Scribd
Upload
65 views

(Type The Documen T Title) : Consumer Behaviour Case Study

The consumer was looking to purchase a sewing machine, an infrequent and emotionally significant purchase. She had used Singer machines for 24 years but now found them cheap and gimmicky. She preferred the brand Usha based on friends' recommendations and Usha's advertising. At stores, she rejected high-priced Usha machines and chose a simpler Faber machine based on a salesperson's recommendation, though she lacked funds. A later visit found another brand with better utility at lower prices. Price was the primary purchase consideration rather than brand preference.

Uploaded by

Atul Khattar
Copyright
© Attribution Non-Commercial (BY-NC)
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
65 views

(Type The Documen T Title) : Consumer Behaviour Case Study

The consumer was looking to purchase a sewing machine, an infrequent and emotionally significant purchase. She had used Singer machines for 24 years but now found them cheap and gimmicky. She preferred the brand Usha based on friends' recommendations and Usha's advertising. At stores, she rejected high-priced Usha machines and chose a simpler Faber machine based on a salesperson's recommendation, though she lacked funds. A later visit found another brand with better utility at lower prices. Price was the primary purchase consideration rather than brand preference.

Uploaded by

Atul Khattar
Copyright
© Attribution Non-Commercial (BY-NC)
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
You are on page 1/ 3

[Type Consumer

the
documen Behaviour
t title] Case Study
Atul Khattar || Uday Kiran Srinivas || Aashish Gaurav || Narendra
GROUP 8
Jha Zeb Azam
CONSUMER PROTOCOL INVOLVING PURCHASE OF SEWING MACHINE –
INFREQUENT PURCHASE

Analysis of a consumer’s protocol and identification of the various rules or


guidelines the consumer has followed (important steps or events) in making the
purchase decision for a sewing machine and the marketing implications thereof:

The Consumer in this case is trying to make a purchase decision


for a sewing machine, which according to the consumer is a durable good and therefore a ‘major
purchase with lot of emotional implications’. The major stages involved in a typical consumer purchase
decision making process are:

1. Problem Recognition: Perceiving a Need


2. Information Search: Seeking Value
3. Alternative Evaluation: Assessing Value
4. Purchase Decision: Buying Value
5. Post-Purchase Behavior: Value in Consumption or Use

In view of the above stages involved, the first step is in recognizing the need for a sewing machine. This
is followed by an Information Search process which can be either Internal/External Search. As part of the
Internal Search, she reflected upon her personal experience with ‘Singer’ for 24 years. Despite rating
Singer as an excellent brand on the basis of her personal experience with it, she develops a need to
change her brand preference to Usha because Singer seems ‘cheap, plastic and gimmicky’ to her. So she
has already evaluated her alternatives namely Usha & Singer, in favor of Usha. One of the other
contributors for this is the external search elements that include ‘word-of-mouth’ appraisal by her
friends and also the advertising campaigns. The other element that has gone against Singer is her in-
store shopping experience with the salesmen, who she felt were ‘pushy and disinterested’.

But, when it came to the actual purchase decision making inside a store selling multi-brands, the cost of
product became the criteria for evaluation, i.e. rejecting the high cost Usha products. She also had to
revaluate her needs as she started to look for a simpler machine that does not have an option of
embroidery. The case also highlights the ‘Impulsive buying’ decision making process when the consumer
is influenced by the sales girl’s recommendation to go for Faber, which according to her was: Second
only to Usha and less expensive than Usha. But for the availability of cash in hand, she would have
purchased it!

On a later date, her visit to Stylemart baffled her where she found similar products of a different brand
offering better utility at lower prices. Since her major criteria of evaluation was Price of the product. One
important thing to note here is that the lady being the User & the Buyer, is different from the Payer who
is her husband. Post purchase, the user defers her decision to arrive at a final judgment until she uses it
over a period of time with several different kind of fabrics.

From a marketing perspective, it is important to note how the consumer has shifted her loyalty to her
brand i.e. from 24 years of usage Singer to a renewed preference to Usha. This was primarily driven by
the advertising campaigns of Usha and also the ‘word-of-mouth’ reviews from some of her peers about
their dissatisfaction with Singer. Therefore in case of Singer, the product and its promotion have failed
to appeal to the customer. But despite her preference for a branded product (Usha), the Price point at
which it was sold was a criteria for rejection. Also the place where the product is sold had an influence
in the decision making process because of the ‘pushy & disinterested salesmen’ at the Singer
showrooms. Ultimately, the consumer purchase decision was guided by her Price senstitvity to the
product followed by its utility rather than the brand proposition.

You might also like