Marketing channels & Creating Offerings

PART ONE

1. Consumer Behavior Model: Environmental Factors

Environmental psychology is an essential aspect that is increasingly becoming important among various companies and businesses across the world. At the present, a lot of businesses and companies are critically analyzing environmental factors when developing and designing their products and services. I think cultural influence and social class are two important environmental factors that are relevant to the customers of Christian Louboutin Shoes. It is important to note that Christian Louboutin Shoes are classy and relatively costly as compared to other shoes. Therefore, cultural influence will tend to affect customers who may want to purchase these types of shoes (Lake, 2009). Cultural influence is defined as a sum total of information, traditions, beliefs, moral law, and other habits acquired by people as members of society. Hence, a person purchasing Christian Louboutin products will be doing so when attaching the shoes with the beliefs and background information he or she has about them. Social class is another factor that will affect customers of Christian Louboutin Shoes. Under this environmental factor, a customer will purchase the shoes to acquire the positions of other equals who wear the Christian Louboutin Shoes.

2. Consumer Behavior Model: Consumer Factors

Apart from environmental factors, consumer factors also affect customers when they are analyzing and making purchases of some products and services. Companies and businesses have also been prioritizing consumer factors when designing their products and services. I think the brand name, packaging, and the reputation are the three most important consumer factors that are relevant to the customers of Christian Louboutin Shoes. First, Christian Louboutin has created a strong brand name where everyone believes the products are of high class and the best. Therefore, when customers are purchasing Christian Louboutin Shoes they know that they are buying the best quality that is offered by the best producers across the globe. Secondly, Christian Louboutin Shoes are always packaged well and in the right and most appealing way. The packaging is done so well since the shoes are also relatively costly in order to show the worth of the product that one is purchasing. The third consumer factor that can affect customers of Christian Louboutin Shoes is the reputation (Cooper, 2016). Christian Louboutin is a French fashion designer who has a good reputation that is now associated with the shiny, red-lacquered sole shoes that go by her name. Hence, this reputation makes most of the customers to desire to be associated with the brand and buy the Christian Louboutin Shoes.

3. Role of involvement in consumer decision-making

A customer may engage in a high-involvement when deciding to make or not to make a purchase of Christian Louboutin Shoes. High-involvement is usually associated with products that carry relatively high price tags (Wang, Chao & Wang 2015). In some cases, high-involvement decisions can make a buyer enter into a post-purchase dissonance or what is commonly known as anxiety. Since Christian Louboutin Shoes are of high price and class, a customer may become unsure if whether to purchase them or other similar and cheaper shoes. Hence, a customer may have difficult times trying to evaluate the options thus getting into post-purchase dissonance or anxiety. Besides, consumers who engage in high-involvement decisions may carry higher risks in the event of a failure. Christian Louboutin Shoes are products that are not purchased often, and owing to the fact that they are costly and classy only a selected number of customers buy them. Therefore, customers of Customers of Christian Louboutin Shoes may tend to engage in a limited buying behavior.

4. Consumer decision-making process

Typically, there are six steps known for the process of making a purchase. Under these steps, marketing may have impacts in some stages of the process. The first step is need recognition where a customer learns about something important that Christian Louboutin Shoes have that other shoe products lack. For instance, Christian Louboutin Shoes are more durable and comfortable as compared to other similar shoes. The second step is searching for information about the product (Hudson et al., 2016). Marketing can influence this step by availing the most relevant and updated information about the product for a customer to spend the least time in this stage. The third step is product evaluation where a customer analyses the suitability of Christian Louboutin Shoes on his or her own. The fourth step is the product choice and purchase. In this step, a customer will learn more in a practical way about the usage of the product. The fifth step is the purchase. Under this step, a customer goes ahead and buys a product or a commodity. The sixth step is the post-purchase use and evaluation of the product. Marketing has also impact in this stage where it engages in an endeavor like testing of the brand’s purchase process online. A customer is taken through a process like this of testing the purchase process of the brand and later asked to give his or her remarks. A customer can make a purchase based on the suitability of the process and product.

PART TWO

1. Segmentation

Christian Louboutin Shoes can take demographics and lifestyle or psychographics market segmentation. Under demographic segmentation, the producers and marketing agencies involved in availing Christian Louboutin Shoes identify a market segment that is attributed to the shared demographic or personality characteristics. Some of the specific characteristics used in demographic market segmentation include age, gender, marital status, and social status of people. Therefore, Christian Louboutin shoe producers will ensure that they consider these factors when availing the products that fit all the genders, different ages of people, and a certain class of people. For example, there are classic and cozy Christian Louboutin Shoes for middle-aged people and those who like flashy lifestyles. These shoes are for both genders, but there is an age limitation where there are products only for the adults. Lifestyle or psychographic is another market segmentation that best fit Christian Louboutin Shoes. Under this segmentation, an emphasis is put on the shared activities, behaviors, and interests of the customers (Samli, Riecken & Salmon 2015). Apart from activities and interests, this segmentation also considers characteristics such as opinions, values, and attitudes of the customers. Producers and marketing agents of Christian Louboutin Shoes will make sure that they only avail products that people have positive opinions and attitudes about them and the most valued ones.

2. Target Market

I think lifestyle or what is also known as psychographic can be the most profitable market segmentation for the Christian Louboutin Shoes. As I have explained above, lifestyle and psychographic focusses on the shared qualities of the customers. These qualities include opinions, attitudes, behaviors, interests, and values. Producers of Christian Louboutin Shoes can achieve customer satisfaction by utilizing this segmentation effectively. Therefore, the company should focus on improving the brand image which will, in turn, help the products to get into the market segmentation with fewer difficulties. A well-developed brand image ensures that availed products and services are of high quality, standard, and class. Products that meet these criteria get to be associated with a certain group of people and in most cases the classy and elegant individuals. It is important to note that these people will not often mind spending more money on the products like Christian Louboutin Shoes as long as they are the best. The best name to give to my target market would be “Christian Louboutin Shoppers.”

3. Target Market Strategy

Christian Louboutin Shoe producers should not focus all their energies and resources on this new target or concentrated market. The company should continue pursuing new and the existing target market as well as other marketing segments. As of now, the target market of Christian Louboutin Shoes seems to be having a significant number of customers since the company is performing well. But, venturing into new and other existing marketing segments would be an added advantage to the company. This move will make the company create even a larger clientele base by tapping into other markets. Besides, the brand image will also improve by making the products to be known in a larger market and geographical area. Importantly, in the event of failure or underperformance in one market segmentation, the company will still be making earnings from other markets as well. All summed up, the company’s performance and revenues will improve significantly.

4. Positioning

Perceptual Map of Christian Louboutin Shoes

Cost *Christian Louboutin Shoes

*Vancl

*Namshi

Fashion/Quality Forward

According to the perceptual map, it is evident that Christian Louboutin Shoes are more preferred as opposed to other shoe products offered by Namshi and Vancl. In spite of the relatively high cost, Christian Louboutin Shoes have high quality. This shows that Christian Louboutin Shoes are viewed as products of high quality and class in the mind of the new target market. Hence, I think that Christian Louboutin Shoes should keep the same position and compete head-on with the other product.

References

Top of Form

Cooper, T. (Ed.). (2016). Longer lasting products: alternatives to the throwaway society. CRC Press.

Hudson, S., Huang, L., Roth, M. S., & Madden, T. J. (2016). The influence of social media interactions on consumer–brand relationships: A three-country study of brand perceptions and marketing behaviors. International Journal of Research in Marketing, 33(1), 27-41.

Lake, L. A. (2009). Consumer behavior for dummies. Chichester: John Wiley.

Pozharliev, R., Verbeke, W. J., Van Strien, J. W., & Bagozzi, R. P. (2015). Merely being with you increases my attention to luxury products: Using EEG to understand consumers' emotional experience with luxury branded products. Journal of Marketing Research, 52(4), 546-558.

Samli, A. C., Riecken, G., & Salmon, C. W. (2015). Narayana-Markin Consumer Behavior and Product Performance Model: A New Dimension. In Marketing Horizons: A 1980's Perspective (pp. 47-49). Springer, Cham.

Wang, H., Chao, P., & Wang, J. Y. (2015). Effects of fit, consumer involvement and the number of celebrities on consumer behavior in an emerging market. Journal of International Consumer Marketing, 27(5), 388-402.

Bottom of Form