Porsche 928 free essay sample

For products purchase, a customer who needs a certain product does not straight jump to purchase decision as right decision would not be so easily made, especially for high involvement products such as cars. The buyer decision process is the decision making process undertaken by consumers, which consists of five stages: problem recognition, information search, alternative evaluation, purchase decision, and lastly post-purchase behaviour. If we analyze the buyer decision process of a traditional Porsche customers stepwise, we can see that they buy Porsche because they see themselves in it. Now, let’s elaborate.. a) Need recognition; The profile of a Porsche car buyer is financially successful person that loves challenge. Basically, Porsche is more than a utility car for its buyers. Its customers’ motive is to enjoy the car not just use it. Financially successful people are the main customers of Porsche. They want their car to represent how successful they are. We will write a custom essay sample on Porsche 928 or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page This brand itself is an image of exclusivity. Hence, we can say that the buyers of Porsche do not primarily need a car for transport. Rather, they buy it for satisfaction, enjoyment and uniqueness regardless of the car’s price, size, fuel economy and other practical considerations. b) Information search: Traditional Porsche buyers search information for the right car to represent how successful they are. As the brand is popular for its distinctiveness, their buyers do not really get affected by the information but by strong and satisfying feelings. As Porsche’s low volume and fragmented auto market enhances its matchlessness, the buyers do not need information search process much. c) Evaluation of alternatives: Traditional Porsche’s customers are totally focused on a car which reflects their identity. These individuals see themselves not as part of the regular world but as exception to it. As Porsche’s image of exclusivity cannot be compared to any other cars , their buyers do not tend to prioritize on other alternatives and just go for Porsche. d) Purchase decision: Their customers’ purchase decision is based on their expectation and satisfaction. People buy Porsche because they enjoy driving it. As, they see themselves in their cars, they decide to buy a car which is completely a reflection of their image. After the consumer has evaluated all the options and would be having the intention to buy the product, there could be now only two things which might just change the decision of the consumer of buying the product that is what the other peers of the consumer think of the product and any unforeseen circumstances. Unforeseen circumstances for example in this case could be financial losses, which led to not buying of the product. Hence, the purchase decision is solely based on their belief and pleasure. e) Post purchase behavior: Before buying a Porsche car a potential Porsche buyer has a certain expectation considering the car and the extra service you get from de car company. After the purchase the consumer might just go through post purchase dissonance in which the consumer feels that buying the other product would be better. If the company reacts on this and make expectation match reality the buyer obviously will repeat its purchase the next time it’s planning to buy a vehicle. This will create a brand loyalty that results to committed customers that won’t switch from brands when they planning to buy another car. The customers feedback towards Porsche is always loyal. Their devotion towards the brand is substantial. Since they get their desired satisfaction from Porsche, they reward the brand with dependability and eternal faith. 2) Contrast the traditional Porsche customer decision process to the decision process for a Cayenne or a Panamera customer. Well, traditional Porsche customers mainly focus on the image of exclusivity regardless of the car’s speed, size and practical conditions. The traditional Porsche customers skip most of the decision process and jumps right into the purchase decision. To the contrary, Cayenne or Panamera customers are looking for style, family car and speed. The differences between traditional Porshe customer decision process and decision process for a Cayenne customer are mentioned below: a) Need recognition: Traditional Porsche customer desire for a car which is as sophisticated as they are. Their main focus is on exclusivity. They want to interpret their life style through their car. They are ready to spend lavishly on a car just because they consider Porsche to be their mirror. It’s all about personality, style and self-satisfaction. A traditional Porsche customer is more concerned about the way the car sounds, vibrates and feels. Whereas, Cayenne customers are looking for both family car and speed. Their need is to have a larger vehicle that can accommodate more than two people. Mainly, they want a car which has good speed, size and style but still feel like a Porsche. b) Information search: Traditional Porsche buyers do not need much information search because they like Porsche because it is a Porsche. Its brand image itself is enough to lead them to a decision. Conversely, Cayenne customers are influenced by the fact that Cayenne is a sports utility vehicle designed in a family style. It has seatbelts for five but still it is developed as a luxury vehicle and the driving experience is as splendid as driving a traditional Porsche. To sum up, Cayenne buyers search for a deluxe vehicle with good size and speed. c) Evaluation of alternatives: Traditional Porsche customers are highly ambitious people and they aim for a car which is on the top notch. No other car can alternate Porsche for its lotal customer. So, there is no competition with any other car. To the contrary, Cayenne buyers have lots of questions in their mind like â€Å"Is there any car to handle both luxurious and practical points? †,† Is there any car which can drive as smoothly as Porsche and as speedily as a sports car? † They look for the price, size, style and other practical considerations. They attach degrees of importance to each attribute. Hence, they compare various features of a car before concluding into a decision. d) Purchase decision: Purchase decision of a traditional Porsche buyer is determined by customer expectation and satisfaction. They don’t take many things into consideration before making a decision. Only thing that matters is a having a luxurious car which can enhance their personality. On the other hand, Cayenne customers purchase decision is based upon the infrastructures of the car. They decide to buy a car which is deluxe, comfortable, well-equipped, high-speed, immense and full of many features. Taking all these factors into consideration, the customers develop the purchase intention of buying a Cayenne. An example of perfectness is 444 Horsepower Cayenne Turbo, a two and half ton beast could accelerate to 60 miles per hour in just over five seconds and hit 165 miles per hour, all while coddling five adults in sumptuous leather seats with almost no wind noise from the outside world. e) Post purchase behaviour: Traditional Porsche buyers are loyal to the brand and they enjoy being a Porsche owner. In opposition, Cayenne customers adopted the new model. But they are still loyal to Porsche because of the wonderful and enjoyable experience of performance and luxury. 3) Which concepts from the chapter explain why Porsche sold so many lower-priced models in the 1970s and 1980s? First, we can see that Porsche AG uses penetration pricing. This causes less profit for the new product but will create demand. Cultural, Social concept Porsche wants to be seen as a product better then their competitors. They create a status for themselves to interest the high class consumers. These consumers want to be seen as superior than others. Driving a Porsche shows off luxury, class and status. The company focuses on social class and status to advertise their cars. The lower-priced cars were never really accepted by loyalists of Porsche. They did not like sharing their brand with a customer who didn’t fit the Porsche owner profile. They chosen Mass over class marketing. After these years Porsche realized: â€Å"We’re not looking for volume, we’re searching for exclusivity†. Porsche used differentiated marketing strategy to target several market segments and designs separate offers for each. After this Porsche used undifferentiated (mass) marketing. Aiming at just high class cars. (Chapter 6) It also developed a special kind of SUV which was a smart move since it did not feel like a SUV. The text case described the SUV being â€Å"soundless, comfortable and fast†. Porsche was founded in 1931 by Ferdinand Porsche. Ferdinand created the Volkswagen beetle also known as the people’s car of Adolf Hitler. One of the most successful car designs of all time. The first years Porsche only created beetles for German citizens while created tanks for the German army. Between 1950 and 1970 Porsche created a few cars that were exclusive. Designs of the new Porsches made it hard to drive the new Porsche because the end swung when the car made a turn. This made is challenging to drive. It’s target group was successful people. Achievers who saw themselves as entrepreneurs, even if they worked in a corporation. They were not part of society but a group above the rest. 4) Explain how both positive and negative attitudes toward a brand like Porsche develop. How might Porsche change consumer attitudes toward the brand? An attitude describes a person’s favourable or unfavourable evaluations, feelings, and tendencies towards an object or idea. Top managers at Porsche spend a great deal pf time thinking about customers . But still customers develop both positive and negative attitudes towards a brand like Porsche. Consumer behaviour results from a complex interplay of cultural, social, personal, and psychological factors. Cultural factors include the social class. Positive attitude towards Porsche develops when Porsche gives a chance to show its consumer status in the society and separate them from the lower class. While negative attitude towards Porsche develops when the brand does not represent the exclusivity and the customers are not satisfied with the produced image anymore. To fund innovation and to commercialize, Porsche extended its brand outside the box which resulted in the loss of many loyal customers of Porsche. Porsche faithful considered the new models to be underperforming and they didn’t accept the models as real Porsche. For ex: When Porsche developed lower price models in the 1970s and 1980s , many lower class people could afford Porsche. But those individuals who used to buy Porsche for its uniqueness started developing negative attitude towards Porsche because they couldn’t see their reflection in Porsche any longer. Porsche can change customer attitude by increasing its performance to meet consumers’ expectations. It can enhance quality of its car that keeps up the customer image high and unique, where they enjoy the experience of driving rather than transportation. Porsche should keep the image of their high performance on behalf of upper-social level of customer who enjoy Porsche just because it is a Porsche. Its customers search their personality and their identity in their cars. Hence, Porsche can gain its reputation by creating replica of their customers in their cars. Negative attitudes of customers might be changed by creating new models without losing the real Porsche feel. By doing so, traditional customers will be satisfied because they can get the image of exclusivity for which Porsche is well-known. Also, new customers might get attracted because of the new and advanced model which has style, speed, comfort and individuality. 5) What role does the Porsche brand play in the self-concept of its buyers? Porsche brand develops one’s sensing of the self-concept, and the self-image of being successful and wealthy by producing very unique and luxurious vehicles, focusing on the appearance of the vehicles more than the performance, highlighting on designing vehicles that would reinforce the feeling of success and reflecting the customers’ high self-esteem, their roles, and their status. Porsche permits its customers to develop a self-concept of wealth and success. Porsche is developed to be a rather unusual product than the average vehicle. Porsche is developed for the higher-classes. Because Porsche customers buy Porsche because they want to be seen and want to show off with their wealth and success. That’s one of the reasons why Porsche realize that customers buy Porsche for its appearance rather than functionality. Quoted â€Å"Most Porsche buyers are not moved by information but by feelings. A Porsche is like a piece of clothing – something the owner â€Å"wears†Ã¢â‚¬  This brand allows people to live through an image that is developed by the brand, which is aimed at reflecting one’s success and wealth. By creating significant reputation about their product and the name they fulfill their customer’s needs and self-concept. Porsche sells its products to a certain class of individuals who wants to stand out above everyone else. Porsche had realized that they needed to improve their sales level and therefore they have extended their market by taking the poor in consideration (the Porsche 944 which was 10k less expensive than the 911) through the production of other types like the Cayenne and the Panamera. They aimed at improving their reputation after some image losses by focusing on the poor. Besides improving their reputation they were aiming at extending their market. By launching types of Porsche like the Cayenne and the Panamera they get the opportunity to venture into new segments of the market. Which directly had a positive impact on the company’s its sales and reputation. This strategy has helped Porsche a lot, because Porsche is now not completely focusing on a narrow customer group any more, but on a wider range of target audience.