CONSUMER BEHAVIOUR essay on: Marketing strategies – Hershey chocolate company
INTRODUCTION
Consumer behavior is an important factor which needs to be taken care while developing marketing strategy for a company. There are many works available which have been done to analyze the behavior of consumers towards a particular brand or product. Many models have been given to analyze the purchasing decision of consumers which mainly include Hierarchy of effect model, consumer information processing model etc. Consumer’s decision making is influenced by many factors like psychographic, demographic, geographic etc. Based on these factors segmentation of the consumers is also done. We would be using these models to analyze the decision making process of consumers of Hershey Chocolate. But first we need to understand the product and business of the company which is described below.
Hershey was found by Milton S. Hershey who was born in Pennsylvania. In 1894 Hershey started manufacturing chocolate and named his company as Hershey Chocolate Company. With the help of hard – working people and milk available from the dairy, Hershey started its own factory in 1905 and produced delicious chocolates. Not only in chocolate manufacturing but also Hershey was involved in social works as it opened a school for orphan boys which is known as Milton Hershey School today. Also in 1918 Milton Hershey donated the wealth and ownership of the company to the school. In next coming years Hershey produced several successful products which include Hershey’s Syrup, Mr. Goodbar, Krackel etc. It also produced ration bars for the troops who were involved in the World War II. Hershey is still manufacturing delicious chocolates in approximately 90 countries (Hershey, n.d.).
TARGET MARKET OF HERSHEY
As we all know that Hershey is currently available in more than 90 countries around the world hence obviously the target market of Hershey is to spread its business all over the world. Geographically Hershey wants to be present everywhere in the world. If we take demographic factors for deciding the target market of Hershey we find that the target audiences of the company are boys and girls of age between 18 and 25. Since Hershey produces chocolates obviously it will be consumed by the children as well and sometimes older age people too. But the main target consumer of the company is female of age between 18 and 25. Also mothers play a vital role in families to decide the sweet for children and that is why we can see mothers in the commercials of the company. The adult target consumers bring most of the business for Hershey (Phipps, C, 2010).
For describing the target market decision making process of the company we need to take a particular country. Let us take UAE for example. So, demographically in UAE the target consumer of Hershey would be the female of age between 18 and 25. All the ethnicities are covered as chocolates can be consumed by a female from any ethnic background. Hershey targets those individuals whose monthly household income is less than or equal to AED 20000. While taking the psychographic factors we find that youth which is living an upscale lifestyle are the main consumers of Hershey. These people do not purchase anything without thinking; they first choose the best one and then buy it. Obviously the company needs to maintain the quality of its products to keep its consumers associated with it (Phipps, C, 2010).
SOCIAL INFLUENCE ON BUYING BEHAVIOR
Society and culture within the society also affects the buying behavior of a consumer. Like other products purchase of chocolate also depends on many factors. These factors influence the purchasing decision of the chocolate consumers. Chocolate is a product which is consumed by mass and is easily available to everyone. The key point is that in chocolate market consumers look for a variety of products and they demand it according to their own taste. Generally chocolates are offered when there is an occasion like Christmas and hence a society where occasions are important becomes the main focus of chocolate manufacturers. Occasions forces the consumers to purchase the chocolates. Also the social trend of giving gifts to the relatives helps in the sale of chocolates (Thinking Made Easy, 2010).
Consumers are sensitive towards many factors of chocolates like shape of the chocolate, its consistency in the mouth, touch, its melting etc. There are other factors like ethical responsibility of the chocolate manufacturing company and corporate social responsibility affects the purchasing decision of the chocolate consumers. For example corporate social responsibility of the company includes legal compliance, environmental issue etc. In manufacturing the product company should follow the rules and regulations made by the regulators of the industry. Hershey always followed the legal requirements of the chocolate manufacturing industry. Similarly the corporate social responsibility of the company influences the consumers to think about the company once. Like Hershey opened a school for orphan boys which would obviously create a good image of the company into the mind of the consumers and will influence their purchasing decision positively (Thinking Made Easy, 2010).
Apart from above discussed factors there are other social factors which influence the buying behavior of the consumers and mainly religion comes into the mind. There are many religions in the world and some restricts some products in the society. But good thing for chocolate is that it is consumed by the people of all the religions. Everybody loves sweet; it does not matter from which ethnic background he is. Also many festivals in different religions influence the buying behavior of the chocolate. For example: Christmas for Christians; Diwali, Holi, Rakshabandhan for Hindus; Eid for Muslims and so on. In every occasion chocolates are consumed. Hershey also gets help of the modern trend of friendship as friends always prefer to gift chocolates. In short we can say that social culture is not a restriction on the sale of chocolates; society accepts the sweetness easily.
PSYCHOLOGICAL INFLUENCE ON BUYING BEHAVIOR
Like social factors psychological factors also influence the behavior of the consumers of chocolates. These psychological factors mainly involve motivation, learning, attitude, health etc. Hershey is able to leverage these psychological factors successfully to maximize the sales of the company. Motivation is an important factor which drives the sales of the chocolates as if the need for the chocolate is high the consumers will go to purchase it. The need for chocolate can be defined as the special occasions on which consumers are required to present some sweet. Maslow’s hierarchy of needs also describes that every individual first seeks to satisfy his or her psychological need and then goes for safety, social and self actualization. Motivation for consumers of Hershey is only the occasions and the brand image which it has created in the mind of the consumers (Callwood, K, n.d.).
Health is another psychological factor which affects the behavior of the consumer as it is said that excess chocolates are not good for health. Hershey needs to focus on it and produce some products which are helpful for the health conscious people. Perception is another most important influencing factor for chocolates. It is perception of the consumers which makes a company different from its competitors. Similarly in case of Hershey the perception of the consumer about the chocolates of the company will affect the buying behavior of the consumer. Since the company is more than 100 years old and has done many social things as well as manufactured some very delicious chocolates, it has made a good perception about its chocolates into the mind of the consumers. Obviously due to this perception consumers always prefers Hershey when he goes to purchase a chocolate.
Learning is the next factor which influences the buying behavior of the consumers of Hershey. Here learning means experience which the consumers already have of the products. If the consumer has already used the product and enjoyed it, he will surely go for the repurchase whenever it will be required. Similarly in the case of Hershey consumers have a variety of taste and they have option to choose. Consumers of Hershey have enjoyed the chocolates manufactured by the company and this is a big positive point for the company. Apart from above factors beliefs and attitude of the consumers towards the company also helps the company in enhancement of sales. Here beliefs mean the way in which consumers of the company thinks about the products. And attitude is evaluation of the consumers about the products of the company. When we analyze the beliefs and attitude of the consumers of Hershey we find positive points for the company. The attitude of the consumers towards Hershey chocolate is favorable and it helps in the sales of the chocolates (Callwood, K, n.d.).
SURVEY
A survey was conducted to analyze the purchasing behavior of the consumers of Hershey chocolate. This survey used a questionnaire which mainly included questions related to the buying behavior of the consumers. We asked the questions of the perception of the consumers about the Hershey chocolate, their experience with the chocolate and their satisfaction level with the products of Hershey. We find that the company has made a good perception about its products into the mind of the consumers. They believe that the chocolates manufactured by Hershey are tasty, healthy and provides a variety of options. While asking about the experience of the chocolates, candidates told that their experience is excellent and they will purchase the chocolates again and again.
The factors which came out in the survey that influenced the buying decision of the consumers are the strong product portfolio of the company, brand image into the mind of the consumer, variety of taste available, marketing efforts of the company etc. Asking the post decision situation of the consumers we realized that consumers are satisfied with the brand. The format of the questionnaire and filled questionnaire is given in the appendices of this report.
In conclusion we can say that Hershey has already made history of success in chocolate manufacturing. The target market of the company is youth which is kept associated with the company with the help of quality of chocolates and better marketing strategies. Hershey is continue to win the heart of the chocolate consumers and will grow in the same manner.
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