1. Introduction
Modern marketing owes a large degree of its theoretical foundations, strategic directions, values, and domain applications to behavioral sciences. Important topics of consumer behavior need to be investigated due to the rapid growth in response to commerce and consumer queries, the availability of marketplace data for answering these questions, academic interest in the topic with a rising number of PhD marketing programs, journal flows and reverse paper loops, and marketing research conferences and trade journals centered on consumer behavior. Products are nothing but the necessities or luxurious things that you want to own or possess. Indeed, it is the key to strategic market planning. Marketing consists of value-added activities for good customers. All such activities are needed to move a good or service from the producer to the consumer.
Identification of a research problem is necessary in any research so that the objectives of the study can be achieved. This study identified a research problem on the marketing strategies of a particular mattress brand and how it affects consumers’ behavior. Consumers are affected by the mattress brand, quality, and the features that meet the product marketing. When selecting a product to buy, consumers and marketers make a variety of choices that can affect the bottom line. Magic Koil mattress sale provides unique products and targets every segment of knife consumers with products in every range. This study mainly focuses on the various factors of marketing strategies and how they influence consumer behavior, as well as the long-term relationships built with customers in every segment. Consumer behavior is the study of how individuals and organizations select and use products and services.
1.1. Background of the Study
In fact as a matter of purchasing activity, that is marketing products; its objective – that is feeling satisfaction; a sense of having brought what is worth the investment or in other sense a confidence in the utility to be derived from the investment. Then what is the base for what is assurance? Most of the time the brand plays a vital role in providing such an assurance, especially in an open market under competitive conditions with myriad restrictions in establishing universal truth about even leading brands meant for marketing. The marketing strategies adopted by companies usually aim to exploit the strengths to gain competitive shares of a product through branding. In this current context a case study of Magic Koil naturae res has been made and the impact of brand on consumer behavior is vividly highlighted and this study indicates the value and charisma the branded items offer to the consumer in the nick of time. Since we have come across a big branch rebellion on the local brand.
The online shopping sites know the consistent buying behavior of the aged. Branding is given due importance in the recent past as nobody can afford to overlook the potentiality of brand. The bloody fight has started between marketers to commercialize along with brand names. In this background we have taken up this study “The Impact of Marketing Strategies on Consumer Behavior”. It is observed that consumers are purchasing superior quality and highly priced products not for the sake of the product but for the name or the brand they are using. The charisma lies on the brand and not the product or price. As a matter of fact even at high prices products will have little movements provided these are not branded.
1.2. Research Objectives
As this research is both exploratory and explanatory in nature for the basis upon which it is built, it is a main study in its field. First, it will concern the fuller identification of marketing issues facing Magic Koil orthopedic care. Second, consumer durables and mattress products are expected to exhibit peculiarities; therefore, applying the model to this research can provide information about this group of products. Specifically, however, the model will be used in understanding the problems faced by the Magic Koil brand, particularly in the pre-purchase stage, and provides data required in formulating the wider marketing strategy.
There are four main objectives of this study. The first objective is to identify the impact of marketing mix strategies towards consumer behavior for the selected Magic Koil mattress brand. Each element of marketing mix (4Ps) will be examined and tested relatively towards consumer behavior. The second objective is to test and examine the difference in variables of consumer buying behavior towards Magic Koil brands performed in Singapore and Malaysia. Specifically, this objective attempts to determine whether Magic Koil consumers in Singapore differ from Magic Koil consumers in Malaysia. The third objective is to construct a model regarding consumer buying behavior within the purchase cycle for the Magic Koil brand in both countries, in particular. Finally, the fourth objective is to develop and measure the relationship of the Magic Koil brand with consumer behavior in Singapore and Malaysia, and compare the brand build models due to the differences in cultures and demography between the consumers of both countries. Since the purchasing process involves several decision-making frames, this study will focus on a more detailed and in-depth purchasing process, considering the complexity of the product in consumers’ decision making. The subsequent model will be aimed at new consumers or those undergoing repeat purchasing process.
2. Literature Review
Joris M.R. Gooding, Marc Langer, Christine Robinson, and Bernardo Villar conclude that co-marketing lies in the hands of the return on investment. Marketing strategy towards target consumers can be put as the science of influencing consumers’ behavior. The more consumers are attracted, the more revenue is created. It is not an easy science. It can deal with evocation and generation from consumer experience. Influence has many forms, handling capabilities, and needs different marketing parameters. After all, the engagement of consumers can be quantified according to the businesses’ involved values, strategic level, and competencies. The framework and strategy ecological highlights expectancy and restrained factors. Consumers have more choices and less unfavorable behavior or negative complaints can reflect the profit. After all, a range of brands can resonate to a degree. The company is not the dominant marketing force. It can have behavior/condition-based and intuitive different functions.
This section is a review of marketing strategy and consumer behavior literature. It reviews research texts related to marketing strategy and consumer behavior. Marketing strategy can be defined as a long-term and high-level policy that helps achieve the enterprise’s goals and considers consumers’ needs. It is implemented through marketing mix decisions. The purpose of marketing strategy is to help companies get the most benefit from consumer trends and changes, to meet customer needs, and to achieve the business’s overall goal. This paper studies a set of current and future marketing strategies for Fortune companies.
2.1. Consumer Behavior Theories
Because of this reason, the theoretical model is employed to depict a direct relationship and various influences of the impacts on the brand. The research also uses many important consumer behavior theories of exploratory behavior radius and threshold models to illustrate the detail of the buying behavior of a target customer and the range of consumer behavior deflections. These theories of marketing strategy that look at different variables and details because they illustrate a range of consumer characteristics. Popularity is the result of this growth, and numerous researchers have been conducted by researchers aiming toward purchasing decisions.
The relationship between consumer and product is the psychological, social, economic, and behavioral encounters between two individuals and between individuals in society, and it is a relevant and compelling field of consumer behavior models. The concern occurs since people take care of the stimulation and behavior technique that bring about the product and at last impact the brand’s cost. Consequently, understanding consumer behavior appears in numerous marketing theories or models of purchasing decision, and it helps to recognize the origins and form of different target consumer attitudes and behaviors by practicing management of the formulation of marketing strategies to create the consumer experience and product attachment. The explanation of consumers’ behaviors and attitudes through theoretical formulations of brand effects in this study contributes to an understanding of the purchase cycles so that purchasers of the product are established, as they proceed through varied phases.
2.2. Marketing Strategies
It is important for a company to increase sales and improve customer satisfaction. Many thoughts and strategies have become the foundation for the strategy of any organization, deeply impacting the business of any company and aiming to be customer-oriented. Therefore, the company implements an optimal business strategy. The successful implementation of these strategies should consider factors that could affect customer behavior towards these marketing strategies. Four dimensions of the marketing mix (4Ps), namely product, price, place, and promotional strategies, are hereinafter referred to as marketing activities.
In recent years, with rapid economic growth and increasing consumer spending, competition between domestic and foreign manufacturers and service companies selling consumer products, many companies consider the effects of marketing strategies on consumer behaviors as a top priority in their research. It is inevitable for researchers studying any organization to analyze the factors that influence customer behavior, which are known as marketing strategies.
3. Research Methodology
The conclusion was drawn and reported that the products have a big impact with fundamental marketing strategies with relationship marketing. Relationship marketing gives the impression of influencing the consumer’s preference more than marketing mix or 4P’s. The significance of this study is bourgeois; the consumers are the basic part of all these brands or relationships, and they (the consumers) should have an order about upholding their relationship in order to plan and handle them. That is the reason efforts have been made to attain the precise and efficient result to identify the effect of all relationship marketing strategies that influence their brand’s competitive advantage. After the literature review, a framework of research’s model has been developed.
This study was conducted in Karachi, Pakistan, to find out the relationship marketing strategies by analyzing the relationship between fundamental marketing strategies and consumer preference of Magic Koil Mattress Brand. The research is intended to provide a brief overview study of the private mattress industry in Karachi and its impact on consumer preferences. The data was gathered from 250 random consumers by questionnaire. The results were based on SPSS, and regression was run to check the relationship marketing strategies between product design, price, place, and promotion.
3.1. Data Collection Methods
Secondary data: This data derives from numerous academic journals, including Marketing and Journal of Marketing, Demand of Policies, Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Applied and Scientific Research (JASR), Comprehensive Volume of Articles in Journal of Retailing. Additionally, worldwide sources of data were used. These included online databases, which provided the necessary variables to facilitate the empirical analysis. Therefore, all requirements that could not be provided by the primary data were sought through secondary empirical data. Information for the formative marketing strategy model was retrieved from sources like Thompson Reuters. Since the firm is not a large market share player, a lack of specific information was noted initially in the process of collecting data. Thus, a call was placed to the firm’s major sales distributor’s office in Nigeria for specific data on private label branding.
Primary data: Data was collected using structured questionnaires. A judgmental sampling design was implemented to collect data from consumers of the Magic Koil product. The choice of using judgmental sampling design was largely informed by geographical and resource constraints. The target population included market clients residing in either Lagos, Oyo, Ogun, Rivers or Bayelsa states. A mix of both open and closed-ended questions were adopted in the administered questionnaire. Additionally, each structure included theoretical and empirical frameworks that founded the questionnaire structure. More than a hundred (100) questionnaires were made available and twelve team members were instructed to administer the questionnaire randomly to clients or friends who were consumers of the Magic Koil products.
3.2. Sample Selection
Overall, 400 respondents completed the questionnaire with a response rate of approximately 33.33 percent. The response rate is calculated as the number of completed questionnaires divided by the total number of questionnaires distributed (400/1,200). A split between genders showed 56.5 percent of male respondents and 43.5 percent of female respondents. The greater part of the respondents were full-time students, at 79 percent of the total. Two-thirds of the respondents were pursuing their bachelor’s degree in various fields of studies, followed by 16.8 percent doing their master’s degree. The average age of the respondents was 24.4 years. Most of the students were in their third and final years of study. A summary of the demographic profiles of the respondents can be referred to in Table 1.
A total of 400 completed questionnaires were collected. To facilitate response retrieval, a total of 1,200 questionnaires in six sets of 200 questionnaires each were distributed on a random basis. Two XL twin-size Magic Koil mattress sets were offered as lucky draw incentives for the participation in the study. In the third draw, one lucky winner was drawn to win an XL twin-size Magic Koil mattress set plus US$100 in hard cash, and in the fourth draw, another lucky winner was drawn to win a second XL twin-size Magic Koil mattress set plus US$100 in hard cash. Each respondent who participated in the study completed a data collection form. The winners were drawn and contacted through their cell phone numbers and email addresses independently by the marketing manager of Magic Koil. At the end of the entire data creation process, the winning respondents were delivered their prizes at the retail shops where the completed questionnaires were returned.
4. Case Study: Magic Koil Mattress Brand
Marketing Channels and Promotion Strategy: Social media marketing has also become extremely important in regards to the beta launch of their new mattress and their overall marketing strategy. Public relations also played a significant role in supporting their brand by supporting platforms like Expat Living, as well as Mothers Team support from different clubs and parenting journalists to increase brand awareness among parents. Sin Wee Seng also explains that word-of-mouth advertising through customers is another significant portion of their advertising strategy.
– The Hotel Series mattress – The retail Double Series mattress – The luxury mattress: The Hotel Series mattress combines elegance, beauty, comfort, and expenditure for the rest of the bed. The feature of a traditional fabric button pad is synonymous with bed decor and explains a brand’s unique value proposition (UVP).
Product & Brand: Magic Koil incorporates a remarkable value proposition that has its roots. Five layers of mattresses have been incorporated into this concept, focusing in particular on Singapore’s lifestyle. The products are:
Introduction: This case deals with the marketing strategies adopted by Sin Wee Seng, the owner and founder of the Singapore-based mattress brand Magic Koil, to inspire, design, manufacture, and market a range of different mattresses within the market. It also examines the brand’s unique value proposition in relation to its target customer segment, as well as how brand perception or branding helps in the final purchase during the decision-making process, offering several practical marketing examples to back up the concept. Students are asked to understand and evaluate the various social, emotional, and ethical factors influencing and driving consumer behavior in the case as a whole.
4.1. Company Overview
Quantum Haz – the trademark people remember Magic Koil with. Quantum Haz is known not only for being the modern mattress in the new century but is increasingly becoming popular as the consumers’ choice of recommendation in health and well-being. Quantum Haz forms the mattress that encompasses the harmony of life. It combines the benefits of all-natural latex, with extra firm body support, adding on with the firmness of natural latex, combined with the luxurious comfort of superior pocketed coil. Unlike the usual spring mattresses that have shown to release harmful magnetic fields, non-restorative sleep, pressure point stress on the body that would last for hours, even into the afternoon, and restlessness as a result of the aforesaid, Quantum Haz makes a difference. The pocketed springs are separated not individually but in a core of small groups, thereby reducing the magnetic flux emitted from these springs. The consumer is now a witness to a healthier and refreshing aura of life.
Magic Koil, aimed to be an international bedding manufacturer with state-of-the-art facilities in the world, using and showcasing their own products in world-renowned events, demonstrates the fact that they are primarily export-oriented. The export figures (dominated in the portfolio with only 30% of local sales) also show the success on this path – over 40 countries served. Magic Koil, owned and managed by the ZEN Group of companies in Singapore, quickly established a very strong base with international recognition. With a managing philosophy like “The market shows the way; we add shapes and colors to your needs,” Magic Koil has the pull of the local and international markets and not the pressure. Magic Koil also wants to be a trendsetter and is determined to work hard to make that happen. Therefore, they not only follow fashion and stylish movements in the sector but anticipate the market and create new trends.
4.2. Product Offerings
The consumers asked for some expansion of the line, so new items were added after detailed discussion with them. A company would like to know if the practices it adopts are beneficial or detrimental to the buyer. Magic Koil needed to instigate various marketing approaches that would have a beneficial implication on the consumer. The company aims to consolidate its hold on the market. It has to innovate. The launch of new items is generally a key approach used. After a brief discussion within the firm, a market research analysis was carried out on the different new models. What would emerge from such a deliberation is the setting of prices and the introduction of new items that would respond to the twin objectives of profitability and customer attractiveness.
A product is the result of a long, sincere, and expensive effort by the manufacturer to fit the consumer needs profitably. A product is not offered to satisfy only the customer’s needs. It is also a reflection of the buyer’s lifestyle and personality. Product offerings can be grouped into three main strategies: good, better, and best. The study tries to demonstrate if such grouping helped the company to differentiate the choice offerings, thereby affecting the consumer.
5. Analysis and Findings
Not many businesses have adapted to this changing philosophy at the same pace that the marketing concept has evolved. This research statement evolved as a result of a study into how a lateness concept can be cultivated to represent the feelings and behavior of what customers demand today in the consumption of a product. The impact of marketers’ strategies on enhancing customer behavior is a slowly emerging phenomenon as a prevalent focal point for business. A customer-centered organization is a single one that has recognized and is prepared to manage the uncertainty of the market of the future. The marketers of the future should focus on building financial and human assets instead of manipulating physical assets. Individual, personal, and customer focus is crucial in the long-term process of building customer relationships. The successful firms of the macro-environment are those that position themselves properly in the micro-environment. The companies that will succeed are those that effectively serve the customers’ rational, emotional, and spiritual value. These provide the bridge between individual rapid market change and long-term profitability.
The growing intensity of competition and the intensified concern of firms to grow their markets and revenues further heightened the business community’s awareness of the importance of marketing. Most businesses appreciate that to achieve a sustainable and competitive advantage, focusing on the customer in every aspect of the operation is crucial. Many now see that an important aspect of success is the ability to meet customer needs, wants, and expectations better than their competitors. The building and nurturing of a customer relationship are just one focus of marketing. In the businesses’ quest to fully satisfy their customers and build long-term relationships, many have redefined their business philosophy from one of simply selling a product or service to a concern for the total customer and the total exchange that occurs. Holistic marketing is the current marketing management’s concept that is meaningful to both customer and businesses.
5.1. Impact of Marketing Strategies on Consumer Behavior
The strong influence of marketing strategies on consumer behavior is the primary driver to formulate marketing mix strategies of Magic Koil. The firm should focus on sales personnel, marketing communications, and price promotion programs. Effort and budget should be allocated to reinforcing communication programs, particularly in the digital media to inform and educate consumers effectively. The firm has a strong influence on product package (size, attractive labels, and relatively small and light products), place (high potential sales outlets), promotion (eye-catching price tag, discount attractiveness, aggressive campaigns, and credit card payments and check products), marketing philosophy (upgrading sales personnel quality, sales job and self-actualization from the sales personnel, and employee loyalty), and promotion, price, and place.
The results obtained from the analysis conducted unveil that marketing strategies of Magic Koil mattress have a significant impact on consumer behaviors. The study assumed the construct of interest, consumer behavior, to be multi-dimensional. Accordingly, various factors related to the consumer purchase process were considered. The results show that the “place” (most important sales outlet), “promotion” (word-of-mouth, brand reputation, discount attractiveness, consumer trust, price claims, attitude toward advertising, and brand loyalty), and “people” (sales service personnel) have a significant impact on consumer behavior.
