2019年6月23日 星期日

Tutorial 2 - Dyson

Discussion Questions
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3.   Explain the stages of the consumer buyer decision process and describe how you or your family went through this process to make a recent purchase.

The five stages of the consumer buyer decision process are: (1) need recognition, (2) information search, (3) evaluation of alternatives, (4) purchase decision, and (5) postpurchase behavior. The process starts with need recognition , where the buyer recognizes a problem or need. The consumer may then undertake an information search , and sources include personal sources, commercial sources, public sources, and experiential sources. Next, the consumer will evaluate the alternatives to arrive at a brand choice. Generally, the consumer’s purchase decision will be to buy the most preferred brand, but the purchase decision can be influenced by the attitudes of others and unexpected situational factors. After purchasing the product, the consumer will be satisfied or dissatisfied and will engage in postpurchase behavior . Major purchases may result in cognitive dissonance, or discomfort caused by postpurchase conflict.
 
4.   What is a “new” product and how do consumers go about deciding whether to adopt a new product?
A new product is a good, service, or idea that is perceived by some potential customers as new, even though it may have been around for a while. Marketers are interested in how consumers learn about products for the first time and make a decision on whether to adopt them. The adoption process is a mental process in which an individual learns about an innovation to finally adopting it. The stages in the adoption process are: a. Awareness: The consumer becomes aware of the new product, but lacks information about it. b. Interest: The consumer seeks information about the new product. c. Evaluation: The consumer considers whether trying the new product makes sense. d. Trial: The consumer tries the new product on a small scale to improve his or her estimate of its value. e. Adoption: The consumer decides to make full and regular use of the new product.



Case Study: Dyson

1. Write a market-oriented mission statement for Dyson.
Searches of the Internet in general and the Dyson site in specific do not reveal a mission statement for Dyson. But if there were one, it might read something like this: “Take everyday products that don’t solve customer problems well, and make them better.” This not only describes the core of what every Dyson product does, but it frames it in the context of satisfying customer needs and resolving customer problems, as a market-oriented mission statement should. 

2. What are Dyson’s goals and objectives?
·         To expand into new businesses. They did this with the washing machine, the hand dryer, the fan, and how the bathroom faucet. What’s next?  
·         To support existing and new products with informational integrated marketing campaigns.  
      To ensure every product meets customer needs through thorough market testing. 

3. Does Dyson have a business portfolio? Explain.
Dyson most certainly has a business portfolio. Its original business was defined by vacuum cleaners. Then, it expanded into hand dryers. Then, into fans and heaters. The new bathroom faucet could be considered a subset of hand dryers as it seems to fit into the same category in terms of customers. It took a shot at washing machines with the Contrarotator, a product which was pulled from the market because it was not profitable. Each of these product lines represents a different business. Each has different characteristics in terms of size, revenues, profits, growth, etc. What is not apparent from this case is where Dyson will go next in terms of new businesses.

4. Discuss Dyson’s marketing mix techniques and how they fit within the context of its business and marketing strategy.

Product – Dyson does a lot of R&D and focuses on developing technology through the building of prototypes and trial-and-error. As a technology company, it also seeks to use the technologies it develops for a given product or product line by finding other uses for them. This is all in line with its mission of creating new versions of everyday products that solve customer problems in new and exciting ways.

Price – This is not discussed in the case. But Dyson prices its products at a premium. For example, its fans start at about $300. That’s a huge price premium over typical household fans. Its new Airblade Tap retails for $1,500, a steep price for a bathroom faucet. But this pricing strategy fits the overall strategy of selling products that are innovative and high quality.

Promotion—With its no nonsense promotional strategy, Dyson supports its marketing strategy. These products are designed to do the job and its advertising focuses on demonstrating that. 

Distribution—there is not enough information in the case to illustrate this element of the marketing mix.
 

5. Is Dyson a customer-centered company? Explain. 

This is a good question for discussion and debate. Dyson seems to start with developing technology. It is an engineering/design driven company. That would suggest a product orientation. However, as with a few other design driven companies (think 3M and Bose), Dyson produces hit after hit of products that customers love. They seem to be just what customers need and seem to resolve customer problems in ways that existing products simply cannot. Dyson’s market testing procedures certainly contribute to this. But it may also simply be that like Apple and Steve Jobs, Dyson (the man and the company) has an uncanny knack for identifying gaps in the market and filling them with new and exciting products.   

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