Interview Insights

Discuss about the Consumer Behavior Analysis Cup Noodles.

Consumer behavior is the analysis of the behavior depicted by consumers of various products. Every customer considers a large number of attributes before buying a particular product. The analysis of these attributes helps organizations in suiting their offerings in a manner that leads to maximum customer satisfaction (Solomon et. al., 2014). A thorough study of customer buying attitudes, perceptions, behaviors and decision making processes guide brands about promoting their products or services in the right manner in order to lure the right audience towards the product (Goh et. al., 2014). This report highlights upon the customer behaviors and attitudes while buying cup noodles.

In order to understand this buying process, three people have been interviewed. Through the interview, we have tried to gain a deeper insight upon their thought process, decision making process and attitude while buying cup noodles. Both the interviewees have had previous experience of buying cup noodles and purchase the product on a regular basis. Therefore, their views on the subject are expected to be succinctly clear. Both the customers were interview post their purchase.

The first interviewee was Guang Peng, a 23 year old male. Guang eats cup noodles fairly regularly. We asked Guang regarding Nissin cup noodles. He had tried that brand before and even liked it. He enjoyed having these cup noodles twice a week. These noodles are being enjoyed by him and his family on a regular basis. We also understood that the interviewee’s home town is a seaside city. This is why he and his family are very fond of sea food. This factor dictates his opinion while selecting a cup noodle flavor. The predominant reason behind Guang consuming cup noodles regularly is because they are very convenient. It appeared that he has a very busy schedule and hence consuming cup noodles saves time as it is easy to prepare. He usually buys it for himself but sometimes when he wishes to share noodles as a family meal then he buys for the entire family. This suggested us that cup noodles can be enjoyed as a family meal. Lastly, he also recommended that buying cup noodles from fair price would be a lot cheaper than other sources.

The second person we interviewed was a 26 year old male, Ham. We had a detailed interview with him and he was really supportive in guiding us through the intricacies of his cup noodle buying behavior. The interviewee sometimes lives alone and sometimes lives with his family. He mentioned that while he lives with his family, his mother or his maid buy cup noodles. However when he lives alone, he shops for them himself. He mentioned that these cup noodles were easy to buy, easy to prepare and fulfilled his hunger. Which is predominantly what motivated him to buy these noodles in the first place. Besides this, he also mentioned that he really likes the taste of these noodles so much so that he prefers to eat these noodles better than food at most restaurants in the city.

Purchase Process for Cup Noodles

The interviewee was introduced to the product by his maid because she was running late and decided to fix him and his family a quick meal. When asked if he indulged in any kind of research about the product before or after buying the product, he mentioned that the only aspect of the product that he researches about is the new flavors that are introduced by the brand. He buys the product from 7-11 store or from fair price depending upon which store offers a higher discount.

We also tried to understand his opinion regarding the discounts offered on the product. According to him, the discounts are offered to customers because the life cycle of these cup noodles are much shorter and hence if any product remains on shelf for a longer duration, the sellers would prefer to sell it at a discount. This would be a better option as compared to letting the product get spoilt. Lastly, the interviewee is not skeptical about the channel of purchase for cup noodles. He prefers to buy it from super markets that are located closer to his home. But over a period of time, he has developed taste for a few specific flavors. So he tries to make sure that he visits stores where his favorite flavors are available.

The third person we interviewed was Barry. We have no record of his age. But he seemed like a young man in his late twenties. He first started having cup noodle fifteen to sixteen years ago. He started consuming cup noodles fifteen to sixteen years ago. In fact consuming cup noodles is a part of his regular routine and a staple diet. He prefers to buy Maggi cup noodles curry flavor. There are ten members in his family and all of them consume cup noodles. Owing to the large number of people in his family, they prefer to buy cup noodles online. This is because there is an online promotion which offers customers a couple of packets of cup noodles free if they buy an entire box.

The major reasons behind him consuming these cup noodles are the facts that the noodles are cheap and that they are available in different flavors. Barry has been consuming cup noodles since a long time and hence it was interesting to understand his buying behavior. He had clear and crisp answers to everything because his experience in buying and consuming cup noodles has led to clear choices and wiser decision making as a consumer.

Analysis of Consumer Behavior

Purchase process for any product involves the number of steps that the customer will take while making a purchase decision (Morin, 2011). Even while buying cup noodles, a customer will take a series of steps before finally buying the product. The process that a customer follows while buying cup noodles is explained as below:

Problem or need recognition: This is the first step to the purchase process taken by customers. In this step, customers try to identify the need for the product. In case of cup noodles, customers have identified that their primary need is ‘Hunger’. They feel hungry and they need to eat. Secondly, there is a need for a ‘Quick meal’. Cup noodles take less time to prepare and hence if customers need a fast snack they can consume cup noodles.

Information search: Once the need for the product has been identified, customers try to gather more information about different products that can fulfill their need identified in the first step (Adamson et. al., 2012). In this case, customers would research about different edible food products that can satiate their hunger. This information includes calorie content, availability, flavors and taste of the product. In this step, customers will also seek opinion from their friends and family members regarding the product in order to gain more information.

Evaluation of options: Upon deciding that a customer requires cup noodles, they will research different brands and the products offered by them (Rogerson et. al., 2014). They will try to analyze various flavors offered by different brands as well as how the taste of these brands varies among each other. Customers would prefer different options based on their taste buds, attitudes and preferences. Price, taste, availability, quality and healthiness of a food product are factors that will help customers analyze different options while buying cup noodles. A detailed evaluation of options would help customers in making the right choice regarding their product.

Purchase decision: This is the second last step in the purchase process. In this step, customers will make their final decision regarding their purchase and buy the product that they have finally shortlisted from the variety of options analyzed in the previous step. This purchase decision is based after carefully evaluating the options. While selecting the cup noodles of their choice, they would ensure that the selected product is the right price, right quality and easily available.

Post purchase: This is the last step and involves the steps taken by customers after they have made the purchase. After purchasing the product, customers will decide if they are satisfied with the product or not. After buying cup noodles, customers will get a better understanding of the product in terms of its taste and preparation time as well as quality. After this, they will be in a better position to understand if they will buy the product and if they will recommend the product to someone or not.

Price Sensitivity

Understanding consumer behavior is highly essential for organizations to effectively understand their consumers. This understanding helps them conduct a need analysis and offer products that are more demanded or preferred by customers. In this case of cup noodles, consumer behavior analysis can help the brand in deciding which flavors are preferred, what is the ideal price that consumers are willing to pay, what are the preferable channels for customers to buy cup noodles and what is the impact of promotional discounts offered to customers. After conducting these three interviews we gained a much deeper insight about various details and parameters that people consider while buying cup noodles. Consumers of every kind conduct a certain amount of research before buying a product and there are various attributes of the product that are considered before making the final purchase decision. It is important to note that for different consumers, different parameters take precedence over others. In this report we have enlisted different parameters and how are they considered while making the decision to buy cup noodles. The data has been collected through primary as well as secondary research. The important parameters that have been analyzed for customer behavior are as below:

The consumer market is highly price sensitive and price plays a critical role in defining customer choices. The three of the people that we interviewed mentioned that they preferred to consumer cup noodles because they were cheap and inexpensive. Customers even conducted a thorough analysis about the difference in prices over various distribution channels. They preferred to buy noodles from the stores or online websites that they believed were offering a better price.

Pricing strategies adopted by organizations play a significant role in creating customer demand. Cup noodle brands must adopt a price penetration strategy. This strategy includes pricing the product lower than industry standards in order to gain a competitive advantage. It has been noticed that customers prefer to eat cup noodles as a ready to eat snack that does not cost a hefty amount and hence cup noodle brands must not price the product too high else it will not serve the right purpose.

When it comes to shopping for food products, customers also consider the convenience offered by the product. This includes the availability of the product as well as the time taken to prepare the product. From the primary research conducted, it has been understood that many customers buy cup noodles because they are convenient to use. It takes under ten minutes on an average for people to prepare cup noodles and hence it can be consumed as a quick snack or a whole meal. Moreover, this is a meal which the entire family can enjoy together.

If it took a longer time for cup noodles to prepare or if the product was not as easily available then it would have adversely impacted the demand for the product. With the changing lifestyle, everyone is getting busier in their lives. Therefore the demand for products which are convenient and quick to use automatically goes up. People do not have sufficient time to prepare a full meal hence cup noodles solve the problem and offer the solution in the form of a quick meal that can be served hot.

Convenience of buying is significantly important for customers and hence it is important that Maggi or Nissan cup noodles and similar brands make it a point that customers do no face inconvenience while preparing these noodles. It is essential that businesses make noodles available at different platforms and channels including both online as well as offline channels. When people can find cup noodles on the store close to their house then there is an increasing chance that they will buy these cup noodles. Similarly, these brands must also ensure that they tie up with all leading Ecommerce platforms in order to ensure that the product is available to people through online channels. While shopping for a product online, people consider the time taken for delivery, ease of payment and quality of product delivered. Hence in order to ensure customer satisfaction and increased purchases, brands must ensure that noodles are delivered on time. Customers must be given an option to pay online or in cash. Lastly, it is highly important to maintain the sanctity of online purchases that brands deliver effective quality product even through online delivery. Ensuring convenience of customers should be a top priority of organizations in order to ensure customer satisfaction and hence increased demand.

Another important aspect that impacts consumer buying behavior is the variety of products that are offered to customers. A higher variety of products offered to customers gives them a larger choice to select from. Through primary research, we understood that many customers prefer to eat cup noodles because they are available in a variety of flavors. The presence of a large number of flavors of the products also allows customers to enjoy the meal with their family where family members have different flavor preferences. A single flavor of noodles can become monotonous and boring for customers. Hence the availability of different flavors offers the much needed variety to customers. Maggi cup noodles are available in different flavors which allows customers from with different taste buds to enjoy the product offered by the brand.

During the interviews, we established that there are customers who research about the introduction of new flavors in cup noodles. Hence, brands must work towards introducing new flavors with an aim to target more customers. Target market for a particular brand includes the set of customers whose wishes the brands aim to fulfill. In order to keep customers interested and continue to ensure their loyalty and engage them by consistently offering them something new, brands must introduce new flavors and varieties from time to time. In order to enhance its target market, brands can also target health conscious customers by offering whole wheat, vegan or gluten free noodles. This will create a different positioning of the brand and also enhance their target customer base.

Customer attitudes are based on their beliefs, feelings (about) and behavioral intentions (towards) a particular product (Niazi et. al., 2012). These components of consumer behavior are all interdependent and hence often evaluated together. The beliefs that a customer holds towards a product may be positive or negative or neutral. From the interviews we established that people have a positive belief towards cup noodles. They believe that cup noodles are easy to prepare, inexpensive and delicious.

Secondly, the feelings that a customer holds towards a product also impact the purchase decision (Malik et. al., 2013). Some of these feelings may be based on the beliefs that a person holds. Customers who consumer cup noodles on a regular basis feel a connection to the product. For example, one of the interviewees had been consuming cup noodles since the past fifteen to sixteen years. Hence it is only natural to feel positively about the product. Cup noodles has become a part of people’s staple diet.

Thirdly, Behavioral intentions towards cup noodles will also impact people’s buying behavior. These intentions determine whether people will buy the product or not (Bhattacharya, 2011). Behavioral intentions are defined by the amount of money people are shed over the product and the channel that they would prefer.

In order to enhance sales and create a positive brand image, it is essential that organizations positively impact customer’s attitudes (Paul & Rana, 2012). Businesses must put efforts in ensuring that customers develop an affinity towards the product. This can be done primarily through ensuring quality product offering. Secondly, promotions and product advertisements also plays a large role in creating a first impression in the minds of consumers. The image that the customers hold towards a particular product is known as brand positioning (Armstrong et. al., 2012). Organizations invest heavily in brand positioning in order to develop a positive attitude of customers towards the products. Therefore cup noodle brands must curate creative content for advertisement in order to develop a positive attitude towards the product.

Conclusion

Consumer behavior is a critical aspect of effective marketing strategies used by businesses. Understanding consumer behavior helps brands in understanding consumer needs, preferences and attitudes (Rucker et. al., 2012). In this report, we have analyzed the consumer behavior of an individual while buying cup noodles. For primary research we conducted interviews and for secondary research we referred to peer reviewed journals and books.

There are a large number of factors that directly and indirectly impact the consumer behavior process and decision that customers take while buying a product. Price is an important factor that impacts customer behavior. Customers prefer to buy cup noodles because they are inexpensive. Secondly, the variety offered by cup noodles in terms of the flavors offered also positively impact customer behavior. This provides customers with a large choice to select from while making their purchase decision. Thirdly, the easy availability of cup noodles creates an additional demand for the product and makes it easy for customers to buy the product.

The consumer purchase decision involves a series of steps and it is essential that marketers understand these steps in order to ensure higher customer involvement and improved goodwill. Through this report, it has been established that cup noodles as a product are liked by customers owing to appropriate pricing, easy availability, increasing variety and extended convenience offered to customers. Hence, brands must continue to ensure the same to ensure increased levels of customer retention.

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