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Question: Discuss about the Consumer decision of making across modern. Answer: Introduction This report will discuss about the consumer decision-making process of Sony. In addition, the primary and secondary target market of Sony will be determined and analyzed in terms of different segmentation aspects. The current perception of the consumers around the world regarding the products of Sony will also be discussed along with discussing the effectiveness of their advertisement on the perception of the consumers. In accordance to the identified factors, recommendations will be provided in order to have effective and ideal marketing mix of Sony. Company profile In the current business scenario, there are only a few business organizations, which are having huge brand presence and value across the world along with having a positive brand preference among the consumers. Among those certain brands, Sony is one of the leading one, which is having diversified product portfolio and have their market presence around the world. Sony was founded in Japan by Masaru Ibuka and Akio Morita in 7th May 1946 (Sony.net 2018). Sony is having their presence in different business sectors ranging from electronics, gaming consoles to entertainment including producing movies and music. They also have the leadership status in the market of semiconductor. Sony is having the presence in the financial and banking sector also. as of 2017, Sony is ranked at 105th in the Fortune Global 500 list of companies. Thus, Sony is one of the largest and profitable business corporations in the world. Product portfolio Among all the sectors earlier discussed, Sony is mostly popular in the electronics business having mobile devices, music devices, televisions and camera in their product portfolio. Sony is one of frontrunners in introducing advanced and innovative products in the market. They are known for the introduction of Walkman, which initiated the idea of portable music players in the market (Du Gay et al. 2013). Moreover, their camera is also well known and popular around the world. The mobile devices of Sony also went through different innovations in terms design, sound and camera. They first introduced the concept of swivel mobile phone in the market. However, with time, their entire product range went through modifications in terms of different aspects such as mobile devices of Sony were previously powered by Symbian and now they are powered by Android. Their televisions are previously having picture tube and now they are having LED panels. Marketing trend The product life cycle for Sony is varied and diverse due to their huge variety in product portfolio. They have introduced products in different sectors in different time period. Thus, some of their new products are in the growth stage and some of them are in the maturity stage. For instance, the life cycle of their walkman series is in the decline stage along with their televisions with picture tubes. On the other hand, the latest mobile devices introduced by Sony under the Experia range are in the growth stage. The LED panel televisions and music systems of Sony are in the maturity stage due to the reason that, Sony is having maximum market penetration in the market of music system. In the recent times, the competition for Sony is rapidly increasing in the electronics sector mainly from the rise of the cheap Chinese competitors. Moreover, other established players such as Apple and Samsung are also proving threat to Sony by introducing more updated products in the market. In terms of the mobile device market, Sony is facing losses and are trailing behind the major competitors. Figure: 1 Market share of Sony mobile Source: (Android Authority 2018) The above figure shows that Sony is trailing behind established players such as Apple and Samsung along with the Chinese brands. Thus, in this case, the effective determination of the requirement of the market along with the up gradation of the innovative features in their mobile devices is important. Figure: 2 Sales of Sony from their different business sectors Source: (Statista 2018) the above data shows that, Sony is fetching maximum revenue from their gaming and networking business followed by their financial sectors. The electronics business of them is rapidly decreasing in terms of generating revenue. Thus, it is important for them to identify the key barriers in their electronics business and implement steps in accordance to that. Marketing strategies of Sony Sony being one of the leading multinational corporations initiates extensive marketing strategies covering different sections and segments of the society. Sony electronics follow various distinctive and innovative marketing approaches in order to cater to more numbers of customers. In terms of the Porters generic strategies, Sony follows cost leadership and differentiation strategy rather than the focus strategy (Arnett and Wittmann 2014). This is mainly due to the reason that, the products of Sony covers both the higher end and mass market customers. Thus, economies of scale enable them to maintain the cost leadership along with providing multiple innovative and advanced features in their products to create the distinctive approach in the market. They also initiate the sponsorship of various sporting events such as sponsoring the FIFA world cup of 2010 and 2014. This helps them to attract and cover more numbers of customers at one go along with enhancing the brand identity around the world. They also have separate advertising campaigns for their products and they all are designed according to the preference and cultural pattern of the target market (Turco 2015). Identification of the target market As earlier discussed, Sony is having huge variety of products and covers different customer segments at different income sets and ages. Thus, the primary target market for Sony will also be huge ranging among different customer segments (Cross, Belich and Rudelius 2015). However, segmentation of the market comprise of different aspects. The following sections will analyze the primary target market of Sony in terms of different aspects. Demographics In terms of the demographic segmentation, the primary target market for Sony is the age group between 18 to 50 years of age. The target age group is huge due to the reason that, the mobile and music products will target the lower age groups. On the other hand, products such as televisions will attract the higher age group (Hamka et al. 2014). In terms of the income segments, the target market of Sony is the middle and higher class population. This is due to the reason that, they are having niche and higher end products targeted for the higher end customers. On the other hand, their mass market products will be affordable for the middle class customers. In terms of the family size, the primary target market for Sony will be everyone ranging from single individual to family man. Home music systems will target the family man and portable music system will cater to the single individuals. Psychographics In terms of the psychographic segmentation, the primary target market of Sony is the active and socially aware people. This is due to the reason that, the updated products being introduced by them in the market will attract these sections only rather than the traditionalists and conservatives (Gunter and Furnham 2014). However, the conservatives and the traditionalists are also the secondary target market for Sony due to the reason that, Sony is an age old company and there are certain loyal customers for them who are willing the products of Sony only. Behavioral In terms of the buying intentions, the primary target customers for Sony are the tech-savvy customers. This is due to the reason that, tech-savvy people will get attracted by the rapid change in the technology in the electronic products. Conservatives will not be interested to update themselves with the latest technologies (Yao et al. 2014). Moreover, the target customers for will be the quality centric with having the potentiality of heavy usage. The buying decision will be mainly based on benefits such as seamless operation and good after sales service. Recommended secondary target market From the above analysis, the existing target market of Sony is being discussed. However, from the above analysis, it can be concluded that, the age group above 50 and below 65 can be targeted with different product category. This is due to the reason that, in the recent time, customers having age above 50 are attracting more towards the technological products. Moreover, Sony is trailing behind their competitors in their existing target market; this new target segment will create business opportunity for them. Products such as user friendly mobile devices, televisions and home music systems will be the key to target this segment. Existing product mix strategy of Sony Product The products of Sony ranging from the televisions to the mobile devices are designed and loaded with latest technologies in order to the tech-savvy target customers. Moreover, the product range of Sony is being changed according to the current trend in the market. For instance, they introduced walkman series mobile phone when music in the mobile devices are accepted by the customers. Currently, Sony is selling Android powered Smartphone to cater the current trend and requirement of the market (Hsiao 2013). The products are made durable and long lasting in order to fulfill the expectation of the loyal customers and the behavioral aspects of them Price In order to target the middle and higher class customers, all the product categories of Sony are offered in different price segments. For instance, Sony Experia mobile devices are sold in mid price range and higher price range. Pricing is being initiated according to the latest technologies being loaded with the products. This enables them to push the older products by offering lower price. Place The primary target market of Sony is the middle age people and thus, online marketing is equally promoted along with the offline marketing. This helps them to cater to more numbers of customers at one go. The stores are also designed according to the taste and preference pattern of the target customers (Prashar 2013). Thus, initiation of the Omni-channel marketing is helping Sony to target both traditionalists and the tech-savvy customers (Fulgoni 2014). Promotion Promotional activities of Sony involves both online and offline mediums (Zhurkina, Ukhanova and Nikishin 2015). Promoting through offline medium such as sponsoring sporting events and with the help of the electronic media helps to target the largest sections of the target section. Online promotion helps to target the tech-savvy customers and the lower age target market (Hing et al. 2014). Consumer decision making process Brand perception For the contemporary business organizations such as Sony, consumer perception regarding the brand is important for enhancing the future business scenario. There are various modes and process by which, the business organizations tray to create positive perception among the target customers. Sony also initiates different policies in order to create the positive perception for their brands (Zenker and Beckmann 2013). One of the key activities promoted by them is the initiation of the corporate social responsibilities. This helps them to have positive implications on the perception of the customers. The current perception of the customers regarding the brand of Sony is the manufacturer of gaming consoles, mobile devices, music players, televisions and camera with having relatively higher price point compared to their competitors and with having attractive designs. Brand expectation Consumers opting or buying the products of Sony have the motivation for having branded products, which will enhance their social status. In addition, customers are also motivating towards the fact that the products of Sony will be of higher quality and will be durable. Thus, the chance of disputes will be less and the customer service will also be favorable. The anticipated returns for the customers from the Sony products are to have long lasting and durable products with having latest and user friendly features. Consumer decision making process Need recognition Identification of the need for the consumers is generally originated from internal and external sources. Internal sources for need generation for Sony products are the need to have a technologically updated product from an established brand (Maity and Dass 2014). External sources include advertisements of the products and communicating the benefits of using the products to the potential customers (Mortimer and Pressey 2013). Information search The next step involves the search for the information regarding the products in the markets. In the case of the products from Sony, customers can derive the information from online as well as from the offline mediums. Social media is one of the key sources for deriving information for the products. Evaluation of alternatives Information search lead to the identification of a few alternatives (Aruldoss, Lakshmi and Venkatesan 2013). Evaluation of the alternatives is being done by the customers regarding the offered features, price, design and utility. Sony are having huge variants of their products are having higher potential to get selected. Purchase The final decision is the purchasing of the most effective one from the available alternatives (Sallam 2014). The more positive impact of the Sony will be on the customers, the more will be the probability to get selected. Effectiveness of the advertisement of Sony As discussed earlier, Sony is having extensive policy of advertising their products involving different mediums. Advertisement plays the key role of communicating the benefits of the products to the customers. In the case of Sony, distinctive approach and design of the advertisements helps to gain the attention of the customers. Moreover, the approach of the advertisements for Sony is designed according to the local taste and preference pattern of the target market. The approach of the advertisement of Sony is more informative and thus, it helps in maximizing the interest of the customers. Moreover, it is also to be noted that, the advertisement of Sony is customer centric. This is due to the reason that, their advertisement communicates the benefits to be gained by the customers. Another key attribute of the advertisements of Sony is that, they are being designed according to the local taste and cultures of different locations around the world. This helps them to target the customers effectively. On the other hand, the personalization attribute initiated by them in the case of the home gadgets, while they use their global promotional approach for their mobile devices. Recommendations As discussed earlier, customers above the age of 50 should also be targeted. This will help to reduce the dependency on the over competitive existing target market of them. Moreover, the competition is also lower in the older age group. Thus, Sony will have more untapped to grow their business. The product should be made more affordable due to the reason that though Sony is having mass market models, but still they are expensive compared to their competitors. Thus, in order to compete in the market, they need to reduce the price further. In this case, it is being recommended that, Sony should benchmark some of their competitors and offer their products accordingly. If the pricing of their products can be well aligned with the quality being offered by them, then the market opportunity will be high for Sony. Electronic products of Sony are having latest technologies but they always acts as late mover in the market. Thus, their products should be updated with latest technologies more frequently in order to tap the market effectively. In the case of their mobile devices, there are various technologies that are not being used by their competitors but not be them. Thus, Sony should initiate the strategy of early bird in proving new technologies. Sony should have their offline stores in the tier II and tier III cities in order to tap those markets. This will reduce the dependency on the tier I markets. Moreover, major sections of the tier I and tier II cities especially in the developing countries are untapped. Thus, it will be a huge opportunity for Sony. The promotional activities should be aligned with the social media. This will help to change the approach of the promotion according to the determination of the market trend. Moreover, initiation of the social media marketing will also help them to enhance their brand value and loyalty among the customers. Thus, in the current business scenario, it is important for them to maintain the favorable brand image in the market. Conclusion Thus, from the above discussion, it can be concluded that, in the recent time, Sony is facing the issue of increased competition in the market. Thus, the revenue generation of them is rapidly reducing. This report discussed about the existing target market of Sony along with the recommended target market strategies. Customer perception regarding the branding of Sony is also being discussed in this report. 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