THE IMPACT OF

ADVERTISEMENT ON
CONSUMER BEHAVIOR
CASE STUDY APPLE INC.,
TABLE OF CONTENTS

CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION 2

THESIS BACKGROUND AND RATIONALE 2

THESIS OBJECTIVE, RESEARCH QUESTIONS 4
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY 4
THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK 8
RESEARCH MODEL 9

CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW 10

ADVANTAGES AND DISADVANTAGES OF ADVERTISEMENT 15

ADVANTAGES OF ADVERTISEMENT 15
DISADVANTAGES OF ADVERTISEMENT 16
FACTORS OF CONSUMER BEHAVIOR 17
PURCHASE DECISION PROCESS: 20

CHAPTER 3: THE IMPACT OF ADVERTISEMENT ON CONSUMER BEHAVIOR CASE

STUDY APPLE 22

APPLE CASE STUDY 22

APPLE ADVERTISEMENT STRATEGY 23
THE IMPACT OF APPLE’S ADVERTISEMENT ON CONSUMERS 24
BOWMAN STRATEGY CLOCK 24

CHAPTER 4: CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS FOR FURTHER RESEARCH 26

I MPLICATION AND L IMITATION 26

C ONCLUSION 27

REFERENCES 28

APPENDICES 33

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 CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION
Thesis Background and Rationale
Whenever a company wants to design a marketing campaign and allocated budges,
specifically concerning advertisement, the marketers come along a very difficult
question – How much the company should spend on its advertisement. Such questions
have significant importance for every marketing campaign. But the impact of such
questions is dire when it comes to small businesses and Startups. There are serval views
of why deciding advertisement is vital for such businesses. Most vital of them all is the
scarcity of resources and limited exposure to markets, which leads to finding an
innovative way to fulfill the needs and wants of their customers and consumers.
Furthermore, when we want to create segments of our targeted consumer base, the
benefits of studying consumer behavior are manifolds. [ CITATION Sch06 \l 1033 ]Many
startups fall for this trap, they think that providing a better product and service quality
will encourage and ease their customer to make a purchase decision for their company
products [ CITATION SMc09 \l 1033 ]
Only the final consumers can tell organizations and companies, running advertisements
and marketing campaigns, whether their budget spend is justified or not? Whether their
campaign and strategy were final or psychological success or not? (Solomon, 2009).
With the rapid advancement of world trends, the duties and responsibilities of being a
marketer have increased, now the marketers not only have to assess and analyze the
consumer needs and wants but also practice suitable advertisements to cater to those
consumer preferences in such a competitive era. Advertisers much adopt an agile
mindset to continuously change themselves according to the ever-changing trends and
regulate their marketing and advertising campaigns accordingly. [ CITATION Sol09 \l 1033 ].
 The implication of Key Performance Indicators on advertisement budgets tells us that
how much revenue has been generated with how much advertisement spend. This
measure helps us assess the significance and importance that a certain marketing
campaign has on consumers. [ CITATION Shi10 \l 1033 ]
Companies should not only consider their budgets and monetary benefits while deciding
on an advertisement, but they must also consider their target audience, their response,
and their response to an advertisement.    [ CITATION Are11 \l 1033 ] . There is a wide range of
questions that marketers come along while considering advertisement decision. These
questions include, why would a customer prefer our product or brand over the products
and services of other companies or brands? How much consumer is affected by the
signals of their environment when it comes to purchasing products and services? What
factors other than costs impact the purchase decisions of the customers? It all depends
on the consumers’ final choice to make an actual purchase. Being considered as the
most important factor in the value chain of the advertisement to a final decision we can
have only one clear answer that is consumer behavior. To understand the behavior of

2
the customers, companies, and researchers conduct psychological and behavioral
studies. These studies helped companies and researchers to not only find answers to
their desired research questions but also many numerous factors about
consumers.  [ CITATION Blu13 \l 1033 ]. Nevertheless, we cannot guarantee the positive and
multiplier effect of advertisement on the profit of a company. There is a huge variation
in marketing and advertisement budget when we look at companies and industries in a
segregated way. this variation largely depends on the size, industry type, and product
life cycle that the companies are offering. [ CITATION YCh13 \l 1033 ]
Another measure that investors and management use while assessing the success of any
campaign or project whether related to marketing, advertisement, finance, or supply
chain, is Return on Investment. [ CITATION Fis13 \l 1033 ]. No matter how many reasons we
give and how many ways we try to interact and sell our products, we cannot deny the
fact that we cannot request to customers not including any marketing plans and tools.
[ CITATION KMi13 \l 1033 ]
A report published in 2019 states that an average company spends 9% of its total budget
on their advertisement and marketing strategies. This magnitude of advertisement
budget in percentage is the simplest way to realize the impact that advertisement has on
any company and its expansion strategy. [ CITATION Lay19 \l 1033 ]
The two vital factors that determine the success of a company’s external growth and
consumer acquisition are advertisement and consumer behavior, therefore, they require
a significant time to study properly. This realization makes marketers able to identify
the strengths and weaknesses of a company and be alert about the threats and upcoming
opportunities. Apple Inc., over the years, has been able to recognize the worth of
advertisement and its long-term impact on consumer behavior. While you are reading
this, Apple is a $1.3 trillion company that sells a wide range of electronics products and
services including Mobile phones – iPhone series, Laptops – MacBook series, Software
and Applications (iTunes and Appstore). [ CITATION Inv20 \l 1033 ]
In this thesis, our focus is to understand what different advertisement strategies do
Apple use and how effective are those advertising in molding consumer behavior. Apple
has the largest market shares of mobile phones and laptops, its operating system is
second to only the infamous Windows operating system. Our objective with this thesis
is to not only analyze the impact that advertisements on buyer’s behavior but also try to
find the pros and cons of advertisement for the success of a company. Different
organizations use different advertisement strategies, but Apple advertises its products in
a very different way. Their target market is very different when we compare it to other
companies. By analyzing the behavior of Apple’s consumers, we can analyze their
advertisement strategy. Apple does not use conventional marketing tactics, rather they
use a premium image for their customers. There are different views regarding the
advertisements that Apple shows to its consumers. Some argue that they make false

3
promises that ultimately affect their brand image and customer behavior. A waste
majority says that Apple has delivered whatever they had promised in the past, so they
just get information from different mediums (blogs, News, Apple's newsletters,
promotional flyers, and webinar) and launch conferences and buy the product. A few
customers had different views about Apple’s advertisement strategy, they argued that
they purchased an Apple product after watching their advertisement or marketing
campaign. Their advertisement and promotional campaign changed their behavior and
made them buy Apple products. In this thesis, we will try to find out what viewpoint
has more authenticity by finding facts from different academic and non-academic
resources.
Thesis Objective, Research Questions
The main objective that we have from this research is that weather of not Apple’s
advertisement strategy has a significant impact on its consumer’s behavior. For that
purpose, we have divided our work into subsegments to ensure that there is clarity about
the definition of each variable involved in this thesis.
 How consumer behavior steers the advertisement strategy of a company?
 There is a range of subsequent questions to support our proposed objective of the
thesis.
 How do we define the behavior of the consumer?
 How consumer behavior has an impact on advertisements?
 Different things that affect consumer behavior in different ways?
By answering these questions, we will be able to achieve another aim of this thesis,
which is to provide us with a comprehensive overview of the behavior of the consumer
and impact advertisements have on the consumer behavior. It is a study of human
psyche; therefore, it is more than what we can cover in this thesis. For this very
purpose, we will only focus on the relevant aspects of consumer behavior in this work.
Research Methodology
There are several research methodologies, two major types include Qualitative and
Quantitative exploration. Numerical inquiry is mainly concerned with the assortment of
statistics in numeric form by questionnaire. Furthermore, Qualitative study focuses on
observations and providing views about the observed data. Then there is further
segregation concerning data collection. Two ways to gather data are Primary and
Secondary. Primary data encompasses, like the name suggests, collecting data from
scratch by going deep into the data collection process. This method of data collection is
also known as the inductive research data collection method. Another method of data
collection is Secondary data collection, that utilizes already existing data. This data is
collected from certain journals, publications, libraries, books, or research work of other
researchers in a similar domain. [ CITATION McD13 \l 1033 ]

4
In this dissertation, we will focus on the exploratory qualitative research, the following
section is the explanation of the advantages that such research method has over other
research methods. Our model consists of qualitative research where we would utilize
secondary data collection tools the research methodology. [ CITATION Sur18 \l 1033 ]
The following section is a more detailed approach towards what our research
methodology would look like, and why we have selected a particular type of
methodology to pursue our research. Figure implies the research methodology

Research Approach
Deductive

Research Methodology
Qualitative

Data Collection
Secondary
Books, Articles, Journals, Company Publications, and
Electronic Sources
A
more comprehensive slant is being utilized to analyze and substantiate why I choose a
certain type of data collection method for this research. Our main topic about the
evaluation of the role advertisement efforts to influence the very consumer behavior, is
a vast topic, and there are multiple source through which we can go about it and collect
the data that is required. I will be using secondary method to collect the data and then
analyze it using other researches. This is basically a method where, we firstly look for
the authenticity of previous researches that have been done on the similar topic. Then
we will cross check that with available academic and non-academic data to reach to a
certain conclusion. This method is one of the most comprehensive method to find out
the relationship and correlation between the variables.
The main reason why we choose this kind of research methodology is that there are a lot
of concerns about the quantitative research in the researchers’ community. First and the
foremost concern is that the questionnaires that respondents fill are lengthy, and we do
not know if the respondent is the right person for our research. Such data not only cause
business in the data but also manipulate the results to much extent. Another concern is

5
with respect to the sample population that is used for research. Apart from the research
design and researchers’ consent, It is up to the time and cost available at hand for
research. [ CITATION Mur03 \l 1033 ]
This approach is one of the most widely recognized and recommended method by the
researchers. Which means we can get the most authentic results through this method.
Qualitative data can be utilized to identify and measure the answers that are not
quantifiable. This method is important because it we not only cross check but also a
best fit to understand the sentiments of the users about Apple’s advertisement
campaigns. [ CITATION Joh04 \l 1033 ]. The very idea of exploratory research is based on
qualitative research method, which explains the relationship among variables and tell
how much this relationship is strong or weak based on the findings. [ CITATION Chu05 \l
1033 ]
As explained earlier the primary data is a hard knock way to collect data. The benefits
are manifold. But it also requires so many efforts and many new researchers find
themselves in limbo when they start collecting a data that was never in any record. But
the secondary research is also not a very easy method. New researchers try to copy and
utilize some previous resource without looking for the authenticity of the data. If the
data is more authentic then their research would be a piece of art. But this is not as easy
as it seems. Big data or data bulk is also a problem that we encounter on daily basis.
[ CITATION Pro06 \l 1033 ] . Quantitative or numerical research is concerned with collecting
numerical data. That is mainly based on primary research data gathered and in some
cased researchers base secondary data for numerical data collection where they utilize
past researches and regenerate questionnaire from these researches and come a
conclusion based on their data. Numerical or quantitative research is prominent method
in a sense that the data that it gives as an output is easier to read and visualize to the
targeted audience. As this data is mostly presented in the form of graphs and charts.
[ CITATION ASt07 \l 1033 ]
When we follow this approach in our research study, we compensate for the fact that
primary data is an unrefined form of data. The very idea of analyzing such data is not
only a tough task but also very expensive. Researchers have mixed views with respect
to primary data. [ CITATION McD13 \l 1033 ] presented that also qualitative data is very hard
to analyze and requires great research ethics and research understanding to pursue, it is
still cheaper that quantitative research data. A vast majority of researchers think that
this kind of data collection is a waste of time and is preferable only when we have much
time and resources to explore and measure each variable from the scratch. This would
include interviewing the respondents directly, filling in the questionnaire about our
research question, observing a control environment or field of study. All these tactics of
primary data are not only expensive and time consuming but also takes a lot and lots of
expertise to analyze. [ CITATION McD13 \l 1033 ]

6
This is the very reason that many new and early stage researcher prefer using secondary
data. One of the major benefit that secondary sources of data collection present, is that
they are more trusted sources and since they’ve studied and analyzed the primary data
on their own, it is a sort of guarantee that the data would be authentic and we can use it
for our study as well. Also, when we start searching for their data and analyze that
under our circumstances, we can present our overview about their research, whether it is
authentic or not. Even if their research is authentic, we argue their findings in context
of our research. For example, a research in the same domain of advertisement has been
done but the context a non-tech product like cosmetics. We can present that whether the
same advertising strategies are beneficial in both the cases or we need to analyze the
type of our business first and then either make out own strategy or continue the most
relevant strategy for that purpose. [ CITATION Fab16 \l 1033 ]
One way to make sure our data is authentic is to make sure multiple sources verifies this
data. But in our case, we will not only verify it by multiple online sources but also cross
verify academic data with non-academic resources. There is a high chance of facts and
what the researcher suggests, and we cannot totally relay on someone else’s research.
[ CITATION Fab16 \l 1033 ]
Marketing and advertisements are concerned with understanding the consumer
sentiments, so this is covered under exploration of qualitative research. While searching
for qualitative research, researcher measuring the numerical efficiency of the data, that
later pave the ways for quantitative researchers in the same domain. [ CITATION McD13 \l
1033 ]

Primary and Secondary Research Data

Primary data is a raw or most firsthand data that is used for research and analytics.
Researchers gather this data directly from the market. (Burns and Bush, 2010). Primary
data is most customized data form that is available. Researcher can customize the
sample and questionnaire according to their needs. They can collect data with respect to
the demographics and age or income. [ CITATION Chu05 \l 1033 ].
We utilize some else’s research data and build our argument upon it when we pursue
secondary data as our research data choice. This is cheaper but undeniably unreliable at
the same time. Couple of examples about the secondary data involves public reports and
data, previous academic and non-academic researches, company’s journals, and annual
reports. As our research involves searching Apple’s archives for their marketing and
advertisement efforts, we will perform secondary research for this dissertation.
[ CITATION Bur10 \l 1033 ]

Benefits of Secondary Research Data

7
As we have established that our research will be comprise of secondary research data.
Here we will explain the benefits of secondary data that led us to this very decision.
Cost effective: Because we are not directly gathering data from a raw or primary source,
hence, our costs will be at the minimum. There are multiple costs associated with data
gathering, transportation, human resource, printing, and courier services if we are
searching for data across boundaries, local or international. The only cost that we might
have to incur is that cost of purchasing the data, if the data is copyright protected.
[ CITATION Joh04 \l 1033 ]
Time: Such data is available at the distance of a click, so, we can have it by just logging
into our computer and searching for the data online and we have it. Hence, very time
efficient method. Time costs in primary data involves, searching for the right source of
data, contacting, and taking appointments, taking approvals and transformation of
information from one hand to another. [ CITATION McD13 \l 1033 ]
Data Refinement: Data collection only is not a hard task, but the refinement is also a
part of it. Primary data to its basics is very raw in nature. Researchers must find way to
refine it and make sense out of this raw data. On the other hand, Secondary data is used
that is already refined by the previous researchers. [ CITATION McD13 \l 1033 ]
Access to Data: Primary data takes a lot of time, that respondents usually do not prefer
giving out of their busy schedules. Utilizing the secondary data, we can have access to a
large amount of data that is not possible in case of primary research. [ CITATION Mur03 \l
1033 ]
Availability: Secondary data is available 24/7 throughout the year. You just must have
an idea about your research needs, and you will have the data you need. Primary data on
the other hands, required a long due process of collection it at the convenience of the
respondent.
[ CITATION Sur18 \l 1033 ]

Theoretical Framework
How advertisements affect consumers and what factors make a consumer purchase
something, is a fundamental question that every strategist of the advertisement must
ask. The foremost goal or intent of an advertising campaign is to have a significant
influence on buyer’s behavior. A vast majority of consumers think that advertisement is
the reason why a consumer would show a certain behavior of liking or dislike towards
the products.[ CITATION Ben95 \l 1033 ]. Consumers make their whole decision of
purchasing a certain product is directly related to advertisements, if without considering
product features.[ CITATION Hor00 \l 1033 ].
To provide the answers to our research objectives and questions, we have developed a
conceptual framework. This framework is largely based on the hypotheses that we are

8
going to test through our research. Through this framework, we a going to find answers
reading Do advertisements have an impact on the very idea that we established
Consumer Behavior? If yes? Then what kind of impact that advertisement has on the
consumers? Is it a positive impact (that encourages users to make a purchase decision)
or negative impact (that not only refrain users to purchase a product but additionally
disseminate bad unfounded information against the brand/ company that leads to
negative network effect).
Research Model
We will be analyzing the following variables in this research and have devices this
model of research to graphically represent this. 
1. Advertisement and its impact on consumer behavior
2. How consumer behavior encourages companies to increase advertisement
expenditure

Consumer
Advertisement Behavior

9
 CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW
The main concern of management while launching a product is how customers are going
to perceive their products. And to ease their decision-making process through the data
collection is to recognize which consumer falls in which social class, what
demographics do they have, what is their main source of income, how they interact with
their society etc., and to regulate and identify best-suited marketing mix. No one can
deny the humongous power that consumer possesses when it comes to product design
strategies and selection of advertisement media. [ CITATION Pro82 \l 1033 ]
Advertisement is a process that is used to endorse ideas, products, information, and
services, mainly use a vast majority of sponsors to boost customer association using
visual, written (text) and audio (spoken) information that is being aired on different
media. [ CITATION Bov95 \l 1033 ]. There are several ways that marketers use to disseminate
information regarding their products, that can be done by providing information to a
specific niche or a mass audience. Marketers utilize different mass media tools like an
advertisement, sales preferments, and public affairs to promote their product or send
their message to their target customers. When we look at the formal definition of
advertisement, it is known as the art and science of three different processes, firstly
social, then marketing, or promoting thirdly economic or financial process along with
communication, and persuasion method. Every individual advertisement effort comes
with a specific concern in mind, first to connect with the targeted customers/consumers
(which we earlier defined as Social), then to improve responsiveness (marketing aspect
of advertisement process), and then lastly, gain a significant financial benefit for the
company or product. The prime objective is to collect information about our consumer
segment then use that information to communicate product benefits and value for the
customer to the target audience. This communication and consumer information later
leads to significant enforcement to try different methods to persuade consumers by
providing for their needs, demand and wants. [ CITATION Are96 \l 1033 ] . One of the major
benefits of reaching out to customers via mass media is a significant reduction in the
costs of advertisement and customer acquisition, but this benefit comes with a tradeoff
of unprecedented advantage, which is to sell products personally to each customer on
their doorstep. [ CITATION Etz97 \l 1033 ] . Furthermore, Del Rio concluded that assurance,
individual recognition, status symbol, and community of a brand are the key factors
through which consumers identify it. These are the positive factors to create brand
loyalty and acceptance of the extension of a brand as brand loyalty and purchasing
decisions of consumers have a strong relationship. [ CITATION Del01 \l 1033 ]
Altering media format influenced and encouraged consumers to buy online and it then
boosted the sales as well. [ CITATION Ade03 \l 1033 ]Some researchers also examined the
influence of advertisements on consumers over purchasing Bournvita products. What
was the level of encouragement and influence of the advertisement over the purchasing

10
and how it impacted the consumer behavior was the scope of the research? The rendered
results showed that advertisement was the most effective method to attract consumers
and create brand loyalty. Ayanwale explained that if there are many other competitors
and consumers have many different choices regarding the brands then companies must
consider the factors to gain the attention of the buyers. Advertisement performs a
crucial role in the assortment of a brand regardless the gender discrimination. Whether
it is a male of female advertisement impacts both equally. If the manufacturers want to
increase their sales and attract more people towards their products, they must consider
the tv ads because people mostly trust tv commercials. This means it can be useful, and
companies should spend most on advertisements and the medium of advertisements.
[ CITATION Aya05 \l 1033 ]
Tamm mentioned that the brand is considered as the vital tool to attract the customers
towards a specific product. Brand loyalty does not impact Chinese consumers because
customers in China do not trust their products mostly developed in their country while
branded products are very successful and effective in the UK because the brand
recognition and brand association are different in these two countries .  (Tam, 2007).
The people how actually practice and research facts and figures about advertisements
recognize that it is one of the most effective ways to influence consumer purchase
behavior. [ CITATION Cla09 \l 1033 ]
It is very hard to change consumer mind about something, this is where advertisement
comes in, advertisements are vitally important in changing consumer perception about
products. Consumer behavior how consumers feel around a certain manufactured goods
or amenity. To win customers and their loyalties in the longer run, companies must
understand what and how consumers feel about their product – consumer behavior,
which is one of the leading success factors for companies in the age of rapid product
changes.
There are many theories and refined methodologies which defines the consequences of
advertisement on the behavior of a consumer. The selection of a brand in the domain of
telecommunication sometimes confuses the consumers but a useful advertisement can
help the customers to select what is best for them.
Scholars did some research on how online means of advertisement for compact disk
(CD’s) are partial for the consumers before purchasing. A good demonstration of lyrics
text, music videos, and motionless images for music on the world wide web (WWW)
format can be vital and helpful to attract them towards online purchase of CDs. This
research was conducted by using different mediums of media formats when there was an
urge between the people towards music and online purchase. The results were
implemented to change the media formats to attract consumers as the text lyrics were
very effective in buying behavior. 

11
Other implementations to change the consumers' buying behaviors are very effective but
the consumer’s feedback and surroundings are preferably influencing them most.
Advertisement is a very useful tool in the modern era, and it is a very important means
of reaching customers. With a meaning and informational advertisement consumer,
behavior can be changed. Whatever the society he or she belongs to does not affect this
factor to change the consumer's behavior. Consumers seem more involve and interested
in information represented in ads. It creates a sense of attachment in people regarding
the products and helps them to decide the product. TV ads and buying behavior have a
remarkable relationship with each other when it comes to the influence of a product.
Buying behavior changes with some of the factors like emotions and psychology of the
people and these are the crucial aspects of buying decisions. Television ads are full of
canned foods. Where it increased the demand for canned food it also increased their
prices. To change the consumer’s buying pattern for the canned foods television are
playing a very vital role. It also increases the attention of the consumers for purchasing
canned food. [ CITATION Shi10 \l 1033 ]
Khasawneh and Hasouneh examined that customer’s choice at the time of purchase
cannot be affected by their environmental fundamentals and brand awareness cannot be
influenced by this aspect while on the other hand, the reputation of the brand throws a
good impression on consumer’s mind. People tend to buy more brand items at greater
prices because the reliability and the quality cannot be found in cheaper or non-labeled
commodities. Product fondness is not only considered a sign of quality and reliability,
but it is a social status as well. [ CITATION Kha10 \l 1033 ]. Packaging quality also affects
the consumer's buying behavior is examined by the Prince. Results showed that the
name of the brand and the packaging quality massively affects ones buying attitude. On
the other hand, college students consider product involvement, product
acknowledgment, and trust over a brand more than the packing quality of any product.
[ CITATION Pri10 \l 1033 ]. Rubini mentioned that although the product is an imperceptible
phenomenon, it influences the purchasing attention of the consumers. Brand
acknowledgment influences the consumer’s buying behavior if the consumer is brand-
oriented because brand loyalty can be the attitude or behavior of some individual. So,
brand loyalty can be coextensive. [ CITATION Rub10 \l 1033 ] As discussed earlier, mass
media of communication is one of the most beneficial media to promote products and
services, for that purpose television ads are used to reach out to a larger consumer base.
When we have a product that serves a very generic need, there are no better media to
promote your products and services than to promote them on television, where a generic
message can capture the spotlight. [ CITATION Abi11 \l 1033 ].
 Consumers nowadays are more aware and attached to fashion clothing brands
especially female consumers. Their buying behavior is remarkably affected by the
position of the brand in society, image of the brand, and self-observation with the
other’s response about a brand.  [ CITATION Har11 \l 1033 ].

12
Many scholars observed that an impressive advertisement can change consumers'
behavior in the telecom industry. Consumers' purchasing mindset can be changed by an
effective advertisement that directly impacts their surroundings and feelings. Although
both factors helped to attract the consumers' emotions were subjective to change
consumer’s perspective towards the brands defined in the result of this study. [ CITATION
Abi11 \l 1033 ]. Nepali defined that operating a label refers to as implementing different
marketing methodologies for a product, a series, or a specific product. Brand loyalty
will improve if the brand will be managed with efficient manners. Many marketing
researchers concluded that Brand assures that quality of the products will remain
identical as always and this factor attracts and attaches the consumers to their desirable
brands. [ CITATION Nep11 \l 1033 ]. Zain-ul-Abideen and Saleem described that the
advertisement is an effective means of marketing promotion to grab the customer’s
attention for an explicit product or service. Most of the time people favor the brands
with which they got attached emotionally. Emotional attachment with a brand impacts
the purchase behavior of consumers positively. [ CITATION Abi11 \l 1033 ]
Dastoor defined that brand equity is based on many dimensions such as the image of the
brand, professed quality, brand awareness, and brand recognition. Consumer buying
behavior is positively affected when a product has a less perceived conflict of brand
equity.  If the age factor comes in place, then it will put a negative influence on the
purchasing aspiration of the consumer regardless of the gender or income level because
the buying behavior changes as the age changes. On the other hand, the demographic
factors also influence the purchasing conduct of the consumers. And the purchasing
intensity of the consumer indirectly deals with the demographic variable reason why the
tendency of the buying product can change. [ CITATION Nep11 \l 1033 ]
Family, friends, and responses from other group opinions also change the perception of
people about a brand but when it comes to the advertisement people trust them the most.
It has a great influence on people thus they always attract effective advertisements.
Adding more when firms use celebrities to promote their brands in advertisements it
becomes more effective to influence the people. No matter what is the level of the
income a person advertisement impacts them, and advertisement convinces a person at
least once in their lifetime. If the product is expensive then the advertisement has a
lower rate of attraction. But an advertisement, in general, has a great impact on people’s
minds. Many companies nowadays using the internet as the medium to promote their
products. They realized that TV ads alone are not much effective to grab more people to
their brand. To attract people, they made useful and attractive ads on the internet which
influences the people. That way in interacts with more people and engages them in their
product promotions. This engagement of the product leads them to brand loyalty. It
makes easier to develop marketing strategies by using the response and feedback of the
people online over time. [ CITATION Are11 \l 1033 ]

13
This study was examined by the Bolatito who worked on consumers' behavior
effectively and his work then used by many researchers and Firms in Nigeria. Many
scholars illustrated that the price, advertisement, availability, and quality can affect the
fondness of a brand. Advertisement and availability were the main factors that led
people towards the MTN. The firm spent a handsome amount on advertisement only. A
study showed that men and women both attached to MTN due to these factors. [ CITATION
Bol12 \l 1033 ]. Saad Hussain defined that most of the time firms use the social-based
events of customers to grab their interest in the brand. The approach of a product and
the status of a brand throws a positive impact and ecological factors show bad impacts
on the buying behavior of the consumer. [ CITATION Sha12 \l 1033 ]
(Doorstar, 2012). As Dastoor examined that brand is infected as an implicit tool for the
companies to gain benefits over the competitors. Consumers perceive brand assets as a
multidimensional structure. There is a robust and precise correlation among the
acquired excellence and price of the dairy products and this relationship has a
constructive on purchasing behavior of the consumers. [ CITATION Doo12 \l 1033 ]
Rasool mentioned that people can choose other brands just to test them. Buying
behavior can vary according to the level of income of a person especially in male and
they trust the advertisement the most as compared to the female consumers. While for
the expensive products advertisement and similar ads are ineffective as they do not help
change consumer buying behavior. Advertisements can be used positively to change to
the consumers buying perspective. Niazi says that Environmental issues and emotional
aspects two strong reason which can divert the consumer purchase attention. If people
are emotionally attached to a product, they will prefer the product over others. [ CITATION
Nia12 \l 1033 ]
Bishnoi and Sharma mentioned that when brands try to attract teenagers there are two
factors they must consider. There is a larger difference between the mindset of urban
teenagers and rural teenagers. Advertisement is not effective for both at the same level.
They also added that some product does not target the urban tanagers, so the
advertisement put no effect on them, but it influences the rural teenagers. TV ads also
resourceful to involve more people with the brand. They consider the advertisement
more useful when a product gives more benefits then of their expectation. The choice of
people changes with the TV ads and their selection of the brand and purchasing decision
drives them to the specific brand or product
In a competitive environment where brands have though competitions using top-level
and dominant celebrities in the advertisement creates a great difference. In displays
positive product images when companies involve single or more celebrities in the ads it
affects the acquiring comportment of the people in many ways. Using multiple
celebrities in ads changes the perspective of people about the brand and it positively
alters their buying behavior. But the impact of the advertisement will be the same if the

14
product is low involvement product or the high involvement product. And there will be
more distinction between the product attraction whether use multiple celebrities or not
in the ads. [ CITATION Per12 \l 1033 ]
Today people buying products to maintain their social status. They do shop for
personality and satisfaction. Brand loyalty and social significance are the key factors in
consumers' buying behavior. In the modern age, the income level has no direct impact
on brand loyalty and the purchase attention of the consumer. [ CITATION Doo12 \l 1033 ]

Advantages and Disadvantages of Advertisement

Companies use advertisement as a pull effect to pull potential customers from the
market and below are worth mentioning features of an advertisement.
Reach – as mentioned earlier, advertisements use mass media to convey and
communicate the company message to their potential customer. This mass reach media
not only help companies attract a larger customer base but also gives a reminder about
specific ongoing promotion. For example, a simple message aired on BBC news reaches
millions of viewers in a matter of seconds. [ CITATION Khe10 \l 1033 ]
Choice – advertisements present numerous choices for marketers to reach out to their
potential customers. They can choose from a wide variety of choices like print,
broadcast, or digital media to convey their message.
Legitimacy – mass advertisement helps brands increase their legitimacy in front of their
customers. It is at the very heart of human nature that we tend to believe what is being
told openly and on mass media. For example, is there is a product that is being
promoted on print media and then there is a product that is being promoted by a single
person via one-on-one selling. The later gets very low customer attention and trust,
hence seen as low on the scale of legitimacy. [ CITATION Ros97 \l 1033 ]
Advantages of Advertisement
The world is going through rapid advancements, as a part of this progress, there is a
huge focus of companies on the advertisement. They devote a large chunk of their
budgets on the advertisement. Every day, every second, we see many new advertisement
campaigns came into existence. This not only increases awareness for the consumer but
also bombard them with a bulk of information. Today’s consumer is more aware of their
products than ever, and they are equally confused regarding their purchase decision.
There are unlimited advantages of advertisements, but these benefits come with a cost
or what we can call disadvantages. [ CITATION Tel04 \l 1033 ]
Change Consumer perception
Advertisements help companies change the perception of their consumers.
Advertisements work as a roadmap for consumers about how to perceive a product. The

15
message that the communicator conveys through advertisement is all it takes to change
consumer behavior. [ CITATION Are11 \l 1033 ]
Increase Revenues
Without advertising products, it is not impossible to sell products or services, but
it is as difficult as it is to climb a mountain with any supporting gear. Companies cannot
deny the power of advertisement in increasing the revenues of the company. It also
helps expand the horizons of the company’s business operations that are directly linked
with increased revenues. [ CITATION Fen \l 1033 ]
A frontend Supplement
Advertising works as an aid to the frontend employees of the company. It is a tool to
help customer service agents to communicate to their clients that what are the policies
that the company will abide by in pursuing their claims. It works like an extra hand for
marketers and sales teams. Their clients have the idea of their offerings before even
they reach out to them. [ CITATION Rai13 \l 1033 ]
Demand Surge
One of the main reasons why companies advertise their products is to generate higher
profits. That can be done in two ways, one is to increase the price of the products and
the second is to push more products into the market. That will help companies gain an
economy of scale advantage. [ CITATION Per12 \l 1033 ]
User Guide
Advertisements not only convey the message but also provide a guideline as to how to
use products and where to find them. This helps the company in catering to many large-
scale issues. Certain products need a certain temperature level, otherwise, they will be
spoiled. It is easier for companies to tell their consumers about such guidelines through
their advertisements rather than telling every single individual consumer about the
usability of the products. [ CITATION Are11 \l 1033 ]Disadvantages of Advertisement
Advertisement does not just come with the bright side of making money and chaining
consumer behavior. Rather it has its drawbacks as well. But luckily the disadvantages
that advertisements have, are less in number than the advantages that it presents.
[ CITATION Are11 \l 1033 ]Deferred Expenditures
Many small businesses, which do not have enough funds to spare, see advertisements as
an expense that is deferred in nature. Which means they must make expenditure in
advance and wait for the returns for a long period. The returns that advertisements
produce takes time. [ CITATION Rei13 \l 1033 ] [ CITATION Shi10 \l 1033 ]
Fact Misinterpretation
Many companies that use false practices in acquiring customers present them with facts
that are fake, and many times even have an inverse effect on the consumer. This

16
ultimately reduces the trust of the people in the advertisement, leading to loss of
consumers and revenues. [ CITATION Shi10 \l 1033 ]
Increased Costs
Advertisements are a good source to increase income. But when we compare marketing
products to final consumers that require logistical expenses with advertising the product
when the company does not have enough funds to provide products to consumers'
doorsteps. Advertisement is not an essential cost rather it is a tool to increase revenue.
Therefore, many small businesses look at it as an increase in their expense nothing
more. [ CITATION Yan11 \l 1033 ]
Leads to Price War
Advertisement squeezes the revenues; hence it urges companies to reduce price, because
of their competition also reduces the prices which leads to an unending price war. That
can lead up to issues in quality consequently. The mobile phone market is very
concentrated, the companies that provide a cheaper cell phone with lots of features wins
more market share we have the example of Huawei, that became one of the largest
cellphone sellers in no time. [ CITATION Shi10 \l 1033 ]
Unequal Competition Practice
Advertisement leads to an unequal competition in the market. Small companies have
limited budge to advertise their products, even if they do advertise, their frequency of
advertisement and quality of airtime purchased is way less than the companies with
humongous marketing budgets. [ CITATION Zha14 \l 1033 ]
Factors of Consumer Behavior
This is the very nature of human beings, that they tend to behave differently in a
different situation, especially when something new is presented in front of them. Many
factors affect consumer behavior. Numerous psychological studies have unveiled those
factors. These factors are further segregated into different groups. [ CITATION Bla06 \l

Personal Psychological
Cultural Factors Social Factors
Factors Factors
Culture Reference Age Motivation
Subculture Groups Occupation Perception
Social Class Family Financial Learning
Status and Role Condition Attitude
Lifestyle
Personality

1033 ]

17
Cultural Factors
People behave most like their culture. Every single action is largely influenced by their
behavior. Therefore, companies must need to understand the importance of culture when
they want to create an impact on their consumers’ behavior. There are three sub-
segments of cultural factors that people come along with. [ CITATION Hof10 \l 1033 ]
Culture – is a set of diverse beliefs and morals that people learn while living in a certain
group. Every group or society has its own set of values or norms that they follow. It is
in this very sense that we must understand the importance of culture and how our
consumer behaves in a certain environment. It is vital in two related aspects. Firstly,
when we are going to launch products or advertise them in a particular market, we must
now the norms of that society, for example, there is a vast majority of Asian societies
that dislikes any kind of nudity on their TV screen. For them, the brand ambassador
must wear an appropriate dress while making an appearance in an advertisement.
Similarly, if a society has no culture of taking pictures, then there is no use to advertise
mobile products that have multipurpose camera lenses, this will impact their customers
negatively. [ CITATION Dub00 \l 1033 ]
Subculture - is a culture within a culture. Which means that culture is for a broad range
of individuals who share common values or norms. Subsequently, sub-culture is a
biproduct of culture, where people of societies living closely, develop their norms and
value, and strictly follow them in their surroundings. For example, the Chinese
community living in the UK has its own set belief and values, they do not compromise
on those values. But when it comes to a larger culture, they must follow and fall under
that culture and adapt and portray those values and beliefs on a larger scale. [ CITATION
Hof10 \l 1033 ]
Social Class – Society is divided into different groups based on their social stature and
economic stability. Because income is one of the measures that we can use to determine
the buying power of our potential customers, marketers look deeper into these social
classes while segmenting and targeting their customers. Researches and statistical data
show that there is an asymmetry in the buying behavior of people residing in the same
social class. [ CITATION Haw10 \l 1033 ]
Social Factors
Every single individual in a society has his role and status that he must abide by and
must behave in that certain way. This behavior is expected by society from that person
given his social status, in return society gives him the respect associated with that
status. For example, if someone is a teacher, his status in society is very high. People
expect him to act in a specific way and return they will give him respect and privileges
in many aspects of his life. This segregation is one of the widely used divisions by the
marketers to determine what is social stature of their customers and what people expect

18
from him. Only then they would design a product that would fall into his social status
and only then they will pitch (advertise) those products to that person accordingly.
[ CITATION Hoy13 \l 1033 ]
Reference Groups – When we divide people according to their living standards and
behavior, we divide them into two main groups. First is the Membership group – the
group of which that person is a part of. Second is the Reference group – the group
where a person aspires to go or be a part of. In simple words, it is a non-membership
group for that person, but he wants to join that group. Due to his social and economic
status, he cannot be a part of that group. While segmenting customers into different
targeting groups, marketers must understand the worth of these two groups. They
segregate their customers into these both groups and advertise their products
accordingly. For example, a person who is a part of the middle class, which is his
membership group, wants to feel how high class feels like or show the society that he is
the part of high class to increase his social respect or aspire to be in the upper class,
will buy products that people from his reference group aspiration purchase. This is the
most important factor while deciding the target market for luxury products. ( [ CITATION
Kot12 \l 1033 ]
Family – Marketers create a profile of their potential customers before making an
advertisement strategy. The family of the customer is one of the most influential factors
for an individual while making a purchase decision. The family is divided into two
further groups. The first group is the kind of family in which we are born. Where all the
decisions are made by the father or the guardian of the family. That guardian person
decided what and when to purchase and how much to spend on an item. On the other
hand, the customer who was dependent on his father is a father now or have a family
that depends on him. Now his purchase decisions vary significantly. [ CITATION Dra04 \l
1033 ][ CITATION Kot12 \l 1033 ]
Role & Status – As discussed earlier an individual while living in a society has two
roles and status first and foremost is what society has given him at the time of his birth
and the other is that is given to him when he starts contributing to his society. People
of his society then expect him to behave in a certain way according to these roles and
status towards society. For example, a person who is a father and area sheriff at the
same time is not expected to wear funky caps and sneakers. So, his role and status have
a significant impact on his purchase decisions. Marketers advertise products to this
targeted segment in a different way. mostly there is an appeal to respect the status and
role that people expect from you in such marketing efforts. [ CITATION Kot12 \l 1033 ]
Personal Factors
Age & Stage of Life – portrays a crucial role in verdict making whether to purchase or
not. When we look at the people in a segregated way, we can deduct that age and the
stage of life they are currently at influence their purchase decision. A simple example

19
would be the kids and their father. A kid would prefer to buy candy whereas the father
would love to purchase something that lasts much longer and has more value in life.
[ CITATION Bly13 \l 1033 ]
Occupation – presents much other information to us in a different sense. A marketer
would not only look at the occupation of their customers but also at what is their
income status, what are the requirements of their occupation. For example, a
businessperson would wear a tie and it would be easier to sell him one, than a farmer
who has nothing to do with a tie. [ CITATION Kot12 \l 1033 ] [ CITATION Jis14 \l 1033 ]
Economic Condition – is measured in financial terms. If a person has buying power and
enough money, he would not critically analyze his options to make purchase decagons.
On the other hand, if a person has a low income, they will not only look for cheaper
options but also would love a durable product over a fancy and expensive product.
[ CITATION Kot12 \l 1033 ] [ CITATION Jis14 \l 1033 ]
Psychological Factors
Lifestyle – if a person lives a healthy lifestyle his demand would be different from a
person who is the opposite of healthy. For example, a healthy person would prefer
walking a couple of blocks and talk in person, on the other hand, a lazy person would
pick up his cell phone and just call. [ CITATION Kot12 \l 1033 ]
Motivation – is a factor that urges the consumer or a human person to do something. If
he is not motivated to do anything he would not. That is why most of the advertisement
and marketing campaigns revolves around motivating the customer and greeting the
need for the products and services. [ CITATION Moo11 \l 1033 ]
Perception – is the mindset that a person has towards anything at all. Advertisements
help people change their perception of the product and the company. Once an
advertisement has established a good perception in the mind of the consumers it would
be easier to sell them anything and it would take fewer efforts. [ CITATION Sol09 \l 1033 ]
Learning - there are different views about leaning. Some people prefer learning new
things and some do not. For example, if we try to sell tech products to people in their
old ages, only a few would purchase or commit to purchase. The only reason is the urge
to learn new things and stay up to date with the world and ever-changing products and
advancements. [ CITATION Kot09 \l 1033 ][ CITATION Sol09 \l 1033 ]
Attitude – a way of doing something that is part of your life. If a person has a positive
attitude toward purchasing an expensive product, he will purchase one. If not that he
would try to stop others from purchasing the products as well. [ CITATION Hoy13 \l 1033 ]
[ CITATION Kot12 \l 1033 ]
Purchase Decision Process:
It is a process through which consumers assess the need and try to find the very
product that could satisfy their needs and wants. This process is part of our everyday

20
life although we are not following each step every time, we decide. But the researchers
have explained this process in a formal way that is explained below. [ CITATION Cou09 \l
1033 ]
1. Need Recognition:
This is the step where consumers come to know that he has a need that should be
fulfilled. This very step involves a formal process of need identification where a well-
educated customer would know that he needs some product or service that could help
him fulfill this need and demand. Here comes the next step- information search.
[ CITATION Hoy13 \l 1033 ][ CITATION Kot12 \l 1033 ]
2. Information Search:
The next step in the process is to find whether some product can help us fulfill
our needs where we try to search for the information regarding that product. This
information includes the availability of the product (whether the product is available
near you), the price of the product, and usability. After collecting information, a general
consumer comes along many different products, where comes the next process of
evaluating these products. [ CITATION Kot12 \l 1033 ]
3.Evaluating the Alternatives:
This the 3 rd step in consumer purchase decision process where he is now well
equipped with the knowledge that what product is available, what features these
products have or not what is the price range of these products, what is the status of their
availability, in what shape and size they come and what is the usability of each
alternative. Now a rational consumer would create a matrix about the features of each
alternative and rate each feature in each available product and then make an assessment
which product fulfills or as more features that he needs. [ CITATION Kot12 \l 1033 ]
[ CITATION Sol09 \l 1033 ]
4. Purchase Decision:
Subsequently evaluating the alternatives now, the consumer makes the purchase
decision. This decision can include going to a brick and mortar store or using a click
and mortar medium to purchase the product. [ CITATION Kar15 \l 1033 ]
5. Post Purchase Behavior:
Once the product is acquired the patron after using it, develops a behavior about
the product which is generally known as feedback and in a more literal sense post-
purchase behavior. This means that know we decide that whether or not the product that
we purchased was according to our expectations, whether or not it fulfilled our needs,
whether or not it was according to the promise that the seller made about the product.
This feedback process is very important in creating a prolonged relationship with the
company. If the client is happy with the offerings or the solutions that the company has

21
provided him for his needs or problems, he would show up again at the company’s
doorstep and ask again for the product. [ CITATION Hoy131 \l 1033 ] [ CITATION Kot12 \l 1033 ]

22
 CHAPTER 3: THE IMPACT OF ADVERTISEMENT ON CONSUMER
BEHAVIOR CASE STUDY APPLE
Apple Case Study
Introduction
Apple Inc is one of the six companies in the world, that has a market value of USD 1
trillion. Founded in April 1976, Apple has made itself to the world’s top companies.
People not only know what Apple is but whenever we talk about this company people
aspire to use the products made by Apple. What is the reason behind this so much hype
that Apple has created around its products and services? It is their marketing strategy.
They have identified their targeted customer and placed them according to their buying
or purchase behavior and then they just target their marketing and advertisement efforts
toward these targeted customers. [ CITATION Mar20 \l 1033 ]
Being sold globally, Apple Inc. is based in California, USA.
Products and Services –Consumer Electronics, Computer software, and Virtual Services
Consumer Electronics: iPhone series, iPad series, MacBook series
Computer Software: IOS, Macintosh, iTunes
Virtual Services: Apple TV+. Final cut pro, Xcode
Apple is not only knowing for its products and services but also their marketing and
advertisement campaigns, their uniqueness, and innovativeness. This is the only reason
that they have managed to sell more than 1.5 bn products since the day Steve Jobs
announced the first iPhone up until now. Apple’s marketing efforts and product
campaigns revolve around simplicity. They have not only provided quality products
over the periods but also made their customer’s life simple buy making removing the
ambiguity and complexity of purchase decisions from their life. Buying behavior is
influenced by the information that the company provides to its customer through
advertisements. The more data company delivers the more client gets satisfied with
their product. But Apple’s marketing strategy works differently, by the virtue of their
marketing team’s identification of their consumers’ behavior, Apple is advertising only
about what is going to be there and when the product will be launch. Alongside they
only pitch a small advertisement about how their product will save time and make your
life easy and that is it. [ CITATION Art20 \l 1033 ]
They do not make big promises or any huge statements to capture consumer attention.
Whenever at Apple’s launch conference their CEO (currently Tim Cook) appears on the
stage, people know that something great is going to happen and they know that they are
going to purchase it. It is this confidence of consumers on Apple’s products that their
recent product Apple wheels amounting to $ 450 is also a success. You can make them
on your own, or you can purchase those wheels in less than $10 from Ali Express or
Amazon. But it is the brand image and their marketing strategy that makes people

23
believe that even Apple is not pushing them to purchase the product, they are compelled
to purchase it. [ CITATION Lis19 \l 1033 ]
The very idea that Steve Jobs had when he created Apple, has been into practice since
its inception. They are working to make people’s life easy and in return, people
purchase their products. This is the only reason Apple has reached 1 trillion USD mark.
A person whoever purchase Apple product will later become their brand ambassador.
They will not only generate good word of mouth for the brand but also recommend
Apple products to their peers as well. [ CITATION Thi16 \l 1033 ]
APPLE ADVERTISEMENT STRATEGY
We have established the importance that understanding consumer behavior is a key
element of success when it comes to marketing efforts and making an advertisement
strategy. Apple without making any marketing research efforts is a great success. They
have identified what their customers expect from them. They do not just deliver quality
products but also continuously improve their products through creativity and
innovation, which was the philosophy of Steve Jobs behind the formation of Apple Inc.,
Apple has created it own eco-system through a wide range of products, ranging from
iTunes to iPhone in your palm. It is the only reason they know what their consumers
expect from them. They use all their products and services to access customer data and
use it to refine their products. This the very reason their products are being sold in
countries even where they do not have any official retail store. Apple assess the
consumer behavior through this data they gather and allocate their marketing budget for
advertisements. [ CITATION The14 \l 1033 ]
Mystery and buzz are some of the biggest motivators that Apple uses to attract its
customers. Typically, a company launches a product and reveal it well before launching
it into the market. This creates the information necessary to make a purchase decision.
But this is one of the oldest ways of marketing. Where the company gives information
to their customers and customers make decisions based on the available information.
One the contrary, Apple uses the mystery element to make its customers curious about
their products and let them choose even when they do not have enough information
about the product. This is the reason that a huge list of buyers appears in front of
Apple’s retail outlets a night before the actual lunch of the product. [ CITATION Ros12 \l
1033 ]
Apple teases out information in bits and pieces to its consumers which creates a buzz in
the mind of the consumers. Apple uses online influencers to promote their products.
They utilize the views of influencers and generate good word of mouth. A vast majority
of Apple’s consumers seek an opinion from YouTube opinion leaders. These opinion
leaders postpaid and unpaid reviews about the product. In these reviews, they post the
pros and cons of the products and what is and what should be included in the products
that make it a success or a failure. [ CITATION Ros12 \l 1033 ].

24
Not only that these bloggers, influencers, and opinion leaders compare different
products that Apple cannot do on mass media or in its advertisements. These
comparisons help people analyze what value Apple is adding to their lives since Apple
is creating top-notch products and services in each category. [ CITATION Rei13 \l 1033 ]
Apple’s direct expense in an advertisement is very low when compared to its
competitors. Only comparing the number of retail outlets of Apple with its competition
will give an idea about that. Apple does not push its products extensively into the
market like typical tech companies. They just create hype and consumers pull products
from the company. They just make sure that their product is available whenever
consumer demands it [ CITATION Nei15 \l 1033 ].
.
THE IMPACT OF APPLE’S ADVERTISEMENT ON CONSUMERS
Apple utilizes big data analytics to comprehend requirements and demands of their
consumers. They make products according to the need of their consumers. In this way,
they only produce products that have the most impact on their consumers. The
remaining efforts and impact are done by the generated word of mouth and influencers.
In my opinion, Apple’s marketing strategy is stronger that they have managed to
generate a premium persona in the mind of their users. [ CITATION Rai13 \l 1033 ]
The advertisement for them, at this stage, is only a medium of brand recall nothing else.
But if we say that Apple’s advertisement helps final consumer change their mind from
choosing their competitive brand, that would be wrong. The consumers who buy
Apple’s products make their decision by listening to opinion leaders and by the known
worth of Apple and the promises that they make. [ CITATION Per12 \l 1033 ]

BOWMAN STRATEGY CLOCK

Bowman’s Strategy Clock is used to determine the marketing strategy of a company.
This ranges from their efforts of targeting customers and serving them with the
appropriate value proposition. The BSC follows a strategic clock that explains strategies
on two spectrums. One is the price and the other is the perceived value of consumers
related to the products and offerings. [ CITATION Luc11 \l 1033 ]
Price – is defined as the price company charges its customers that could be high or low
compared to its competition. Low prices can never win companies with a high perceived
consumer value because of the image associated with the low price. People generally
assume that the product with low price is also low on quality. Such products never win
a high perceived value. [ CITATION Hit19 \l 1033 ]
Then there is monopoly pricing, where the company knows that they have a product that
is one of its kind. There is no competition in the market. And there is not a single

25
company that can capture their market share by offering products or low cheaper
services. So, they charge high prices regardless of perceived consumer value.
Then some companies fall into a mid-price range but have the highest perceived value.
These companies and products have a unique proposition that no other company is
offering. Although there is a huge competition in the market these companies through
their unique marketing strategies and lower than the higher prices capture a unique

place.
[ CITATION Hit19 \l 1033 ]
Another type of differentiation is focused on differentiation, like Apple. They have
focused on a specific niche of the market that they cater to and sell their products to.
According to my research, through various academic and non-academic means, I have
come to know that Apple uses it’s the following strategy for the following reasons.
Focused Differentiation
 They sell products and services to a specific niche
 They know the worth of their brand and charge higher prices for their products
and services
 The perceived value of consumer about Apple and its products is higher than the
other companies in the market
 They only target this niche trough their advertisement efforts.
[ CITATION Mis11 \l 1033 ]

26
27
CHAPTER 4: CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS FOR FURTHER
RESEARCH
From our research through academic and non-academic means, we have come to know
that Apple’s advertisement strategy can be analyzed from these lenses. As stated in the
impact of advertisements on the consumers, Apple does not need to put intensive
advertisement efforts to attract consumers and change their behavior. Apple Inc is
continuously developing innovative products; this fact alone is enough to change
consumer behavior. Secondly, the only advertisement that Apple creates, is about their
innovations and the future of the technology market. [ CITATION Are96 \l 1033 ]
This means that Apple does not need to strategies the advertisement with regards to
what words to speak and what not. They just organize a webinar and let people know
what their future products are and what they are going to offer their consumers right
now. Thirdly, when Apple create an advertisement in a new market, it increases their
market and helps boost the sale of their new products in that new market. This fact let
Apple penetrate the segments of the market that were untapped to this moment and were
unaware of Apple. Apple, like other companies, does not deny the importance of the
advertisement. Advertisement helps them be active in the market. Rather than just
showing their faces at the products launch event, Apple makes advertisements just to
stay in touch with their consumers and have a market presence throughout the year. The
foremost reason why Apple promote their goods is to create an alteration in the market.
As I have explained using Bowman Strategy Clock, Apple utilizes focused
differentiation to cater to its market. Their advertisement helps them convey this
message into the minds of their final consumers. [ CITATION Cla09 \l 1033 ]
Furthermore, this research answered the question and objectives that we defined before
starting the research. The first objective was to define the advertisement and its impact
on consumers. Then what is consumer behavior and how Apple is using it to generate
sales and provide for the needs of their consumer? Our research findings also
established the fact that Apple does not fall for conventional marketing tactics. They are
following a comprehensive advertainment strategy that provides an overall benefit to
their image that they have created over the periods of many decades.
Implication and Limitation
Our research has implied that Apple has a unique way of advertising its goods and
amenities, but the impact of its products and services is not significant as compared to
the strategies of other company’s marketing and advertisement campaigns.
This also shows that people get more impressed by an advertisement when they see
someone recommending a product more than the advertisement itself. This is one way to
create a positive brand image through word of mouth. People trust such brands more
than others. Since Apple’s direct consumers do not need a how-to or usability tutorials
in their advertisement, this task is left on the shoulder of their opinion leaders. The only

28
limitation that I faced is that Apple deals with innovative products, which means every
product is different from the other. One can do not imply it in advance that their next
product will be a success for sure.
Conclusion
This study was about Apple Inc and its advertisement strategy. We calculated the
impact that their advertisement has on their consumers’ behavior through various
identifications of what advertisement and consumer behavior are. Our research not only
comprised of information about consumer behavior but also the benefits that companies
can get out of it. Apple gathers data about consumer behavior from its eco-system and
uses its analytics to sever its target consumers. By defining the success of Apple Inc
and the Impact that they have on their target consumers, we have concluded that
Apple’s innovativeness has helped them gain a premium position in the mind of their
consumers and this is the very reason they can charge a high price for their products and
services and consumers pay them happily because Apple’s products are adding value to
their lives. Apple’s focused differentiated strategy has not led to a limited circle of
consumer base but also helped them gain and expand their horizons to other market
segments.

29
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APPENDICES
Consumer Purchase Decision Process - [ CITATION Lin11 \l 1033 ]

Post
Purchase
Purchase
Behavior
Decision
Evaluative
Alternatives
Information
Search
Need
Recognition

35
Apple’s Market Cap - [ CITATION Inv20 \l 1033 ]

36
Apple’s Marketing Strategy - [ CITATION Iva19 \l 1033 ]

[ CITATION Iva19 \l 1033 ]

37