Marketing strategies have been changing due to ever-increasing customer demands. It takes a lot of effort to change the perception of consumers towards a particular product or service. The automobile industry is one of the most competitive industries across the world and therefore companies have to come up with designs that meet the needs and expectations of potential customers (Anderson, 2010).
Increased global campaigns about environmental conservation have made many companies consider environmental issues when designing their products and services. Many consumers in the modern world are conscious about their environment and will always be careful to consider the effect a particular product has on the environment (Anderson, 2010). Marketing strategists have to come up with marketing messages that are able to convince consumers that their products and services are eco-friendly. This paper will highlight some of the environmental factors that need to be considered when marketing an automobile product like the Toyota Prius.
The perception of a customer can only be influenced to change if the marketing message highlights serious issues like environmental conservation. Toyota Prius is a hybrid car model that is friendly to the environment (Anderson, 2010). The environmental impact of a vehicle is a major factor in determining whether it will be rated highly. Toyota Prius is a car model with high fuel efficiency that makes it consume less fuel. Fuel efficiency plays a major role in reducing fossil fuel consumption (Lamb, 2011).
The auto-emissions that are released to the atmosphere are normally minimal if a car has high fuel efficiency. The regenerative braking system in Toyota Prius facilitates the charging of the car battery through breaking (Lamb, 2011). This type of feature ensures that there is energy conservation because the vehicle is able to generate its own energy (Lamb, 2011). Toyota Prius has quite a number of other environmental benefits apart from fuel efficiency.
Customers prefer to live healthy lifestyles and hence eco-friendly vehicles contribute to this type of lifestyle. Toyota Prius has a dual gas and electricity feature that favors environmental conservation. Environmentally savvy customers like this type of car because it has good gas mileage (Lamb, 2011). Toyota Prius guards against noise and air pollution which is a quality that promotes its image as being environmentally friendly. The quality and reliability of a car determine how long a car lasts (Anderson, 2010).
Toyota Prius lasts long and, therefore takes long before being disposed of. Scrap from vehicles is normally disposed in landfills and, therefore the longer the car lasts the lesser amount of trash disposed of in landfills (Lamb, 2011). Automobile companies use a lot of money to develop environmentally-friendly vehicles that can easily penetrate the modern mobile.
In conclusion, environmental factors have a great influence on the type of car that consumers purchase. The perception of consumers can only be changed if the marketing message sent out by companies depicts the environmental benefits of a particular product. Toyota Prius is an environmentally friendly car model produced by the Toyota Company to meet the current market demands. Potential buyers of Toyota Prius are between 30 and 50 years and conscious about their environment (Anderson, 2010). This segment of consumers needs to be sure about the environmental benefits of each type of car for them to consider buying. Fuel efficiency, longevity, and less carbon emission are some of the selling points that the Toyota Company uses to sell its Toyota Prius model.
References
Anderson, C., (2010). Electric and hybrid cars: A history. New York, NY: McFarland.
Lamb, C., (2011). Essentials of marketing. New York, NY: Cengage Learning.