Week 4

  

Routine Response Behavior

Brand Loyalty 

Even though we did not have class on Thursday due to the snow, we still have a lot of work to do!

On Tuesday, we got into groups and discussed our blog posts from the previous week. In that group, we talked about the best example of a product for each type of  consumer making decision. As an entire class, we reviewed our examples and Professor Spotts helped us determine that some of us were confused between Brand Loyalty and Routine Response Behavior. Each of  these require a different level of research due to its varying levels of risk. So, a routine response behavior product would be a candy bar. There is little risk associated with a candy bar. It is only approximately $1 or $2, so if you do not like it, then you can easily throw it out and go on with your day. It will not be a huge loss because you did not risk that much money on it, but you will know not to buy that brand of candy bar the next time. On the other hand, Brand Loyalty is slightly more risky. We discussed in class about how buying a pair of cleats is decent investment. It is not too expensive, but it is expensive enough that if you do not like the product, you are going to suck it up and deal with it until you cannot get anymore use out of the product. So, let's say I buy a pair of Under Armour cleats. I hate them. They are awful. I have blisters, my feet hurt. and I feel like I cannot perform well in this brand of cleats. My mom says to suck it up. She just spent $50 or more on cleats for me to use, and she does not want to pay for another pair unless they are completely falling apart. A year later, when I have to buy cleats again,, I know not to invest in Under Armour footwear. Instead, I will put a little more time and effort into determining what I like, and I will make my next purchase based on past experiences. The next year, I find that I love the feel of Nike cleats. What do you think I am going to do the next year, and years after that? I'm going to buy Nike cleats! They provided me with the service I needed after I had a horrible experience with Under Armour, and now I am LOYAL to them. I do not need to look for any more brands, for I have found one that suits my needs. It may have been a risk before, but now I will not second guess my decision to purchase Nike products because they suited my needs in the past.

Additionally, we learned about a new product called Bambooee. They came onto the show Shark Tank and presented their product hoping to have a Shark come on board. Their product was a reusable towel that was not made out of cloth or paper, but instead it was made out of Bamboo. It was seen to be much more durable, and was also seen as an environmentally friendly product. For every roll of Bambooee sold, the company vowed to plant a tree. Now, in my opinion, I find this to be a hassle. First of all, I think it is disgusting. If I am wiping up excess food and germs, the last thing I want to do is put that in my washer machine with other reusable cloth products. Second of all, what is the difference between this and a regular towel? There isn't one! I am still going to have to wash them just like I would with cloth towels and washcloths, so why would I feel the need to buy Bambooee? Another thing that is going to take up space in my washer and dryer machines? The purpose of paper towels is that they are disposable. Sometimes you are not cleaning up the most pleasant things when you need a paper towel, and sometimes I instantly want to throw it out and never see it again. They serve as sanitary cleaning supplies. They are your best bet for removing germs from your mess, and then from your home altogether by throwing it in the garbage. I know that this "Go Green" mentality is spreading worldwide, but I think that this is going too far. Of course I want our earth to be preserved, but paper towels are an industry that is not going to go away at this point. It is just way too mature of a business to completely disregard it. Additionally, Bambooee is asking people to have access to washers and dryers. You are saving the earth by not wasting paper, but then using electricity to save trees. Wow, which one is better? You are taking one evil and replacing it with another. I see no purpose in this product, and think that even though their overall purpose to be environmentally friendly is great; I do not think that they will achieve their goal through this product.

I personally would not buy this product, so when I was asked to research a specific market segment and advertise the product for that group, I found it to be quite difficult. How could I try to convince others to buy this product, when I do not even think it is relevant myself? We picked market segments out of a hat, and I was randomly assigned "68 Bedrock America." This group was classified as a middle aged group of people, who do not usually have kids, and they have a low income. Additionally, they come from isolated areas. Well, this is tricky. First of all, a low income family probably would not have complete access to a washer or dryer, so perhaps they would get their laundry done at a dry cleaners. Would they want to bring a bag of Bambooee to the cleaners to wash? Probably not. Second of all, they are middle aged. I am not saying that mistakes do not happen, but usually more messes are associated with children. They probably do not purchase as many paper towels as a family with children does. Another aspect is that they are middle aged. The people that have already served half their life do not normally care about the environment. Some do, but it really will not affect them directly if our environment is not pristine. Millennials are the ones who hope to make future generations "go green." Lastly, they are in generally isolated areas. Considering Bambooee is a new product, I am sure that they would be putting their product into largely populated cities and towns, and these people would not necessarily have immediate access to it. With this being said, do you see the predicament I am in? I had to make an advertisement trying to get "68 Bedrock America" to buy Bambooee, but the odds are all against it. I went with the argument for long term savings. Eventually, the prices of Bambooee will provide you with more quantity than multiple rolls of paper towels, which could save you money and the earth.

After making my advertisement, I went into trying to find the location of this market segment. We were instructed to research whether this group of people was populated in Springfield, MA or my hometown. Neither location showed this market segment as a vast majority of their populations. I thought this feature was interesting though. For example, when you are introducing a product to a certain area, you can see if it is worth it to open up branches in those areas before you take the risk. It allows you too see the demographic in each zip code before you make a huge mistake.

All of this can relate back to our smart project. Our "OK TO DRIVE?" product would need careful research and experimentation done in order to see which market segments will feed into this business. It is important to do this type of research on who your market is, and where they are located BEFORE  you release the product to save money and time. I think that by looking up Springfield and my hometown's zip codes, I was able to see who primarily populated those areas, and whether or not they would see our product as a want or need.

Additionally, I was able to use this week to work on my individual Concept Solution for our product. I created a computer generated logo, and sketched out how I believe our product should look. When my group meets, we will discuss our visions and decide how to take action. I am excited to address the problem of drinking and driving not only in my hometown, and surrounding the WNE community, but hopefully projecting that to a worldwide project to be safer while being behind the wheel. I think that each of these lessons that we learn through Shark Tank and through our marketing textbook will help us determine how we want to release our product, how we should advertise, and let us know the overall worth behind this idea.