Consumer behaviour is one of the most
important factors considered in strategic management. It enables the
organisation to understand and conform to how consumers perceive products to be
more competitive in the market. Products are known to have more than just the
utilities that they provide a consumer with: they also provide a platform for
greater interaction between the person and their inner self, between the person
and the society and between groups within the society (Kotler, 2010). This
property of the product is very peculiar with the meaning attached to the
products being largely subjective. How one perceives products is a function of
their own perceptive abilities as well as a function of their interaction with
other members of the society. Indeed it is quite common to find individuals
using products just because it is associated with a certain feeling even though
none of the core utilities provided by the products have anything to do with
this image (Kotler, 2010).
This is where the concept of branding
and the use of product intangible attributes come in. These are elements
factored in strategic management and marketing communications where the companies
take advantage of emerging consumer culture to portray their products in a
certain light with an aim to establish a relationship between their brand and
the market and in a fashion that enables the market to view their products as
projected (Elliot and Wattanasuwan, 1998). For instance, a cosmetic company may
want to associate their products with a sense of superiority and personal
confidence. Where this imagery is adopted by the market, those who choose to
consume the product may actually use just to feel superior and confident; and
not merely for the product tangible features (Elliot and Wattanasuwan, 1998).
This paper explores the emerging consumer culture of seeking self expression
through products by providing an evaluation for the assertion “I shop therefore
I am”.
An effective strategic management team
should not only be able to identify current cultural norms but also the changes
and how such changes are likely to impact consumer behaviour. Societal
developments in relation to the defragmentation of strict adherence to cultural
norms are on a steady decrease as today’s cultures seem to converge around a
global ideology. The end result has been a seeming sense of meaninglessness as
cultural definitions are relegated into insignificance. Individuals as well as
groups within the society have been on a struggle to maintain their
individuality despite the apparent pressure to have some level of
standardisation (Solomon, et al, 2010). This has been the dominant change in
the society today with more and more people tending to express their feelings
through the products they buy.
A good example is a survey conducted
recently on the use of cosmetics in the United States. In this survey, it was
established that one the main determinant for the choice on which cosmetic
product to use had nothing to do with the product features (Arvidsson, 2005).
The consumers tended to hold the image of the product and what the brands stood
for more than the actual product features. This observation was not an isolated
incident. Some more studies conducted in many other parts in the world are
returning a similar verdict with the issue of identity and product features
taking centre stage. This brings to the fore the question of product
characteristics and how they are perceived or how their perception can be
factored in to implement effective strategic management and marketing
programmes.
Product features can be classified as
either tangible or intangible attributes. Product tangible attributes are the
physical qualities of the products. These are characteristics that one can pick
by objectively examining the product (Kotler, 2006). For instance, where the
product is a car, one can pick out tangible attributes such as the ruggedness,
the physical appearance, the engine capacity, the presence of luxurious seats
and other attributes by just inspecting them. A focus on cosmetic products
would on the other hand reveal such attributes such as the smell of the
cosmetic, the appearance, its chemical composition and their ability to protect
the skin, and so on. In the case of a product such as a piece of cloth, the
attributes would probably have more to do with the colour of the clothes, the
textures, the general appearance, and so on. The physical attributes are
therefore verifiable product features whose characteristics are not dependent
on the observer. Subjectivity is not allowable when assessing these attributes
(Kotler, 2006). Strategic management teams should therefore focus on
investigating the collective ‘subjective’ views of the market with a view to
facilitating product design and production processes that would produce the
desired products.
Product intangible attributes on the
other hand are can be said to the feelings that the products can invoke in the
customers (Aaker, 1997). They are properties generally associated with the
product that are not verifiable. These are images that exist in the consumers’
minds about a product which they are then motivated to acquire due to what they
mean to them (Aaker, 1997). These feelings are largely subjective with
different customers tending to like the same products for different reasons. In
strategic management, the focus of the organisation is to identify themes that
can be capitalised on to create a bond between the consumers and the brand or
products. For instance, a product can be used by one person in their quest to
express happiness while another person uses it to associate themselves with a
certain group of individuals that would normally be known to use such a
product. This is the reason why companies undertake massive marketing campaigns
to get their products associated with certain themes that can successfully get
the products popularised in the markets.
Several cases can be cited on how
organisations have successfully implemented a strategic brand management
programme to have their products associated with certain feelings or themes. For
instance, Coca Cola has been quite successful in portraying their soft drinks
as refreshing drinks which not only rejuvenate the body but also help in
getting rid of all the worries that a user may be having (OneSource, 2011).
This was a dominant theme conducted in one of the recent campaigns during exam
time in some of the schools and colleges in the US. The Coca Cola drinks would
be situated in a common area where students would take drinks in order to
release the tension while waiting to sit for a paper or just after sitting for
one (OneSource, 2011). Another example of a similar initiative was one by MAC
Cosmetics in their launch of new products for the market where they sought to
portray their products as capable of producing a super woman (Harvery, 2011).
This is a heroine who is depicted as fearless and always ready and capable of
taking on any challenges in the environment without fear. By consuming a set of
the associated products, a woman was supposed to gain remarkable confidence.
This is an image that was successfully created with products tending to sell
among persons who shared these sentiments about their own abilities, or those
who believed in their timidity and sought to bridge the gap using the products
(Harvery, 2011).
The question of image also dominates a
number of products such as clothes and cars. A certain dress code is associated
with serious businessmen who have a certain personality and can be trusted to
be reliable in whatever they do. The practice of wearing dark suits is rapidly
being adopted around the world with cultures that previously resisted such
dress codes appearing to cave in (Kotler, 2010). People intending to express
themselves differently may also tend to adopt clothes that suit their purposes.
Certain dress codes that are associated with certain age groups or subcultures
can also be worn to express solidarity with the group and its intentions. For
instance, where a certain movement has colour blue as its core colour, many of
the loyal members are likely to settle for a similar colour when filling up
their wardrobes (Connolly and Prothero, 2008). This implies the need for
strategic managers to not only identify but also understand the dominant
preferences in such groups.
As has been mentioned earlier, the image
or feeling that products invoke in individuals is largely subjective and is a
function of their own perception of what the products stand for and what they
mean for these individuals (Aaker, 1997). These perceptions are mainly a
function of the consumers’ experiences which may either be lived or mediated.
Lived experience is a collection of events that a person has actually gone
through that have been able to inform their perceptions on different issues
(Elliot and Wattanasuwan, 1998). Mediated experience on the other hand is a
form of creation strategically designed to place an individual in a given
context and seek to produce certain sentiments in relation to a product or
service (Elliot and Wattanasuwan, 1998). Advertisements thrive on the concept
of using mediated experiences to create the desired perceptions about their
products. Examples of how strategic management has been applied in marketing in
relation to the association of products with themes is elaborated in the
paragraph below.
Effective strategic marketing management
is that that is able to identify a theme and publicise it in a manner that is
adoptable by the society; with the end gain being its strong association with
the brand. One of the common examples of how this strategy could be used is the
McDonald’s come back strategy. McDonald’s were in their quest to fight off the
image crisis they had suffered as a result of the health based campaigns fast
foods and their product ranges when they introduced campaigns that depicted
their customers as healthy individuals whose main preoccupation was keeping
healthy through physical exercise (Kotler, 2006). This is an example of a
mediated experience and it yielded the desired results helping McDonald’s to
shake off the image of killers of the population through the provision of
unhealthy foods. A similar experience could be said of the Axe Call Me Campaign
in Asia, one that capitalised on popularising the Asian date culture of
numberitis before embarking on a marketing campaign that associated it with the
Axe Deodorant.
The portrayal of certain cars as high
class vehicles is also a function of mediated experiences which have been
advertised so consistently that a general sense of consensus is slowly
engulfing the market in relation to them. For instance, the Mercedes S-Class is
a luxury car associated with people who have actualised in life (Annurit,
Newman and Chansarkar, 2010). Other brands such as Range Rover Sport are more
associated with flamboyant wealthy individuals (Annurit, Newman and Chansarkar,
2010). Whereas these perceptions may appear to be universal, they are in fact
subjective interpretations of individual customers concerning the
products.
The strategic management rationale for
marketing product-intangible attributes is based on the fact that the
postmodern consumer no longer views a product objectively: they view products
as a function of their personal interpretations of what the products are and
what they mean to them. The choice of products to consume is normally a
function of the desire for the consumer to exercise free will over the image
they wish to portray of themselves (Elliot and Wattanasuwan, 1998). This is in
consistency with the self/social identity theory which states that individuals
and societies will always be able to find a way of expressing their
personalities through the choice of products consumed. The image created can
also be varied depending on the situation. According to this theory,
individuals are not confined to projecting only one personality: the image can
always be changed depending on the situation (Cho, Holcombe and Murphy, 2004).
For instance, a top executive would want to present the image of a professional
and disciplined individual while at work and one of a lively and carefree individual
when in a recreation centre with his peers.
Another aspect of consumer behaviour is
the concentration of forming the image of self in accordance with the narrative
identity theory. This theory indicates that individuals know themselves better by
creating narratives where they situate themselves in a given time and space
(Vaisto, 2009). This may sound complex, but it is actually quite simple: it is
a process through which individuals get to understand themselves better by
using their own narratives to understand their own personalities.
The postmodern consumer behaviour
increases the prospects for survival for companies operating in the new era
where competition is stiff and with little chance of meaningful product
differentiation strategies (Kotler, 2010). With products being viewed from
multiple lenses, it is no longer possible for complete homogeneity to be
achieved with strategic managers often able to come up with unique
product-intangible attributes that set them apart from their competitors. The
fact that individuals tend to see products beyond their physical or tangible
attributes is good for the brand manager. Every organisation has a brand image
that it seeks to portray to the market regarding their products. Brand is
mostly associated with product intangible attributes where the aim to make the
market feel in a certain way towards the products in question (Oyserman, 2004).
Brands are designed to create deeper relationships between the organisation and
the consumers with the brand having a complete personality which the market can
identify with. The use of product intangible attributes to refer to products
have in many cases been hailed as very effective especially when it comes to boosting
the competitiveness of a product against substitutes with similar product
characteristics (Kotler, 2010). This emerging consumer behaviour is a source of
hope to businesses which have a new avenue to remain competitive despite the
fact that differentiation is increasingly hard to achieve in light of the high
technological developments in today’s world.
My
consumption behaviour is generally in conformity with the observations made above.
I use products that help me to create the image I want to project at any
particular time. When I am involved in an official function or at work, I tend
to have a conservative and official dress code and this helps to project myself
as an objective and a calculating individual. I hold these as my most
distinguishing attributes. On the other hand, this dress code changes when I am
out having fun with friends where I tend to settle for casual wear designed
using outgoing styles and colours.
Other
consumption habits may relate to the use of soft drinks such as Coca Cola and
in this, I must admit to have adopted the brand image projected. Despite the
fact that I know very clearly that nothing in a soft drink can make me happy, I
just get the feeling upon consuming a Coca Cola product. This presents a
potential conflict between my conscious knowledge of the facts and the
associated feeling derived from the products. Another conflict comes from my
choice of cosmetics. I am greatly influenced by my peers when it comes to the
choice of perfumes to use even though I do not really like how it smells. I
only do this to fit into my social grouping because I consider that as very
important to my social life and that it is easier for me to conform to their
ways than the other way around.
These
are just a few examples of how I view products and the reasons why I consume
them. To me, products carry a higher significance than just the physical
attributes and they are effective tools for self expression and display of personality.
The
aim of this study was to observe the goings on in the society and evaluate the
assertion “I shop therefore I am”. The implication of this assertion is that
consumers’ personalities can effectively be projected by their choice of
products to consume. The concluding evaluation is that the assertion holds true
based on the facts highlighted in this paper. Postmodern consumers have one
peculiar characteristic: they view products as more than just a collection of
the physical attributes contained therein (Solomon, et al, 2010). Consumers
tend to have a certain unique relationship between them and the products based
on their perception of the products and how these products can help in
portraying their personalities to the society and to themselves. The products
chosen help consumers identify with themselves and with the groups around them.
This view opens a new window for success among advertisers and brand managers.
The fact that the market is predisposed to adopting product intangible
attributes of products given them a good chance to realise great results by
engaging in strategic brand management exercises. This implies that
organisations continue to have a good chance of surviving the stiff competition
in the market despite the fact that their products may be very similar to other
competing products in the same market. “I shop therefore I am” holds true in
the postmodern era.
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