Question

Hello class, the ultimate goal of marketing is to drive customers towards advocacy (Kotler et al., 2017). The three main sources of influence used across the customer path are own, outer, and other influence referred to as the O Zone. The own influence refers to one’s own opinion of the brand. It is usually generated from experience, interaction with different brands, personal feelings towards certain brands, and ultimately the individual’s preference towards a specific brand (Kotler et al., 2017). However, your own influence is often altered by the opinion or reviews of others and advertisements seen and heard daily. For example, if your best friend or favorite celebrity expresses their excitement about a product or service, more often than not, you find yourself desiring to see what the products can really do. Purchase intention denotes the likelihood of consumers making a purchase or endorsing specific services to their friends or family (Alhumud & Elshaer, 2024). When under the influence of others, we are easily persuaded to try different products. Word of mouth can make or break a product or service, especially with sites like Yelp, TiKTok and Instagram. On these sites, regular consumers are able to voice their opinions about products and give insight on purchases. The outer influence is constructed by what the brand wants you to believe about it. This influence is generated through advertisements, input from customer service representatives, and infomercials. The outer influence is the brand’s first attempt at getting you to acquire a desire for the product.  The business I would like to discuss is the Smoked Rice Food Truck. This food truck is unique in my area. The food is great, except that you have to drive at least 30–40 minutes to get there depending on the area in Memphis you are coming from, and the wait can often be ridiculous. I feel like the Smoked Rice Truck can improve its brand favorability and optimize marketing efforts by making it a priority for Memphis and surrounding cities to become familiar with the brand. After evaluating the three main sources of influence across the customer path, the Smoked Rice Truck should use its own influence to help with advertisements. The business needs to move around the city offering free samples of the products on certain days of the week. Of course, the dates need to be advertised, through social media. They should build a social media page on several sites interacting with potentially new customers and old ones alike. Ask questions about whether they will refer your product to a friend, then offer give aways to the most referrals. The business should use the other influence to help establish changes good and bad for business. Understand what the people want or do not want. You can then determine if having a stationary location works better for customer loyalty or will moving locations around the city offer a broader fan base to your product. Lastly, the business should use the outer influence to promote the fact that the product being offered is the first of its kind. Although other businesses have begun to offer similar products, the truck needs a way to stand out. Advertising about what makes this food truck different from the others offering smoked rice is important. Controlling the narrative of what they want customers to believe about the business is key.   

References: Alhumud, A. A., & Elshaer, I. A. (2024). Social Commerce and Customer-to-Customer Value Co- Creation Impact on Sustainable Customer Relationships. Sustainability, 16(10), NA. http:// dx.doi.org/10.3390/su16104237 Kotler, P., Kartajaya, H., & Setiawan, I. (2017). Marketing 4.0 moving from traditional to digital. John            Wiley and Sons reply 1

The business I will discuss is Apple, which deals with providing software, electronics and also online services to its customers. Consequently, I feel like Apple can improve its brand favorability by ensuring they are sustainable in its supply chain, protecting the environment through utilizing environment-friendly packaging and products, and ensuring the materials are recyclable or biodegradable products and also focusing on having net-zero emissions in the manufacturing process. According to Apple (2023), by 2030, they intend to utilize low-carbon materials and also incorporate recycled materials in their manufacturing processes, and if the product cannot be recycled, they utilize hydroelectricity smelted aluminum which has low carbon. Currently, organizations are working towards having a brand reputation and maintaining a competitive advantage by focusing on having a sustainable supply chain and manufacturing process. Consequently, if Apple Inc. commits to having its products and packaging recyclable and reducing their emissions to almost zero, protecting the environment, its brand will be favorable. The three main sources of customer influence in Apple Inc. are campaigns and user testimonials, content marketing on social media such as Instagram, and customer service both in-store and online. Therefore, to optimize its marketing efforts, Apple needs to ensure that in their campaigns, they show quality reassurance, including high standards testing of the products, to assure consumers that everything is quality. Also, for assurance, they should incorporate user feedback and testimonials of their superior performance and quality, attracting other consumers. Further, Apple can conduct content marketing, where their loyal customers share their experiences of the products, especially in product launch events, to appeal to emotional connections with their customers. In addition, they should focus on streamlining the shopping experience for every customer, whether physical shopper or online, by ensuring services like Apple Care have friendly employees. Kotler et al. (2017) affirm that due to too much confusion due to extreme marketing from multiple channels, organizations need to be meaningful and intensify their connectivity with customers in the major touch-points for brand loyalty. Thus, the recommendations for Apple will see customers

turning to them and being loyal. References Apple. (2023). Progress toward our 2030 goal 20% recycled or renewable content 1. https:// www.apple.com/environment/pdf/products/iphone/ iPhone_15_Pro_and_iPhone_15_Pro_Max_Sept2023.pdf Kotler, P., Kartajaya, H., & Setiawan, I. (2017). Marketing 4.0: Moving from Traditional to Digital. John Wiley & Sons, Inc., Cop.

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