Behavioural Analysis Report (Essay Sample)

Behavioral Analysis Report for Apple Inc. Name: Institution: Behavioral analysis report for Apple Inc. Company and Product Description Consumer behavior is an ever-dynamic phenomenon that always has the eye of marketers. An analysis of the same represents a constant activity undertaken by every corporate organization and earnest business enterprise. The concept of the indifference theory involves understanding the thoughts and actions of consumers in the market; it focuses on their needs and preferences to be met and satisfied by products in the market environment (Johannessen 2010). Apple Computer Inc. has its headquarters in Cupertino, California USA. Steve Jobs and Steve Woniak founded the company in 1976. The company is innovation-oriented largely and it takes credit for the development of Apple Personal Computers, the iPod, iPad and iPhone. The company is a Multinational Corporation that is undoubtedly a pioneer in innovation of computer electronic products. This paper will focus on Consumer Behavioral Analysis as far as Apple Inc. is concerned. Apple Incorporated is positioned as a leader in the industry of personal computers and mobile phone technology. The company has positioned itself to create products for customers seeking quality, innovation, design and vital reliability. This has made the customer base of the company to comprise mostly of individuals that are wealthy and well off. It has also attracted people who are serious innovators in their specific lines of work, this fact had aided greatly in building a very strong brand name for the company. Even though the company's sales volume is comparatively and relatively lower than those of its competitors are, the company remains at the top of the market in terms of generated income. It is a clear fact that the competing Android mobile phone manufacturers dominate the market. This fact represent a witty financial irony since close to 80% of mobile phone devices shipped all over the world are of Android making and only 13% are manufactured by Apple. In fact, Apple's profits surpass those of all its competitors combined. The company got 56% of the total profit realized in the mobile phone market in 2013 according to Canaccord Genuity. (Bradley 2013). Another notable fact to mention however, is that Apple Inc. generates more advertising revenue and sells more applications that all its android competitors combined; this is still despite its relatively less market share. On the other hand, Apple Computer Inc. can boast of greater data usage by its customers and not its competitors. Aside from having the most sales of both Smartphone and tablet apps, it records the most web browser use by customers. Market Segmentation and Positioning By maintaining a constant tracking of changes in technology, Apple Computer Inc. creates products designed for an urban setting and trendy lifestyles of consumers based in America, Europe and parts of Asia mostly. The company is well positioned having products that lack close substitutes as well as a strong sense of originality and unique user experience. They remain a form of elegance to those who can comfortably afford and acquire them for personal use. When it comes to enterprise adoption and use of in retail shopping, consumers have higher preference for Apple products compared to its competitors. The company has hence demonstrated that market share does not determine the level of income a company generates (Bradley 2013) Still, the company has more potential segments to target, especially the urban settings of South America and Africa. In addition, the company should put more emphasis on targeting the youth who certainly have many uses for mobile devices and PCs including social platforms, music entertainment and gaming applications. Students also use these devices for educational purposes like accessing e-books and online journals. With increased interest in educational material in the developing world, Apple Inc. is facing a huge and unexplored potential segment that entails children ant preparatory level of schooling to college students. As an important strategic aim of conducting business, Apple strives to determine psychological needs of its customers as well as making considerations of their sociology and demographics. The company remains a world leader as far as keeping up with changing trends in the Information Technology sector is concerned. Up to the present moment, analysis of consumer behavior has proved to be advantageous for Apple in enabling the company to satisfy the needs of its customers. So far, Apples' products target affluent individuals as well as specific sets people in terms of their sociology, demography and topography. This is well demonstrated by different marketing strategies set for different geographical segments; specifically continental blocks. It is obvious that the market remains highly competitive with decreased product life cycles, owing to the constant change and improvement of Information Communication Technology (ICT). The company also recognizes consumer needs concerning the environment and predominant social and physical stimuli that affect the behavior of its potential customers. The Apple brand has proved difficult to beat for competitors, as it has maintained its position at the center of white-collar computing and the entertainment market. Moreover, the marketing strategies employed by the company do not allow it to position itself in the enterprise space of utilizing economies of scale, as this would create opportunities for competitors like Dell, Hp and Blackberry among others to gain in. Being a market leader means that the company attracts the attention of all players in the industry, from the consumers to competitors. To this day, Apple remains the ‘White hot center' in the production and distribution of the Mac computer, iPhones, iPads, iTunes and apple TV among other products. In 2007, loyal Apple customers eagerly queued at a company stores in the U.S as they waited for new versions of the company's product to be released officially, giving rise to another term- ‘iPhone maniac' (Lennon 2011). Apple has also benefited from tactical mistakes made by its competitors concerning business decisions and from its high regard for research and development functions. It was one of the first companies to venture in the technology market, way before its competitors like IBM, HP, Dell, Compaq, Toshiba and Acer to mention a few. The company has successfully implemented sound strategies that have enabled it to build and strengthen its brand for over three decades despite instances of manufacturing setbacks; namely initial poor designs for PCs, iPods prone to scratches, LCD monitors with debris and dropped call in iPhone (3G) devices. Still, the company remarkably shunned controversies unlike several of its competitors and cultivated steady stakeholders and customers' contentment. As far as Corporate Social Responsibility is concerned, the company has maintained an open and transparent approach in dealing with problems arising while being quick to sort them out, hence cultivating a desirable image in the larger market environment. (Matsuda et al. 2011) Apple Inc. recently introduced a range of patent applications in its devices- a form of positioning strategy against competitors; these enable the devices to detect user faces, fingerprints and usage activities as a form of security measure. The smart devices are even able to monitor heartbeat patterns of users; in cases where an unauthorized user is detected, the devices initiate measures like taking pictures and simultaneously sending them to email accounts in other linked devices. They also relay information regarding Global Positioning Systems (GPS) coordinates, call and keystroke logs among other activity data. These features enable registered users to access the interfaces of their devices enabling them to access and either save or erase specific data from a remote location (Diaz 2010). Behavioral Analysis of Targeted Segments Noticeable and Meaningful Differences The product strategy employed by apple aims to have the best product in the market to offer consumers value for their money. This makes customers to be less indifferent inusing the company's products in relation to substitutes. For example, iMac computers are not prone to threats of viruses as other computers using the Windows Operating Systems; this enables them to be way ahead of the competition. The company has hence demonstrated audacious decision-making capabilities in regards to product quality and so reliability, building trust and confidence in its customers. This has gone a long way to justify its pricing strategies. In addition, the products bear limited variations in specific classes, for instance, iPads are available only in white or black colors, with Wi-Fi and 3G or Wi-Fi alone, 16GB, 32GB or 64GB memory and so on. When it comes to placement of Apple's products, the company exercises extreme discretion in settling on selected retail outlets. It has not relied wholly on online sales as most of its competitors have instead it has been keen on how its products are displayed and placed on the selected retail outlets. The company has gone a notch higher to come up with modeled designs for these stores located in major retail shopping places for purposes of giving its customers a distinctive shopping experience. Since Apple Inc. targets specific niches of consumers, it has employed scarcity of its products as a marketing strategy of promotion. The company has previously stated that "only a hundred" pieces of a product are available, making its customers even more eager to acquire the products once they are out for sale (Lennon et al. 2011). As far as the indifference theory of consumer behavior is concerned, Apple has built stro...