Introduction
When consumers decide to buy some brands and avoid buying others, few may have planned to make the purchase while others may not necessarily have planned for such purchases. However, marketing and availability of products at the convenience of consumers lead to subconscious action of buying the product. At other times, the purchase is planned.
However, few consumers would be able to explain why they choose to purchase a product and avoid picking another. This issue has troubled psychologists for some time (Egan, 2007).
With many products available to satisfy the same need, it becomes difficult for consumers to choose some products from the shelves while avoiding others.
This is where marketing strategies play a key role in shaping the behaviour of consumers. Some decisions to buy a particular product are made subconsciously while others are planned (Lamb et al, 2011). This is what defines consumer behaviour.
Consumer behaviour is affected by many factors: sociological, psychological and economical factors. According to a University of California article, consumer behaviour can be defined as ‘psychological process that consumers go through in recognizing needs, finding ways to solve these needs and making purchase decisions (University of California, 2011).’
Consumer behaviour also entails consumers choosing among the many brands found on the shelves, ability to interpret the information through comparison of different attributes of the products and finally making a buying decision (Smith, 2011). When making these products, manufacturers consider product features necessary to maintain the market share and expand to other consumers who have not been using their products.
Figure 1: Influences of consumer behaviour. Source: University of California on Consumer Behaviour
Consider Glaxosmithkline product Lucozade Sport as one of the fastest growing brands of soft energy drinks. Since its launch in 1990, Lucozade Sport has continued to grow and now controls more than half of the market share.
This has been necessitated by good marketing strategies and the trust of the brand by existing consumers (Egan, 2007). The brand Lucozade Sport is popular with athletes and other sportsmen and sportswomen.
Apart from being a choice energy drink for sports people, Lucozade Sport is also popular with patients recovering in hospitals. Lucozade is a choice energy drink in replenishing lost energy and rehydrating during sports.
Sports are one of the major events that unify people from different countries. Marketing during sporting events would therefore expose the product to a larger group of potential consumers.
Mother company deals with health products. The company has established quality assurance section to maintain the quality of products. Being related to other health product helps to boost confidence of consumers in the campaign to have the product as a nutritional energy drink.
According to Begleys statistics (2011), Lucozade Sport controls over 66 percent of market share in sports drinks and over 27 percent of soft non-alcoholic drinks market with the leader Coca Cola taking 31 percent.
Indeed this is a huge chunk of the market shares bearing in mind that the market segment is saturated with many competing products. Moreover, the enthusiastic marketing of this brand makes it choice of consumers. This marketing makes it hard for consumer to make a buying decision.
Marketers of Lucozade Sport understand that the market is saturated with many brands purporting to give the same satisfaction, but the target consumer segment has developed a trust on the brand from Glaxosmithkline. Good marketing strategies, packaging, and availability in the market have enabled Lucozade Sport to continue to control the market in nutrition energy drinks.
This paper seeks to explain a complex human behaviour of purchase and consumption (Smith, 2011). The essay has organized different aspects in understanding consumer behaviour called marketing mix. This attributes will include product attribute and strategies, promotion, packaging and place and price determination.
Product Strategies
Product is one marketing mix elements that aids in maintaining the market share. Products have many attributes from the colours, sizes and packaging. These features are necessary as marketing tools of a product. Lucozade Sport has bright colours and easily held bottle, can or in a disposable packet.
These colours range from orange, purple and clear. It also comes in different flavours of different fruits and boosted with essential vitamins (Gaspar, 2006). The product is packaged in sporty bottles and disposable packs. The packaging makes it easier for sports to hold the product when undertaking their exercises.
The company has invested heavily on research to maintain the quality of products. Glaxosmithkline target sport events in marketing the Lucozade Sport brand. Among this consumer segment, the convenience of the product must be taken into consideration.
Lucozade support for sporting events has become a good Corporate Social Responsibility (Gelder & Woodcock, 2003). However, returns from the product sales overcome the expenses incurred in supporting these events. The company chooses a brand name that sports people could easily identify with.
This has psychological effects as the target market think that the product was launched with them in mind. According to University of California article on Consumer behaviour, manufacturers must also keep on rebranding the products while maintaining the same quality of product so as to entice new consumers. However, care must be taken to prevent the product from losing its original flavour and selling attributes.
Figure 2: Different packaging of Lucozade Sport
As the product becomes more common with consumers, the market is likely to expand. Marketing of a product is guided by trend of sales as well as the profit margins. Some of the ventures like supporting sportsmen and women may cost in the short run but the returns after the marketing is higher due to increased sales (Egan, 2007).
Being a sports’ product, it is not enough to have it on the shelves, but more important to have its presence felt in most sporting events. People who are not “sporty” are also engaging in exercises more frequently as a health practice.
Marketing the product also expands the market to another group that was not initially included in the formulation of the launch of Lucozade Sport. This has been enabled by good market research by the company.
On packaging, Lucozade Sport is packed in disposable packs and plastic bottles. While disposable packs are biodegradable, plastic bottles and metallic cans can be collected for recycling.
This strategy in packaging the product enables Lucozade Sport to be accepted as environment friendly (Gaspar, 2006). In using these packaging, the company reduces pollution and becomes pivotal in expansion of recycling market.
Lucozade Sport has sales outlets in 130 countries with maintaining manufacturing sites in 37 countries. Indeed, this is a large network of company’s marketing centres. Established outlets from its mother company Glaxosmithkline has enabled it to command a large market share.
Promotion and marketing communication
Promotion is another aspect of marketing mix. Promotion entails dissemination of information about a product or a company to its customers and consumers. Promotion targets maintaining existing consumers and expanding the sales to new ones.
There are two subdivisions of promotion types used in promotional marketing mix: above the line and below the line promotion (Egan, 2007). Lucozade Sport use above the line promotion in television, Internet or radio advertising.
Use of easy to remember tag lines like ‘proven when tested’ with prominent sport personalities gives Lucozade Sport brand an upper in creating awareness of the product. This enables the product to keep on rising in sales where competing brands are stagnant.
Figure 3: Market portion of Lucozade as compared to other energy drinks. Source: Begleys Statistics June 2011
Besides, the company uses below the line marketing as sport sponsorship, public relations and personal selling. Under sport sponsorship, Lucozade Sport invests money in supporting the sporting events to market their products. In personal selling, employees of the company can be asked to sell the product during sporting events.
Marketing of products informs consumers of new products and reminds those that may have forgotten the products for other substitutes (Lamb et al, 2011). On the other hand, promotion helps new consumers to test the product being launched and for the existing consumers to feel appreciated by the company.
In a small market segment, competing products must position themselves as being the favourite to the consumers. This is done through marketing the product. Lucozade Sport uses both print and electronic media in her advertising. Many households involved in sporting events have at least a television set in their homes and therefore it becomes a convenient medium to promote the product (Gaspar, 2006).
Television commercials and print advertisements are necessary in communicating the message of the availability of the product and its features. Consumers would be looking for value addition in every product that they spend money in. Lucozade Sport endeavours to enhance its image through marketing and frequent repeat of the benefits of the energy drink.
Lucozade Sport is also marketed in sports stadia when sporting events are taking place. This makes the target consumer segment to be frequently aware of the product. Besides sportsmen and women, games and sports are attended by enthusiastic fan base. Marketing the product during such events does not only reach the sportspeople but also the large fan base that attends these events.
Marketing during these events entails use of billboards both electronic and print (Gelder & Woodcock, 2003). Lucozade Sport also sets outlets at the proximity of these venues. Availability of the products and good marketing strategies are able to increase the sales while informing new consumers of the product.
Marketing should also consider the growing use of social network among the sporting youths. Marketing in this medium is both efficient and cost effective.
Marketing through the Internet has become almost real-time and therefore the effects can be felt immediately. Increased sales have been realized through marketing especially on sites that are frequented by sports people.
Place and packaging
Availability of product is one thing. Being in the right place is another. Marketers must ensure that products are available at strategic points where existing and potential consumers can easily find them. Being psychological process consumer behaviour is affected by perceptions.
Creating the image through frequent reminding of their products ensures that the products remain in the minds of the consumers. With easy to remember tag line and marketing strategies, the market share is expanded.
Consumer recognition of a product is influenced by social-cultural beliefs and marketing strategies employed by different companies (Gelder & Woodcock, 2003). Using the right marketing techniques coupled with the right medium of advertising, there is higher probability of penetrating the target market.
Lucozade Sport is recognized as a high quality drink based on the performance of other related products. Moreover, the product is easily recognized for its bright colours and distinct packaging. Strategic positioning in shopping malls, supermarkets and retail shops enhance internal motivation of consumers to make a buying decision.
According to Lucozade Sport; Long term effectiveness, Lucozade Sport targets sports people-preferring availability as opposed to the cost that goes with the products. Due to availability of many other substitute brands in the market, Lucozade Sport drink cuts out its image as a product that can be relied on by sportsmen and women in replenishing their energy.
Apart from offering refreshing abilities, the energy does not limit itself into that purpose only but also diversifies into being an energy nutritional drink. The colour of Lucozade Sport attracts the eyes with its bright colours.
The packaging has inherent stimuli in creating images in the brain of potential consumers. Lucozade use orange, purple and mild red which are the common colours of most fruits. Fruits are popular for nutritional value.
The relationship between Lucozade Sport and fruits gives it the associative nature of being a nutritional drink. It also comes in different fruit flavours. Whenever consumers are eating fruits, the image of the drink is triggered, hence keeping it in the minds of target consumers.
Pricing
Though it is impractical and financially unsound, to sell products below their production cost, it is also immoral to sell products with an intention of exploiting consumers. Even in monopolies (where there is only one producer and no complete substitutes and competitors), prices determination must be reasonable while reflecting the value of product sold.
Food and beverages is one of the basic human needs (according to the Maslow’s Hierarchy of needs). For consistency, though, consumers need to know how much a particular product is going to cost them to factor them in budgeting.
Though Lucozade Sport is classified as food at the base of the Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, substitutes and competitors would pose a threat to its market share.
Figure 4: Maslow’s Hierarchy of needs on the benefits of Lucozade Sport
Pricing is very important both to the company and to the consumers. Companies are in business to make profits while consumers are looking for a product that is going to give them the highest satisfaction that they need. Balancing the two aspects is delicate based on the opposing objectives of the marketers and the consumers.
Pricing is also important in penetrating the market that is already saturated with other competitors and substitute products. When setting the price, manufacturers must consider the delicate balance of all the factors that could lower their market share.
Lowering of prices can lower item cost but due to increased sales, the profit margins are maintained (Smith, 2011). Lowering of prices attracts more people into consuming products as opposed to companies that would continuously raise the prices of their products.
Selective lowering of prices can be beneficial when the company realizes falling quantity of sales. Competitors and substitutes like Coca Cola products have edged Lucozade Sport. More so, are other competing products like Red Bull. In such a saturated market segment, Lucozade Sport must set the price that would be reasonable within the range of competitors.
Conclusion
Consumers may look at the package of the product to ascertain its value and importance; alternatively glance at the price and compare it with other similar products; pick a product that is conveniently placed on the shelves, but a decision to buy must be informed.
The information would be based on the level of advertising of the product. Lucozade Sport target consumers in the sport arena and therefore advertising their products on television and Internet are convenient and cost effective.
For example a consumer must be able to know what health benefit they will get from the Lucozade Sport energy drink by just looking at the packet. The package should be such that it is attractive to consumers and easy to use. Quality perception depends on the information availed to consumers through advertisements.
According to Lucozade Sport; Long term effectiveness, cumulative effects of marketing of Lucozade Sport in games and athletics, makes the consumers of the product aware of its benefits. Social and cultural influences affect how a consumer of Lucozade Sport is going to perceive the brand.
Price and promotion will influence those consumers who are conscious of price differences and price of competing and substitute products. Consumers make buying decision after they become aware of the products, hence marketing and advertising play a key role in disseminating relevant information to consumers.
Moreover, strategies of having the product in the right place and packaging are important in enhancing the image of the brand. Well calculated marketing mix, ensures tha Lucozade Sport has an efficient way to reach its consumers while still maintaining the market share in the soft energy drink sector.
This marketing mix will drive the emotions of consumers into making a planned or unconscious buying decision.
List of References
Begleys statistics (2011). Consumer behaviour statistics available online <www.begleys.com/stats>.
Egan, J. (2007). Marketing Communications, London: Thomson Publishers.
Gaspar, J et al. (2006). Introduction to business, Boston MA: Houghton Mifflin Publishers.
Gelder, D. & Woodcock, P. (2003). Marketing and promotional strategy, Cheltenham: Nelson Thornes publishers.
Lamb, C., Hair, J. & McDaniel, C. (2011). Essentials of marketing, New York: South-Western Cengage Learning publishers.
Lucozade Sport (2011). Long term effectiveness article available online <www.ogilvy.ie/documents/lucozade_sports_study>
Smith, T. (2011). Pricing strategy: setting price levels, managing price discounts and establishing price structures, New York: South Western Cengage Learning publishers.
University of California (2011). Consumer Behaviour article available online <www.consumerpsychologist.com/intro_consumer_behavior>.