8. CONSUMER BEHAVIOR AND THE DISTRIBUTION CHANNELS FOR COOKED FOOD
Consumer behavior refers to an individual’s decision-making process relating to the use of products and services.
Benefits of studying consumer behavior
1. To help the marketer understand the factors influencing a consumer’s selection of products.
2. To help concerned parties to correctly interpret the factors that influence the buying decisions of consumers, and to align that with their business capabilities.
3. To help develop markets and products.
4. To help in analyzing the market in order to precisely respond to consumer needs by producing the right products.
5. To help improve marketing strategies in order to establish a competitive advantage.
Evaluating the customers satisfaction
Satisfaction refers to an intrinsic feeling which varies depending on the level of expectation of each individual. The more their expectations are met, the more satisfaction is felt. However, if expectations are not fulfilled or expectations are not met, one might feel disappointed. Expectations are, therefore, a key factor.
Essential factors in evaluating service quality
1. Convenience means the convenience of meeting or contacting the service provider. This cover opening and closing times, location, and other ways to contact the service provider such as a convenient location accessible by the customers.
2. Communication refers to any communication providing information to customers to help them understand about a product, as well as listening to customer’s opinions, recommendations, or comments relating to the services provided by the business.
3. Capability is the skill, knowledge and ability of the service provider in providing services such as knowledge and skill in providing product information.
4. Courtesy means the courtesy of the service provider, the respect shown towards customers, and the friendliness extended to consumers. Some examples include providing service with a smile and politely speaking with customers.
5. Reliability refers to dependability and honesty of the service provider as well as a good reputation and brand image.
6. Regularity means the ability to certainly and precisely carry out work as promised such as providing the exact services that the customer expects.
7. Swift reaction is a willingness of the service provider to swiftly provide the service such as immediately providing service for the customer as a cashier.
Satisfaction surveys
Satisfaction surveys are an essential tool in developing and improving work processes in an organization. The information from the survey is fed back to the organization and shows the behavior and needs of the customer such as purchasing behaviors and use of services, which is a key performance indicator in an organization. Measuring satisfaction might include observation, interviews, and questionnaires.
“A customer is the most important visitor on our premises. He is not dependent on us; we are dependent on him. He is not an interruption in our work; he is the purpose of it. He is not an outsider in our business; he is a part of it. We are not doing him a favor by serving him; he is doing us a favor by giving us an opportunity to do so.”
[Mahatma Gandhi]
Sales Promotion
Sales promotion is the arrangement of marketing and sales promotional activities such as providing giveaways, exhibiting products, discounting, distance marketing, advertising mail, and any other means that triggers a purchasing decision towards your products or services
Sales promotion methods
• Sales promotion by discounting is conducted by both providing a discount on the ordinary sales price such as giving a 25% discount every Wednesday and by increasing the product quantity for the same price such as “Lactasoy Extra 300 with higher volume but at the same price”. However, such a higher sales volume from promotion usually comes up with less profit, so it is crucial to take this into consideration and to consider the effects towards brand image.
• Sales promotion using coupons. A coupon is another means to provide a discount. The main objective in using a coupon is to motivate the customer to use the coupon as often as possible. There are various approaches to distribute coupons, for example,
- Put the coupon on the product to motivate repurchase.
- Distribute the coupon via the newspaper or magazine to motivate the consumer to buy products.
• Sales promotion by giving an extra product is also a widely used method; the customers will get an extra product when they purchase a certain amount of product; for instance, buy ten and get one free.
• Sales promotion by a prize contest is commonly used nowadays; especially in the product exhibition where there are pretty girls giving information on product qualities and arranging an easy contest with small prizes in order to attract customers passing by and giving them souvenirs if they answer questions correctly.
• Sales promotion by lucky draw; although this method can be seen in different ways, the common approach is to include a lucky draw coupon with the product or print it up with the product’s label or a sticker. However, using such approaches, the manufacturer will need to consider the convenience for the customers to submit these coupons and the coupons must not be removed by people before they actually buy the product.
• Sales promotion by providing certain privileges to regular customers to motivate them to regularly buy the products or services; for example, most airlines have a mileage accumulation campaign, that can be exchanged for a free flight ticket when the amount of accumulated miles reaches a particular point. Japanese restaurants such as Fuji and Zen give a stamp when the customers spend more than 300 baht and these stamps can be exchanged for a discount coupon or a dish of food, or some gasoline stations provide a member card giving a special discount to customers.
• Sales promotion via product placement; research of consumers’ behavior in retail stores indicates that the sales volume will increase if the placement of products is attractive and visible to customers. To improve product visibility the products must be at eye level and arranged orderly. You may notice that consumer products in supermarkets have been positioned in that way.
• Sales promotion by giving away a product sample; such an approach involves giving away a product sample to let the customer use the product before actually buying it. Sometimes customers prefer the products they currently are using, so providing a sample may attract customers who currently use a competitors’ products.
However, it is important to note that sales promotions should be very simple and not too complex for the customers.
Technology involved in distributing the product
E-Commerce is buying or selling products on the internet in which the customer can select the product, calculate the cost, and make a buying decision using a credit card and the seller can present the product, examine the customer’s credit, receive the money paid for the product, and coordinate with the distributor, all of which can be done electronically on the internet.
Advantages:
1. Shopping can be done 24 hours a day.
2. Internet trading is global.
3. E-Commerce requires little investment.
4. It can eliminate any logistical issues.
5. Internet makes advertising easy; coverage is worldwide.
Disadvantage
1. E-Commerce needs an effective internet security system.
2. Countries conducting such trading require support in terms of laws and regulations.
3. Taxes must clearly be managed.
4. Both buyers and sellers require a basic knowledge of internet technology.
The common processes of E-Commerce
1. The customer selects a product listed in the catalog.
2. The customer places an order.
3. The customer makes a payment.
4. The customer waits for the product to be shipped.
The E-Commerce website
• Some examples of domestic websites are www.shop4thai.com , www.chulabook.com, www.tohome.com
• Some examples of international websites are www.amazon.com , www.alibaba.com, www.ecplaza.net