Consumer Behavior Report – Mazda
Executive Summary
This assignment is an analysis of the consumer behavior while purchasing a car from Mazda. A brief description on Mazda Motor Corporation is provided. The product chosen for the assignment is Mazda 6 within Dubai only. An interview was conducted with an executive in the marketing department of Galadari Automobiles who is the agent for Mazda in the UAE. The objective of the project is to analyze the consumers’ decision making process and understand the various attributes involved.
Information was obtained from the executive at Mazda; about how well Mazda understands its target market and who the competitors were. Then, a few customers who were visiting the showroom were interviewed verbally. Based on the information extracted from the customers, and correlating it to the material thought in class, it was possible to analyze and understand what different phases a customer goes through in deciding what car to purchase. Broadly two topics were covered, consumers as individuals and consumers as decision makers. With the support of the analysis, a few marketing strategies were recommended briefly.
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1.0 INTRODUCTION: THE BRAND ‘MAZDA’
Mazda was founded in the year 1920 in Hiroshima, Japan; originally named as ‘Toyo Cork Kogyo Co Ltd’ by Jujiro Matsuda who was the president of the company. Initially the company manufactured machine tools and even weapons during the Second World War. In 1931 it started producing 3 wheel trucks entering the automotive industry. The company was renamed to ‘Mazda Motor Corporation’ which resembled the name of the company’s founder. In addition Mazda believes that its name “incorporates a desire to achieve world peace and the development of the automobile manufacturing industry”, (Mazda in Brief, 2008: 1).
Mazda Motor Corporation’s headquarter is in Hiroshima, Japan and its main business line is the manufacturing and sale of passenger cars and commercial vehicles employing over 21,000 people.
Mazda’s new corporate vision was established in December 1999, comprising of the following 3 elements:
Vision: “To create new value, excite and delight our customers through the best automotive products and services”, (Mazda in Brief, 2008: 1)
Mission: “With passion, pride and speed, we actively communicate with our customers to deliver insightful automotive products and services that exceed their expectations”, (Mazda in Brief, 2008: 1)
Value: “We value integrity, customer focus, creativity, efficient and nimble actions, and respect highly motivated people and team spirit. We positively support environmental matters, safety and society. Guided by these values, we provide superior rewards to all people associated with Mazda”, (Mazda in Brief, 2008: 1)
Looking at the new corporate vision for Mazda, it is obvious that Mazda emphasizes a lot of importance on their customers and their needs. The clearly state in their mission statement that they communicate with their customers to deliver beyond expectations and looking at the immense change in their vehicle designs and performance over the past few years we can see that this mission is being implemented actively.
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2.0 THE PRODUCT: MAZDA 6
For the purpose of this project the product chosen is Mazda 6. Mazda Motor Corporation has been associated with Galadari Automobiles Co., Ltd. (LLC) as their sole distributor in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Currently, the distributor has 6 branches; each having a showroom and a service center. The distributors head office is situated in Dubai; therefore the focus for this project will only be on the market in Dubai.
Mr. Rizwan Khan, Assistant Manager, Customer Relationship Manager, was interviewed from Galadari Automobiles on 6th November 2008 in order to have a better understanding about the target market, competition and consumer behavior of the Mazda 6 customers. A few customers who were interested in purchasing the Mazda 6 and had visited the showroom on 6th November 2008 were asked a few basic questions verbally based on a questionnaire (Appendix 1).
2.1 THE COMPETITION
Mr. Khan suggested that Mazda 6 is strictly competing with the automobiles in the following table:
Vehicle Price Range (AED) Engine Power (hp) 0-100 kph Top speed (kph)
Mazda 6 62,000 – 98,000 2.5L 170 8.0 – 8.8 secs 215-220
Toyota Camry 77,000 – 99,000 2.4L 158 9.5-10.5 secs 194
Nissan Altima 71,500 – 115,000 2.5L 175 8.0 – 9.5 secs 200
Honda Accord 80,000 – 130,000 2.4L 190 9.5 secs 208
Ford Mondeo 75,000 – 95,000 2.3L 161 10.5 secs 202
Table 1: Information in the table was retrieved from: http://www.drivearabia.com/ultimatecarbuyerguide/carcompare.php
From the above table it can be interpreted that when a consumer who plans to buy a Mazda 6 generally compares it with the other vehicles mentioned in the table. Looking at the above comparison it can be seen that although Mazda 6 offers the lowest price, in terms product value, it surely offers the best in the category of top speed and the acceleration. Another aspect of comparison that might deter customers to purchase Mazda 6 and diminish sales slightly is due to their location. Contrast to their competitors Mazda currently has only one branch in Dubai, whereas all of them have at least two branches that facilitate the consumers need specially looking at the time constraints in Dubai.
Upon booking a Mazda 6, a customer would have to wait between 10 to 15 days for the completion of all the paper work and delivery of the vehicle. Mr. Khan added that since there is demand for this vehicle in the market, the customer has to wait for a couple of days.
In terms of brand positioning, Mr. Khan promptly said that Mazda is trying to deliver the “Best in the non-premium” segment of the automobile industry. Mazda 6 certainly has a sporty design and is very luxurious from the inside. He says that the company is trying to benchmark and deliver products at luxurious level of the German rivals, but at the same time at an affordable price for the middle class.
2.2 TARGET MARKET
As per Mr. Khan, Mazda 6 is a product that is trying to attract consumers in the age bracket of 20 – 35 years, where both genders are targeted. Mazda 6 has many different attributes that attract different sets of consumers. Looking at their comfort and availability of space within the vehicle, it attracts the middle class families; in terms of interior design and rich look, Mazda 6 attracts young single adults in the working class; the motto ‘zoom-zoom’, perfectly links to the exterior shape and quick acceleration of the vehicle which catches the attention of young students who mainly belong to the upper middle class families. The income level of the above target market would range anywhere between 10,000 – 13,000 Dirhams and most of the probable customers are categorized as Asians from the expatriate community in Dubai. As far as the psychographics are concerned Mr. Khan said that Mazda 6 mainly attracts people who are young, outgoing and stylish. They have an energetic personality and like to socialize with people.
3.0 CONSUMERS AS INDIVIDUALS
3.1 PERCEPTION
The human body “can receive external stimuli, or sensory inputs, on a number of channels”, (Solomon, 2007: 49) which enables us to form a perception about the external world. When buying a car, consumers can make use of 3 senses: vision, hearing, and touch. The customers who had visited the showroom believed that the look of the vehicle is extremely important since it defines their personality. They expect the engine to be as quiet as possible in order to feel relaxed and peaceful while driving their vehicle. The emphasis on the sense of touch seemed quite important with the attributes of a smooth drive, quality of material used inside, and good value for money.
Solomon believes that attention is the amount of energy used to think or process a certain stimulus (2007: 65). The customers who had visited the showroom only felt like dropping in when they realized that they need a car. Due to Perceptual vigilance, “consumers are more likely to be aware of” something “that relate to their current needs”, (Solomon, 2007: 67), which in this case was the need to buy a car. The customers said that they were exposed to the advertisements of Mazda 6 in various media’s and then seen it on the road as well; this eventually stimulated their interest to consider purchasing this car. One of the customers who was interviewed, failed to give any reasons about why he was interested in purchasing Mazda 6 and said that he just likes it. This customer couldn’t relate to anything because he was a victim of hedonic consumption for this particular product. Solomon says very briefly that hedonic consumption is related to the unexplainable emotional aspects of the consumer while interacting with a certain product (2007: 50).
3.2 LEARNING & MEMORY
Most of the customers that were spoken to had previously purchased a car already. Therefore, they surely do have the experience and remember what factors gave them more satisfaction and social appreciation. One of them owned the older model of the Mazda 6 and wished to continue with this brand due to the compliments he had received from many of his family and colleagues. Through this it can be seen that instrumental conditioning has a major role because customers “learn to perform behaviors that produce positive outcomes and to avoid those that yield negative outcomes”, (Solomon, 2007: 92). As in the example above of the customer who previously owned the same car, he is being influenced by “positive reinforcement in the form of a reward, the response is strengthened and appropriate behavior is learned”, (Solomon, 2007: 93).
Since this customer had already owned a Mazda 6 previously, I requested him to briefly draw an associative network for the car. The following was what he came up with:
Figure 1
3.3 MOTIVATION & VALUES
Customers have put more emphasis on the “expectations of achieving desirable outcomes – positive incentives – rather than pushed from within”, (Solomon, 2007: 121) suggests that expectancy theory rather than drive theory plays a role in such decision. Therefore, the customers are motivated mainly due to the drive from within which helps them attain positive outcomes. Customers felt that they were motivated due the sleek design which attracts other people and the rich internal environment of the vehicle which they would not have been able to afford otherwise. Within their respective social class, they feel the attainment of a certain status and prestige. The characteristics of such customers are classified as ‘ego needs’ in Maslow’s hierarchy of needs.
Consumers always have a certain level of involvement which depends on factors such as need, importance, interest and values. The customers at the showroom gave a lot of importance in purchasing a vehicle, because it was a need that portrayed their status and prestige, therefore, they eventually become highly involved in the product purchase process.
The customers overall had similar values because they were all from the Asian Subcontinent. They emphasized on family, self respect, social recognition, fun, etc. Overall, Most of the values that have been mentioned are similar to the expectations of Mazda about their target market for this product.
3.4 PERSONALITY & LIFESTYLE
Solomon explains that archetypes are universally shared ideas and behavioral patterns involving themes such as birth, death, or evil frequently appearing in dreams, myths or stories (2007: 200). Similarly archetypes help people understand the personality of a brand and then correlate it with themselves. This help a brand to establish its brand personality which are a “set of traits people attribute to a product as if it were a person”, (Solomon, 2007: 205). Consumers characterized Mazda 6 under the following two archetypes:
Queen – being
Troubadour – joy
• Relaxed • Joyous
• Comforting • Free-spirited
• Sociable • Agile
The results above are similar to the characteristics Mazda had portrayed about their target market. The accuracy of Mazda identifying the personality of a consumer itself makes the job of the sales staff easier. The sales staff can focus on other good attributes about the product rather than wasting time and effort to convince a customer to buy this vehicle in comparison to the competition.
Customers “choose a product precisely because it’s associated with a certain lifestyle”, (Solomon, 2007: 210). The customers at the showroom had different variations in terms of their lifestyles due to different social and income classes they belonged to. Broadly the lifestyles of customers would be categorized as in the following table:
Middle Class
Lower Middle Upper
• Workaholic
• Family-oriented
• Detail oriented
• Physically fit • Fun loving
• Outgoing
• Creative
• Down to earth • Athletic
• Socializing
• Intellectual
• educated
Table 3
Although only middle class is only focused in this research, there might be customers from the higher class who might purchase the Mazda 6 as a car for the miscellaneous activities at their house. Only a brief set of lifestyle of the customers has been shown above, whereas, as we interview more people, these characteristics will definitely increase as well.
1.1 ATTITUDES
Knowing that the consumer is highly involved in this decision making process, it can be said that their attitude towards a certain product is formed by the standard learning hierarchy where “the person is motivated to seek out a lot of information, carefully weigh alternatives, and come to a thoughtful decision”, (Solomon, 2007: 238). The diagram below illustrates the point:
Figure 2
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Another tool that can be used to facilitate the decision making process is the basic multiattribute model. The “atribute model refers to a belief about the extent to which an attribute is offered by a brand”, (Ryan & Bonfield, 1975: 120). Based on these beliefs the customer forms an attitude towards a brand. In the table below, one of the customers interviewed mentioned the attribute and the respective cars he had on mind:
Attribute Importance Mazda 6 Toyota Camry Nissan Altima Honda Accord Hyundai Sonata
Price 8 8 7 7 6 9
Interior 4 9 8 6 5 5
Exterior 6 8 7 8 8 7
After sales service 5 5 8 9 6 5
Warranty 3 6 8 8 5 4
Safety 3 7 7 6 5 6
Performance 7 8 9 8 7 6
Insurance 1 6 8 7 5 4
Attitude Score 274 286 278 230 235
Table 4
Based on the scores above, the customer should purchase the Toyota Camry. The relevant companies in the table can use the attribute model and try and improvise on the attributes that customers emphasize on.
2.0 CONSUMERS AS DECISION MAKERS
2.1 INDIVIDUAL DECISION MAKING
Customers almost always have alternatives to the product they are planning to purchase. Solomon says that evoked sets are the alternatives of the product the consumer is planning to buy; whereas in the consideration set are the actual products the consumer is deliberating to buy, (2007: 318). Therefore, the vehicles that have been mentioned in table 4 are from the evoked set of the customer. When asked about the consideration set, the customer choose Mazda 6, Toyota Camry and Nissan Altima! Since the customer is involved at a high level and is exerting more effort to understand everything, the customer is practising compensatory decision models which “allow trade-offs among attributes such that a good value on one attrbute can make up for bad values on others”, (Kahn & Baron, 1995: 306)
2.2 GROUP INFLUENCE AND OPINION LEADERSHIP
All the customers that were interviewed came with their families and not alone. This clearly shows that the decision making process involved the family and that the customers come from a collectivist society. Although most customers had done their own research about what to buy, all of them are referring to others for their opinions before making the final decision. Some of them also accepted that knowing everything about their evoked sets, they would still at times change their decisions based on others recommendations. Such people who are “frequently able to influence others’ attitudes or behaviors”, (Solomon, 2007: 402) are known as opinion leaders.
3.0 MARKETING STRATEGIES
• The most important step for Mazda as of now would be to open another branch in Dubai. All their competitors have a minimum of two showrooms. An ideal location to for the showroom would be on Sheikh Zayed Road in line with other showrooms. This will motivate probable customers to visit the showroom and will definitely increase the sales.
• When the price of Mazda 6 is compared with its competition, its base price is extremely cheap; the company should use this as a competitive advantage and communicate this valuable information to their customers through various mediums.
• Mazda 6 is supposed to attract people who are young, energetic, outgoing, socializing; the vehicle itself portrays such a personality, but the company is not doing a good job of passing on this message to the end user. The company should design the advertisements accordingly.
• One of the customers who was interviewed currently owned a Mazda 6, and due to positive reinforcement, he is considering the vehicle once again. Mazda can make the most of such situations by creating advertisement campaigns about how their customers feel and are brand loyal to their car.
• Currently the target market for Mazda 6 is mainly from the Asian subcontinent. The company can advertise in various media, showing different nationalities such as Arabs or Europeans, using the Mazda 6 changing the attitude and perception of the rest of the people that this car can suit their personality as well. In this manner, Mazda will have a new target market to explore.
• Mazda 6 is in the third place compared to its competition in the attribute model (table 4). Mazda scored lower than some of the other in warranty, insurance and after sales service. Mazda should aim to be the top for all the attributes that a customer has on his mind. In terms of after sales service, Mazda can introduce limited free taxi service from the workshop to any place the customer would like to go to after leaving his vehicle for service.
4.0 CONCLUSION
This project mainly aims to give a brief understanding about consumer behavior while purchasing a vehicle. Brief information was stated about Mazda and its product Mazda 6. The target market and competition as per the Mazda’s point of view has been shown. The main analysis of the research was the buying decision process of the customers who had visited the Mazda showroom. It can be concluded that Mazda has drastically changed their product style over the past few years and are positioning itself at a higher level than where it was. Mazda 6 is an excellent product and surely attracts the crowd it is supposed to attract. The problem lies with the marketing strategies of Galadari Automobiles which is the distributor of Mazda for the UAE. Therefore, it is very essential that Galadari Automobiles work on their marketing strategies and communicate the right message to the right people through the right medium!
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5.0 BIBLIOGRAPHY
• Mazda Motor Corporation (2008) Mazda In Brief, 2008 [online], Available: www.mazda.com/profile/outline/library.html, [Accessed 11 November, 2008]
• Drive Arabia (2004) “Drive Arabia – For The Middle East Car Enthusiast” [online], Available: http://www.drivearabia.com/, [Accessed 11 November, 2008]
• Solomon, M. R. (2007) Consumer Behavior: Buying, Selling, and Being, 7th Edition, Pearson Prentice Hall, United States of America.
• Ryan, M. J. & Bonfield, E. H. (1975) “The Fishbein Extended Model and Consumer Behavior”, The Journal of Consumer Research, Vol. 2, No. 2, pp 118-136.
• Kahn B. E. & Baron J. (1995) “An Exploratory Study of Choice Rules Favored for High-Stakes Decisions”, Journal of Consumer Psychology, Vol. 4, No. 4, pp 305-328.
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Appendix – 1
Customer Questionnaire
1) Demographics
a. Age
b. Nationality
c. Sex
d. Self employed / employed
e. Income
f. Married/Single
2) Why do you need a car?
3) Have you ever owned a car previously?
4) Which vehicle are you planning to purchase?
5) How did you hear about Mazda 6 (advertisement, word of mouth)?
6) What are your alternatives?
7) What are the most important factors in purchasing?
What positive outcomes do you expect from the purchase of Mazda 6?
9) Do you buy after extensive research?
10) What are your hobbies?
11) When you think about the car Mazda 6, how would describe it if it were a person?
12) Currently, what do you think about Mazda 6? Positive/Negative/feedback?
13) Your decision is based on group or yourself?
14) How do you find the service at this showroom?
15) Do you refer to anyone who knows about cars and take their suggestions?
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