Product involvement and ZMOT

 Introduction

 In the last decade, researches investigating consumer mannerisms and decision-making determinants have expanded their research to cover vital subject matters on marketing in the current society. Marketing decisions rely on assumptions and consumer behavior information. Primarily, consumer behavior has always been the integral in marketing of products and services.  Mass customization organizations rarely use conventional stores to sell their items. This implies that clients make their purchase decisions on a variant stage known as the zero moment of truth (ZMOT). Corporates should narrow down on the underlying reasons which facilitate the occurrences of that lead to ZMOT and the manner in which potential clients operation before making a decision.

Product Involvement Level

 Based on the customer’s capability and information, some customers tend to make precise purchase decisions. On the other hand, a small fraction of consumers might acquire information which then help in the decision making process before parting with their money. Levels of involvement reflects on the interests and the significance a consumer has on the product (Biçer, 2020, 153). The involvement levels in purchasing decisions might be considered to be a variety from routine decisions consumers make regularly. Whether a purchasing decision is low, high or restricted, involvement differs from one consumer to another. In the meantime people tend to be more persistent when it comes to purchasing items that they consider familiar and essential to them.

 At some point, consumers have to consider the items that they have and relevancy or value they add to their lives. Occasionally, consumers compare products and then they do not buy any of them. Due to the wide range of products from which a person can choose from, the consumer bargaining power tend to increase as he or she has more than one options with which he can get value for their money. More than one alternative, for instance, milk, bread and other basic commodities offer people more than one level of coming up with regular decision making routines. Whenever decision makers are interested in capturing the needs of the consumers, the easiest way of finding out is by tracking down the purchases made on a daily basis and trying to figure out the underlying reasons for these consumer routine (Biçer, 2020, 155). This is because consumer routines offer insight into the underlying decision making processes that are outline according to the meaningful value being offered by the various brands. Therefore, luxury products cannot be considered most of the time when managers want to isolate consumer behavior and their respective decision making patterns which in the long run can be predicated and applied in sales strategy. Therefore, the ever changing marketing environment has to facilitate the manner in which manager are informed on vital consumer mannerisms. Underpinning consumer behavior should depend on the product placement and location of the consumers (Ertemel, and BAŞÇI, 2015, 526). Often at times consumers are faced with more than one option or are under instructions from another person who influences preferences. Simply put, product involvement levels have to be tied to the ZMOT models of decision making and thinking. Additionally, changes in the marketing structure can be attributed to be more of the ways of preventing people from attaining a certain degree of predicting consumer behavior in the current market. Sometimes the intuition of the customer might lean on products perceived as valuable or offering value for money. At this point, peers are said to be the best option of evaluating product made and the progression of most of the times purchase at a particular time.

 Customers normally engage in regular response behaviors whenever they initiate low involvement decisions. That is, customers make automated acquisition decisions established on restrictive details or evidence. For instance, if a consumer regularly purchases coke, that particular consumer is engaging in regular response behaviors. Therefore, while engaging in regular response actions, consumers rarely think of other options hence the decisions are automated to fit their needs at that particular time (Pitman, Amolo, and Ramraj , 2018, 45). Similarly, if a consumer is used to a certain product, then he or she can purchase the product without the need to consult other people around them. Most of the low involvement buying decisions are made devoid of planning or second thought on the issue. For the sake of coming up with more than one way of achieving clarity and predicting human behavior, the people have to be able to effortlessly trace impulsive decision and the underlying reasons driving these decisions. For instance an impulsive buyer goes to the grocery store but2 leaves with both groceries. Therefore, low involvement decisions are normally made under unplanned contexts hence can be categorized as impulsive.

 On the other hand, high involvement choices are associated with a greater risk to the consumer if they fail. High involvement decisions are vital to the consumers. These choices are related to customer’s mannerisms and identification. These type of purchasing choices contains high stake risks which put the consumers at a more critical situation where they cannot afford to lose their money. Consumer trends also alter throughout the years. In the dynamic society most consumer expect a product to engage all their senses. Therefore, a product has to have the right touch, senses and smell. The modern day consumer has to be convinced to part with his or her money (Pitman, Amolo, and Ramraj, 2018, 46).  There is an increasing need for diversity and knowledge among consumers who want quality services and brands from companies. In current digital marketing, the consumers want more than just observation, they also want to experience and even engage their senses before making a final purchasing decision on a product or service. Digital marketing is no longer a passive activity, one has to interact with the customer at various levels- be sensory or emotional level, the potential customer has to be moved into parting with his valuable money. Therefore, consumers want active contribution in marketing.

 Diversity causes increase in hyper-efficiency needs. The consumers are searching for and settling on smarter and more resourceful means to resolve their challenges. Societies are utilizing space and time to incorporate smart purchasing strategies into one single entity. In addition, customers are accustomed to super-personalization (Biçer, 2020, 153).. Emerging technologies enable companies or manufacturers to predict consumer mannerisms or tailor product and services according to consumers’ needs. Advanced technology is essential in public’s daily lives and the internet has replaced most of the traditional marketing strategies. Hence, the shift from traditional purchasing behavior to e-commerce should be accounted for by marketers. Subsequently, customers pay attention to global use resources and their societies hence they want to be associated with brands that support conservation efforts of earth’s resources. Since 2016, researches took note of businesses which aligned their manufacturing operations with conservational and societal issues. The increasing pressure exerted on corporations to authentically use natural resources in a responsible way has forced most companies to adapt environmental friendly mechanisms while manufacturing products. More so, it is important to take note of the primary characteristic of the current consumer market-millennials (Krajnović , Sikirić,  and Bosna, J., 2018, 33). Millennials have a constant social media presence but social media platforms rarely influence their purchasing decisions. Millennials interpret marketing from multiple social platforms. Hence, millennials are usually impacted by their peers’ perspectives and thoughts. Therefore, marketers have to comprehend how millennials interpret and consume product information. Secondly. Delivering marketing information has to be done in a way that appeals to multiple senses.  Marketing objectives have to be extensive and reach more consumers within a short period of time in order to directly influence purchasing decisions. Marketers are usually searching for opportune moments when they can influence purchasing decisions.

Product Involvement Levels’ Influence on Feedback Loop In the User Journey

 Even though consumers search a product’s details before making a purchase, the ways in which these consumers go about looking for product information cannot be clearly outlined. Currently, the internet is the most reliable way of searching for a product’s or service’s information. Online also enables previous consumers to leave reviews on various products. In the current dynamic market consumers move back and forth because sometimes they purchase items online or offline. A consumer can shop online and then the next day purchase items offline. It depends on the needs of the consumers- sometimes it is more convenient to shop online than it is to shop offline. A consumer can search for product’s reviews, rating and pricing and then purchase the product offline. Google makes use of ZMOT to gather honest reviews and experiences on various products from consumers. The shared truth is supposed to influence purchasing decisions. Social media is one of the most influential platforms for using ZMOT marketing tools and perceptions. Through social media consumers share information and exchange details and experience on certain products. Therefore, social media creates influence which then impacts final purchase decisions on products. Gaining more loyal customers implies that consumers have to comprehend customers’ feelings, thoughts and actions. ZMOT plays an integral role in outline a consumer’s perspective. Consequently, the customer’s perspective is then used to formulate marketing strategies that will capture the specific interests of various potential customers in the marketplace.

 Whenever people want to capture the needs of the community, ZMOT is one of the best indication of law or high number of sales being made across the market. ZMOT assists marketers to define consumers’ perspective and then use it formulate an operational marketing strategy for their products and services in the market. Marketers have to come up with a marketing strategy that helps them perceive future consumer thoughts without even considering the past whenever there is decline in the sales being made. Most of the times consumers have to ensure that they engage their potential customers in more than one way. In case one option fails, there are several other than can be considered and implemented as seen fit. Marketers tend to think that consumer mannerism sometimes do not reflect the final purchasing decisions due pricing and other factors that might come into play before one purchases an item. In the long run, one has to be more effective in terms of issuing the right information ad presenting a product in a genuine manner that does not lie to the consumer market (Htut, 2016, 118). With the advent of internet marketing, more people are relying on their internet-enabled devices more than ever for updates and news on the daily basis. Basically, ZMOT tracks down decisions and then tailor makes product that suits the needs of the customers. The product purchasing decisions is triggered by exposure to stimulation which then might influence decision making process. In the digital world, information flows constantly hence forcing marketers to try and influence the interpretation of most of the information. An opening to speak to more customers also exposes if the product was quality or poor in terms of the quality received. In the recent times, the chance one has to come up with innovative products is at an all-time low. In the current market products are competing for a limited marketing space. Sometimes consumers might fail to work on information and wait until the all the factors are contained in one product. Therefore, there is a need to capture more details while marketing.

 In summary, customer behavior can be tracked through numerous channels such social media, blogs and product reviews. The dynamic digital marketing strategies have to appeal to the five senses of a consumer that is touch, smell, vision and the rest. Customers have to make rational decision before purchasing product, the involvement have to match the need for the product because sometimes the needs are to be respected and considered in the manufacturing process. Whenever people have more than one option, the price of the products tend to go down and chances to retain a high price while getting quality services.

References

Biçer, F., 2020. The Impact of Zero Moment of Truth (Zmot) on Smartphone Buying Decision. Journal of International Trade, Logistics and Law, 6(2), pp.153-167.

Ertemel, A.V. and BAŞÇI, A., 2015. Effects of zero moment of truth on consumer buying decision: an exploratory research in Turkey. International Journal of Social Sciences and Education Research, 1(2), pp.526-536.

Pitman, S., Amolo, J. and Ramraj, A., 2018. The South African Women Purchasing Behavior and the Zero Moment of Truth. Journal of Economics and Behavioral Studies, 10(4 (J)), pp.45-53.

Krajnović, A., Sikirić, D. and Bosna, J., 2018. Digital marketing and behavioral economics. CroDiM: International Journal of Marketing Science, 1(1), pp.33-46.

Htut, z., 2016. Zmot behavior of internet users in yangon. Research journal.