c

 

  p

Today¶s market is characterised by highly competitive organisations which are all

vying for consumer¶s loyalty. Firms are faced with the challenge to maintain their own
competitive edge to be able to survive and be successful. Strategies are carefully
planned and executed to gain the ultimate goal of all i.e. company growth. There are
also internal factors, components working within the organisation which shape the
direction of the company. p

Despite the economic and technological conditions that make it possible now to
promote products and services in a larger consumer market, there are other factors that
still need to be considered for a business organisation reach out easier to their target
market. Looking into the characteristics and thought processes of the people still holds
as the most significant factor to be looked into by the individuals in the field of sales and
marketing. The large scope of market can pose a hindrance to a successful marketing
strategy in terms of over generalised definition of the target or niche market. p

According to Kotler and Armstrong (2001), ³consumer buying behaviour refers to

the buying behaviour of the individuals and households who buy the goods and services
for personal consumption´.

Consumers around the world are different in various factors such as age,
income, education level and preferences which may affect the way they avail of goods
and services. This behaviour then impacts how products and services are presented to
the different consumer markets. There are many components which influence consumer
behaviour namely: cultural, social, personal and psychological (Kotler & Armstrong,
2001).

Coffee business, knowing the product and its demands in the market as well as
the people who will likely avail and take advantage of the offer will open the possibilities
for a campaign that will be most ideal in the market. The manufacturers of coffee
products and the advertisers should be conscious enough to know the characteristics of
their product and its demand. There are products and services that are only utilised in a
particular location because of the unique lifestyle of the people. The character of the
product, if properly studied, could be made and taken as an advantage rather than a
drawback in gaining a larger number of target market. p


Cons  op

Consumer behaviour and consumer decision-making have become prominent

research topics in the various fields of consumer science in recent years (Fullerton,
2005; Stern, 2000; Anurit et al, 1999). Generally, consumer behaviour is defined as the
behaviour or activities that consumer engage in when selecting, purchasing, and using
products and services so as to satisfy needs and desires. Such activities involve mental
and emotional processes, in addition to physical actions (Schiffman & Kanuk, 2004,
p.8). p

The important of consumer behaviour is deeply rooted in the marketing strategy.

Virtually, all decisions involved in developing an effective marketing mix for a product or
service rely on thorough knowledge of the consumers who comprise the target market
(Mullen & Johnson, 1990 p.16).

In order to understand the factors to drive consumer brand loyalty, it is necessary to

understand the basic of consumption relationships. Douglas (2006) suggested that
consumers who more involved with a particular brand are also more committed and
therefore more loyal to that brand. Loyalty level to brand, Lau et al (2006) cited from
Evans et al 1996 that there are four categories of consumers: Hard-core loyal
consumers ± buy this particular brand name; brand switchers ± choose and buy the
products or brands depending on pricing, situational factor and others, new users and
non-users.

Product characteristics include the extent to which the product's probable

performance can be assessed by visual inspection and its complexity, that is, the
number of decisions the consumer is required to make about it. Consumer
characteristics include experience with purchasing the product, and the kinds of criteria
the consumer uses in judging the product. The evaluative criteria are shaped by the
consumer's beliefs, attitudes, and perception of risk in the purchase. p

Research on sensation and perception, product attribute, product quality, service

quality, categorisation, information search, memory, attitude and behaviour, attitude
formation and formation and satisfaction have been undertaken to understand
consumer behaviour (Kivela, 1997; Jacobs, Latham & Lee; 1998, Andaleeb & Conway,
2006). As stated by (Karjaluoto et al, 2005; Hsu& Hung, 2005; Lau et al 2006; Ankomah
& Yiridoe, 2006), attitudes towards purchase behaviour are believed to be shaped by
many factors such as direct experience with the product, information acquired from
others, price, nature of business, satisfaction, exposure to mass media.p
This study aims to identify the presence of such factors using the case of coffee brand
and experience of top three coffee brands in Delhi

In the current business era, the value and importance of customers is not something
that should be set aside by companies. Marketing plans and strategies would be
incomplete without paying much consideration to the customers. Customers will and
should always be a part of the agenda in any marketing plan of any company. Because
of the implications for profitability and growth, customer retention is potentially one of
the most powerful weapons that companies can employ in their fight to gain a strategic
advantage and survive in today's ever increasing competitive environment
(Lindenmann, 1999).

Basically, consumers can either be subjective or objective, testing the persuasiveness

of brand names. Coffee shops selling the coffee products also play an important role in
swaying the decisions of university or college consumers. The whole package or visual
appeal of the coffee outlet can determine sales consumers not only in coffee business
but also to other retail businesses may choose particular products/brands not only
because these products provide the functional or performance benefits expected, but
also because products can be used to express consumers¶ personality, social status or
affiliation (symbolic purposes) or to fulfil their internal psychological needs, such as the
need for change or newness (emotional purposes) (Kim et al, 2002)

Which means that consumers buy products for the benefits they reap out of it, the study
of consumer behaviour investigates the steps, or the processes involved regarding the
decisions made by the consumer. Most consumers regard the purchase of real estate to
be µhigh involvement goods' that require complex decision-making,¶ in purchasing real
estate, such as houses, apartments or units, consumers usually go through three key
processes before they consider buying, and these are: information search, evaluation of
alternatives and decision rules.

Aside from the local coffee shops and restaurants that offer traditional coffee
experience among people, international coffee brands are present among business
streets in Delhi. The popularity of brands is seen to be the most compelling factor that
contributes to the emergence of contemporary coffee experience.

The culture of coffee brands and experience is an interesting area of empirical

exploration. Thus, this research case study hopes to explore deeper on the coffee buying
behaviour among university students. As stated, its main goal is to identify the most important
factors consumers have in mind when buying coffee (i.e. brand name, taste, price, location,
convenient, atmosphere, and others) in either of the mentioned brands.
 Marketing of coffee products with respect to the buying behavior of consumers has
undergone several changes over the years, especially considering the changes with the
demands of the consumers. In addition to this, technological change has also widely contributed
to the changes in the primary method of purchase, which now includes credit cards and
cashless purchases that rely on information exchange rather than the actual act of purchasing in
a store. From this, development of marketing of coffee products has already continued to evolve
way into interactive marketing of the products based on one source (Bailey & Schultz 2000) as
different methods of ensuring the consumers¶ interests are being considered for their patronage.
The marketplace has also grown to become more competitive, all vying for the attention of the
average consumer, thus their loyalty has also continued to increase over the years as they are
now the source of the companies that rely on their abilities to choose which they may wish for
their own needs and demands.p

From the discussion of previous literatures, it is discovered that while coffee product and
company brand loyalty may have some similarities, there are essentially some considered
differences especially with regards to the strategies that the companies may use to endorse
their services and products. Such actions will help the company to ensure the loyalty of their
consumers, thus giving them the allowance of knowing how they will be able to improve their
services.

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Anurit, J., Newman, K. & Chansarker, B. 1999, ³Consumer Behavior of Luxury Automobiles: a
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