Unit 17 Carlton Marketing Intelligence Assignment

Program	Diploma in Business (Marketing)
Unit Number and Title	Unit 17 Carlton Marketing Intelligence
QFC Level	Level 4

Task 1: REPORT

Writing a report to the CEO of Carlton

Executive summary 

The purpose of this unit 17 carlton marketing intelligence assignment is to access the process of decision making and the behaviour of the customers and study what factors can influence the customers to make purchasing decisions for Carlton. Also we would look into the importance of branding for Carlton here.

1.1 Addressing the decision making processes of the customers

The decision making processes of customers to an event management business like Carlton is changing  new technologies influences the prospective of a decision to attend an event or not.

The steps of decision making process are as under;

• Problem or need recognition – the customers have needs ranging from developing their business network, to learn something new, or to be entertained and meet new friends, hosting a party or wedding etc. At times individual customers have no personal needs and Carlton requires creating a need by the use of innovative concepts of event management and attracting customers to the event created by the Carlton group.
• Information search - in this step the customer scan all resources to get relevant information in order to get an agency to satisfy their needs .These days internet is used as the most powerful source of information search provider wherein the name of the event management firms and other information details can be made available by searching in the search engines. For searching the information source the customers keep in mind the costs of the service provider and the extent to which it offers to satisfy their needs.
• Evaluation of the alternatives – At this stage the customers review that are there other service providers that can conduct the event providing benefits and at a lower cost?
• Purchase Behaviour – now after evaluation the selection of the event management service is done which could be influenced only by peer pressure and influencing opinions.
• Post Purchase behaviour – After attending the event  the customers latter on decide and analyse whether or not it was successful in satisfying our wants and the decide on being loyal customers or switching to other event management business as a result of suffering from cognitive dissonance (Solaris, 2012).

1.2 Explaining what is buyer behaviour including at least ONE theory of buyer behaviour

Buyer Behaviour can be defined as systematic approaches that are followed by the consumers when they are in to a phase of purchasing and making decisions related to buying (Kokemuller, n.d).

For the study of the consumer behaviour different theoretical approaches have been used they are;

• Economic Man – this describes man’s buying behaviour based on his rationale and self-interest and a bent to increase his utility.
• Psychodynamic Approach – studied by Sigmund Freud and Stewart this view suggests that buying decisions are based on biological influences and drives which are a result of conscious thoughts.
• Behaviourist Approach - this suggests that behaviour including individual thoughts and actions influences consumer behaviour (BRAY, Jeff, 2008).

1.3 Exploring three factors that influence consumer behaviour

• Cultural Factors – Culture acts as a prime cause for influencing the needs and demands and thereby the buying behaviour of an individual so it is needed that Carlton limited keeps spotting the cultural bent of the customers that might be the cause of them requiring a particular event. Example people belonging to different cultural backgrounds and community would seek for an event considering their rituals and culture form Carlton Limited.
• Social Factors  - these includes the reference groups , and the status of the group members and includes all the influences of the outside factors in making the decision of purchase as all the event related buying decisions are based on social factors largely this is an important aspect to consider. If the customers come from high class effluent social groups he would want to purchase a high budget event.
• Personal Factors – These includes factors such as the age and life cycle stage of the consumer, his /her occupation, activities , interests  and personality that affects the buying decision. Example a customer of the younger age group will be seeking an event that has entertainment and excitement and a couple to be married would seek a wedding event management from Carlton.

1.4 Explaining the meaning of a brand and whether a relationship exists between branding and brand loyalty, corporate image and repeat purchase in the context of your chosen company

Brand includes all the features that distinguish a product form that of the other seller it can include the name of the product, product design, symbol, logo etc. Corporate image has been recognised as an important factor determining the satisfaction of the customers and their loyalty. The corporate image enables the customers to trust the brand and increase the sales of the brand and improving its performances. Having loyal customers helps the company to have a high market share and in the reduction of the operating costs. It is much more costly to acquire a new customer than to retain an old one (park, Ellie and Bai, Billy, n.d).

Example to study the relationship between brand branding, brand loyalty, corporate image and repeat purchase we can analyse the Starbucks Coffee Company.

Starbucks has a strong corporate brand image the logo of the brand can is easily recognised globally. The Starbucks experience is very difficult to imitate (TU, Yu-Te et al., 2012) .They provides personalised services to all the customers and focus on the ambience and aroma of the stores as a part of the corporate branding strategy (RUIZ, Joseph, 2012).

Brand Loyalty – Starbucks does not spends much on acquiring new customers as it has ample of loyal customers and this loyalty itself is a significant of high brand value attracting other customers (simmons, John, 2005).

Recommendations and suggestions –

• For the buying behaviour – online marketing can be used efficiently by Carlton limited to encourage customers to point out their needs aloud.
• To influence decision social advertising can be used by Carlton via Facebook, twitter, LinkedIn ETC.
• Optimisation of the website of carlton limited to show the keywords
• Video advertising via You Tube
• For influencing the evaluation Carlton can invite bloggers to the event and get it rated by the customers
• Post purchase behaviour can be influenced by not resorting to any lies during the marketing process (SOLARIS, Julius, 2012)

Task 4: Primary Research Data Collection

Designing and evaluating customer satisfaction survey questionnaire:

4.1 Design a customer satisfaction survey questionnaire that an organisation of your choice can use to help them assess levels of satisfaction.

Questionnaire:

50 respondents were surveyed by the questionnaire below with the help of social media, Survey monkey and email surveys.

Dear (First Name)

Carlton Limited thanks you for giving us an opportunity to provide you a better service. Please help us by sparing few minutes and tell us about your event experience and our service. We try to make your experience better with us.

Sincerely Miss Wein

Managing Director

Carlton Limited

• I am very much satisfied with the way Carlton Limited Handled my event
  • Strongly disagree - 8
  • Disagree somewhat - 11
  • Neither agree nor disagree  - 4
  • Agree somewhat - 10
  • Agree strongly – 17

• The event management was very effective and my expectations are met

• Strongly disagree - 5
• Disagree somewhat - 9
• Neither agree nor disagree - 4
• Agree somewhat - 20
• Agree strongly – 12

• Carlton service representatives that organised my event were well trained

• Strongly disagree - 11
• Disagree somewhat - 14
• Neither agree nor disagree - 3
• Agree somewhat - 15
• Agree strongly - 7

• I am satisfied with the prices charged to me for the event

• Strongly disagree - 3
• Disagree somewhat - 7
• Neither agree nor disagree - 10
• Agree somewhat - 16
• Agree strongly - 14

• Carlton service representatives organising my events were supervised efficiently

• Strongly disagree - 15
• Disagree somewhat - 15
• Neither agree nor disagree - 5
• Agree somewhat - 10
• Agree strongly - 5

• On comparison of your perception about Carlton Limited before outsourcing the event to us , what is the like hood of outsourcing another event to Carlton Limited

• Better, on the performances we provided - 22
• About the same - 15
• Worse - 13

• Considering the overall value for the event that was paid , how do you consider it

• The event was of exceptional value worth more than what was paid - 14
• Of good value in comparison to the payment – 24
• Poor value – 12

Considering you recent experience of working with us for your event ,how likely would you recommend Carlton to an acquaintance ( 0 is not likely at all and 10 is extremely likely

What can we do in future to improve your services?

Add more events for the young generation such as rock shows bands concerts etc., wedding event planning, competitive pricing and offers and discounts, train your staff, have better management practices.

What features would you like to be added in our services and event management?

Better branding of your company, promotion of the event that is to be hosted so that we are informed, and use of modern methods of information such as promotion via social media.

4.2 Evaluate customer’s response to your completed questionnaires

The above answers of the 50 respondents indicate that there is much room to increase customer satisfaction as only 17 out of 50 customers strongly agree to have been satisfied There is a need to adopt training and better management of the staff and the representatives for Carlton as being a service industry client handling and service delivery is very important. The pricing strategy seems to be effective as majority of the respondents seems satisfied with the pricing. It is needed to perform above the expectations of the customers and adopt modern promotional measures. The technique used of evaluating customer satisfaction is Classical Measurement Theory this method people are asked to respond to a set of questions the answers helps on obtaining a score that indicates the level of satisfaction on a personal perspective. The limitation of this method is that it gives an observed score but the true score has a component of the measurement error associated to it.

X= T+E

The correlation between the observed and the true score gives an analysis of the reliability of the method of evaluation (Hayes, 2011).

4.3 review the success of the completed customer satisfaction survey.

After the customer satisfaction survey is conducted it is always advisable to review the success of the survey as organisation spend lots of resources time and money on conducting the survey it should be successful in achieving its objectives. For the survey to be successful it is required that it should end in improving the customer satisfaction in the first place and cause continuous improvement. It should have a considerable sample size that should reflect the larger sample that is the actual market targeted. It should always adhere to the principles of measurement. There should be a response towards satisfying the immediate customer needs identified in the survey for Carlton. There should be changes implemented that are focused on the customers. The management should conduct review and assessment and take tactical and strategic decisions accordingly.

References

American Marketing Association, 2014. Brand. [Online]
Available at: https://www.ama.org/resources/Pages/Dictionary.aspx?dLetter=B&dLetter=B
[Accessed 10 November 2014].
Bray, J., 2008. Consumer Behaviour Theory : Approaches. [Online]
Available at: http://eprints.bournemouth.ac.uk/10107/1/Consumer_Behaviour_Theory_-_Approaches_%26_Models.pdf
[Accessed 10 November 2014].
Business Case Studies, n.d. Using marketing research to support decision making. [Online]
Available at: http://businesscasestudies.co.uk/jd-sports/using-market-research-to-support-decision-making/secondary-market-research.html#axzz3IfOY7Wul
[Accessed 10 November 2014].
DJS Research Ltd, n.d. What are Validity and Reliability?. [Online]
Available at: http://www.marketresearchworld.net/content/view/2147/78/
[Accessed 10 November 2014].
Entrepreneur, n.d. The Event Planning Industry. [Online]
Available at: http://www.entrepreneur.com/downloads/guides/1313_Event_Planning_ch1.pdf
[Accessed 10 November 2014].

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