TABLE OF CONTENTS
DECLARATION ............................................................................................................................I
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT ................................................................................... ............................II
TABLE OF CONTENTS ................................................................................... ...........................III
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ..............................................................................................................1
1. INTRODUCTION....................................................................................................................2
1.1 BACKGROUND ............................................................................................................3
1.2 RESEARCH QUESTIONS ............................................................................................4
1.3 AIM AND PURPOSE OF THE STUDY ..........................................................................4
1.4 OVERVIEW ...................................................................................................................5
2. LITERATURE REVIEW .......................................................................................................6
2.1 MARKETING ................................................................................................................7
2.2 MARKETING STRATEGY............................................................................................7
2.3 MARKETING MIX .........................................................................................................8
2.3.1 PRODUCT ......................................................................................................8
2.3.2 PRICE .............................................................................................................8
2.3.3 PLACE ............................................................................................................9
2.3.4 PROMOTION..................................................................................................9
2.4 ADVERTISING .............................................................................................................9
2.5 BRAND .......................................................................................................................10
2.6 BRAND LOYALTY ......................................................................................................11
2.7 ADVERTISING AND BRAND PREFERENCE ...........................................................11
2.8 CONSUMER BEHAVIOUR ........................................................................................11
2.9 FACTORS INFLUENCING CONSUMER BEHAVIOUR .............................................11
2.9.1 CULTURAL FACTORS .................................................................................11
2.9.2 SOCIAL FACTORS.......................................................................................12
2.9.3 PERSONAL FACTORS ................................................................................12
2.9.4 PSYCHOLOGICAL FACTORS .....................................................................12
2.10 TYPES OF CONSUMER BEHAVIOUR ......................................................................13
2.10.1 ROUTINE PURCHASES ..............................................................................13
2.10.2 LIMITED DECISION MAKING ......................................................................13
2.10.3 EXTENSIVE DECISION MAKING ................................................................13
2.10.4 IMPULSE PURCHASES ..............................................................................14
2.11 ADVERTISING AND CONSUMER BEHAVIOUR .......................................................14
3. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY ...........................................................................................15
3.1 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY ..................................................................................16
3.2 RESEARCH APPROACH ..........................................................................................16
3.3 RESEARCH DESIGN AND RESEARCH STRATEGY ...............................................16
III
, 3.4 TIME HORIZONS ........................................................................................................17
3.5 DATA COLLECTION ...................................................................................................17
3.6 DATA ANALYSIS ........................................................................................................17
3.7 RELEVANCE AND VALIDITY .....................................................................................18
3.8 LIMITATIONS OF THE STUDY...................................................................................18
3.9 ETHICS .......................................................................................................................18
4. FINDINGS AND ANALYSIS ................................................................................................19
4.1 FINDINGS AND ANALYSIS ........................................................................................20
4.1.1 Identify the factors that influence a change in purchasing behaviour
of consumers towards Samsung mobile phones in the U.K...........................20
4.1.2 To identify the advertising campaigns adopted by Samsung in order to
influence purchasing behaviour of consumers................................................21
4.1.3 To analyse the current Smartphone market scenario......................................22
5. INTERPRETATIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS ............................................................23
5.1 INTERPRETATIONS ..................................................................................................24
5.2 RECOMMENDATIONS ...............................................................................................25
6. CONCLUSION ....................................................................................................... ............................27
6.1 CONCLUSION .............................................................................................................28
7. SELF-REFLECTIVE REPORT .............................................................................................29
7.1 SELF-REFLECTIVE REPORT .......................................................... .........................30
8. APPENDICES ........................................................................................... .........................32
8.1 REFERENCES ................................................................................ .........................33
8.2 ETHICS FORM ................................................................................. .........................37
IV
,EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
In today’s volatile market, where competition is fierce, Firms constantly strive in developing
products that best suits the needs and demands of consumers. They constantly compete
against each other for the purpose of acquiring the largest stake in the market. In this ever
changing business environment, where it is impossible for a firm to survive on the strengths
of just one element; a firm has to work collectively with all its departments in order to
achieve the best of results. For instance, just by converting a brilliant idea into a product or a
service doesn’t necessarily result in the firm’s success. The other departments of a firm also
need to work collectively to meet the desired objectives.
One such unit of a firm is the advertising segment of the marketing department. It is
currently a multibillion dollar industry; employing over hundreds and thousands of people
around the globe who further affect the lives of others around them. The activities of an
advertising campaign range from the process of informing a consumer about a particular
product to the process of influencing or bringing about a change in the purchasing behaviour
of a consumer. Furthermore, it also helps in the process of developing the brand and assisting
the firm in differentiating itself from other competitors.
However, in the current market scenario, Samsung has been underperforming in the past
few years in the Smartphone segment. Even though it is the largest seller of smart phones
worldwide, its market share is gradually decreasing. Hence, an investigation is carried out for
the purpose of finding out whether the firm’s advertising campaigns did bring about a change
in consumer behaviour or not. On the other hand, the study also focussed on finding out
whether the advertising strategies adopted by the firm played a role in the decline of the
firm’s performance. After carefully analysing all the data available from various secondary
sources, the following findings were identified:
In this particular extensive form of decision making process, the factors that
influenced a behavioural change were mainly related to personal, social and
psychological factors. In other words, the purchase was highly influenced by the
consumer’s age, occupation, economic condition, lifestyle, personality, attitude,
motivation, social roles and status.
The firm has been continuously advertising its products in order to influence or bring
about a change in the purchasing behaviour of consumers. Through aggressive
advertising, the firm has been trying to inform, educate and influence its target
consumers for the purpose of purchasing the company’s products. Although, this
effort from the marketing department has proved to be of very little significance. The
lack of support received from its research and development department has been one
of the major factors for the firm’s downfall.
Hence, an in-depth research is undertaken in order to identify the factors that led to a
downfall in the firm’s recent performance. Along with this, the analysis and interpretations
made from the data collected will help in the process of proposing useful recommendations
that could be applied by marketers and other researchers during the process of strategy
formulation.
1
, CHAPTER 1
______________________
INTRODUCTION
2
DECLARATION ............................................................................................................................I
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT ................................................................................... ............................II
TABLE OF CONTENTS ................................................................................... ...........................III
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ..............................................................................................................1
1. INTRODUCTION....................................................................................................................2
1.1 BACKGROUND ............................................................................................................3
1.2 RESEARCH QUESTIONS ............................................................................................4
1.3 AIM AND PURPOSE OF THE STUDY ..........................................................................4
1.4 OVERVIEW ...................................................................................................................5
2. LITERATURE REVIEW .......................................................................................................6
2.1 MARKETING ................................................................................................................7
2.2 MARKETING STRATEGY............................................................................................7
2.3 MARKETING MIX .........................................................................................................8
2.3.1 PRODUCT ......................................................................................................8
2.3.2 PRICE .............................................................................................................8
2.3.3 PLACE ............................................................................................................9
2.3.4 PROMOTION..................................................................................................9
2.4 ADVERTISING .............................................................................................................9
2.5 BRAND .......................................................................................................................10
2.6 BRAND LOYALTY ......................................................................................................11
2.7 ADVERTISING AND BRAND PREFERENCE ...........................................................11
2.8 CONSUMER BEHAVIOUR ........................................................................................11
2.9 FACTORS INFLUENCING CONSUMER BEHAVIOUR .............................................11
2.9.1 CULTURAL FACTORS .................................................................................11
2.9.2 SOCIAL FACTORS.......................................................................................12
2.9.3 PERSONAL FACTORS ................................................................................12
2.9.4 PSYCHOLOGICAL FACTORS .....................................................................12
2.10 TYPES OF CONSUMER BEHAVIOUR ......................................................................13
2.10.1 ROUTINE PURCHASES ..............................................................................13
2.10.2 LIMITED DECISION MAKING ......................................................................13
2.10.3 EXTENSIVE DECISION MAKING ................................................................13
2.10.4 IMPULSE PURCHASES ..............................................................................14
2.11 ADVERTISING AND CONSUMER BEHAVIOUR .......................................................14
3. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY ...........................................................................................15
3.1 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY ..................................................................................16
3.2 RESEARCH APPROACH ..........................................................................................16
3.3 RESEARCH DESIGN AND RESEARCH STRATEGY ...............................................16
III
, 3.4 TIME HORIZONS ........................................................................................................17
3.5 DATA COLLECTION ...................................................................................................17
3.6 DATA ANALYSIS ........................................................................................................17
3.7 RELEVANCE AND VALIDITY .....................................................................................18
3.8 LIMITATIONS OF THE STUDY...................................................................................18
3.9 ETHICS .......................................................................................................................18
4. FINDINGS AND ANALYSIS ................................................................................................19
4.1 FINDINGS AND ANALYSIS ........................................................................................20
4.1.1 Identify the factors that influence a change in purchasing behaviour
of consumers towards Samsung mobile phones in the U.K...........................20
4.1.2 To identify the advertising campaigns adopted by Samsung in order to
influence purchasing behaviour of consumers................................................21
4.1.3 To analyse the current Smartphone market scenario......................................22
5. INTERPRETATIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS ............................................................23
5.1 INTERPRETATIONS ..................................................................................................24
5.2 RECOMMENDATIONS ...............................................................................................25
6. CONCLUSION ....................................................................................................... ............................27
6.1 CONCLUSION .............................................................................................................28
7. SELF-REFLECTIVE REPORT .............................................................................................29
7.1 SELF-REFLECTIVE REPORT .......................................................... .........................30
8. APPENDICES ........................................................................................... .........................32
8.1 REFERENCES ................................................................................ .........................33
8.2 ETHICS FORM ................................................................................. .........................37
IV
,EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
In today’s volatile market, where competition is fierce, Firms constantly strive in developing
products that best suits the needs and demands of consumers. They constantly compete
against each other for the purpose of acquiring the largest stake in the market. In this ever
changing business environment, where it is impossible for a firm to survive on the strengths
of just one element; a firm has to work collectively with all its departments in order to
achieve the best of results. For instance, just by converting a brilliant idea into a product or a
service doesn’t necessarily result in the firm’s success. The other departments of a firm also
need to work collectively to meet the desired objectives.
One such unit of a firm is the advertising segment of the marketing department. It is
currently a multibillion dollar industry; employing over hundreds and thousands of people
around the globe who further affect the lives of others around them. The activities of an
advertising campaign range from the process of informing a consumer about a particular
product to the process of influencing or bringing about a change in the purchasing behaviour
of a consumer. Furthermore, it also helps in the process of developing the brand and assisting
the firm in differentiating itself from other competitors.
However, in the current market scenario, Samsung has been underperforming in the past
few years in the Smartphone segment. Even though it is the largest seller of smart phones
worldwide, its market share is gradually decreasing. Hence, an investigation is carried out for
the purpose of finding out whether the firm’s advertising campaigns did bring about a change
in consumer behaviour or not. On the other hand, the study also focussed on finding out
whether the advertising strategies adopted by the firm played a role in the decline of the
firm’s performance. After carefully analysing all the data available from various secondary
sources, the following findings were identified:
In this particular extensive form of decision making process, the factors that
influenced a behavioural change were mainly related to personal, social and
psychological factors. In other words, the purchase was highly influenced by the
consumer’s age, occupation, economic condition, lifestyle, personality, attitude,
motivation, social roles and status.
The firm has been continuously advertising its products in order to influence or bring
about a change in the purchasing behaviour of consumers. Through aggressive
advertising, the firm has been trying to inform, educate and influence its target
consumers for the purpose of purchasing the company’s products. Although, this
effort from the marketing department has proved to be of very little significance. The
lack of support received from its research and development department has been one
of the major factors for the firm’s downfall.
Hence, an in-depth research is undertaken in order to identify the factors that led to a
downfall in the firm’s recent performance. Along with this, the analysis and interpretations
made from the data collected will help in the process of proposing useful recommendations
that could be applied by marketers and other researchers during the process of strategy
formulation.
1
, CHAPTER 1
______________________
INTRODUCTION
2
