Apple Incorporated is one of the known American-established consumer electronics corporations based in Cupertino, California.
Since its birth, Apple has been developing and/or supporting research and production, as well as the selling of personal computers, portable media players, computer software, and computer hardware accessories. Apple Incorporated’s best-known products include the Macintosh line of personal computers, its Mac OS X operating system, and the iPod line of portable media players. For the iPod and its related I-Tunes software, Apple sells audio-books, games, music, music videos, TV shows, and movies in its online I-Tunes Store and the recently announced mobile phone, which is known as the iPhone (Kahney, 2002).
With the current trend in music and the way it is being downloaded or saved for daily use, it cannot be denied that I-pod, as one of the finest products of Apple Inc. is getting becoming more prominent and highly used by the general public, of whatever age and gender. With this, a question may arise, what have been the buying processes that a normal consumer would undergo when trying to purchase an I-pod?
As an I-pod user myself, I could say that the foremost consideration that a usual consumer like me would be is to analyze whether I need this I-pod or not (need recognition). What will I do with it? How will I benefit from having it? Only music lovers and tech-savvies will realize the importance that this I-pod can bring to their everyday life.
The second is to search for more information about the item (information search) Buyers will have to analyze is its brand. What is it in Apple Inc that makes this I-pod famous nowadays? So, it will then be perceived that Apple Inc. is one of the strongest providers of computer gadgets and systems nowadays. Their core product is the Apple Macintosh which also gave birth to other computer software. It was in 1984 when Apple Macintosh was introduced.
Its breaking ground was the revolutionary machines capable of desktop publishing and photo and video editing – these are things that were considered extraordinary during this time. Apple Macintosh admitted that part of their “specialized quality” was derived from their main and owned electronic hardware, but much more of it came from the Macintosh operating system, the program that “ran” the computer and that largely determined its look and feel in the hands of its user (The Economist, 1994).
While Apple Mac was enjoying its technological advantage over the other personal computer makers, it had continuously upgraded its systems and business strategies. The company had made sure that it maintains its strategic advantage namely: reliable technology, thousands of elite and loyal customers coupled with a decade’s lead on the rest of the industry. Needless to say, Apple Macintosh had enjoyed its success on its branded products such as desktop computers, Power-book portables, digital cameras, and personal digital assistants (The Economist, 1994).
The third consideration for an I-pod buying process is evaluating the various alternatives. Knowing the gadget’s availability and the accessibility for repairs or warranty when needed is also part of this buying process. Through research, it will then be disclosed that in recent years, Apple Inc. has expanded its retail operations with over 170 retail stores in the United States, Canada, Japan, and the United Kingdom. The stores carry most of Apple’s products as well as many third-party products and offer on-site support and repair for Apple hardware and software. The company has over 20,000 permanent and temporary employees worldwide, some of which staff the retail stores, and others who design the products (Kahney, 2002).
And probably the last two but not the least considerations in the buying process that customers undergo when buying an I-pod is it’s the purchase and post-purchase activities. When purchasing, knowing the price is very important. It should be noted that one of the dramatic changes that Apple Inc has made to adapt to the ever-changing requirements of the computer industry coupled with the continuously rising competition was initiating steps to improve the sales of the Cube.
This includes cheaper prices (via a US$300 rebate), fixing of the faulty switches (which have been setting the machine to sleep at odd times), and improving the production processes to minimize seam lines that Jobs said appear as cracks in the casing (Samudhram, 2000). Faster processors (with higher gigahertz and swifter megahertz) at a very reasonable price are also now introduced to the public (Samudhram, 2000).
When doing the pst-purchase evaluation, it is necessary to see whether or not the item bought, that is the I-pod- has met the satisfaction of the buyer himself. Is this what am I expecting? Have I become happier upon owning it? If the responses to the said questions are all yes, then I as the buyer can recommend the I-pod to my friends to buy the same thing so that they too, may enjoy what I have been enjoying.
Indeed, in buying one of them now so-called ‘luxuries but worth having’ gadgets like an I-pod, there are only five basic buying processes that consumers deal with. And by taking a closer analysis, it would suggest that an I-pod has an edge over its competitors when it comes to brand recall, availability, and price comparison.
References
Beale, Stephen. 1998. “Apple unveils Web sales strategy.” Mac Publishing.
Kahney, L. 2002. “Rebuilding an Apple From the Past.” Web.
Samudhram, A. 2000. “Apple strategises to strengthen company”. New Straits Times.
The Economist (1994). “Paradise lost. (Apple Computer Inc.).” Economist Newspaper Ltd.