Download MARKETING-BUYING DECISIONS BY CUSTOMERS

MARKETING-BUYING DECISIONS BY CUSTOMERS- BLACKBERRY
INTRODUCTION
The present assignment involves a brief outline of the processes involved in the
purchase decisions of the customers, by taking an instance of the purchase of the
laptop. The various stages involved in the process are explained in a clear manner. The
promotional campaigns which influence the buying decision processes are also well
explained through the assignment.
The present assignment also discusses the basic concepts involved in the market
segmentation and target marketing as well. The brief outline of the recent versions of
the BlackBerry devices and how they benefit the customers is also clearly given in the
assignment. The market segmentation and target marketing principles and tactics
adopted by the BlackBerry devices, are well explained too.
BUYING DECISIONS OF THE CUSTOMERS
Those decision processes which are performed by the customers, with respect to the
potential market transaction, are collectively termed as customer buying decision
processes. These are done before, during or after the purchase of a specific service or
product (Lamb et al., 2008).
The purchase of laptop is a bit complicated process which involves the referring of many
factors and attributes (Dan, 2008). The idea of the fundamentals of the customer buying
decision processes is very much important to make the process much more easier and
the different stages involves in the customer buying decision processes are explained
below in detail.
Stages involved in the customer buying decision processes:
Problem Recognition:
The unsatisfied needs of the customer are recognized by the customer himself and he
develops an intention to fulfill those needs. The necessity of the needs is also clearly
analyzed by the customer. The customer apparently assesses the necessity of the laptop
in the present situation.
Information search:
The required relevant information regarding the products which the customer wants to
buy, are collected and gathered from many sources. The customer who requires a
laptop would end up in gathering the necessary data about the different brands of the
laptops and the features offered by these laptops. The information search could be
implemented through two major ways, internal search as well as external search.
 Internal search: This is a process which involves self scanning of one’s own
memory to recollect the already had experiences with some type of brands,
services or products.

External search: These include personal sources (friends, family, relatives etc),
public sources (consumer reports etc), websites etc.
Since the less extent of information gathered as well as the risk of making wrong
decision is high in case of the internal search, the purchase of laptops mainly involves
the external search. The customer is provided with an option of alternatives after the
successful completion of the information search.
Evaluation of Alternatives:
The problem of the customer gets clarified through information search by:
 Suggestion of the criteria that helps in the purchase of the product
 Suggestion of the brands that would meet the above said criteria
 Building up the consumer value perception.
The customer does the evaluation of the products based on several criteria. The basic
criteria taken into account during the purchase of the laptops include durability, price,
quality, performance, warranty, after sale services, speed, colour etc. The customer
checks many brands and finds out the particular brand which meets these criteria to the
maximum.
Purchase decision:
Once the brand meeting most of the criteria in a considerable perfect manner, the
customer decides to purchase it. The laptop which has comparatively better features, is
selected and purchased by the consumer.
Purchase:
The actual purchase may or may not differ from the purchase decision, and many
factors account for this variation. The availability of the products is one of the significant
factors for this variation.
Post Purchase Evaluation:
This is the phase which involves the evaluation of the products by the customer, after
the purchase. The customer does the comparison of the products as expected, and
based on the satisfaction or the dissatisfaction, this phase is mainly classed into two
types:
 Positive post purchase behavior: The customer is satisfied with the product
purchased, leading to the brand loyalty of the customer. If the customer is
satisfied with the laptop, more numbers of customers are recommended by this
customer.

Negative post purchase behavior: If the customer is dissatisfied with the
features of the laptop, the business for the products is reduced (Pride and
Ferrell, 2011).
Promotional Campaigns:
The ideas or the tactics used by the organizations to attract the customers, by shifting
their attention from the conventional methods of advertising to novel methods, are
collectively referred to as sales promotions, or simply promotional campaigns. These
ideologies enable a special brand or product to be the favorite among the customers.
The promotional campaigns mainly involve three important aspects- right message to
the right people at the right time. The customer buying decisions at the time of laptop
purchase are also highly influenced by these campaigns. The list given below explains
some of the prominent promotional campaigns which have marked impact on the
buying decisions of the customers.
 Use of coupons: This involves a reduction in the price of the total amount, which
is most commonly given in terms of percentage, for example, 25%, 35% etc.
 Price-off: This is a price reduction offer which is applicable temporarily only for a
time period.
 E-mail marketing: This is also one of the promotional campaigns which are done
through the websites. The features of the products would be explained in the
concerned website and this attracts a number of customers, who are provided
with a facility of online purchase.
 Provision of premiums: The special prizes or attractive offers given to the
customers while purchasing any product, are referred to as premiums. The price
of the products would not be reduced in this case.
 Contests and Sweepstakes: Sometimes a competition is conducted between the
customers to select a winner. The difference is that the contests demand the
customers to purchase any product in order to take part in the competition,
while that is not compulsorily required in case of sweepstakes. The winner is
then provided with attractive offers and prizes.
 Loyalty programs: These are the special offers made available to those
customers who do frequent shopping from the shop or company.
 Rebates and Refunds: These are the “money return back programs” which are
meant for the hard goods and soft goods respectively.
 Bonus packs: The customers are provided with extra items if they purchase a
pack of any special product (Dimitri, 2009).
SEGMENTATION AND TARGET MARKETING OF BLACKBERRY
Overview of Blackberry:
This could be called as a line of smartphone devices, which are designed as well as
developed by RIM (Research In Motion). It was in1999, the first launch of Blackberry
took place. By the fall of 2010, 7 versions of Blackberry have been introduced in the
market. The roles played by the devices include portable media players, gaming devices,
personal digital assistant, internet browsers, cameras etc. A number of instant
messaging features are also supported by Blackberry devices, out of which, the
prominent one would be the BlackBerry Messanger, or just BBM. According to the
surveys performed in 2011, around 3% of the total mobile sales is constituted by the
BlackBerry sales, through which RIM is made the world’s sixth most popular device
maker. The services are being spread over 91 countries (http://in.blackberry.com).
Main features of BlackBerry devices:
The most prominent features of these devices are elaborated in the following list:
1. Multi Touch Interface: Even though the hardware keyboard, which is considered
to be the signature of BlackBerry, still exits; newly introduced versions have
developed multi touch interfaces, which are appealing in looks and excellent in
usage as well.
2. Webkit Browser: The current issues of less speed, difficulty in navigation, faced
by the web browsers, are well rectified by the BlackBerry device, particularly
Blackberry Torch.
3. Redesigned home screen: The classic device had five to six icons on the home
screen and the rest apps were opened by hitting the BlackBerry key, while the
new version has two rows of icons containing four each. The glamour of the
home
screen
is
also
enhanced
in
the
new
versions
(http://in.blackberry.com/devices/features/).
Market Segmentation:
The identification of segments of a market, which differs from each other, is referred by
the term ‘Market Segmentation’. This would enable any firm to satisfy its customers to
the maximum. The primary step adopted in the marketing segmentation is to identify
the variables or bases for segmentation and to develop segment profiles. The markets
thus segmented would be entirely different from each other. Those individuals who
have almost similar and common interests and tastes are grouped into a segment. The
main advantage of this is that, the response expressed by the individuals would be
somewhat similar to the market fluctuations (Armstrong et al., 2009).
Bases and types of market segmentation:
There are some prominent variables based on which the market could be segmented
and these are described below:
 Geographic Segmentation: The division of market into different geographic units
is involved in this step. The geographic units include world, region, population
density etc. Certain brands which gain popularity in one location would not be
preferred in the other locality.
 Demographic Segmentation: This type of segmentation is based on the variables
like gender, occupation, age, income etc. This is a very common mode of
segmentation because of the ease of measurement as well as the high chances
of availability.
 Psychographic segmentation: Lifestyles, attitudes, social class etc form the
prominent bases for this type of segmentation. This is a very significant
classification because the people are different in their psychographic attributes
even though they are from the same demographic location.
 Behavioral Segmentation: This type of segmentation is mainly done on the basis
of variable including price sensitivity, brand loyalty, usage rate, benefits sought
etc (Gary and Kotler, 2012).
Target marketing:
The diversity of the consumers are considered through the process called target
marketing, where they all are not offered with the same offerings, but the offerings of
the services and products according to the class they belong to and their mind sets as
well.
The identification of the various market segments along with their needs is the primary
step taken in the target marketing. Once they are identified and grouped based on some
criteria, their needs and preferences are considered in the next step. According to the
above two steps, strategies are developed to promote their products and services in the
last step. The demographic factors which include gender, age group, marital status,
occupation, income etc form the basis for the ideology of ‘Target Marketing’ (Greg,
2010).
Segmentation and target marketing by BlackBerry devices:
Blackberry is not meant for business people alone anymore, but also it can be accessed
by kids, youth, hardcore computer users, media player lovers etc. The users of these
devices are made satisfied by the enhanced features of the devices, which are briefed
out below:
1) For executives: The main purpose of the BlackBerry devices is to cater the needs
of the executives, by which the device has been regarded as the second leading
smartphone producer of the world. The U.S President, Barack Obama, is the
highest-profile user of the BlackBerry phones.
2) For business people and hardcore computer users: The device, BlackBerry 8703e
(Verizon Wireless), specially developed for the businessmen as well as computer
users, has a very clear screen with easy typing and easy navigation facilities. This
is user friendly too. The tools required for browsing are also inbuilt with this
device.
3) For youth: The special feature noticed by the youth which attracts them to the
devices is the BlackBerry Messenger, which is available on all the devices. Of the
youth surveyed (age group of 16-25), over 60% possessed any of the BlackBerry
devices with them.
4) For students: In collaboration with the service provider of mobiles, Vodafone,
BlackBerry has recently developed and launched a new application, ‘Study
Buddy’, which is mainly aimed at the students who undergo training for
management entrance. The mock tests for CAT, CMAT etc are provided through
this application.
5) For Kids: Though, the applications which can entertain the kids are less in
number, existing ones excel in their own way. The scientists of the Research and
Development section of the BlackBerry are working on some applications,
especially for kids.
6) For Multimedia lovers: The company has also launched a special device, which
has better features, which could catch the attention of multimedia lovers.
BlackBerry Pearl is the device specially designed for these people.
CONCLUSION
The detailed description of the customer buying decisions and influence of the
promotional campaigns with regard to the laptop purchase are clearly done in the first
section of the assignment. The stages involved in the decision making behavior of the
customers are also elaborated.
The final section deals with the market segmentation and target markets with respect to
the BlackBerry devices in a precise manner. The basis and types of segmentations are
also explained in detail in this assignment.
REFERENCES:
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Charles. W. Lamb, Joseph. F. Hair and Carl McDaniel (2008), “Marketing”, 10 th
Edition, Cengage Learning.
Dan Gookin (2008), “Buying a computer for Dummies”, John Wiley and Sons.
Dimitri Tassiopoulos (2009), “New Tourism Ventures: An Entrepreneurial and
Managerial Approach”, Juta and Company Ltd.
Gary Armstrong and Philip Kotler (2012), “Marketing: An introduction”, 11 th
Edition, Prentice Hall.
Gary Armstrong, Michael Harker, Philip Kotler and Ross Brennan (2009),
“Marketing: An introduction”, 9th Edition, Pearson.
Gerg Verdino (2010), “MicroMarketing: Get Big Results by Thinking and Acting
Small”, McGraw-Hill Professional.
William. M. Pride and O. C. Ferrell (2011), “Marketing”, 16th Edition, Cengage
Learning.
http://in.blackberry.com/?CPID=KNC-kw54264_p22&HBX_PK=rim|77f94d9bb50b-2a48-a362-000020f09169
http://in.blackberry.com/devices/features/