Essay Sample on Consumer Behavior in Butternut

Why is the perception of Butternut as a fun place so important?

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Butternut is normally portrayed as a place full of fun. The company's marketing team has always strived to create the perception among consumers about Butternut being a place where they can enjoy themselves. The perception of Butternut being a fun place is important because it helps to attract fun loving individuals. The level of attraction that people experience towards a particular product depends on how they perceive it in terms of how much the product can fulfill a particular need (Troy & Kerry, 2010). If consumers perceive a product as one which can adequately fulfill a particular need or desire, then they are likely to purchase it. Perception therefore plays a significant role in influencing decisions among consumers on whether to purchase a particular product or not (Nebenzahl & Jaffe, 2013).

The perception of Butternut as a fun place helps to arouse excitement among consumers. It makes them want to experience the fun as portrayed through the various platforms such as the radio, TV, and social media platforms. This therefore helps the company to attract consumers who wish to go have fun (Troy & Kerry, 2010). The perception of Butternut as a fun place also helps the business to deal with competition. With the area having a number of similar businesses, Butternut has to prove that it provides its consumers with more fun as compared to other resorts. As such, it has to create such perception among consumers to make them choose it over its competitors. Apart from helping it to attract customers, the perception of Butternut as fun place also helps the business to retain its customers (Cheron, Kohlbacher & Kusuma, 2012). A business can only retain its customers when the initial perception about the business is maintained. As such, continued perception of Butternut as a fun place helps it to retain customers.

In general, which type of consumer behavior is described in this video, for new skiers? What involvement factors are likely to be associated with choosing which ski resort to visit?

The type of consumer behavior described in the video for new skiers is the loyal behavior (Hawkins, Best & Coney, 2010). According to Matt, new skiers have a strong allegiance to the resort and only venture into other areas after several visits and after having learned how to ski.

There are various involvement factors which are associated with choosing which ski resort to visit. One of them is an individuals perceptions, attitudes, and beliefs. How an individual perceives a particular resort determines whether they will choose to visit it or not. An individual with a positive perception about a particular resort is likely to visit it. Perception influences attitude (Kardes, Cronley & Cline, 2014). As such, how a person perceives a particular resort will influence their attitude towards the resort. This will, in turn, influence their decision to visit the resort.

Another involvement factor is an individuals social network. People normally tend to rely on their social groups for advice and opinions and these opinions influence the decisions they make. As such, how ones social network perceive a particular resort is likely to influence the type of resort that a consumer chooses (Solomon, 2014). Other involvement factors include the level of information that one has about a resort, an individuals lifestyle and whether a particular resort conforms to it, and the opinions of reference groups. Consumers normally make a decision to purchase a particular depending on the level of information they have about the product. An individual with limited or no knowledge of a product is unlikely to purchase despite the product having the right quality or characteristics that meet the individuals needs (Hawkins, Best & Coney, 2010). The information provided by reference groups also influences the buying behavior of an individual. All these factors thereby will determine the type of resort that people will choose.

Describe the five step Consumer Decision-Making Process for consumers interested in Butternut.

Consumers make decisions before buying a product. While some purchasing decisions seem instant or impulsive, most consumers go a decision making process before settling for a particular product. For consumers who are interested in Butternut, there are five steps they go through in making the decision on whether to select Butternut as a fun place. The first step is need recognition (Bruner II & Pomazal, 2013). Need recognition involves the discovery of an unmet need. In this case, consumers have to discover the need to have fun. Need recognition motivates consumers to look for the product that can fulfill the need. The second step is information search. Once consumers identify the need to have fun, the next step is to look for information about the possible solutions to their need (Chater, Huck & Inderst, 2010). For consumers who have knowledge about the availability of the business, they look for information on the companys website or its social media sites to determine if it can fulfill their needs.

The third step is alternative evaluation. Alternative evaluation involves assessment of other available options to determine how they compare with first option. After collecting information about Butternut, consumers are likely to look for information about other resorts to determine which one is the best option in terms of services provided and price. The next step is the purchase decision. Having evaluated the various available options, consumers make the final decision about the product to purchase (Thogersen, Jorgensen & Sandager, 2012). In this case, consumers will choose which resort to visit. The last step is the post-purchase behavior. After experiencing the fun provided by the resort, consumers evaluate the adequacy of the resort and determine whether it met their needs. This influences their future purchase behavior, that is, whether they will visit the resort again or not.

References

Bruner II, G. C., & Pomazal, R. J. (2013). Problem recognition: The crucial first stage of the consumer decision process. Journal of Consumer Marketing.

Chater, N., Huck, S., & Inderst, R. (2010). Consumer decision-making in retail investment services: A behavioural economics perspective. Report to the European Commission/SANCO.

Cheron, E., Kohlbacher, F., & Kusuma, K. (2012). The effects of brand-cause fit and campaign duration on consumer perception of cause-related marketing in Japan. Journal of consumer marketing, 29(5), 357-368.

Hawkins, D. I., Best, R. J., & Coney, K. A. (2010). Consumer behavior. Implications for marketing strategy, 5.Kardes, F., Cronley, M., & Cline, T. (2014). Consumer behavior. Boston: Cengage Learning.

Nebenzahl, I. D., & Jaffe, E. D. (2013). Measuring the joint effect of brand and country image in consumer evaluation of global products. Journal of Marketing Practice: Applied Marketing Science.

Solomon, M. R. (2014). Consumer behavior: Buying, having, and being. Engelwood Cliffs, NJ: prentice Hall.

Thogersen, J., Jorgensen, A. K., & Sandager, S. (2012). Consumer decision making regarding a green everyday product. Psychology & Marketing, 29(4), 187-197.

Troy, D. J., & Kerry, J. P. (2010). Consumer perception and the role of science in the meat industry. Meat science, 86(1), 214-226.