Consumer Behaviour Report on Cruise Package

Paper instructions:
The following guidelines outline the requirements for the report in further detail.

Stage 1: Product Description & Target Market
1. Provide a brief description of the product including

– name and brand of product and parent company name; (ROYAL CARIBBEAN CRUISE PACKAGES SINGAPORE – http://www.royalcaribbean.com.sg/home.aspx)

Just choose one package – http://www.royalcaribbean.com.sg/Destinations/Australia-New-Zealand.aspx

– the benefits (value) the product offers to its consumers – core, expected and augmented;
– its price and how it compares in the marketplace with key competitor as seen by the target market;
– its stage in the product lifecycle (provide evidence to justify);
– its competitive position, comparing benefits and features with its main (2-3) competitors; and
– any other information that you feel would assist in understanding the product (refer to product chapters in
your Marketing text or another marketing books.

2. Specific target market segment profile and segment attractiveness
Identify a target market segment that has the desire, buying power and willingness to purchase the product selected for this assignment

Provide a detailed description of the target market segment. Using only relevant variables provide a descriptive and informative account of the target market segment. Draw from the following areas as required: demographic,
geographic, psychographic and behavioural variables. (REFER TO SEGMENTATION VARIABLE ATTACHED)

What makes this market segment attractive? Justify (ATTACHED EFFECTIVE SEGMENTATION)

(This stage should be less than 500 words. Some of this information can be supplied in the form of tables (not included in word count) or additional materials attached as an appendix. Remember if you use either of these
methods, you must refer to the tables and appendices and provide the reader with a brief explanation highlighting the main points or implications. Ensure the tables and appendices are correctly labelled,numbered and referenced).

PRIMARY RESEARCH: To address stages 2 and 3 (next stages) you will need to undertake some primary research to understand how consumers in the target market behave. You are not expected to design a survey instrument, but rather have a list of questions that you can use to interview at least 5 members of the target market. This process will provide you with qualitative data to enhance the analysis and evaluation required in stages 2 and 3. Relying solely on your perceptions of the target market behaviour is dangerous. BE AWARE OF
PRIVACY ISSUES – if you ask your participants any identification information (name, address etc) you are NOT permitted to pass this information on in the report. Refer to participants in the report as participant 1, participant
2, etc. This may be required when you are referring to a direct quote by a participant in the report.

Ensure that you attach as an appendix the list of questions and other brief details relating to the primary research process, ie total number of interviews, date conducted, location, how you selected participants
(personal contacts, snowball or other ways); brief description of interviewee – male, married, aged 29, etc (best reported in a table).

BEFORE undertaking the primary research please read the market research chapter especially on ‘public policy and ethics in marketing research’.
Based on an analysis of primary and secondary information you will then be in a position to write these next two stages.

Stage 2: Consumer Decision Process
Analyse the theory provided in your text and other sources relating to the buying behaviour of the target market segment. Based on your selected target market segment, describe the consumer decision process for a firsttime
purchaser of the product (be very specific). Discuss the process, or stages, that the target consumers are likely to move through when buying this product for the first time, including both pre- and post-buying stages. Also outline how long you would expect each stage to take and what specific criteria would need to be met in order for these buyers to move to the next stage.Consider the following in your discussion and other information relevant to the product target consumer market.

– What triggers problem recognition?
– What needs are consumers seeking to satisfy?
– What types of information are they likely to search for and where, what form does this information need to
take?
– What evaluative criteria are likely to be used to make the decision?
– What decision rule(s) would be used (or most aligned) to make the final choice?
– How is the product purchased and would this impact on the final choice (credit, cash etc…)?
– Is store choice likely to effect the decision in any way? (if applicable)
– Would previous related experience influence the process and if so how?
– Would you expect there to be any decision loops where customers return to a previous stage and why does
this occur?

 

– Are there postpurchase issues that consumers will experience?
– Refer to handout ATTACHED DIAGNOSING THE CONSUMER DECISION-MAKING PROCESS for additional questions to consider. These questions could be modified for the interview protocol.

These questions could be modified for the interview protocol.

Sustainable Consumer Behaviour
Based on the analysis of the decision making process, evaluate how sustainable this process is for the consumer target market. Are there factors that may contribute to the product and decision making process to be not sustainable in the future and thus the marketer must consider appropriate action. This analysis may lead to a recommendation proposed in the final section.
Remember to use theory where appropriate to explain and justify relevant process related areas. This section will demonstrate how you apply and integrate consumer behaviour theory/concepts in providing a concise account of the consumer decision process for the product purchase by the market segment.
(This section should be approximately 1,000 words and should have appropriate theoretical support referenced).

Stage 3: Influencing Factor
Based on stage 2, where the consumer decision process of the target market segment was explained and justified, you are now required to examine the impact of one important influencing factor on the process. You can select any internal or external influences that are covered in chapters 8 to 16 and situational factors in
chapter 2 of the text. Discuss in detail how and where this factor impacts on the decision process for your selected product and the target market segment. What implications arise from your analysis?
(Examples: learning theory; reference group; motivation; opinion leadership; tricomponent attitude model, etc. These examples are general areas to consider. The examination must be specific and show
depth in the analysis process.)

(This section should be approximately 800-1,000 words or less and should reference the appropriate theory to support your analysis).

At this point in the report provide a brief conclusion to summarise the main findings to this point in the report before writing the recommendations. There should be a clear link between previous sections and the following section, step 4. The two recommendations should have emerged from stages 1 and 2 and thus this provides evidence and assists in justifying the strategies.

Step 4: Recommendations
Finally, you are required to provide brief recommendations for the marketers of this product in terms of how they might utilise this information in developing or modifying current marketing strategies. For example, are there specific elements that this target market looks for in their information search and if so, how could the firm capitalise on this information in the promotion strategy, or are the decision rule(s) used by this group unique and how can sales people utilise this information in the future. TWO specific recommendations are required with
justification.

(This section should be no more that 500 to 600 words and should be concise).

Requirements for effective segmentation

Clearly, there are many ways to segment a market-but not all segmentations are effective. For example, buyers of

table salt could be divided into blonde and brunette customers. But hair colour obviously doesn’t affect the purchase

of salt. Furthermore, if all salt buyers bought the same amount of salt each month, believed all salt was the same and

wanted to pay the same price, the company wouldn’t benefit from segmenting this market.

To be useful, market segments must rate favourably on five key criteria:

1 Measurable: The size and purchasing power of the segments must be able to be measured. Certain

segmentation variables are difficult to measure. For example, there is a significant proportion of left-handed
people in Australia, yet few products are targeted towards this left-handed segment. Check how many left~

 

handed computer mouses exist in your computer lab or office work area. The main problem may be that

L the segment is hard to identify and measure. There are no data on the demographics of left-handers, and the

1 Australian Bureau of Statistics doesn’t keep track of left-handedness in its surveys. Private data companies

keep reams of statistics on other demographic segments, but not on left-handers.9

l 2 Accessible: The segments must be able to be effectively reached and served. Suppose a perfume company finds
that heavy users of its brand are single women who stay out late and socialise a lot. Unless this group lives or
shops at certain places and is exposed to certain media, it will be difficult to reach.

3 Substantial: The segments must be large enough and profitable enough to serve. A segment should be the
largest possible homogeneous group worth going after with a tailored marketing program. It wouldn’t pay,

M for example, for a car manufacturer to develop cars for people whose height is less than 122 centimetres.
However, the economics of segmentation is changing with the development of mass customisation and the low
cost of consumer access using the internet. This is particularly the case for products and services that can be
provided electronically. For instance, it is feasible to download your favourite CD tracks and ‘burn’ your own
CD with only your favourite artists. It is easy to design your own holiday by combining packages promoted
online by <www.travel.com.au>. But it also applies to some products. You can configure your own PC,

p peripherals and maintenance service arrangement at <www.dell.com.au>.
4 Differentiable: The segments must be conceptually distinguishable and respond differently to different
marketing mix elements and programs. lf married and unmarried women respond similarly to a sale on
perfume, they don’t constitute separate segments.
5 Actionable: Effective programs must be able to be designed for attracting and serving the segments. For
example, although one small airline identified seven market segments, its staff was too small to develop
separate marketing programs for each segment.
1 Need recognition
‘Q I I
3 1 What needs and motwatmns are satisfied by product purchase and usage (I.e.,what benefits are consumers seeking]?
2 Are these needs dormant er are they presently perceived as felt needs by prespective buyers?
g 3 How invoived with the product are most prospective buvets in the target market segment?

E 1 What prodnct- and brand-related information is stored in memory?
I I 1 4 n 4 u o
2 Es the consumer motivated to turn to external sources to find Information about available alternatives and their characteristics? .5
1; 3 What spectfic information sources are used mostfrequeatly when search as undertaken? I
3 4 Wti at product fe atures or attributes are the focus of search when it is trndertaken? 3

i Pre-purchase evaluation of aiternatives
5 r 4 a
g I To what extent do consumers engage In alternative evaluation and comparison? 3
n I u a u . vi’
2 Which product andfor brand alternatives are included in the evaiuaticn process? =5
i .i u . – . , _ I
3 3 Which product evaluative criteria (product attnhutes] ere used to compare venous alternatives?
3 ‘ ‘ F I
5 a which are most salient m the evaluation?
ll b How complex is the evaluation l’i.e., using a single attribute as opposed to several in combination}?
g 4 What are the outcomes of evaiuation regarding each ofthe candidate purchase alternatives? g
I t u
a What is believed to be true aboutthe characteristics and features of each?
u 4 o
E b Are they perceived to be different in important ways, or are they seen as essentiallvthe same’? t
0 I I I I
g 5 What kmd of decision rule is used to determine the best choice?
E Purchase
i 1 Will the consumer expenii time and energy to shop until the preferred alternative is found?
E 2 ls additional decision-process behaviour needed to discover the preferred outletfor purchase? I
E 3 What are the preferred models of purchases [i.e., retail store, in the home or in other wavsl?

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