Benefits of Targeting College Students for Amazon Prime

1.Is Amazon Prime making a sound strategic decision through targeting young mothers and college students?

2.What adopter categories with respect to consumer behavior do young mothers and college students fall in to?

3.Other audiences that can be of more benefit to capture in helping Amazon Prime to gain market share enjoyed by Netflix.

4.Explain who this audience would consist of and the adopter categories that Amazon Prime should target.

5.Reasons against and for Amazon Prime to change its marketing strategy to capture these users.

1.According to Lotz (2017), the advancement of technology has taken over the business industry in the global market thus leading not only to stiff competition but also the desire of the business providers to remain relevant in the business environment. At the same time, the target market is a major factor that determines the success for any organization. Targeting the college students in the new product segmentation is an essentials step for the Amazon Prime. Bradley (2018) denotes that technology has increased the use of devices such as smartphones that are commonly used by young generation including the college students. This market is characterized by a disproportionately large and commonly accepted affinity for any technological development in any sphere. Taking time to watch videos is also a common aspect and leisure activity among college students, an aspect that makes Amazon Prime product perfect for the college students. In a systematic review, Verhoeven and Johnson (2017) denote that internet has become an integral part of education system and students take time to do their academic research through the internet. The use of internet in academic institutions hence makes it easy for Amazon Prime to offer the service at no extra cost since there is stable internet to stream the videos both for entertainment and academic purposes. The same study denotes that the market segment have high affinity for internet-based shopping as well as media delivery platforms related to technology as compared to other age groups or age segments.

For new mothers, some excitement gives them the desire to gather new items they will need for their newborns in the first months of delivery or so. In a systematic study, ///// denotes that it is often confusing for new mothers on choosing the right item needed for their children while they save cost at the same time. As a result, the videos guides them in remaining practical about what is necessary in the first few weeks with focus on diapering, feeding, clothing, bathing, and may be travelling. At the same time, Amazon Prime is putting emphasis on stay-at-home, convenience, or on-demand customers with the aim of attempting to acquire purchasing power on the basis of economic convenience. Therefore, it is the right target market for the Amazon Prime as it is a constant market as new babies are born almost on a daily basis.

Benefits of Targeting New Mothers for Amazon Prime

2.Adapter category is the classification of the consumers based on their ability or degree of readiness in trying a new product. Rogers in his book denotes that not everyone has similar motivation in trying to adopt a new business idea or product, an aspect hat classifies the aspect into five categories. These include;

• Early adopters: these are defines as opinion leaders and are similar to innovators in adopting new ideas. However, they are often concerned with the coolness factor while maintaining their reputation in being ahead of the curve when it comes to new ideas.
• Innovators: This category is made up the groups of people that adopt something just because it is new, as aspect that proves they love exploring just for the sake but with no specific ambitions. They are ready to take risks even if the risks will lead to failure.
• Laggards: These are classification or the category of people that are slow to adopt new ideas. Villinger (2017) points out that that they are often resistant to change and only take action when they are forced to as others have taken the change.
• Late majority and early majority: this category is made up of critical masses that ensure adoption. The early majority tend to look for practical benefits and productivity other than reputation and coolness. On the other hand, the late majority expects a lot of support and help before they take a step of commitment.

Figure 1: Classification of the adopter categories

According to the above classification, college students and first time mothers fall under different categories. For instance, Villinger (2017) denotes that college students are both innovators and early adopters when it comes to technological adoption. They are always ready to be updated with any new technological advancement, an aspect that makes this population a target market for many industries. At the same time, many academic institutions are adopting the use of videos during lecture lessons, an aspect that forces them to adapt to technological innovations in that area even if they did not have the interest. On the other hand, first time mothers can be classified as early adopters since they focus on the practical benefits and the productivity rather than the reputation. At the same time, most women and ladies have the interest of holding their babies at one point of life, an aspect that promotes them to adopt technology when it comes to issues that reflect in the same aspect. Therefore, Amazon Prime is relevant in its market segmentation and is a good competitor to Netflix. It is in a position to out-compete the company in case it adopts effective business strategies that can increase its market adoption in the video industry.

3.It is making assumption about the audience members when focusing on the specific Netflix shows and products in relation to their broader online behavior. Rayna and Striukova (2016) denote that engaging with the right consumers at the right place and time and with the right products is essential. As a result, Netflix has adopted strategic options towards building out rich demographic profiles, checking the content of the competitors and other service providers, and personalizing their products (Jackson, 2017). These strategies have seen the organization expand its market share in addition to offering a unique product in the market. The resulting impact is developing a customer base that is effective and stable. Therefore, for Amazon Prime to be effective, there is need to not only to focus on the quality of service provision but also increase its customer base. The target customers that can Amazon can focus on include;

• Researchers and consultancy firms
• Investors- can still use the service in demonstrations of the areas of their interest in investments
• Technology solution providers
• System integrators- use videos to provide evidence for their investigation results
• Advance level students- are still as relevant as college students depending on the profession
• Housewives- they need videos to entertain children
• Professionals- many professionals use videos and live streaming services to advance their service provision such as lecturers who use videos for demonstrations, doctors in live operation processes, etc.

According to Bradley (2018), it is essential for every business to have a clear understanding of customer segments that are of importance to the success of the business. It is also essential to know what is critical for the customers so as to remain relevant to the service provision. In other words, Amazon Prime needs to do a market survey on the listed customer segments to understand their very points of needs in terms of their services.

Category of Audience	Who the audience consist of	Adapter categories
Researchers and consultancy firms	Students, professionals, and consultants	Innovators and early adopters
Investors	Foreign companies	Innovators
Professionals	Teachers, lecturers, doctors, engineers,	Early majority
Housewives	The non-employed mothers and house maids	Laggards
Advance level students	Students in advance level of studies	Early adopters
Technology solution providers	IT service providers like companies and organizations, cloud computing providers, etc.	Innovators
System integrators	CIDs, forensic scientists	Early majorities

5.In a systematic study, Bradley (2018) denotes that every business needs to have a rough idea of their target audience, an aspect that is often complicated in complex since customers and consumer behaviors are continuously changing. The study denotes that every business organization should focus on accurately labeling their target audience. It is because the business environment is characterized by constant aspect of change on retention factors, attention spans, and snack preferences. At the same time, many popular services and brands are gaining loyal followers that later develop into huge and dependable markets and target audience. For this reason, Netflix is no longer a verb but a noun that describes very specific group of customers that appeal to their business and products. As a result, there is a need for Amazon Prime to change their business and market strategy with the aim of capturing their users.

Reasons for the market strategy

• Adopting a new market strategy will help the company to remain relevant to the edges of the business environment arising from competition. Both Amazon Prime and Netflix are competing not only for the market share but also for the attention of the customers. A new market strategy complements and reflects wider financial goals of the business, an aspect that will help Amazon to understand specific areas of focus.
• New market plans help the organization to open roots for more customers
• It is an essential road map for the whole business in developing and establishing an effective strategy while protecting the reputation of the business.

Reasons against the market strategy

• Every market strategy involves a strategic plan that will encompass the sales, promotion, financial goals, and the marketing concept (Verhoeven & Johnson, 2017). Therefore, every marketing plan can only be successful when there is a strategic plan for its execution. However, changing a strategic plan for the whole business is often expensive, an aspect that will call for more expenses for Amazon to adopt new market plans.
• A loose market structure leads to poor success on the target products and getting the right demographics
• It calls for restructuring of many aspects of the business including the management and the employees, an aspect that is time wasting and expensive.

References

Bradley, J. (2018). The importance of Promotional and Marketing Strategies. Retrieved from https://smallbusiness.chron.com/importance-promotional-marketing-strategies-57205.html

Jackson, J. (2017). The secrets of Netflix’s success. New Statesman, 146(5390), 19.

Lotz, A. (2017). The unique strategy Netflix deployed to reach 90 million worldwide subscribers. Retrieved From https://theconversation.com/the-unique-strategy-netflix-deployed-to-reach-90-million-worldwide-subscribers-74885

Rayna, T., & Striukova, L. (2016). 360° Business Model Innovation: Toward an Integrated View of Business Model Innovation. Research Technology Management, 59(3), 21-28. doi:10.1080/08956308.2016.1161401

Verhoeven, B., & Johnson, L. W. (2017). Business Model Innovation Portfolio Strategy for Growth Under Product-Market Configurations. Journal Of Business Models, 5(1), 35-50.

Villinger, M. (2017). Challenging mental models: A novel method to facilitate the implementation of new business models in a corporate environment. University Of St. Gallen, Business Dissertations, I-256.