Question 1
Tying conjoint analysis with perceptual mapping can be done by the use of the Adaptive Perceptual Mapping programme which makes the two techniques look similar. The APM method can be use create maps at an individual level and then these maps are can be for predicting preferences in a certain choice simulator. When the comparison between APM individual-level model and that one of conjoint technique, any differences between both techniques become less noticeable.

Question 2

Perpetual mapping is a technique for marketing research that is normally used for comparing products across two or more scopes. In this technique the perception of customers about a product are mapped on a chart, after they have been asked questions about the performance, price, packaging and size of the product. Conjoint analysis is a technique for market research that is used by marketers to determine the features a new product should contain and the pricing of the product.

Question 3

The problem that comes with using conventional marketing is that is that it inefficient. In the channels used each, businesses is always lack cordial relationships with the other stages in the supply chain. For instance, a wholesaler may raise profit levels by putting pressure on manufacturer to lower prices while at the same time it raises the prices it imposes on retail stores.

Question 4

The best TPU product for the chart is Chevy since its level of utility is higher generally as compared to the other products. Even though the other products have higher utility of style and material their overall utility levels are lower.

Question 5

Ford has lower utility in overall which means that customer satisfaction is also low. For Chevy, the utility for style is low making the brand manager unable to sell the product to the customers. Dodge on the other hand has lower overall utility as a brand which means customer satisfaction with it is low.

Question 6

The consumer satisfaction on the material used for the brand does not depend on the price of such material. The cost is not the determiner of utility but the kind of material used for each brand makes also does not lead to high customer satisfaction. If that were so, the level of utility for the Ford brand would be higher than the rest. However, Chevy and Dodge with low material utility has higher overall utility.

Question 7

This brand is will have a higher level of utility overall  since Large SUV seems to be the  preference for the customers making them to be quite satisfied with such a brand.

Question 8

Product A

Overall market = 30,000 + 30,000 + 50,000 = 100,000

REPORT

In most cases, an individual cannot be in the position of having complete financial planning without the need of budgeting for his or her money. Now that I was managing my household expenses, having a budget in place will be essential for everyone as well as saving the family from financial stress down the budgeting line. This is then means that it was a good idea to ensure that I have a clear idea of my income as well as the expenses so that I can plan accordingly whenever making financial decisions (Lauraine, 2012).

In the process of coming up with the budget, there food and shelter are the two things that were given first priority. Since they are the basic needs it means that our household would not survive without them.  In terms of food, there is the need of reverting to cheaper ingredients and goods. For travelling expenses, my option as the budget dictates will be using a train or using a bike so as to cut back the gas expenses. The next thing is considering household as my third priority, then childcare, medical, transportation, and taxes. Entertainment is another expense which thought I could include but because of the current situation of the family I was forced not to.  Regardless of that, it implies that scrutinizing each group in order to figure out where to cut back is a wiser thing to consider too. This is because it will assist in making adjustments as much the family financial obligations are concerned. Basically, whatever adjustments I will be making, it means that one I tally them out, chances are that the figures may end up being the same or relatively higher than the income (Reynolds, 2010). Therefore, I should ensure that I have enough left over which will be put aside as savings for unforeseen emergencies.  

For other individuals, putting away enough cash to go on vacation can be the ultimate luxury. Moreover, for others getting monthly pedicure or dining out once a week is a real treat. Despite that, for the sake of my family financial budgeting it is essential to acknowledge the manner at which I will be getting the most from the family income so that we can live comfortably and within our means. As stated above, in creating the budget, the aim was to determine the family’s fixed or nonnegotiable expenses for instance utilities or rent. By adding all the expenses and then subtracting the total form the family’s monthly income is what will amount for the amount to save (Reynolds, 2010). This is what will be available for discretionary spending i.e. entertainment or dining out.

In connection to that, with the budget, in means that keeping track of the income will be easy. The reason for this is because as much as budgeting is flexible we can always shift our priorities, saving some of the wants and needs for the coming month. Furthermore, as the numbers in excel indicate, it suggests that our expenses had to be within our monthly income. There is no need of budgeting for something that that will never manage to keep or meet. Just like an exercise program or diet, it is essential to be realistic. In case the family could not have the ability of sticking to its saving plan, it implies that we should not expect this to change overnight. Instead, the numbers in the excel document indicates that it was important to start with setting small goals will enable the family build confidence of tackling bigger changes down the road (Crystal, 2012). In particular, the family budgeting didn’t have to b about deprivation.

Reference

Lauraine W, (2012). 9 Steps To Family Budgeting. Digital Revolution Media Press

Reynolds, S. (2010). One-Income Household: How to Do a Lot with a Little. Cincinnati: F+W Media.

Crystal P (2012). The Money Saving Mom's Budget: Slash Your Spending, Pay Down Your Debt, Streamline Your Life, and Save Thousands a Year. Simon and Schuster

                 MARKETING RESEARCH SPSS ANALYSIS REPORT

                        Research case: GoGym Company Instagram Page

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

GoGym is basically a (fictitious) attire manufacturing as well as retailer company for variety of gym and exercise products. As any business organization which desires to expand, meet its establishment objectives as well as enjoying the economies of scale, the company has to be in the position of using various media applications in marketing their products. One of these apps that the company largely depends on is instagram for which it will end up launching their Instagram page. This app has been chosen by the management of this company since it is suitable for displaying the various apparels manufactured and other gym and exercise products to be offered to its customers.

Therefore, the purposes of this research paper will be directed at doing extensive analyzing and measurement of the effectiveness of these newly Instagram page to be launched by the company soon. In connection to this, for the essence of gathering quality information, primary as well as causal research will be conducted through collecting both quantitative and qualitative data by surveying the site users as well as from a number of the company’s Instagram page analytics.

Conversely, the key findings from this report will be;

1) Mobiles are the leading devices to be used by the internet users in accessing the instagram page of the company as compared to the three psychographic groups

2) Out of the four age groups, teenage groups are the one which was found be taking a lot of time in accessing the company’s instagram page once it is launched.

3) Out of the data collected, it was found that female will be the leading internet users in accessing the instagram page of the company as compared to men

4) The use of the measures of central tendency in interpreting the Instagram perception of “New-to-Health” and “Gym Junkies”, indicated that the “New-to-Health” were to be the leading in accessing the company’s instagram page and as much as the company will continue using it

Recommendations;

1) The company should ensure that it has improved the content of its instagram page for the purpose of making it more interesting as well as more engaging to customers

2) All those who will be in charge of this page should ensure that they have not repeated the same content again and again. 

3) They must ensure that they have come up with appealing information on the page for the purpose of meeting different targeted groups.

4) The company should be in the position of acknowledging what non-competitive advantages are used by its rivals in that instagram so as to meet its targeted group

 DESCRIPTIVE ANALYSES (RESULTS AND INTERPRETATION)

1. a) The extent to which the device used differs across the three psychographic groups and the reasons for that

With respect to the above descriptive data, it is evident that is growing considerably. Usually, mobile phones, tablets, and computers are the three main devices which are used for by company’s customers in accessing their newly launched Instagram page. Regardless of that, as the data suggests it is clear that mobile phones with 61.4% is the leading device used by the clients in accessing the app followed by tablets with 22.8% and finally computers with 15.8%.

Therefore, by considering this data and the current technological trend, there are a number of reasons that makes mobile phones to be the leading device used by the customers in accessing the company’s Instagram page (Miles, 2014). Of course it is worth saying that all of the three devices used are equipped with various applications which allow the clients to access the internet but there are other wide preferences which make mobile phones to top the list. First and foremost, this will remain to be the case because in this contemporary days, mobiles especially smartphones have greatly shifted the use of the social media and other online related activities. Similarly, because of their portability, majority of individuals both aged and young now can freely walk around with this gadget and access the internet using mobile phones anywhere anytime.  Similarly, because of the continuous improvement in technology, variety of mobile phones especially has been manufactured by various companies hence resulting to a huge degree of competition and reduction in prices. This makes them to be easily acquired by at least a huge percentage of individuals.  Another reason is because are regularly used for making call thus making people to always have them (PROFES et al, 2004).  

Tablets, mostly termed as ipads, are the most communication devices which have been developed recently unlike computers and mobile phones. Because of this, it then implies that majority of individually have not already made extensive use of them. Equally, although some tablets can be used for making call, their size makes people not to prefer working with tablets. Finally, computers, although some other them like desktops are currently cheaper, they are not frequently used in accessing the internet or making calls as compared to phones and tablets. Moreover, other versions of computers like laptops are relatively lighter to carry around as compared to desktops, majority of individuals do use them in accessing the internet (Miles, 2014). On the other hand, although the trend for the manufacturing and technological improvement these three devices by various companies keeps on changing each day, all of the devices are either expensive or cheap; depending on the customers preferences (Donner, 2015). This is basically what makes the extent at which the three which the device used across the three psychographic groups to differ in accessing the company’s Instagram page.

1. b) The extent to which the time of day in accessing the Instagram page differs across four age groups and the reasons for that

As much as the time of accessing instagram per day is concerned, a huge percentage online users makes use of Instagram, a proportion which have remained to be unchanged for a period of time. Although to some extent it remains to be unpopular, online women continues to be more likely as compared to men to become Instagram users. Although generally adults take little time in accessing instagram in a day, majority of them use it for business reasons.

In connection to that, teenagers are perceived to be more enthusiastic users of various social media apps and sites (Strom & Strom, 2009). On interrogating them as to whether they use the company’s instagram page, majority of the accepted that fact. Aged individuals do not regularly make use of this application. This then suggests that majority of them have free time of accessing instagram the whole day unlike adults although for them it is not generally for business reasons. It is just for socializing (ITAP (Conference) et al, 2015).

1. c) The extent to which the interaction time differs across gender and the reasons for that

By having a wider consideration of this data, it is evident that the time for accessing the company’s instagram page widely differs across gender. Traditionally, it should be noted that technology used to be a male sphere. Previously, male used also used to be having a greater interest in technology unlike girls. But nowadays, female have not only become interested with social media but also frequent users of internet applications. Due to this, there are many reasons which can be drawn from that. First, this data indicates that a huge percentage of female individuals regularly do check their various social media outlets multiple times each day as compared to men (ITAP (Conference) et al, 2015). Conversely, female have a greater likelihood of accessing a particular brand or commodities through the use of social media. Only a small percentage of respondents are the ones who acknowledged doing the same. 

Furthermore, although it can be noted that female do make use of media less than men for other business reasons; they frequently use social media for the purpose of sharing personal information than men. This then implies that females are more expressive, vocal as well as willing to share all at least a huge percentage of all they have (English & Johns, 2016). The reason for this is due to the fact that they are much more open in expressing themselves online although conscious about their appearance.  In other words, this is to say that they are more wired when it comes to social networking unlike men. Contrary to that, men do use social media for the purpose of gathering information they do require for the essence of building influence. For them, social media assists in performing research, gathering relevant contacts as well as ultimately increasing their status (Rosen et al, 2015). Males remain to be less confident in expressing themselves in social media in the same way.

1. d) Using measures of central tendency to interpret the Instagram perception of “New-to-Health” and “Gym Junkies”.

The data below indicates the three measures of central tendency which can be computed from the three groups i.e. new-to-health, social posers and gym junkies.

From the first and the second table, it is evident that the mean and median of the new-to-health tops the list as compared to that of the social posers and gym junkies. Usually, those individuals who are new to new to social media do get much overwhelmed about the extent at which such sites enable them to get connected to multiple individuals globally (Dejong, 2013). This is to say that with time they become more enthusiastic users of communication applications.  Due to these considerations, it then means that their perception about the usage of the instagram page of the GoGym Company is relatively higher as compared to that of the social posers or gym junkies. Moreover, social posers are usually regarded as being individuals who often try to fit or match into a certain social group or just trying to impersonate other people. Due to that, it then implies that they will remain to fake their responses as much as the company’s instagram page is concerned. Finally, gym junkies are of course those individuals who are to some extent not willing or encouraged to frequently engage in exercises meant for building their health. They are such individuals who do something when there is a need. This them suggests that, although the company will be in the position of launching their newly created instagram page, majority of them will not be interested with the gym products that they company will be advertising through it.  Thus, from the data collected, this is what makes mean and median for the data collected regarding their perception about the company’s instagram page to be the last.

1. e) The variability of the 4 items of “Social Posers” Instagram involvement (II_5, II_7, II_8, II_10)

As the case of any social media, instagram offer a wider opportunity of linking people globally. On the other hand, since social posers remains to be individuals who are largely faking are imitating to be whom they are, it them means that  to them it will not be an opportunity of sharing their real personal life with others (Manning & Hancock, 2003). All they will remain to be doing is masking to be whom they are not hence not letting others to share their experience. When it comes to the issue that deals with the duration of using this site, we can say that they can take a whole week without visiting it. The reason for this will be as much as person keeps on with his or her impersonation game or trying to fit in a social group that he or she does not belong, it implies that with time he or she will lose morale. Besides that, it is true that majority of the social posers will be in the position of using instagram regularly unlike him or her. The reason for that is because they remain to be true to themselves or to their social group as the data below suggests (Manning & Hancock, 2003).

Conversely, as the data below suggest, we can say that social posers does not ultimately care or take into consideration for that what others say about his or her instagram account. This will be because of the fact that such a person does not remain to the real person he or she is and to the point of freely sharing his personal life with his friends as the data above indicates too

Therefore, because of these statistics, it highly recommended that the company should take into consideration the type of group or individuals that it will be relaying information to as much as the recent launching of its newer instagram page is concerned. This is to ensure that such information regarding the products they manufacture have reached the targeted group.

INFERENTIAL ANALYSES (RESULTS AND INTERPRETATION)

As much as gender is concerned, what it means is that female nowadays have been perceived as having a higher tendency of visiting internet sites as compared to men.  The reason for this is because in most cases females do enjoying sharing their personal life with others through the use of various social media sites or maybe exploring current trends in the business world (Rosen et al, 2015). As the data below indicates, it then implies that the relationship between the female and their interaction times with the Instagram page will be relatively good since as much as they will keep on getting informed they will in return pass that information to others. On the other hand, it true to say that men also like using internet sites for various purposes but generally for a shorter period of time per day. This then suggest that their relationship with the instagram page will not be that effective because of the little interest or tendency they do have in sharing what they have.

Additionally, the different age groups have different priorities when it comes to using or accessing the internet through various social media sites. Therefore, out of the four age groups, teenagers will have a higher perception of using instagram page as compared to adults (Zheng et al, 2010). Other than having extra free time they are also more eager in using such sites in gathering information relating to anything. Contrary to that, in normal circumstances adults are can be regarded as individuals who are categorical in choosing the kind of media site to obtain information from. Therefore, from the data below, we can say that because of the health status, there perception of accessing the instagram page will be higher than that of teenagers for the same reason. In this case, time, preferences, and health status of a person are the main factors which arise out of this.

On the other hand, the instagram involvement will be extensively affected by such factors hence impacting the influence it will have on the number of its monthly visits as much as the three psychographic groups are concerned. Typically, the reason as to why this might be the case is because in most cases, women are considerably more likely to take for instance ‘selfies’ unlike their counterparts (Dejong, 2013). Furthermore, they have a higher tendency of engaging with brands on instagram hence making the network not to worry about the need of attracting more males for the essence of boosting advertising and revenues. This results into higher levels of monthly interaction or visits with instgram in a month for the side of female unlike males (Rosen et al, 2015). Currently, although instagram has be noted to be making small steps toward promoted posts by brands, it will be much interesting to see or consider whether users will have to go elsewhere or gender shift will change once the company’s instagram ad products keeps on to be fully enrolled in.

INFERENTIAL ANALYSES (RECOMMENDATIONS)

As much as the above issues are concerened, there are various things that the GoGym Company should take into consideration in case it wishes to its newly launched instagram page is used by the targeted audience;

1) The company should ensure that it has improved the content of its instagram page for the purpose of making it more interesting as well as more engaging to customers (Dave & Smith, 2013). By so doing it means that their page will have the capability of reaching new clients with diverse types of Instagram involvement in visiting and engaging with their Instagram page

2) All those who will be in charge of this page should ensure that they have not repeated the same content again and again.  This is important because once the company does not change the content of their instagram page; those who frequently visit that page will lose morale with it. Thus this can also be detrimental to the company in the sense that the clients will feel that it does not have much to offer to them other that the old gym products and other exercise accessories. In the long-run the company’s will be incurring losses or reduced profit margins.

3) They must ensure that they have come up with appealing information on the page for the purpose of meeting different targeted groups. The reason for this is because people have different tastes, attitudes, preferences, and beliefs. So convincing someone that a product has the ability of meeting his or her demand is not easy. Hence, for the need of ensuring that the instgram page is effective, the information to be portrayed by it should be detailed and appealing (Dave & Smith, 2013). The company should be in the position of acknowledging what non-competitive advantages are used by its rivals in that instagram so as to meet its targeted group

The graph below shows the customer perception in respect to the implementation of the above recommendations;

                       Y-axis

                      100

                        80

Strategies (%)  60         

                         40

                         20

                                                                                                                        X-axis

                                                            Customer perception

References

Miles, J. (2014). Instagram power: Build your brand and reach more customers with the power of pictures.

PROFES 2004, Bomarius, F., & Iida, H. (2004). Product focused software process improvement: 5th International Conference, PROFES 2004, Kansai Science City, Japan, April 5-8, 2004 : proceedings. Berlin: Springer

Donner, J. (2015). After access: Inclusion, development, and a more mobile Internet.

Strom, P., & Strom, R. D. (2009). Adolescents in the Internet age. Charlotte, N.C: Information Age Pub.

ITAP (Conference), In Zhou, J., In Salvendy, G., & International Conference on Human-Computer Interaction. (2015). Human aspects of IT for the aged population: Design for aging : first International Conference, ITAP 2015, held as part of HCI International 2015, Los Angeles, CA, USA, August 2-7, 2015. Proceedings.

Zheng, R., Burrow-Sanchez, J. J., & Drew, C. J. (2010). Adolescent online social communication and behavior: Relationship formation on the Internet. Hershey, PA: Information Science Reference.

English, R., & Johns, R. (2016). Gender Considerations in Online Consumption Behavior and Internet Use

In Rosen, L. D., In Cheever, N. A., & In Carrier, L. M. (2015). The Wiley handbook of psychology, technology, and society

Manning, B., & Hancock, J. (2003). Posers, fakers, & wannabes: Unmasking the real you.

Dejong, S. M. (2013). Blogs and tweets, texting and friending: Social media and online professionalism in health care. Amsterdam: Academic Press Inc.

Dave C & Smith PR (2013). Emarketing Excellence: Planning and Optimizing your Digital Marketing. Routledge Press

Consumer attitude

When it comes to understanding any human consumer behavior plays an important role. Maslow described the different human needs and how relevant each need is to a person’s existence. Marlow termed the most important needs as the deficiency needs and he noted that before anyone fulfills any other secondary needs, one must have in fulfillment the   primary needs. When a given needs dominates a human being there is great motivation by the person to meet this need. Marlow’s hierarchy dictated that after all the basic needs are met, human beings will always strife to better their lives.

Maslow came up with the hierarchy theory that tried to describe how human behavior affects their needs. The lowest is the physiological needs. This includes food, air, drinks, sex, sleep and many more. Most of the physiological needs are vital to human survival thus one cannot do without. Since they are key to their survival this needs make human beings move an extra mile to ensure they are met. The next is safety needs., this include physical safety, where people want to have safe environment away from things like war, natural disasters, abuse and family violence of any sort, economic safety is also important, since most consumers work extra hard to ensure they are financially stable and they can afford all the necessities for their families. With financial stability the consumer is able to keep savings, have a secure job, insurance policies. Health and physical wellbeing is also important when it comes to satisfying consumers safety needs (Jae & Hanna, 2015).

Belongingness is what is next after the physiological and safety. Human beings have the need to feel loved and socially accepted plays an important role in an individual’s life. Having strong emotionally reliable relationships such a s friendship and intimacy and family are very important and in other people cases it surpasses safety. The next is ego needs. this drives a lot of people to go out of their way in order to gain a stature in the society. The feeling of accomplishment gives people the self-confidence and they gain freedom to do whatever they desire (Lester,2013).

Self-actualization is on top as humans have the greatest desire to be the most they can be. That means if one is a student they want to be an A student, if one parents they want to be an ideal parent idolized everyone.  Self-actualization helps people in discovering who they really and thus have different hobbies, creativity projects or just fulfilling their childhood dream of travelling across the world (Berl, Williamson & Powell ,1984). This needs are more intertwined thus satisfaction of one need helps a person achieve the others.

References

Berl, R. L., Williamson, N. C., & Powell, T. (1984). Industrial Salesforce Motivation: A Critique and Test of Maslow's Hierarchy of Need. Journal of Personal Selling & Sales Management, 4(1), 33-39.

LESTER, D. (2013). MEASURING MASLOW'S HIERARCHY OF NEEDS. Psychological Reports, 113(1), 15-17. doi: 10.2466/02.20.PR0.113x16z1

Jae Min, L., & Hanna, S. D. (2015). Savings Goals and Saving Behavior from a Perspective of Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs. Journal of Financial Counseling & Planning, 26(2), 129-147.

Introduction

Maintaining high quality of services provided by an organisation is very important for it to have a sustainable business (Asogwa, Asadu, Ezema, Ugwu, Ugwuanyi, 2014).  The satisfaction of customers will arise from the type of services provided by the organisation. With this regard, desirable results can be achieved through effective and careful incorporation of quality in all services a business provides. For effective delivery of quality services in firms, researchers have proposed that the process must be monitored to yield better results. Monitoring involves activities such as putting employees under check or analysing the usefulness of a particular system in a firm. In reality, services render by a business are essential in determining the ability of a firm to retain clients and gain many more (Bailey, 1991). The problem is, however, is how organisations can provide high quality services to ensure satisfaction of customers. The benefit of understanding how to provide quality services is that the firms will gain customer loyalty which will translate into high profitability.

Literature review

Application of service quality is not limited to any field. Quality is necessary in all the fields that aims at satisfying the recipient of the service whether or not the aim is to make profit. It is needed in profit making firms, provision of services by public institutions such as healthcare and in carrying out philanthropic activities. The quality of service that a firm offers could be an ideal tool to be used in marketing a business organisation (Berry & Parasuraman 1991). Truthfully, businesses can reap best outcomes and achieve their objectives if only the aspect of service quality is adhered to.  To be precise, the concept of service quality is a vital instrument that can be used to transform processes in firms.

Moreover, service quality extends to security departments such as police and military arms. In the process of pursuing justice and maintain peace in our communities, quality remains to be an emphasis that must be observed. In Spain, for example, police officers are trained to offer services to the public that is dominated by high quality. So to speak, different organizations in the world have borrowed from others or shared the concept of service quality. If aspect of high quality standard are observed in all disciplines, a lot more would be attained (Tarí, 2006).

Of more importance, there are several principles that can be applied to achieve high standards of services offered. Service quality requires steadfast business-customer relationships that are founded on the strong organisational beliefs (Zeithaml & Parasuraman 2004),. For an enterprise, clients should be considered to comprise a crucial component without which business activities will not be significant. Therefore, bearing in mind that clients are important persons to business will be appreciated by rendering the best services that will motivate them to continue transacting it such an n organization. Once customer are satisfied by the type of services a firm provides to its clients, the business is likely to gain a competitive edge since it will continue to expand to increased demands from customers for such services obtained in that firm (Berry, Bennett & Brown, 1989).

Theoretical framework

1. Service quality and customer satisfaction

Customer satisfaction determines their nature of choice that will in turn impact a business either positively or negatively (Oliver, 1990). Satisfaction, as argued by some scholars, is just an attitude that clients form towards a particular concept or product or service. When a person feels that his/her pleasure has been met, that can be defined as satisfaction (Ko, 2008). It grows out of customers’ psychological influence and perceptions that are developed based on how organizations treat their clients.

Both satisfied and dissatisfied customers have direct influence on businesses. Satisfied customers will talk to more clients to transact with the business while the dissatisfied will talk ill about the firm   to discourage many from buying from the same enterprise (Ko, 2008). It is important to maintain the customers as the cost of gaining new ones may be expensive due to the experience that existing customers know about services offered by the business. This is why treating first hand customers may be crucial in laying down the foundation for gaining more customers.

1. Customer loyalty

Loyalty covers the aspect of attachment between customers and business that makes the buy another times regardless of there being other options the customer would choose from (Kendall, 2010). Service quality plays an integral role in enhancing customer loyalty. The loyalty can be evident by customers’ referrals and repeated purchase (Parasuraman et al., 1985). As far as air transport is concerned, it is important to enhance services through security agencies at the airport t to attract more travellers.  Loyalty starts with improved services at the departure and arrival bays where the level of security is supposed to be excellent to protect clients. An important advantage of heightened security is to develop trust in customers to make them long-term partners in the travel business. Service quality is the independent variable since it influences the level of customer satisfaction and loyalty. The dependent variable is customer loyalty since it is affected by quality service. The moderating variable is customer satisfaction since it determines the relationship between quality service and customer loyalty. 

Theoretical framework

Figure 1: framework for quality of service, customer satisfaction and loyalty.

As shown in figure 1, there is a direct relationship between the variable is service quality, customer satisfaction and loyalty. Customers will be motivated to continue transacting in business with the airport if the services offered especially in the security sector are of high quality. In essence, many clients adore partners that value their desires, which can only be met through improved quality of service.

Research questions

How should a firm define service quality for better understanding in the whole organisation?

What impact does customer loyalty have on the airport businesses with respect to viability of airport security?

Hypothesis of the study

The research will utilize the following hypotheses based on the theoretical framework presented in the study:

H1. There exist a strong connection between service and customer satisfaction.

H2. There exist a strong connection between cost and customer satisfaction.

H3. There is a strong connection between customer satisfaction and customer loyalty.

These hypotheses have been specifically selected to give a description of the relationship among the various variables that will finally affect the satisfaction of the customers and their loyalty. The measurements will assist in finding how the quality of service will influence customer satisfaction and how service cost relates to quality in satisfying customers’ needs. Finally the measurements will show the extent to which customer satisfaction affect their loyalty.

Conclusion

In conclusion, this paper discusses the need for services quality in organization. The paper provides a literature review as presented by different scholars and the relevance of their studies to the current business as pertaining airport security. As has been observed form the discussions, eservice quality in the security departments of airport businesses can be attached to customer satisfaction which in turn will influence some customers to refer others to the enterprise. In this case, customer loyalty will be achieved; thus, expanding the profit margins of organizations that run airport companies.

References

Asogwa, B., Asadu, B., Ezema, J., Ugwu, C., & Ugwuanyi, F. (2014). Use of ServQUAL in the Evaluation of Service Quality of Academic Libraries in Developing Countries. Retrieved March 27, 2016, from http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=2947&context=libphilprac

Bailey, D. (1991). Inside quality service. Managing Service Quality: An International Journal, 1(5).

Berry, L., & Parasuraman, A. (1991). Marketing services: Competing through quality, 3-12. New York: Free Press. Retrieved March 27, 2016, from

Berry, L., Bennett, D. R., & Brown, C. W. (1989). Service quality: A profit strategy for financial institutions. Homewood, IL: Dow Jones-Irwin.

Kendall, H. (2010). Quality service, competitive business, 76-100

Ko, K.  (2008). Service dimensions of service quality impacting customer satisfaction of fine dining restaurants in Singapore. Retrieved March 27, 2016, from http://digitalscholarship.unlv.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1687&context=thesesdissertations

Tarí, J. J. (2006). Improving service quality in a Spanish police service. Total Quality Management & Business Excellence, 17(3), 409-424. Retrieved March, 2016.

Zeithaml, V. A., & Parasuraman, A. (2004). Service quality. Cambridge, MA: Marketing Science Institute.

DELTA BLUES

ABSTRACT

            Delta blues are the earliest fashion of music which initially started from the Mississippi Delta region in the United States. The region is made up of alluvial plain which stretches to Memphis in the West, Vicksburg to the North, Mississippi being located in the south and to the East, Yazoo River (Ratcliffe et al pg. 35). The level of poverty especially during the time when the blue music was taking roots in that area was unstable as a result of low per capita income. However the land in Mississippi was found to be so fertile but cultivation is made difficult due to the presence of thickets. Blues music is an important commodity in the delta region as it has also attracted so many funs of the bleus to this area. There exist two types of blues the normal blues and the deep Blues where the Delta basically deals with the deep Blues which is more emotional and this type of music is more felt than described (Gioia pg.5). Blues music has remained to be the only long lasting legacy in the Delta region even though so many other vision have washed out. It is true that Delta area is considered as the original place where Blues were born but there is no proof to prove that it started in this place. However, we can only give credit to the Delta region since it is from this region that the unique intensity of the music was found to be stronger than any other place thus attracting the World’s attention. The nature of the Blues music is that the music is unrefined, roughshod music with few superfluities (Gioia pg. 4). Freddie Spruell was the first Delta Blues artist while John Lomax and his son Alan are recorded as the extensive artist who recorded more of the music.

BODY

Delta Blues comprise of simple and stark defining characters.

            The fact that the Delta Blues music existed in the twentieth century when there were less advancement in the music industry, the music in that time could not have complex nature. Thus the artists at that time only used the few available instruments that they used in their music. Also, they used simple styles while composing their songs as the current issues that are emerging in the current world did not exist then. During those eras the education was not as it is today where almost every sector that revolves around human life are taught in school.

            Thus at those times education skills for music discipline did not exist and this attributed to the uses of non-sophisticated skills of playing the instruments. The Delta people basically used the guitar as the core instrument as they would not even afford other instruments. The major reasons as to why they used the guitars was the fact they were cheap, portable thus allowing them to move from one street to another and while making isolated Blues music. It is also evident that these guitars are not that good as the chords are less strummed and the clusters of notes which are pinched from a pentatonic scale and are tinted with sardonic dissonances where seeking a voice leading is futile (Palmer et al pg. 15). Therefore there were limited harmonic varieties in those times, with only the use of a solitary chord with a few adjustments in the entire song, a tender texture of sound persistent and pounding. In composing these Blues songs they integrated the use of simple riff, few notes that could only act as the anchor, scope and engine space and the use of repeated outline. The use of melodies was not more elaborate than that of the harmonies.

The Delta could not afford the luxury such as the use of a band like the one used in Chicago, in Memphis or in Detroit. They were self sufficient with the use of the guitar mostly supported by the singers who take care of it with love, at times smacking it in percussive accompaniment and playing it by means of broken glass pieces or a knife (Gioia pg.5). Thus it is evident to say that the Delta Blues used the basic instruments and used basic skills to compose, play the instruments and used simple performances.

The Delta Blues have greatly influenced the music field.

            We cannot ignore the great influence that the Delta Blues music has brought unto the world we are living in today. Their impacts are so much noticeable to an extent that we cannot even explain. However some authors have tried to expound on these influences. The songs that were made in Delta region have really transformed the world music. It has influenced the sound in the musical lives even up to date with so much pervasiveness. The current soundscapes were re-energized by the Delta Blues tonality which found well-to-do deposits by pulling out the cracks connecting the notes of our Western balance. The emergence of latest approach of musical expression was made possible by the Blues method of phrasing, the hard bite of its distinguishing harmonies and its incisive melodies. The Blues has thus formed a base to the kind of music that we listen to daily as it comprises of some similarities but which have been improved (Gioia pg.2).

Lyrics of the Delta Blues songs

            These artists challenged the common expectations of the people as they dealt with extensive themes in their songs. This is evidenced by the lyrics of their songs. On a apparent level, the songs dealt with themes of love and marriage, romance, travels and adventure.

They however gave just a small portion of their entire story as their aim was to communicate on a certain charged and disordered state of mind. The artists also addressed the secular topics with more passion than that of the religious music. In their religious composure of songs they used more of the book of revelation than the love book thus ended up talking of the redemption and the fall of man and the hot pursuit of the devil and the coming of the end of the world in a resonant language. These themes were largely adopted by the Americans and later it globalized even to our current cultures (Gioia pg 6).

Growth and spread of the Delta Blues music

            Delta Blues have not remained stagnant since its initiation. It has therefore spread all over the world and has given rise to other forms of music among them being, the rock and roll which in turn has borne other many sub-categories of the Blues. Practically it is right to state that the Delta sound now throbs as the fundamental heartbeat of essentially all styles of popular music. This indicates that there has been growth as too many other songs trace their origin from the Delta Blues. Originally the music was only to the Delta people but now it has spread and is distributed all over the world parts as many listen to the smaller forms of the Blues (Gioia pg 6-8).

Delta Blues performers

            Most of the Blues performers are men with few women who have participated in the composing and the singing of the Blues music. This is evident as in the early 1920’s around three women musicians dominated by then such as Ma Rainey, Mammie Smith and Bessie Smith. Women thus rarely involved themselves in recording of the Delta Blues and the folk Blues as most women were romantically involved with the prominent male artists.

 However, with time women began to record songs and they started reaching so many audiences with an influential and emotional vocal delivery (Gioia pg 57)

Benefits that came along with the Delta Blues

            There are indirect benefits that also accrue to the Mississippi and their locals. The area has attracted tourists to this region who move from their generating region into the Delta destination due to the interest of Blues music. The Blues tourists have thus been able to appreciate the Mississippians who have really tried in promoting its Blues tradition, beliefs and heritage. The visitation of these tourists has led to racial reconciliation, the nation’s pride and the community’s pride. Economically, the area has improved as the music industry in this area has grown thus increasing per capita income for the local Blues artists. The land has also acted as the ground where scholars and researchers interested in the discipline of music as they are able to examine and evaluate the Delta Blues and critique them so as to build up developers and boosters who are accountable for the stylistic messages that are composed to serve authorized and sociopolitical goals (Collins, Janelle pg. 259).

CONCLUSION

The legacy that the Delta Blues has left behind is great and the impacts of this early form of music are far greater than we can all explain. The new versions of songs that we are currently enjoying in the day to day life are as a result of the Delta Blues from which these versions were born. It is thus fair for us to appreciate and give credit to the singers from the Delta region. The Delta Blues have globalized and with far much updated versions, styles, themes and instruments and the way in which we play them due to the evolution of the world.

REFERENCES

Collins, Janelle. Defining the Delta: Multidisciplinary Perspectives on the Lower Mississippi       River Delta. , 2015. Print.

Gioia, Ted. Delta Blues: The Life and Times of the Mississippi Masters Who Revolutionized         American Music. , 2008. Internet resource.

Palmer, Robert. Deep Blues: [a Musical and Cultural History of the Mississippi Delta]. New       York, NY [u.a.: Penguin Books, 1982. Print.

Ratcliffe, Philip R. Mississippi John Hurt: His Life, His Times, His Blues. Jackson: University     Press of Mississippi, 2011. Print.

VERTU: NOKIA’S LUXURY MOBILE PHONE FOR THE URBAN RICH

Introduction

Nokia Company, with its headquarters in Finland, remained to be the leading telecommunication equipment manufacture in the world. This is because of the Vertu luxury phone it manufactured in the late 1990s through the use of precious material for example sapphires, exotic leather, titanium and diamond (Kwong-Kay, 2012).  The company continued to enjoy its impressive growth in the market because this smart phone had unique qualities and one of a kind for at that period. Despite that, unfortunately the phone lost its popularity hence making the company to loss its leadership in the market.

This case study basically explains the ways through which Nokia Company managed to become the leading manufacturer and distributor of this luxury mobile phone, what made it to loss its market leadership as well as how it managed to stay afloat in this contemporary constant changing market.

Summary of the situation

Stephen Elop, as Nokia’s managing director, had allowed the company’s chief designer to also run at arm’s length in the manufacturing of Vertu luxury phones in England. The manufacturing of Vertu luxury phones ended up showing a considerable growth in at least seventy sates selling mobile pnones. With respect to this case, there a number of key issues which are related to its luxury phone market dominance and consequently the loss of that leadership;

First and foremost, regardless of the fact that the company managed to be the leading market supplier of luxury phones for rich peoples for a number of years that have passed, the company finally lost its leadership through Android which was eventually developed by Goggle in 2010.  In connection to that, since there was need of maintaining it competitive advantage in the market, its management authority resolved coming up with newer mobile technologies since technology had already grown the rate at which Vertu could not cope up with (Kwong-Kay, 2012). Unfortunately, they ended up spending millions of money on the multiple researches as well as development without producing more competitive smart phones in the market.

Similarly, the reason as to why they lost their leadership is because of their investment community. As their situation worsened, the investment community also started reacting poorly and was further downgraded by their financial analysts. This is to say that their potential investors lost the morale of continuing to invest in it because of the fear of losing their funds or not making adequate profit at the end of the trading period because the market itself continued to act poorly. Finally, resorting creating other luxury phones was the only option the company remained with.

Definition of the problem

The strategy which was developed by Elop the managing director of Nokia might have not been an effective one. The reason for failing to convert to Windows operating system was because of the 14% drop of the share prices of Nokia which was encountered during the time of closing their partnership (Kwong-Kay, 2012). Thus there are a number of questions that arises from this are; did the company could have managed to keep Vertu at arm’s length or pull it closer and closer to joint manufacturing in Finland? What could have been the reaction of Vertu to Nokia’s new mobile strategy? Was it well positioned in taking the brand forward under the new Nokia?

Alternative solutions

Regardless of the failure of their partnership, still there are some alternative solutions the company could have considered. One of the very best alternatives that could have been taken is that Vertu could have stood on its own completely by breaking away from Nokia. The reason for this is because, as much as the market shares of Nokia continued to drop drastically, it was still going to be impossible to market this luxury phones in case Nokia did not manage to recover it (Kwong-Kay, 2012).

Select a solution

By considering the views of Kwong-Kay, (2012) as means of reviving its market leadership or just ensuring that it is competing favorably in the current telecommunication market, the management of the company should consider manufacturing multiple product choices in the market. Conversely, as a means of covering the manufacturing cost associated with the provision of multiple choices of telecommunication products in the market, they will have to come up with high pricing so as to cater for the cost of its products.

Implementation

According to Kwong-Kay, (2012), we can say that still the market platform of Nokia can be perceived as being promising. Therefore, its management authority should consider expanding its markets. This is to say that it should choose to cater for more than one market. Nevertheless, they should ensure that it had come up with extensive promotions which will be aimed at promoting its brand in more areas.

Recommendations

There management should find other ways of bringing their product to new areas or markets. This is to say that it should not be restricted to already established markets. The U.K based wholly owned subsidiary should not be left alone. They need to align the goals of their establishment as well as managing it at arm’s length from Nokia Company. Realistic and extensive research should be undertaken so as to ensure the incorporation of newer technology in manufacturing communication products is efficient. The reason for this is because the changes Vertu incurred with time were inevitable.

Reference

Kwong-Kay W.K (2012). Vertu: Nokia’s luxury mobile phone for the urban rich. (Report No. W11208). Watertorn, MA: Harvard Business Publishing

VERTU: NOKIA LUXURY MOBILE PHONE FOR THE URBAN RICH

Alternative Solutions

Since the first inception of Vertu phone, the standardized marketing of the brand around the world ought to be shifted to more of customizing to the local market where they embrace the diversity of cultures. Asia, for instance, is known for embracing what have the taste of their locality, building a brand with a complete reflection of the Asian people will not only gain a media coverage but also a rise in the number of sales units. This is known essentiality when conducting business in China and this would be a great alternative opportunity for Vertue to triumph. Another option which is viable for the brand growth is the creation of synergies with some of the well-established brands so as to make a rigid stand in the market courtesy of recognition (Wong, 2011). Consequently, meeting the local market needs embraced in parts of Japan and Korea. This would offer a proper marketing plan and furthermore aid in quest of developing even more relevant brands.

Entrepreneurial Investment Report

Executive Summary

This report gives an evaluation of the performance of Choice Electronics Company in terms of the current profitability and the prospective profitability in comparison to the initial rationale for its foundation. The analysis also provides information on the financial stability of the company in terms liability versus assets in the current period as compared to the past and the forecast financial performance. The findings show that comparative performance is low in the parts of profit margins, credit control and management of inventory. The information is provided in a table to clearly show the information on financial matters.

It shows that the company’s prospects in the current form though not negative, there is need for management to investigate further and come up with remedial actions.   The report also provides information on why the sales have stagnated over the past two years which has seen minimal growth in sales volume after a peak in 2011 and provides recommendation on how to increase the sales volume. The reports also draws attention to the fact that in in 2011, the market share Choice Smartphone stood at 41 percent. The market share of other competing smart phones stood at 59 percent but has seen it raise 35 percent. Further investigation has revealed that the shrinkage in the share market coincide with entry of counterfeit phones in the market especially in the year 2013 and a reduction in the pricing of some of the competing smart phones. These factors seem to be the main cause of decrease in sales subsequent lower profits. The recommendation arrived at include an improvement on debt collection , better management on inventory and the adjustment of pricing in order to compete favourably with other firms. To increase the sales volume, aggressive advertising should be done and legal action taken in order to bring down the chances of the company’s products being counterfeited.

The company was initially started with a goal of targeting the middle class market and thus it had its products priced lower than similar brands. With an initial capital of 250 million dollars part of which was a secured bank loan, the company financial position has ensured that the financing loan has been fully serviced and the return on investment has seen the company stabilize financially.

Market and Customers.

Choice Electronic Company was started on the basis of gaining competitive advantage over other existing competitors in order to penetrate the electronic market. The name Choice Phone Company was dropped and Choice Electronics was adapted in order to have an inclusive name since the company resulted to producing other electronic products apart from Choice phones. Thus the company mainly deals with selling smartphone but has also incorporated other electronics that include computers and software Pal OS X operating system. It has been very successful in the introduction of the software that has enabled it to develop an excellent Choice Smartphone.

Initially the company attracted around 5 million users in the phone market by the end of the year 2008. The number of the users however exceeded the expectation by the end of the year 2010large where it was able to attract 40 million users an increase that was largely attributed to the low price which was a strategy go penetrate the market. By the year 2011 the company was able to reach it pick and its market share stood at 41 percent a factor contributed to high profitability in the same year. The company, however, faces big competition from similar brand and the counterfeit brands that sell very cheaply especially in the low income countries. The company sales have been supported by partnering with more than 2000 stores which has been facilitated by 217 stores and this has seen gain a competitive advantage. It has also strategically partnered with other partners in foreign countries to produce and distribute the products. The computer products have largely been sold locally but the Pal software has been franchised with an aim of maximising profitability. The company target market is non corporates, low and medium income earners unlike the competitors. It has managed to leverage on the image of Choice Smartphone and thus attain a good positioning in the market. Its target market has mainly been professionals and students who are between 20 – 38 years age basically.

The company has applied the 4 Ps model of marketing mix in order to come up with a good strategy for marketing where the an exchange of benefits are done between the marketing pillars which was later modified to add three more Ps. The product can be found in more than 10 million pages on the internet, using a broad display screen in every mobile phone.  The software used is Pal OS system with expandable memory and replaceable battery. All the versions of the Choice phones have been integrated with support for 3G network. A SWOT analysis of the smartphone and the other products has been used to establish their strength and opportunities. The company should come up with main competencies on which it basis its strength and put more focus on the opportunities that may arise with time. An analysis of threats assist in safeguarding the development of the product and come up with contingency plans. The company has gradually adopted innovative methods in an effort to convert weaknesses into strength while using appropriate resources. The customers do not appreciate the locked Choice smartphone that uses one network. The cost of this phone higher than other similar phones in the market which would partly explain the reduction in the market share. The company should also apply pricing strategy of the best-fit segment where it will target those customers who are less sensitive to price and want to utilise the benefit of the newest technology. This will enable it capture more market segment instead of targeting only the middle and the low income earner segment of the market. This is known as versioning, which is a price discrimination strategy where Choice phone prices will be set according to the customers desire to pay. This should be structured in various countries because a significant difference in the per capita income in different countries.

Though the company has been active in promotion, it should aggressively engage in more advertising activities to boost the sales volume. This should also include press releases and posting blogs so as to increase the coverage of the phones and the computer products across the web. The company has seen a lot of counterfeit products affect its sales. To overcome this the company should go a set further from protecting its intellectual property. The company should work with authorities to police its products and pursue the counterfeit one. It should periodically monitor its sales, both retail and online to check for genuineness.

Income statements

In million USD for 2010-2015

Balance sheet as at 31-12- 2015

Cash flow statement as at 31-12-2015

The income statement shows the peak of the company’s sales to be in the year 2011. It has been successful in allowing other parties in using their innovative Pal OS software in other gargets and making the Choice smart phone act as a remote and this helps the firm to share the profits with such developers. The performance of the firm has been affected by the entry of other similar brands whose price are low and whose products have not seen much of counterfeiting. The stiff competition has seen the company experience no growth at all in terms of volume of sales although it continues to be profitable only because the costs of operation have been changing. It continues to be a viable venture as proved by the latest income statement.

Conclusion

It has been confirmed that the company has been able to remain profitable even when it has been experiencing low volume of sales. This has been enabled by the effort to keep the expense at minimum level. The company should focus on adding new markets for its leverage phone brand and aggressively market the other products especially the Choice computer. It should also understand changes in social forces and apply it in targeting new customers. Instead of focussing only on the young, middle income and low income segments of the market, it should plan to target. To further increase sales volume, should consider expanding its market to many countries.

Analyzing the branding image of Starbucks

The clock is ticking. Thirteen minutes are left until the beginning of the first class. You wonder whether it would be possible to attend class with a cup of Americano as you enter Starbucks. Unfortunately, the mission comes to a failure as you were not even close to the counter to place the order. Despite the lengthy wait time, people did not hesitate to stand in line to grab coffee at Starbucks.

Starbucks is widely known by consumers in our society as Starbucks opened its store every few blocks across America. Starbucks is also well known to have the best quality coffee made by employees who are passionate towards coffee. The familiarity of the name, Starbucks, attracts people but that cannot merely justify the reasons that make people enthusiastically wait in line for at least ten minutes to grab a cup of coffee (Dollinger, 1). The long line and the people in line spark astonishment and curiosity rather than irritation and anger. The question is if it is really worth the waiting time to grab a cup of coffee from Starbucks. The company claims that “Starbucks represents something beyond a cup of coffee.” This sparks to question the factors that convince customers to become loyal customers of Starbucks. In order to understand the magic Starbucks plays on people to wait in line, everything about Starbucks itself must be explored. Through the voice of the CEO, Howard Schultz in his book, Pour Your Heart into It, the mysteries of Starbucks will be revealed. 

The Starbucks coffee company was able to attract people and turn them into loyal customers by using studies from consumer psychology. Consumer psychology is the study of the reasons to why and how people make certain choices (Bussing-Burks, Marie, 10). It even explains how people react to influence of marketing and external factors. It is crucial to understand that people often make decisions emotionally and justify those rationally with external factors. Starbucks is able to maintain a highly reputed brand image because it continues to provide rational reasons to customers who buy beverage from Starbucks. Understanding the reasons to why people make certain choices is important for Starbucks to play the magic to attract customers. The book, Pour Your Heart into It suggests that benefits such as taste of coffee, atmosphere, and price become the external factors that drive people into buying Starbucks coffee. Those factors do contribute but there are more which Starbucks offers.

Consumer psychology, more specifically behaviorism is defined as “the study of individuals and the process they use to select, secure, use, and dispose of products, services, experiences, or ideas to satisfy needs and the impacts that these processes have on the consumer (CITE).” In other words, people are influenced by outside factors when they are making decisions. This concept is used to strengthen both market and social marketing. Starbucks deliberately places its stores near offices and in school campus to target stressed and sleep deprived people. Moreover, it puts ample amount of emphasis on giving the unique coffee experience to consumers rather than merely selling the coffee. This helps to make Starbucks more familiar and reliable. The concept consumer psychology can be further used to analyze how Starbucks goes beyond the demand of customers by allowing consumers to have a unique coffee experience. 

Starbucks has strategically discovered the needs of the people and offered those within Starbucks (Bryant, 95). From the moment a customer steps into Starbucks, everything the customer encounters becomes part of the Starbucks experience. The customers can utilize that time to socialize with others, get familiar with the unique terminology used at Starbucks, or have person time to think or reflect. The Starbucks brand image argue that study of consumer psychology is necessary to appeal its brand to the people by not only satisfying the customers but also providing them with new unique experiences. Starbucks has successfully taken advantage of the consumer psychology studies to attract everyone into Starbucks as people are willing to wait in a long line to purchase coffee. This argument would become valid as the logo, menu, the atmosphere of Starbucks, terminology used at Starbucks and price is analyzed and connected to consumer psychology (Bussing-Burks, Marie, 10). Overall, everyone can gain benefits from Starbucks as the brilliant idea to launch a mobile app to pre-order online has given the opportunities to those who are busy and unwilling to wait in line to also experience part of the benefits Starbucks offers to its customers. Understand the needs of the people, Starbucks does not force any customers to fully experience the benefits Starbucks offers but gives everyone the chance to experience Starbucks. Analyzing the ways Starbucks took advantage of studies done on behaviorism will help other companies to become more approachable to customers. Overall, Starbucks offers a business and marketing format other companies can adopt in order to present their ideas. 

            Starbucks offers experience beyond a cup of coffee because it helps customers to experience the traditions of coffee shops in Italy. Starbucks was transformed into a café from a roasted coffee bean store. This transformation allowed Starbucks to incorporate coffee drinking into community’s social life. Starbucks has become a place where people can sit, sip coffee and interact with other people. This plays a major role in shaping the brand image of Starbucks; a coffee shop where you can experience beyond the taste of coffee.

            One particular image in Starbucks is repeatedly used to represent Starbucks, the Starbucks logo. Starbucks did not accidently present its logo everywhere. The logo conveys messages and illustrates its branding image. The logo was designed to promote a specific life style and values offered exclusively at Starbucks. Interestingly, Starbucks uses a figure that is unfamiliar to most of the people. By doing this, it represents the idea that Starbucks is offering something new and unique to the customers. The logo contains a siren that is known as a Baubo, a two-tailed creature. In Greek Mythology, siren is well known as a female figure who expose her genitalia. The siren symbolizes female fertility and sexuality. The image of siren ties to Starbucks as it iconizes the tradition of Europe, especially Italy where the café tradition was adopted from. The Siren also connects well with Seattle, where Starbucks began, due to its proximity to the Ocean. These interpretations of the siren deepen the desire of Starbucks as a company to maintain the tradition of the coffee culture. Whether the customer knows the meaning behind the logo or not, customers are able to connect the image of siren with Starbucks. However, the logo has done a vital part in attracting customerswho later make a decision of becoming regular customers (Dollinger, 1). 

Even though Starbucks came up with several selections to accommodate the demands of customers, it continues to maintain the characteristics of coffee drinking culture that was found in Italy.

 The siren is also symbolized as a mother. As mothers are well known as a person who takes good care of their baby, the siren depicted as a mother figure will increases the reliability and credibility of Starbucks to be offering what is best for the people. Siren in this case has symbolized how responsible and caring Starbucks is to its customers. Since every person wishes to be attended to with the care such like that of a mother,

            Starbucks coffee shop offers experience beyond a cup of coffee. Nevertheless, the beverages are one of the reason to why customers go to Starbucks. Starbucks offers numerous beverages that can be consumed by customers. The menu at Starbucks contains traditional styled coffee, Frappuccino (more modern styled blended coffee), and refreshers (non-coffee based beverages). At first, when Starbucks was turned into a café, it only offered traditional hot coffee to its customers. However, as customers demanded different types of coffee, a team of Starbucks employees gathered and introduced new beverages that accommodated well with the weather (Dollinger, 1). It even went further on to provide beverages that do not contain coffee. As the menu is well organized into different sections, it gives out a message that everyone regardless of his or her taste, is welcomed to grab a drink at Starbucks. The beautiful service the menu offers has greatly played a significant role in the building up of consumer psychology

Beyond the list of beverages, Starbucks gives out several options to allow the customers to customize their own coffee. The menu offers any type of beverage in both cold and hot style. Moreover, customers are given the option to add syrups, different kind of milk, or extra shot(s). Even though the menu lists out Starbuck’s most famous drinks that offer the taste of romance, customers are given the freedom to make their own coffee. Moreover, the menu offers its coffee in five different sizes. This adds on the freedom to the customers to pick the size that would satisfy their hunger for coffee or thirst. Therefore, this image of menu gives guidance to choose a beverage to those who are not familiar with coffee or Starbucks but at the same time gives freedom to those coffee lovers to drink their own styled coffee. The fact that the menu is organized so well into different sections, customers can easily choose what they want to drink. Overall, the menu gives out a message that customers of any age and appetite can enter Starbucks and successfully satisfy their needs. Menus are attractive tools and so the number of customers increase each day hence starbucks achieves its main objective of consumer psychology.

More importantly, the terminology exclusively practiced at Starbucks is a factor customers are satisfied with. It is not large black coffee but instead a venti pike place blend.Starbucks does not go by small, medium, large but lingo that is associated with the Italian café. Sizes such as grende, venti, and trenta are all Italian words used at Starbucks. The usage of Italian words helps customers to experience what it was like to be at an Italian café. The customers are drawn to using the lingo Starbucks has created because that way, they are able to distinguish themselves from others. Costumers do not just want coffee but they want to become part of a place where it has integrated its own language and culture (Gallagher, Richard, 45). People want to belong to a specific community. As the terminology used in Starbucks is exclusive and unique, customers are able to distinguish themselves as Starbucks users. In Starbucks’s aspect, standardizing the language for costumers and baristas, stylistic and technical discourse is accomplished. This way, Starbucks becomes more appealing to the costumers as it offers uniqueness in ordering a beverage. Such terminology allows customers to feel sophisticated about what they are saying. Therefore, the customers are able to taste the romance from the point they place an order (Gallagher & Richard, 38).

In accordance to consumer psychology, people are attracted to the terminology used at Starbucks due to atmosphere at Starbucks. This is the case as the terminology is part of the experience Starbucks creates for its customers. If the customer does not adopt the Starbucks terminology, he or she is likely to be corrected by the barista in front of the others. Therefore, as people do not like to be corrected in front of others, they adopt the terminology used at Starbucks to avoid such embarrassment. People also adopt and enjoy using Starbucks terminology as they like use complicated lingo to be unique. Moreover, people associate fancy vocabularies to be trendy and as Starbucks has its own unique lingo, people want to become part of the Starbucks community to stay trendy. Overall, Starbucks terminology is used as a business strategy to attract people who want to be unique and be identified as a Starbucks customer.

Beside all these factors mentioned so far, Starbucks continues to be loved by its customers because of the atmosphere it creates within its stores.

The other secret of Starbucks lies on the pricing strategy of their coffee. Starbucks has been offering early bird specials for breakfast to most of its customers. Since the prices of these offers are sensitive, it offered some little discounts to the early raisers. In their overall menu, prices are also considerably lower compared to their neighboring competitors. This has greatly attracted the larger target market of university students and the less advantaged locals.

Starbucks price decision is worth to be embraced by other business dealers. It considers the aspect of earning relatively low from each cup of coffee which results to large benefits when more customers get attracted. Lower prices are also sustainable because they have enabled Starbucks to serve their customers profitably for a long period (AMACOM, 88).

However, Starbucks has been able to compensate the lower income by advancing their services. It has secluded a part of the café to the high class customers who feel they require more excellent services. Coffee from this horizon is relatively expensive. This ensures that the needs staff members, officials, ministers and other customers of a higher rank are catered for.

In setting up the different costs for different coffee types, Starbucks evaluated and estimated the cost which the customers would be prepared to pay and so this attracted them. Starbucks also used the strategy of lowering their prices below that of their competitors to attract customers (Jansson-Boyd, Cathrine, 150). When Starbucks had variations in prices, they amicably communicated to their customers and tried to reason with them to ensure that they stay on board. Variation of prices was also accompanied by an offer or a better service that made them feel catered for. Starbucks prices are really welcoming and so they have played a major part in the consumer psychology (Gallagher & Richard, 38).

It has been the goal of Starbucks to become the third place of their customers. Starbucks has used the approach from a “what I would want” mentality. It prompts its workers to put themselves in the shoes of the customer so that they are served the way they would like to be served. In this way, ways of making Starbucks a third place are identified for the comfort of the customers. People will find the comfort that they usually have in their homes and choose to spend some time enjoying the cool environment of Starbucks. Comfort of the customers has been one of the best and sustainable methods of ensuring consumer psychology are achieved.

Starbucks has put very comfortable and nice chairs, where people can enjoy spending their time browsing, talking and chatting with their friends. The idea behind Starbucks as a third place is to make the experience of the customers to be great. If a customer enjoys the experience, he or she shall share it with friends and family and finally invite them. Making Starbucks the third place shall also incorporate fixing problems that customers may notice and creating a free and enjoyable place worth spending even leisure time.

Starbucks has intern trained its employees who also learn by example. They are taught how to handle the customers, making the delicious coffee and maintaining the standards of the working conditions such as hygiene. In this way customers are made comfortable by the excellent services, warm welcome and finally the coffee. Starbucks has also put up a cool entertainment system where cool music can always sound. Television set is also available with the DSTV channels available. This has made Starbucks a real home where a customer can dish and get entertained.

Generally, consumer psychology helps in businessmen to identify why and how customers chose to embrace their conduct when they have a variety of choices they can choose from. The main reason of having this study is to help business persons to lay out strategies that shall attract many customers and be loyal and regular customers. Starbucks have perfected in embracing this study and so this counts a lot in its success.

Starbucks went an extra mile of creating an environment that would make the customers to have a unique experience other than just having a cup of coffee. All this efforts were meant to ensure that all customers get satisfied by the services offered in the coffee café. The beneficiaries at long last would be the Starbucks. Large amount of profits would be realized and used to expand their operations. Among the many factors that Starbucks opted to embrace, I chose logo, prices, a third place, menu and Starbucks terminology because of their outstanding impacts in the customer psychology.

Menu is the first thing that impresses a customer once he or she sits down to be served. When the menu satisfies the needs of the customer, other factors may play their part. Menu carries so much and so it communicates half the information about the café. This is because it carries the logo of the café, the prices and their corresponding coffee types, a message to the customer about the coffee café and perhaps the direction and location of the café. From this evaluation, all the other factors are at one point or another dependent on the menu. Menu therefore attracts the customers more and hence playing the most important role in customer psychology.

As discussed in the essay, logo plays a background role of attracting customers. It gives symbolic information that catches the customer’s attention and as he or she tries to find out the meaning of the symbols used. The starbuck’s logo symbolizes hard work, caring and all the other character traits that are found in mothers. This wins the customers’ attention to believe that the efforts portrayed are genuine. In this way customers share this good experience with others making the café to be known by many. Definitely the more the customers, the more easier and profitable a business becomes (AMACOM, 88).

Price and Starbucks being a third place have done a good job in the implementation of the customer psychology study. They have ensured that all the customers’ needs are met and their expectations are overtaken. These strategies have made the customers experience to be more personal whereby they end up feeling to be part of the servers union. Customers are won indirectly by the friendly services which brings them to be regular customers as they inform others of the same.

Conclusion

In conclusion, business is beyond the ordinary services. Starbucks has made it and so many other cafes and businesses in general ought to appreciate this success and embrace it in their daily operations. Instead of investing so much in trying to compete with competitors, customer psychology study would serve this purpose best.  

Works cited

 Dollinger.M., Starbucks, "The Third Place", and Creating the Ultimate Customer Experience 2016

http://www.fastcompany.com/887990/starbucks-third-place-and-creating-ultimate-customer-experience

http://www.starbucks.co.uk/about-us/our-heritagFormun Üstü

Simon, Bryant. Everything but the Coffee: Learning About America from Starbucks. Berkeley: University of California Press, 2009. Internet resource.

 Bussing-Burks, Marie. Starbucks. Santa Barbara, Calif: Greenwood Press, 2009. Print.

Gilbert, Sara. The Story of Starbucks. Mankato, MN: Creative Education, 2008. Print.

Jansson-Boyd, Cathrine V. Consumer Psychology. Maidenhead: Open University Press, 2010. Internet resource.

Gallagher, Richard S. Great Customer Connections: Simple Psychological Techniques That Guarantee Exceptional Service. New York: AMACOM, 2006. Internet resource.

Business Plan of a Restaurant in Alaska

Introduction of the proposed business

Considering the increasing number of consumers who have preferred to dine outside their homes or have prepared food, I have viewed it wise to start a restaurant in Alaska. This is a conceived business decision that I want to pen down its plan so that I can start with an immediate effect. The focus of my plan will be on organic and ethnic foods and food that will satisfy the needs of many who value and treasure such foods.

Services

Services that shall be offered will be majorly from the chef's recommendations. This is because he has a variety of ingredients and recipes that would serve best the services of this restaurant. The restaurant will consider a healthy dish as the key factor of its services. Most importantly, hygiene will be highly valued and any other important aspect will be upheld to ensure quality services are offered. Breakfast, lunch and supper will be made available at their respective periods of the day.

Management

Management will have a very powerful team with Mr. Daniel as the general manager. A team of twenty chefs and other workers will handle the catering department. Other offices will be handled by other members of staff including Dorcas K. the financial manager, Zack Volentino who will be the secretary. The management will work tirelessly to ensur that all workers work to achieve the core goal of maximizing the profits for the benefit of every person under this roof. It will also focus in rewarding the hardworking workers which shall be a motivating factor to all workers.

Objectives

Our main objective will be to maximize profit as we minimize the cost of production.

We are expecting to get $136000 in the first year, $566000 in the second year and progress with an increasing output thereafter.

Mission

Our mission shall be making Alaska restaurant to be the best place to dine.

Getting maximum out of the little investment is also our mission.

Creating an enjoyable working environment for all workers shall be also our mission.

Vision

The vision of Alaska restaurant will be to serve the community under sustainable and favorable services.

Business entity

The Alaska restaurant will be of general partnership entity and more particularly general partnership whereby we shall have a joint ownership with one of my business partner by the name Joshua Gorge. General partnership unit has very unique elements that made me choose it. Among them are the sharing of profits and losses equally and each one of us will have an equal right of managing the restaurant (Learn2succeed.com Inc., 2009).

General partnership is my best choice because it has numerous advantages over the other entities. First, it is easy to establish this form of entity. Since the ownership is combined, it becomes easy to raise capital and get funds whenever they are needed to run the business. This becomes a safety advantage when the restaurant runs at a risk of shortage of capital.

The quality of management is also higher because the different parties are able to combine their ideas and intellectual knowledge to come up with big and achievable ideas. This is the best advantage of this entity because if the management of the restaurant is promising, then the success is guaranteed.

General partnership provides a large variety of skills that are attributed by the different managers of the restaurant. This will minimize errors that come about due to lack of knowledge and negligence. Finally, the business will not be taxed separately because each partner will file his profits and loses and draw the taxes from his leftovers.

However, the partnership entity has some limitations which we shall try to bear with them. First, each partner is liable for any debts that the company may have. This implies that their assets would be a substitute of their debt. The partnership entity may be unstable because one partner may wish to withdraw from the business. The partners are also jointly liable of any step taken by any of the members of the partnership. This is a serious concern since when a third party may decide to sue the company; he can sue any of the partners.

Steps to be carried out before starting the restaurant

Having done the planning of the structure of the restaurant, the implementation of the plan shall start immediately after a careful analysis of the plans. The starting point of the business is very important but it is not until several steps are followed that the business can be commenced. In first step, we shall get ready with the funds that were estimated during the planning. This shall allow us to finish everything that required funds easily and with fluency (Learn2succeed.com Inc., 2009). 

Seeking legal authorization will follow whereby the following details are supposed to be approved and licensed. We shall first register the name of our partnership which will be Alaska restaurant. The other step will be to incorporating our business through the LCC process which will be essential in protecting the assets of the restaurant. These assets will include the utensils for cooking, furniture in form of chairs and tables, kitchenware and any other asset we shall have bought (Learn2succeed.com Inc., 2009).

The next step will lead us to obtaining a Federal Tax Identification Number. This will distinguish our restaurant as a distinct entity for security purposes. This will also save us from producing the personal social security number for business matters each time. We shall also create and sign the partnership agreement which shall be very essential because it shall outline the responsibilities that affect both of us as the partners. It shall also highlight how the profits and losses will be allocated and also the authority of each of us in decision making in the restaurant partnership (Learn2succeed.com Inc., 2009).  We shall also ensure that we license the partnership

This will help all our operations to be within the requirements of the law. We shall consult an attorney who has specialized in the catering sector who shall advice us on various strategies that will give us long-term benefits in our business. The attorneys shall have to be a recognized and licensed by the government of Alaska for quality guarantee (Learn2succeed.com Inc., 2009).  

Having passed all the legal requirements, we shall choose a strategic location where we shall set up the business. This is very important and so much research and precise planning shall be needed. Some of the considerations that we shall ensure include the brand image of the place. We shall also ensure that the area is business friendly (Learn2succeed.com Inc., 2009).  For instance, we shall look a vacant space along the superhighway where visitors and locals can be able to access. We shall also consider the safety of the area so that the employees shall feel safe and secure. Other consideration shall be on the local restrictions and rules of that place.

The other important step will be making the choice of the foods and the prices that each shall require. This will lead us towards designing a menu that shall list all the foods we shall be offering against the prices.

We shall also open a bank account which shall help us fund our business. This will enable the starting of building our business credit after which there shall be cash supply at hand.

We shall also seek to find start-up resources that will guide us on various ways to respond to various circumstances within and outside the restaurant. We shall also build up a team of working staff that shall get off the restaurant from the ground. We shall define the roles of each person, rights and responsibilities to each worker. This shall help us to minimize confusion once the operation commences. 

The last step will be starting up the restaurant. This step is a trial and error step whereby mistakes come up and discouragement may start (Learn2succeed.com Inc., 2009).  

There are several steps that are undertaken when the business shall start. First, branding and advertising shall start. This shall be done through various modes of marketing including word-of mouth advertising, creating awareness in the social media like Facebook and Twitter among others. Other modes shall be placing advertisements in TV and radio stations. Posters and offers shall useful in attracting customers.

The restaurant will then pick up the trend and start competing with its competitors.  As implementation of the designed business plan will be going on there will be room for improvement (Learn2succeed.com Inc., 2009).   

Reference

Formun Üstü

Learn2succeed.com Inc. (2009). Steps to starting a successful retail business: How to find a niche and turn it into a money machine. Toronto: Productive Publications.

Formun Altı

Marketing of a Backpack

A backpack is commonly used for different purposes and this includes carrying clothes, goods, and books (Bölke, 2015). A person may also use it to carry different things according to the way he or she intends to use it. It must therefore be strong enough to be able to be used for multiple things. We are therefore designing a backpack which will be strong enough to carry different goods. Since this product will be targeting mostly the youths. We will therefore design it in a very appealing way. This will make it easy for the product to be able to attract the attention of the youths (Boussabaine, 2013). The youths often like fancy things and the design which we are going to use will make sure that we are able to reach a greater market. We are therefore going to use a material which is very strong and durable thus making this product to be useful in different ways (Hoffman, & Bateson, 2011). This backpack can therefore be used to carry light things and heavy goods since it is made of a very strong material (McLeish, 2011). It can therefore be used for travelling, hiking and even for carrying books. The backpack will have four separate compartments, the first compartment will be very wide and it can therefore for keeping books, and clothes (Schindler, 2012). The second compartment will be a little bit smaller than the first one and can be used for storing few additional products such as clothes and books. The third compartment will be smaller and it will be used for storing tissue papers, toothpaste, bottled water and a soap. The forth compartment will be the smallest and it will therefore be used for storing a pen, driving license and hand gloves (Smith, 2012).

This product will therefore be designed in a very unique way compared to other backpacks. This will really help in making most customers to be attracted to it since customers want something unique (Boussabaine, 2013). The quality of the product will also be another thing that will give the value for money since it will be used for different activities. On the other hand, the product is unisex since it is made in a way that it can be used by both men and women. This product will come in different colours, since different people are attracted to different colours (McLeish, 2011). We will produce them in both bright and dull colours and this will consequently see most people like the product as it comes in colours that different people like (Hoffman, & Bateson, 2011). The product will also have inner zipper pockets where a person can be able put money. The inner pockets can also be used for storing private things such as sanitary pads for the ladies while travelling or otherwise when in class. This pockets will therefore make sure that no one gets to see the things that are supposed to be private (Schindler, 2012). On the left and right side of the backpack, there will be a pocket which can hold an umbrella. This will make sure that a person can be able to carry an umbrella on the backpack and in case the rain falls, then he or she will use the umbrella (Smith, 2012). The backpack will be so spacious and it will be medium sized hence carrying a lot of goods without any problem. This consequently makes it to be suited for different activities since it can also support multiple use (Bölke, 2015).

We are going to use premium pricing strategy to set the price of the product. Through this strategy, the product will cost more compared to other products in the market. This is one way of attracting customers to our product (Smith, 2012). This is because, most people particularly the youths will consequently go for a high quality product regardless of its price (McLeish, 2011). Furthermore, we will be able to realise our starting capital within the shortest time possible. Set a higher price compared to other products in the market helps in making sure that customers think twice before buying the product (Hoffman, & Bateson, 2011). This is because new products are usually cheaper compared to old products in the market. This will therefore make the buyer to look carefully at the product and since it is unique and of a high quality, then he or she will not hesitate to buy the product (Boussabaine, 2013). On the other hand, the number of people who will be attracted to the product will be very high since it is unique, and its price is higher than that of other products in the market. Most people will consequently be able to buy the product regardless of its price since it is of a good quality. This pricing strategy will also help us when it comes to promotions since we will have to reduce the prices of the product thus attracting many people to the product. After the dropping the prices of the product, the number of sales will consequently increase and the profits realized will be much more compared to the number of purchases before the reduction of the price (Schindler, 2012).

The product will be retailed to different customers and we will use different strategies in order to attract the attention of the customers (Smith, 2012). This includes customizing the product according to the way that the customer wants it to be for example if he or she wants it to have a personal name, then the product will be made with the customer’s name (McLeish, 2011). This will really help in making most people particularly the youths who like customized things to be attracted to the product (Boussabaine, 2013). Customizing the product will increase its prices slightly thus making us to gain a lot of profits. On the other hand, if a customer wants the two or more products to be customized different then the price of the product will reduce slightly (Bölke, 2015). This will make it easy for us to be able to attract many customers who will not only want to buy a single product but they will buy many backpacks thus making us to increase the profits that we will be making. More, we will also be maintaining our customers thus they will be able to market our product thus increasing the number of sales (Hoffman, & Bateson, 2011).

After reaching our sales goals, we will then reduce the price of the product in order to attract the attention of the customers (McLeish, 2011). They will therefore be able to buy the product. On the other hand, we will also use the social media for promotional services (Boussabaine, 2013). This is because, through the social media, we will be able to reach many people. We will therefore be offering vouchers to those people who will have most shares on the social media. This will consequently help in making the product to go viral thus attracting the attention of most people hence being able to reach a wider market (Hoffman, & Bateson, 2011). The product will have its price while being shared on the social media. Since its price will be reduced, this will make it easy as many people will to purchase it (Smith, 2012). This number of vouchers won will be twenty and this will see more than one hundred people competing for the prizes. The small number of coupons will really help since most people will have to share with their friends the product on the social media in order to be able to win the coupons before other people win them (Schindler, 2012). We will also use the radio and television and posters in order to make sure that the promotion is effective and it helps in increasing the number of sales of the product. This will therefore see the product beating other products in the competitive market. Thus making us to be able to boost our sales and increase the profits (Hoffman, & Bateson, 2011).

Profitability Graph.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                             

In the 1^st quarter, the profit of our product (cherry) was steady because it was a new product in the market (Smith, 2012). On the other hand, the profits of doll bags dropped steadily due to lack of promotions. The profits of others increased rapidly due to promotions and price reduction.

In the 2^nd quarter, the profits of Cherry and Doll bags started rising rapidly due to promotions. On the other hand, the profits others dropped drastically because of poor quality and low prices.

In the 3^rd quarter, the profits of cherry rose rapidly due to gentle demand of the product. The profits of Doll bags was steady because of promotions and advertisements (Boussabaine, 2013). The profits of others started rising because of the promotions and marketing strategies they had put in place.

In the 4^th quarter, the profits of Cherry were at its peak because of viral marketing and the quality of the product (Hoffman, & Bateson, 2011). The profits of doll bags were slightly lower than that of Cherry because of reduced prices. The profits of others were slightly high because of increased promotions.

Market Share Chart

The product was able to dominate in Oklahoma with a 59% in the market share. This showed how the product had taken over the market as most people were attracted to it because of its quality and the promotions (McLeish, 2011).

Oklahoma was then followed by Michigan where it took 23% of the market share showing that other products could not matched it bearing in mind that it was a new product in the market (Boussabaine, 2013).

The Californian market is mainly dominated by doll bags and this requires us to change our approaches in order to beat the product (Bölke, 2015).

In New York, most people are mainly attracted to products which are on offer thus making it hard for us to be able to lead in the area (Hoffman, & Bateson, 2011).

Sales Chart

The highest number of our backpacks were sold in Oklahoma where 94% of our products were sold (Boussabaine, 2013).

Michigan was our second largest market centre where 53% of our products were sold.

Then California came in the third place with 36% of our products sales.

New York was the last city since most people are majorly attracted to products on offers (Smith, 2012).

Our project however experienced challenges since some of the strategies we used really helped us while others did not work (Schindler, 2012). The use of social media and viral marketing was the most effective method as it attracted many customers to our product. Furthermore, it created the awareness of the product hence most people were able to know the product thus increasing the number of buyers (Bölke, 2015). Most of the buyers who were influenced by viral marketing thus making us to be able to reach out target market. The design and the uniqueness of the product also attracted many customers (Boussabaine, 2013). This is because it was unique in its own way. This made it easy for our product to be able to dominate in the market. On the other hand, most people wanted a backpack which could be able to suit their needs and it was therefore able to suit their needs since it can be used for different activities. The approach of customizing the product and the pricing strategy did not work (Hoffman, & Bateson, 2011). This is simply because most people are only attracted to the end product and it is only companies and organizations which are only attracted to customized products. This did not therefore help us to attract many customers to our product. This was so because we did set a high price for our products thus making it hard for most people to buy the product (Smith, 2012). The 1^st quarter of our sales was not good since many people were not used to the product and they were therefore not attracted to the product. This therefore made us to change our pricing approaches and immediately after lowering the price of the product, most people were attracted to it (McLeish, 2011).

Reference

Boussabaine, A. (2013). Risk Pricing Strategies for Public-Private Partnership Projects. Chichester: Wiley-Blackwell.

Smith, T. J. (2012). Pricing strategy: Setting price levels, managing price discounts, & establishing price structures. Mason, Oh: South-Western Cengage Learning.

Hoffman, K. D., & Bateson, J. E. G. (2011). Services marketing: Concepts, strategies, & cases. Mason, Ohio: South-Western Cengage Learning.

Schindler, R. (2012). Pricing strategies: A marketing approach. Thousand Oaks, Calif: Sage Publications, Inc.

Bölke, S. (2015). Strategic Marketing Approaches within Airline Management : How the Passenger Market causes the Business Concepts of Full Service Network Carriers, Low Cost Carriers, Regional Carriers and Leisure Carriers to overlap.

McLeish, B. (2011). Successful marketing strategies for nonprofit organizations: Winning in the age of the elusive donor. Hoboken, N.J: Wiley.