity, featured in the journal; International Journal of Market Research, 49(1), 47-69, discuses the positive effects that can be attained by an approach of root marketing. This paper analysis the above named marketing research article.

Article review

The article starts by giving an overview of current market situation in the world as facilitated by globalisation; it is of the opinion that marketing goes further than selling, advertising and creating awareness to include company-customer relations; tap to effectively the market, a company need to understand the culture of the country that he is likely to sell the products. On page 47, the article states that there is a large effect of a countries, target market, and market segment culture on marketing strategy.

Through marketing, a company learns the deficit that a certain industry has, and then endeavour to produce goods to meet the demand in the market. When developing a marketing strategy: the initial stage is conduction a marketing research; marketing research may starts before a company has created the products required in the market, or may be introduced at any stage of a product cycle.

The research is never a onetime phenomenon but continues through the product cycle. Understanding the culture, the roots and the values of the market that a company is going venture assists in developing a marketing strategy; on page 51, the writers are of the opinion that one’s identity affects the choice of the products that he is going to buy. They are of the opinion that understanding cultural behaviour of a society assists a company develops appropriate marketing strategies.

On page 53, the writers are of the opinion that before developing of products marketing research main objective is to recognise a deficit that the current products in the market are not meeting, and developing product that can fill the gap. The deficit can be well interpolated by understanding the culture, roots and values of a people.

To advertise effectively, products must be seen to go inline with the target population culture, values, beliefs and social norms. Markets should undertake a research of the target market in Diaspora and seek to establish the strong links that people have on certain areas or objects; an understanding of the market Diaspora assists in developing appropriate marketing strategy (Nancarrow, Tinson & Webber, 2007).

To effectively market in the diverse culture with different values, norms and beliefs, companies need to develop cultural intelligence programs. They are management tools within an organisational psychology that emphasises that understanding an individual, group, communal and national culture to develop appropriate marketing strategies. When a company is developing products, it is important to understand the roots of the people who are going to use the products.

This calls for a close interaction between the marketers and the target market. Culture of a people influences the capacity for a business to engage successfully in a certain environment.

According cultural intelligence theory as portrayed by the article, human behaviour is to a large extent and element of their culture, consumer behaviour, attitude, beliefs, suppliers and country of origin perception has an influence on business. Cultural intelligence thus emphasises on the need to understand the psychodynamics in a certain target market; the understanding will assist in decision making for a successful business (Hampden–Turner & Trompenaars, 2006).

When marketing research is initiated in course of operation, the main objective is to understand market dynamics and get information that can assist the company in its positioning in the market. Market dynamics are effects of culture of a people; they are affected by social and psychological attributes that can be understood with an effective market analysis.

When a root marketing research is undertaken, it aims at giving rich information on product differentiation, product rejuvenation strategy, advertising approach/tools and product development. When developing a marketing strategy, a company should aims developing a strategy that will give maximum results at the minimum cost possible; thus for an effective marketing strategy, timely, organized and relevant information is required.

Market information is crucial when developing a marketing strategy; there is need to understand the culture of the target market to predict consumer trends and general situation in the market effectively. After data has been collected, it needs to be interpolated and reports made that are responsive to the situation at hand and offer rich decision-making information.

Conclusion

Market research has the role of collecting, interpolating, analyzing and storing internal and external data; culture of a target population assists in prediction consumer behaviour for an effective marketing strategies. Culture-market research starts with a desk research where marketers use the available secondary materials to understand the culture of the market segment; information from secondary sources assists in building a strong start point for primary data collection.

References

Hampden–Turner, C. & Trompenaars, F.(2006).Cultural Intelligence: Is Such a Capacity Credible? Group & Organization Management, 31(1), 56-63.

Nancarrow, C., Tinson, J., & Webber, R. (2007). Roots marketing: the marketing research opportunity. International Journal of Market Research, 49(1), 47-69.