Consumer Behavior Exercise: A Mundane Product or Service Costing Less Than Rs.500

MARKETING MANAGEMENT

Consumer Behavior Exercise: A Mundane Product or Service costing less than Rs.500

Who was the decision making unit?
The person being interviewed is a housewife and the product she has bought upon which the interview is based is a shoe rack for Rs.399. When buying this shoe rack the people who heavily influenced the decision making process includes her daughters for whom the shoe rack was purchased. She had to make sure that the product would be something that the daughters would approve and agree to use hence not only did it have to serve the purpose of carrying shoes but also had to look good. Moreover she had seen a similar shoe rack at her sister’s place which again affected the decision as she knew that this product is reliable. Lastly when purchasing the shoe rack the salesman present in the shop influenced the decision by convincing her to make the purchase.

What motivated the purchase?
The major reason for the purchase of this product was that it would allow shoes to be kept in an organized manner. The biggest problem that this solved was that the pair of shoes would be placed together when taken off and one would not have to spend time looking for a lost shoe. The attributes of the shoe rack which were important were that it had three tiers and was wide hence it could store up to 12 pairs of shoes. Moreover these tiers were detachable which meant that it could be adjusted according to the needs and requirement of the user. The shoe rack was also made of plastic which meant it was light weight and therefore could be moved easily.

Where did the customers buy?
The shoe rack was bought from Hyperstar. Since the interviewee goes there for grocery shopping frequently buying the product from there was convenient for her as she did not have to go out of the way. The need for the shoe rack came first and because it was available at Hyperstar she got it from there instead of searching for it in the market.

Characterize the decision
The interviewee had previously bought shoe racks however they were not plastic ones. They were made of metal and were not detachable. She also feels that they were not wide enough and were not visually appealing because of which her daughters had requested for something else. The decision to but the new shoe rack was a casual one and hence a lot of deliberation was not put into it.