INTRODUCTION
In the modern era, marketing intelligence emergence is an important tool in the context of collecting best information from the market about services and products offered by firms to their customers. As per the given case scenario, Primark which is a very famous retail clothing store chain was taken. Enterprise is famous for selling fashionable clothes at the low cost as compared to other brands present in the market. Main aim of the report is to provide details about market research techniques and their benefits for the business operations of Primark in competitive arena. By conducting the present research, investigator would be able to understand the buying behavior and the decision making process of customers.
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TASK 1
1.1 Main stages of the purchase decision-making process for an individual consumer
Buying behavior of an individual customer can be understood with the help of following steps:
Need Recognition: In this stage, market research department of enterprise emphasizes on understanding the needs of customers and their perceptions about services and products offered by company to them (Harker, 2008) For example, if customer wants to purchase clothes then he/she need to firstly consider the features of products such as price, brand and other features before purchasing the clothes.
Information search: After collecting information about products, customers take guide from his/her relatives and friends about the products and services offered by Primark.
Evaluation of Alternatives: On the basis of taking suggestion from their relatives and friends, prices and other features of clothes need to be compared and then customer will take decision to purchase clothes as per his needs and budget (Wilson and et.al., 2010).
Purchase decision: After reviewing all alternatives and getting satisfied with the price, brand and other features of products, customer will take final decision regarding from whom to buy and when to buy.
Post-purchase decisions: After purchasing the product on the basis of meeting all needs and by getting satisfied with the product, he/she will recommend it to their friends and relatives for usage.
1.2 Importance of understanding buyer behavior and related theories
The term buying behavior can be explored in terms of gathering information about purchasing habits of individuals or groups towards products and services. Brosekhan and Velayutham (2011) stated that knowledge of consumer behavior helps the marketer to understand the way in which consumers think and respond about services and products. By considering stimulus response model and generic theories, researcher can be able to understand the customer buying process and need to examine the factors that can affect the purchasing decisions of them (Brosekhan and Velayutham, 2011).
Generic theory of Buying Behavior: In this theory, customer’s main focus is on decision making rather than other factors. The product purchase steps include needs and identification of products; alternative evaluation and taking final purchase decision before taking final decision have been followed by customer while purchasing products. For example, after when changes arise in fashion and lifestyle factors, customers will take decision to buy new clothes and suggests their family and friends also (Lacobucci and Churchill, 2009).
Stimulus response model: This theory helps Primark to understand the impact of market stimuli such as product, price, place and promotion on customers. Besides that, other factors which include political, economic, social and technological factors have also been considered by customers before taking decision regarding purchasing the product (Calof, 2006).
1.3 Three factors which can affect the buying behavior
Consumers are the kings of markets and it is essential for enterprises to fulfill the needs of them because customer buying has become an integral part of strategic market planning. Sociological, psychological and personal are the main factors which can affect the buying decision of an individual customer.
Sociological factors: In the present marketing scenario, peer groups and family are the major social factors which highly affect the thinking of customers and their buying behavior as well. For example, upper class people in society purchase the products which suit with their personality and lifestyle (Forrest, 2002) On the other side, lower class people buy cloths by considering the price and peer group suggestion factors.
Psychological factors: Apart from the sociological factors, other factors which include motivation, perception, learning attitudes and self –belief can influence the buying behavior of customers towards product.
Personal factors: In the modern arena, as per the change arise in lifestyle and fashion, needs and demand of products also get influenced. In addition, person desires and perceptions about the firm product are also affecting their buying behavior (Wilensky, 2015). For example, some customers want to buy products from local shop and some desire to purchase the cloths from branded shop.
1.4 Evaluating the relationship between brand loyalty, corporate image and repeat purchase
Brand loyalty mainly deals with meeting all needs of customers and their desires which are attached with the particular brands. On the other side, brand image of product can be explored in terms of creating brand image of products in the canvas of the mind of customers. Customer's satisfaction towards purchasing products can be defined in terms of repeat purchasing. All three terms include brand loyalty; corporate image and repeat purchase which are interrelated with each other (Matsuno and Mentzer, 2015). For example, if firm will be able to maintain its corporate image in the mind of customers by delivering quality of products to them within stipulated time period then customers will become loyal towards the firm. It will motivate them to become a regular customer of firm and to do repeat purchase of products from enterprise.
Merit 1: For example, Primark can be taken which has created positive brand image in the mind of customers by using CRM and social media analytics techniques at workplace (Conduit and Mavondo, 2015). Firm was able to create its corporate image and brand loyalty through increasing the flexibility and convenience of customers during purchasing cloths.
TASK 2
2.1 Evaluating different types of market research techniques that Primark GB can use
Different types of market research techniques that Primark would use can be evaluated like:
Market research: In context of taking appropriate decisions and reducing the risk, market research technique is used by the enterprise. By analyzing the information, management of enterprise would be able to understand the current trends and can predict future trends of market and customers so that their demand can be met within stipulated time period (Wilson and et.al., 2010). Market research provides opportunity to enterprise to gather the information about individuals or organizations by using the statistical and analytical methods. In context of gathering information from customers to know their perception, Primark can use primary and secondary data collection approaches. In this regard, different techniques such as interviews, survey, focus groups, observations and field trials can be employed. Despite of that, in order to collect in-depth features and dimensions of the market, researcher can use qualitative and quantitative analysis techniques (Conduit and Mavondo, 2015). Besides that, focus groups, interview, observation and experiment are the other major approaches which are used for gathering information about