Introduction
The COVID-19 pandemic has impacted many businesses worldwide, prompting them to make irrational decisions due to sudden changes in their operations. The pandemic has significantly impacted people’s lives, affecting consumer behaviors and subsequently influencing businesses. The planning of corporate organizations’ market strategies has been affected, so action is needed.
Many consumers of various commodities have adopted a strategy of prioritizing human needs due to unemployment. Several industries have been affected differently depending on the commodities they produce and the market size they serve. For instance, the automobile industry has been adversely affected by changes in consumer behavior when making strategic market planning. The report examines the various effects of changes in consumer behavior on the automotive industry resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic, which has prompted a shift in corporate planning and market strategies.
Research Methods
Digital Textbooks
Government sources and PDFs published online stipulated measures that adversely affected the automotive industry. Many consumers in the automotive industry have ceased using public transportation due to concerns about social distancing and the fear of contracting the virus. Public means of transport in various states have to adhere to a social distancing rule of one meter, thus limiting the number of passengers they can accommodate. A limited number of passengers to profit-making bodies prompts them to adopt more elaborate means of doing business, such as increasing fares to various destinations.
Changes in marketing strategy, such as increasing fares to meet industrial objectives, have reduced the movement of people since many could not afford it during the pandemic, consequently leading to the closure of several automotive industries. Consumers’ acquisition of automotive supplies has declined significantly due to the reduced use of transportation machinery during the COVID-19 pandemic (Nayak et al., 2022). The industry, too, has adopted a strategy of supplying goods and services that current consumers need, such as spare parts for heavy trucks that deliver food supplies to various destinations.
Peer-Reviewed Research Journals
Numerous articles have been published and made available online, analyzing the impact of COVID-19 on the global economy. The articles published then touched on nearly all aspects of the economy and the change brought about by the pandemic in delivering goods and services to prospective consumers. As an illustration, the automotive industry has seen reduced activity due to decreased mobility. Thus, it struggles to carry out its daily services. According to Hoeft (2021), car manufacturers must collaborate to mitigate intolerable risk-taking and consider a strategic market plan to keep the industry operational during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Academic Periodicals
Trade academic periodicals have also recorded the highest adverse effects in the automotive industry. The periodicals educate consumers on using certain automotive commodities to make informed decisions (Hughes & Coronado, 2019). Few academic trade periodicals were produced during the pandemic due to limited content because everything was almost at a standstill. Thus, consumers made rational decisions.
The periodicals produced primarily concentrated on current matters rather than new inventions. At the same time, a few of the periodicals highlight the effects of consumers’ changing behavior on the automotive industry’s marketing plan. It was not easy for the industry to plan and control its market due to the varying consumer preferences for products.
Results Obtained
The research conducted from the above sources indicates distinct results that have reduced the activities in the sector. It is quite challenging for the automotive industry to plan its market strategies because consumers’ preferences are constantly changing due to rapid shifts in events. The automotive industry is dependent on other industries, such as tourism and travel, and changes in consumer behavior in these industries have adverse effects on planning market strategies. The following are some of the results of the research.
Difficulties in Setting Industrial Goals and Objectives
Initially, the industry had a track of its consumers’ behavior, thus making it easier to set industrial goals and objectives. Industries can acquire goods and services according to customers’ needs to ensure that no stock or services remain unused for an extended period. The industry could track customer seasons and anticipate when to expect high sales of particular commodities, as well as which services to offer. When the COVID-19 pandemic struck, it was challenging to track consumer behaviors, as they changed rapidly and unexpectedly. The industry was unable to make a clear and cohesive decision about its marketing strategy.
Industrial goals depend on the flow of goods and services, as low sales force the industry to operate on limited capital, resulting in little profit. Goals are set in line with the flow of profits in the industry, and when the flow is inconsistent or unpredictable, the goals will continually change their terms. In addition to organizational goals, the industry’s objective depends on the smooth operations of the business. Non-predictable operations indicate an industry shifting towards loss and profits.
In conclusion, industrial goals and objectives are key to well-laid corporate marketing strategies. This has led the industry to adopt more flexible means of trading and business policies that can accommodate future changes in business operations.
Intricacies in Analyzing Internal and External Business Factors
Changes in consumer behavior have rendered it unbearable for the industry to analyze its internal and external business factors. Internal business factors are determinants within the organization that dictate its operations, gains, and losses. For example, employees, managers, money, and resources are some of the internal factors affecting the industry when developing a well-planned marketing strategy.
The COVID-19 pandemic rules indicated that either a small number of industrial workers or the entire workforce would be closed down. An increased number of industrial workers with reduced productivity reduces business profits and ultimately leads to retrenchments of workers. It is impossible to determine the number of employees or managers when consumer preferences fluctuate. Similarly, the industry will struggle to plan its market strategies due to fluctuating employee and manager numbers, as well as the volume of goods sold.
On the side of external factors, all determinants that affect the industry’s operations and profits are included. There are various external business factors, including competition from other industries, government policies, suppliers, and prevailing economic conditions. During the pandemic, many industries closed due to unfavorable external factors that prompted customers to adjust their preferences in response to the changing pandemic conditions. For example, government policies that require all drivers to be vaccinated at different designated stations before proceeding to various destinations discourage private vehicle users and other travelers from relocating, consequently reducing automotive and industrial activities. The industries could not plan the best market strategy because several vehicles are off the road daily, reducing fuel consumption.
Unpredictable Product Planning Methods
Product planning involves developing a product to offer to consumers. It involves activities such as pricing, manufacturing, development, and designing the product in a way that best suits the consumer. For instance, in the automotive industry, consumers prefer private means of transport, and some other vehicle users prefer spacious vehicle models in case the need to carry more people arises.
The industry has been challenged by consumer preferences for certain vehicles over others, particularly under the prevailing COVID-19 rules (Tirachini & Cats, 2020). The rules kept changing from time to time, sometimes allowing for the use of transport in a different dimension, while at other times they were limiting it, thus making it hard for the industry to determine which marketing strategy to adopt.
Uncontrolled Track of the Product Progress
During the COVID-19 pandemic, consumers chose activities that brought stability to their livelihood. They avoided unnecessary trips, but the pandemic rules were sometimes adjusted when the virus spread went down by a certain percentage. Sometimes, the spread could go high while other times low, and it could affect consumer operations, which renders fluctuations in marketing strategies.
To develop effective marketing plans, one needs to consider consumer behaviors so that the product can meet the market requirements. Marketing plans need time to be structured and implemented because they determine industrial sales. Moreover, in industries such as automotive, changing production methods requires strategic plans and enough funds because of the complexity of the engineering processes.
The government imposes its rules and regulations against the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic, thus sensitizing the consumer to draft self-rules that will help keep oneself safe, thus creating a series of rules. Many rules reduced the use of particular products because everyone was concerned with personal safety. Many people chose to remain at home and indoors and come out only in need of supplies of foodstuffs and other commodities.
The mobility of people depended on the statistics from the media. When the spread went high, people were frightened, thus minimizing motion, and when it was low, mobility increased. Tracking consumer behaviors and making a strategic market plan wasn’t easy.
Varying Prices of Related Products
Prices of related products also affected consumer preferences to the extent that many vehicle owners opted to use cars to travel to other means, such as bicycles, motorbikes, and others went on foot to various destinations. It is worth noting that unemployment left some consumers with no income, while others had their income curtailed, thus reducing their spending abilities. With reduced spending, many consumers purchase commodities according to human needs instead of going for luxuries, despite industries making promotions and advertisements. It was like a trial-and-error method to determine which market strategy would work best, but none seemed to last long before it crashed due to new consumer behaviors.
Discussion
Consumers are the primary concern when developing an effective marketing strategy because they are the source of the industry’s income. As stipulated from the results above, the industry could go on a full close-up of the struggle for effective marketing plans that were less considered. The COVID-19 pandemic affected marketing plans of the automotive sector by requiring people to part from each other, making it difficult for business transactions to take place effectively. The industries reduced the number of workers so that the manufacturing scale could adapt and meet the varying consumer behaviors and have the best marketing strategies that would go hand in hand with the demand for COVID-19 rules and regulations.
The problem caused a great challenge because it is not easy for an organization to employ new manufacturing and operation methods instantly. Consumers inquired about goods and services depending on the prevailing COVID-19 needs for safety purposes. Promoting its commodities, it was also challenging for the industries because the virus captured much of the consumers’ attention, threatening people’s lives.
Notably, additional activities in the market sector, such as tracking the product’s progress, recently released to the field, needed specialists who could skillfully analyze the market sector and provide an immediate solution. The industry had not prepaid itself for such changes, just like other businesses, thus making it challenging to provide goods and services to prospective customers on time and in the correct quantity. Before verifying its decisions, corporate strategic market planning needs to consider the customer’s stability. The pandemic affected the consumer-manufacturer relationship, considering that the two must interact to produce a better product.
Conclusion
In conclusion, changes in consumer behavior due to the COVID-19 pandemic have demanded a change in corporate marketing planning to keep up with industrial sales and operations. Consumer behaviors during the pandemic were dictated by the authorities and personal attributes, as far as everyone wanted to be saved. It is also paramount to consider flexibility when coming up with business policies.
An increase in restriction rules signified the reduction of business activities and the suppression of primary industries by affecting sales. The existence of an industry depends much on the market, and when it depreciates, the industry can go out of business. The effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on the market of various industries has left many of them restructuring their business policies and modes of operations to recover from losses.
Reference
Hughes-Cromwick, E., & Coronado, J. (2019). The value of US government data to US business decisions. Journal of Economic Perspectives, 33(1), 131-46.
Hoeft, F. (2021). The case of sales in the automotive industry during the COVID‐19 pandemic. Strategic Change, 30(2), 117-125.
Nayak, J., Mishra, M., Naik, B., Swapnarekha, H., Cengiz, K., & Shanmuganathan, V. (2022). An impact study of COVID‐19 on six different industries: Automobile, energy and power, agriculture, education, travel and tourism, and consumer electronics. Expert systems, 39(3), e12677.
Tirachini, A., & Cats, O. (2020). COVID-19 and public transportation: Current assessment, prospects, and research needs. Journal of Public Transportation, 22(1).