Commercial Marketing Report

Internal Influencing Behaviours on Consumer

Behaviour

Hyundai

(Lambert, 2020)

Abbey Ferrer | 103614815

Assignment 2 | MKT20025 | Semester 1, 2022

Due Date: May 13, 2022

Executive Summary:
The purpose of this report is to utilise segmentation techniques to identify a target
market and analyse internal factors that may influence the purchase decisions of
consumers, thus allowing gaps in the marketing strategy to be identified and
recommendations be made accordingly to the client, Hyundai, in regards to their
electric vehicles. Ultimately, this report is overall analysing purchase behaviour,
which refers to any thought pattern or action taken by consumers to determine
whether they will purchase a particular product (Day et al. 1991), of consumers and
how they can be influenced by marketing campaigns.

Using segmentation techniques, potential market groups are identified using the
segment base of driving frequency, next a segmentation attractiveness table is utilised
to identify which group is most appropriate for Hyundai to target. A target market
persona was created using the qualities outlined in the segmentation table, with some
elaboration to build up and strengthen the target market further, which is fully outlined
and described following this persona which is people who drive everyday, are
environmentally conscious, driven and technology savvy and active in their
communities.

Relevant internal influencing factors on consumer behaviour were identified and the
factors used in this report are needs/motivations and attitude. These factors are
analysed in the context of a relevant theory and Hyundai’s current marketing
campaigns. It was found that there were some gaps in Hyundai’s current strategies
such as the lack of a sustainability focus, which links to the internal factor of attitude
as well as no sense of accomplishment or prestige for the consumer in purchasing the
vehicle which links to needs/motivations.

It was recommended to Hyundai that they either incorporate some aspect, even one
piece of dialogue, into their current ad campaigns for the electric vehicles or create a
whole new ad campaign that has a sustainability focus, thus targeting that attitude
internal factor. The second recommendation that was made was to create a billboard
with a catchy line such as ‘accomplish everyday with hyundai”, in order to target that
needs/motivation internal factor.

This report provides analysis and recommendations to Hyundai in order to influence

purchase decision making of consumers and increase sales of their eclectic vehicles.

2
Table of Contents:

Executive Summary……………………………………………………………….2

Introduction & Background……………………………………………………….4

Segmentation……………………………………………………………………...5

Segment Attractiveness………………………………………………………….5-6

Target Persona……………………………………………………………………6

Target Market…………………………………………………………………….6

Internal Influencing Factors on Consumer Behaviour…………………………..7-9

Marketing Recommendations…………………………………………………...9-11

Conclusion……………………………………………………………………….11

References………………………………………………………………………11-12

3
Introduction and Background:
In this commercial marketing report, internal influencing factors of the electric
vehicles produced by Hyundai will be analysed on their ability to impact consumer
behaviour, and based on this analysis, marketing recommendations will be produced
accordingly. This will allow Hyundai to make adjustments to their marketing
strategies in order to better influence consumer behaviour, and ultimately result in
more sales of their products. Internal influencing factors that may be relevant to
Hyundai’s marketing campaigns includes; needs and motivation, personality, attitudes,
learning and perception and self concept. Market segmentation will also be used in
order to identify the specific group by which the product or service is being directed
towards in order to stay consistent with the values, needs and motivations of the
consumer whilst creating marketing campaigns (Solomon et al. 2018). The
segmentation table will also allow an ideal target market persona to be developed to
highlight to Hyundai who they should be directing their marketing efforts towards.
The marketing recommendations that will be made to Hyundai in this report, will
outline gaps in the current marketing strategies and suggest ways to incorporate them
effectively in order to influence consumers' purchase decision process. The purchase
decision process refers to the evaluation consumers make about deciding to purchase
something, and it can be broken down into five steps: problem recognition,
information search, alternatives evaluation, purchase decision and post-purchase
evaluation (Sahar, K, 2013).

The industry that Hyundai is in is the automotive manufacturing industry, and for this
report, more specifically, Hyundai is within the electrical vehicle manufacturing sector
of the industry. With many people globally beginning to have an increased interest in
sustainability and reducing their carbon footprint, electric car sales are increasing,
with Hyundai selling 643 electric cars in Australia within the first 3 months of 2022
(Schmidt, B, 2022), making two of their car models, the Ioniq Electric and the Kona
Electric, the fourth and fifth highest sold electrical vehicles in Australia, coming after
Tesla, Mercedes and MG who are also seeing success in this first quarter. Currently,
the Ioniq and the Kona are Hyundai’s only two electric vehicle models, however they
have plans to develop and release eleven more electric vehicles by 2030 (Miller, C,
2022), thus fitting in with other companies such as Tesla who currently have four
electric vehicle models released with only one other revealed to be in development.

4
Segmentation:
Driving an Electric Car
Driving Frequency
Everyday Few Times a Week < 2 Times a Week

Environmentally Very Somewhat Minimally

Consciousness

Lifestyle Very Active Somewhat Active Rarely Active

Benefit Sought Efficiency Affordability Convenience

Motivations Decrease carbon Staying up to date Be able to recharge

footprint with car from home
environmental (convenience
movements/trends again)

Spending Habits Spends a lot of Selective about Frugal

money spending (will
splurge on
occasion)

Segment Attractiveness:

Driving Frequency Size/Growth Structural Objectives and

Attractiveness Resources

Everyday Large = ✔️✔️ ✔️ ✔️✔️

Competitors= X

Few Times a Week Medium = X✔️ Competitors=X✔️ ✔️X

<2 Times a Week Small = X✔️ Competitors=XX ✔️X

In evaluating which segment is most attractive for Hyundai’s electrical vehicles, a
variety of factors will be considered. The segment that is largest in size is the
‘everyday’ for driving frequency segment, additionally, this segment is most likely to
see the most growth as populations increase and more people will need to commute to
their work or schooling locations via. driving. Furthermore, with work returning to
normal post covid, more people are beginning to drive to their jobs again instead of
working from home. Whereas, the ‘few times a week’ and ‘less than 2 times a week’
driving frequency segments are a lot smaller already and will only see very minimal
growth due to less people fitting within the psychographic, lifestyle and behavioural
factors. The ‘everyday’ segment also has the greatest structural attractiveness, as the
core values and behaviours of this segment align with Hyundai’s positioning for
electrical vehicles. However, there are some competitors in the electric vehicle market
for people who drive everyday, but not aggressive and strong competitors who may
threaten Hyundai’s sales, thus still making this segment structurally attractive.
5
Whereas, the other two segments being evaluated, have minimal competitors but
there's no market for their behaviours as shown on the segmentation table.

Target Market Persona:

Target Market
Based on the segmentation table and the table of segmentation attractiveness, it is
clear that the target market for Hyundai’s electrical vehicles is the people who fit
within the ‘everyday’ driving frequency. These people, as shown in the target market
persona, are environmentally conscious, whose motivations revolve around decreasing
their carbon footprint whilst seeking the benefit of efficiency, but who also have a
very active lifestyle and tend to splurge on items or products that they want. This
makes them a good target market because their morals align with what Hyundai’s
electric vehicles can offer.

6
Internal Influencing Factors on Consumer Behaviour:

Needs/Motivation:
Motivation is defined as the drive an individual experiences to seek satisfaction, it
becomes a buying motive when the individual takes purchase action to appease the
urge or the ‘want’ they are undergoing (Ramaya, N & Mohamed, A, 2016). Maslow’s
hierarchy of needs theory refers to people fulfilling their needs in a hierarchical order
of five classes but can be organised into three categories, beginning with the most
basic needs, eg. food and water, then moving onto psychological needs and then
self-fulfilment needs (Mathers, E, 1981). This theory suggests that to fulfil a certain
need, the needs lower on the hierarchy need to be fulfilled first.

Hyundai’s electric vehicles fall very clearly within the ‘ego needs’ level of Maslow’s
hierarchy of needs, which is a psychological need. Thus indicating that consumers are
motivated to buy a vehicle to increase their status or prestige, it is also a big purchase
for most people due to the price, including our target segment, making the purchase to
be perceived as an accomplishment for the consumer. Therefore a consumer who has
purchased one of these electric vehicles would want to drive it regularly, as per the
target market, where they can show off their car to increase their own perceived status.
This suggests that the marketing strategy could utilise Maslow’s hierarchy of needs by
positioning the vehicle as something that the individual should be proud of owning
and should feel accomplished by having purchased it, this can also be intertwined to
sustainability values as a point of self satisfaction.

Hyuandai’s current marketing strategies, as shown in their ad campaigns titled

‘Campsite’, ‘Her Wedding’ and ‘Spiderman: Only Way Home’, have a focus on the
benefits and convenience consumers would receive using the product. The product is
the car itself, with all of its unique values it offers, such as adjustable seats, access to
electricity for purposes other than driving, long lasting power for the car etc.
Hyundai’s focus is setting themselves aside from competitors such as Tesla and
Mercedes and showing consumers what excellent features they can have for the
reasonable price of approximately $55,000 for the Ioniq 5 (Hyundai, 2022).
Throughout the different ads, the car is shown in a variety of locations and although
we know to purchase one of these vehicles we need to go to a Hyundai dealership,
these marketing campaigns show all the different terrains the car can drive in, such as
the beach, forest and desert, thus showing the versatility of the car.

While highlighting all the great features and benefits of the vehicle is going to give the
consumer a clear idea of what the car offers, a gap in Hyundai’s marketing strategy is
not positioning the purchase of these electric vehicles as a personal accomplishment
on several levels for the individual. A recommendation will be made later in the report
addressing this.

7
Attitudes
Attitude is defined as a belief, behaviours or emotions towards a specific entity,
whether that be an event, physical object or person. Most of the time attitudes are a
result of an individual's past experiences or the way they were brought up, and while
often they are maintained, sometimes they can change (Chaklin, H, 2011). The
consistency principle suggests that when people make a decision or execute an action,
they will feel an internal obligation to behave consistently with what they have
previously done or decided (Thomson, 1990).

The consistency principle can be utilised effectively in order to develop a marketing

strategy for Hyundai. Selecting attitudes and values that are common among the target
market, creates the basis for an effective marketing strategy that can be built on in
order to influence consumer purchase decisions. As shown in the segmentation section
of this report, core values of Hyundai’s electric vehicle target market includes being
environmentally conscious and tech savvy, thus, considering consistency theory,
which suggests that these people will maintain their beliefs or decisions, utilising
these attitudes will create an immediate connection with the consumer. These attitudes
also align with the cars perfectly due to the nature of their production, thus already
tying in Hyundai. Furthermore, utilising these attitudes enables the price point of the
electric vehicles to be justified to the consumer as they will likely perceive the price as
reasonable for the attitude and belief compatibility they are experiencing, for example,
if the consumer is a strong advocate for sustainability, they will maintain this value,
and they will justify the cost of the car as an addition to their efforts of being
environmentally conscious.

The consumer decision making process (CDMP) refers to the five step process that
consumers partake in to evaluate making a purchase decision, these steps are problem
recognition, information search, alternatives evaluation, purchase decision and post
purchase evaluation (Stankevich, A, 2017). Step three of the CDMP, alternatives
evaluation, can be eloquently applied to the consistency principle, as when a consumer
is considering the alternative options they are likely to maintain the values or beliefs
that have been predetermined in their minds, thus, directing them to select the product
that aligns the closest with these beliefs. An example of this is consumers who have a
sustainability focus are likely to purchase an electric vehicle over a petrol fuelled
vehicle as it aligns closest with their personal values.

Hyundai’s current ad campaigns for their electric vehicles, titled ‘History of

Evolution’, ‘Campsite’ and ‘Ultimate Camping’, all highlight the benefits of an
electric vehicle from a convenience and effectiveness standpoint. These Hyundai ads
highlight the overlooked benefits of having an electric car, such as being able to plug
cords into it in order to access electricity for utilities and purposes outside of just
regular driving. The ‘History of Evolution’ ad in particular, also highlights the ever
changing and developing technology and showcases electric vehicles as the latest
8
piece of technology that everyone will end up owning, just like when televisions were
first released. Furthermore, the price of Hyundai’s vehicles are not overly expensive
like some competitors such as Tesla, which allows more consumers to be able to
afford these electric vehicles, which allows Hyundai’s ‘History of Evolution’ ad to be
more realistic as more people will likely purchase them.

While Hyundai’s ad campaigns are effective in showcasing the benefits and great
values of the vehicle, a gap in their marketing is utilising the consistency principle in
order to highlight how their target markets personal values also align with that of
Hyundai’s electric vehicle production, such as sustainability. Environmental
consciousness is an ever growing value of many consumers and being on the forefront
of this will only benefit Hyundai in future, and a recommendation for the execution of
this will be provided in the next section of the report.

Marketing Recommendations:

Recommendation 1: Personal Achievement Focused Billboard Campaign

Explanation: A billboard which shows the Ioniq 5 electric car, looking very sleek and
luxurious with the writing “Accomplish everyday with Hyundai” next to it, in very big
bold writing.

Justification: The target market is made up of driven individuals who are known to be
active in their communities and constantly trying to level up in their respective
workplaces. Therefore, when these consumers are deciding to purchase a new vehicle
they are likely to select a vehicle that makes them feel accomplished in their day to
day life, a vehicle that fulfils their ‘ego needs’ as per Maslow’s hierarchy of needs
(Mathers, E, 1981) and the internal factor of needs/motivation. Consumers are likely
to fulfil these ego needs such to to feel accomplished and prestigious by purchasing
the vehicle.

Implementation: Firstly, Hyundai would have to have photographers and editors create
the billboard poster, photographers to take the picture of the car in the correct
aesthetic, lighting etc. and then the editors to put the photo and overlaid writing
together and sized correctly to fit on a billboard. Next, Hyundai would have to
organise to place the ad on specific billboards by getting in touch with the owners of
the billboards and organising timeframes and payments to make it viable. Once these
are done, the billboard would be placed and consumed by people everyday.

9
 Recommendation 2: Sustainability Elements Within Ad Campaign

Explanation: For the first approach of weaving sustainability factors into their current
ad campaign strategy, Hyundai’s ad ‘Campsite’ will be used as an example. First the
old days, where they had no lights or proper heating while camping, were compared to
the new, where they used the vehicle as a source of power for these things, as the
narrator of the ads discusses what they have now he says “Nowadays you just plug
everything into your car, you got lights and heat”, they could have added onto the end
of this quote “All at less cost to the environment”, as a subtle but obvious indication
of sustainability benefits of the car. These kinds of subtle additions to dialogue can be
included in any future ad campaign, no matter the core focus of it.
The second approach, which is having a whole ad completely dedicated to the
sustainability side of purchasing an electric vehicle, could be executed in a way that
matches Hyundai’s other marketing campaigns thus far. There could be several shots
of the car driving through a sequence of different parts of nature, i.e. forest, desert,
mountains etc, and shots of people camping by their car in some of these locations
when it zooms in on the narrator and main person in most of their ads so far and he
could say something along the lines of “A whole lot of camping, at less cost to the
Earth”. It’s subtle but effective, and the use of the different biomes of nature is likely
to trigger the desire to protect it.

Justification: As per the target market identified, consumers of Hyundai’s electric

vehicles are environmentally conscious and value sustainability efforts and choose to
actively try to decrease their carbon footprint. Due to the target market being very
active in the community and having to drive to work constantly, it is expected that
consumers are willing to make the transition to an electric vehicle in order to be more
environmentally friendly. Furthermore, the target market is described to be technology
forward people who are often up to date with the latest tech and gadgets, thus
combining a new and improved car model and pairing that with the sustainability side
of things, results in the ultimate product for this target market, which would influence
their purchase decisions further. The internal factor of attitude, particularly in
reference to the consistency principle, as mentioned earlier in this report, can be
utilised in order to efficiently execute a sustainability based marketing campaign, as
the target market already have the attitudes and belief and value system in place that
aligns with the sustainability, and the consistency principle suggests that these
attitudes will likely be maintained (Thomson, 1990) for the purchase decision of a
new vehicle, thus directing the consumer towards purchasing Hyundai’s electric
vehicles.

Implementation: As per the explanation, weaving a sustainability comment into the ad

campaigns that have a different focus, such as personal benefits or having the latest
technology, is relatively easy to implement. Whatever resources were required to
make these kinds of ads will be maintained, it’s just that extra bit of dialogue that
10
needs to be added, thus the actor portraying the narrator will need to learn an extra
line and logistically that’s about the only action required. However, for the second
approach of creating a whole sustainability ad campaign on its own will require a lot
more planning. For this to happen, a filming crew will need to be organised, one of the
electric vehicles needs to be nominated to be showcased in the ad, actors will need to
be hired, preferably the same actor that has been featured in most of the other
campaigns, a hair, costume and makeup team etc. This campaign will also require a
director and general manager to be able to keep the whole project on track. Having the
variety of biomes featured may mean that the car has to be filmed in various locations,
however, having dealerships across Australia may make this easier as certain clips
can be filmed in different places and then all the clips can be collated into one video
by a team of editors. Ultimately, creating an ad requires a lot of people from a range of
different professions to come together for a project like this.

Conclusion:
The purpose of this report was to compile marketing campaign recommendations for
Hyundai’s electric vehicle range based on the segmentation techniques and internal
factor analysis completed. The recommendations made included creating a billboard
focused on associated the vehicles with feelings of accomplishment and the other
recommendation made was having a sustainability element in their ad campaigns,
whether that be to add a piece of dialogue that clued the audience into the
sustainability focus to their current ad strategies or creating a whole new ad that was
entirely focused on the environmental benefits. If these recommendations are
implemented, consumers may feel a greater connection to the brand and therefore
Hyundai may see an increase in interest and in sales of their electric vehicles.

Peer Reviewed (Articles & Books) References

Chaiklin, H, 2011, Attitudes, Behaviour and Social Practice, The Journal of Sociology
and Social Welfare, vol. 38,
https://scholarworks.wmich.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=3583&context=jssw

Day, D, Gan, B, Gendall, P & Esslemont, D, 1991, Predicting Purchase Behaviour,

The Marketing Bulletin, pg. 18-30,
http://marketing-bulletin.massey.ac.nz/V2/MB_V2_A3_Day.pdf

Kahar, S, 2013, A Purchase Decision-Making Process Model of Online Consumers

and its Influential Factor a Cross Sector Analysis, The University of Manchester
(United Kingdom) ProQuest Dissertations Publishing,
https://www.proquest.com/openview/a2e1cfb91d0f52fea3f540495cd61f54/1?pq-origsi
te=gscholar&cbl=51922

11
Mathers, E, 1981, Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs as a Guide for Living, Journal of
Humanistic Psychology, vol. 21, pg. 69-72
https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/002216788102100406?journalCode=jhp
a

Ramaya, N & Mohamed, A, 2016, Factors Consumer Buying Behaviour, International

Journal of Applied Research, vol. 2, pg. 76-80,
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/316429866_Factors_affecting_consumer_bu
ying_behavior

Solomon, M, Russell-Bennet, R & Previte, J, 2013, Consumer Behaviour: Buying,

Having, Being, Pearson Australia, 3rd edition,
https://books.google.com.au/books?hl=en&lr=&id=ajDiBAAAQBAJ&oi=fnd&pg=P
P1&dq=consumer+behaviour&ots=eyUONz4iMO&sig=CQSUIWMq7bSmNZl20f8is
-EyL98#v=onepage&q=consumer%20behaviour&f=false

Stankevich, A, 2017, Explaining the Consumer Decision-Making Process: Critical

Literature Review, Journal of International Business Research and Marketing, vol. 2,
pg. 7-14, https://ideas.repec.org/a/mgs/jibrme/v2y2017i6p7-14.html

Thomson, W, 1990, The Consistency Principle, Game Theory and Applications,

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/B9780123701824500155

Other References:
Hyundai, 2022, Ioniq Electric, viewed May 3 2022,
https://www.hyundai.com/au/en/cars/eco/ioniq/electric

Lambert, F, 2020, Hyundai launches IONIQ as new EV brand, confirms 3 new electric
cars, Electrek, viewed 1 May 2022,
https://electrek.co/2020/08/10/hyundai-ioniq-ev-brand/

Miller, C, 2022, Dozens of Hyundai and Kia EVs Coming by 2030, Including Pickups,
Car and Driver, viewed 2 May 2022,
https://www.caranddriver.com/news/a39312645/hyundai-kia-genesis-ev-plans/

Morshedlou, A, 2018, Man Wearing Black, Unsplash, viewed 1 May 2022,

https://unsplash.com/photos/WMD64tMfc4k

Schmidt, B, 2022, “Best month ever:” EV sales take off as interest in going electric
surges, The Driven, viewed 2 May 2022,
https://thedriven.io/2022/04/06/best-month-ever-ev-sales-take-off-as-interest-in-going
-electric-surges/

12
Stewart, M, 2022, National Marketing Campaign for Hyundai's IONIQ 5 Illustrates
the Evolution of the Electric Vehicle, Hyundai Media Centre, viewed 1 May 2022,
https://www.hyundainews.com/en-us/releases/3494

13