Theoretical Framework for a Marketing Project

1. THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK FOR A MARKETING PROJECT
Marketing Management is the process of planning and executing the
conception, pricing, promotion and distribution of ideas, goods and service to create
exchanges that satisfy individual and organizational goals.
Marketing Management has the task of influencing the level; timing and
composition of demand in a way that will help the organization achieve its objectives.
Marketing Management can be practiced in any market. Marketing work in
customer market is formally carried out by Sales Managers, Sales People, Advertising and
Promoting Managers, Marketing Researches, Marketing Service Managers, Product and
Brand Managers, Market and Industry Managers and Marketing Vice President. Each job
carries well defined tasks and responsibilities. Many of these jobs involved managing
particular marketing resources such as Advertising, Sales People or Marketing Research.
Marketing is a total system of business activities designed to plan, price,
promote and distribute want-satisfying products to target markets to achieve organizational
objectives. It has two significant implications.
The entire system of business activities should be customer oriented.
Marketing should start with an idea about want satisfying product and should
not end until the customers want are completely satisfied, which may be some time after the
exchange is made.
Marketing Mix:
It is the set of marketing tools that the firm uses to pursue its marketing objectives in
the target market. McCarthy popularized four factor classifications of these tools called the
four P’s. Product, Price, Place, Promotion. The particular marketing variables under each P
are channels and final consumers. Not all marketing mix variables can be adjusted in the
short run. Typically, the firm can change its price, sales force size and advertising.
INTRODUCTION TO MARKETING:
Marketing concept emerged in the mid 1950 has and challenged the preceding
concepts, Instead of a product-centred, make and sell philosophy; we shift to a customer-

2. centred, “sense-and-respond” philosophy. Instead of “hunting”, marketing is “gardening”.
The job is not to find the right customers for your product, but the right product for your
customers. As stated by the famed direct marketer Lester Wunderman, “The chant of the
Industrial Revolution was that of the manufacturer who said,” This is what I make, won’t you
please buy it. “The call of the Information Age is the consumer asking, ‘This is what I want,
and won’t you please make it.”
The marketing concept holds that the key to achieving its organizational goals
consists of the company being more effective than competitors in creating, delivering, and
communicating superior customer value to its chosen target markets. It crystallized in the
mid-1950 and has been expressed in many colorful ways:
 Meeting needs profitability.
 Find wants and fill them.
 Love the customer, not the product.
 Have it your way. (Burger King)
 You are the boss. (United Airlines)
 Putting people first. (British Airways)
 Partners for profit. (Milliken and Company)
The most basic marketing –mix tools are:
 Products
 Price
 Place (Distribution)
 Promotion
PRODUCT:
The firm’s tangible offer to the market, which includes the product
quality design, features, branding and packaging. As part of its product offering, Atlas
provides various services, such as leasing, delivery, repair and training, Such support services
can provide ‘a competitive advantage in the globally competitive’ market place.
PRICE:
A critical marketing – mix tool is price, the amount of money that
customers pay for the product has to decide on wholesale and retail prices, discounts,

3. allowances, and credit terms. Its price should be commensurate with the offer’s perceived
value. If it’s not, buyers will turn to competitors products.
PLACE:
Another key marketing – mix tool is place, includes the various
activities the company undertakes to make the product accessible and available to target
customers. Also must identify, recruit, and link various marketing facilitators to supply its
products and services efficiently to the target market. It must understand the various types of
retailers, wholesalers, and physical – distribution firms and how they make their decisions.
PROMOTION:
It includes all the activities the company undertakes to communicate
and promote its products to the target market. It has to hire, train, and motivate sales people.
It has to set up communication and promotion programs consisting of advertising, sales
promotion, public relations, and direct an online marketing.
INTRODUCTION TO PERCEPTION:
Individuals act and react based on their perceptions, not based on
objective reality. For each individual, reality is a totally personal phenomenon, based on that
person’s needs, wants, values, and personal experiences. Thus, to the marketer, consumer’s
perceptions are much more important than their knowledge of objective reality. For if one
thinks about it. It’s not what actually so is, but what consumers think is so. The perception
affects their actions, their buying habits, their leisure habits, and so forth. And, because
individuals make decisions and take actions based on what they perceive to be reality, it is
important that marketers understand the whole notion of perception and its related concepts
to more readily determine what factors influence consumers to buy.
PERCEPTION:
“Different persons perceive the same thing differently”
---Schiff man
Perception is defined as the process by which an individual selects, organizes
and interprets stimuli into a meaningful and coherent picture of the world. It can be described
as “how we see the world around us.” Two individuals may be exposed to the same stimuli

4. under the same apparent conditions, but how each person recognizes, selects, organizes, and
interprets these stimuli is a highly individual process based on each person’s own needs,
values and expectations.
ELEMENTS OF PERCEPTION:
a) Sensation:
Sensation is the immediate and direct response of the sensory organs to
stimuli. A stimulus is any input to any of the senses .Example of stimuli (i.e., sensory input)
includes products, packages, brand names, advertisements, and commercials. Sensory
receptors are the human organs (the eyes, ears, nose, mouth and skin) that receive sensory
inputs. These sensory functions are to see, hear, smell, taste and feel. All of these functions
are used for most of the consumer products. Human sensitivity refers to the experience of
sensation.
b) The Absolute Threshold:
The lowest level at which an individual can experience sensation is called the
Absolute threshold. The point at which person can detect a difference between “something”
and “nothing” is that person’s absolute threshold for that stimulus. To illustrate, the distance
at which the driver can note a specific billboard on a highway is that individual’s absolute
threshold.
c) Differential Threshold:
The minimal difference that can be detected between two similar stimuli is
called the Differential Threshold. According to Weber’s law, an additional level of stimulus
equivalent to the just noticeable difference must be added for the majority of people. People
to perceive a difference between the resulting stimulus and initial stimulus.
d) Subliminal Perception:
Stimuli that are too weak are too brief to be consciously seen are heard may
nevertheless be strong enough to be perceived by one or more receptor cells. Theirs process is
called Differential Threshold.

5. THE PERCEPTUAL PROCESS CONSISTS OF FOUR VARIBLES
1) INPUTS:
Perceived inputs are the objects, events, people etc. They are received by the
perceiver.
2) PROCESS:
The received inputs are processed through the selection, organization and
interpretation.
3) OUTPUTS:
Though the processing mechanism, the output is derived. These outputs may
be the feelings, actions, attributes etc.
4) BEHAVIOUR:
Behavior is dependent on these perceived outputs. The perceiver’s behaviors’
in turn generate responses from the perceived and these response give rise a new set of
inputs.
CHARACTERISTICS OF PERCEIVER AND PERCEIVED
According to Talking and Castillo, The specific characteristics of perceiver are
 Knowing oneself makes is easier to see other accurately.
 One’s own, characteristics affects the characteristics he is likely to see in others.
 The person who accepts himself is more likely to be able to see favorable aspects of
these people.
 Accuracy perceives others are not single skill.
FACTORS INFLUENCING PERCEPTION
The factors that influences perceptual mechanism these are of two kinds:
Among the internal factors, the most important are the needs and desires of individuals,
individual personality and the experience of the people, age, education, social status,
traditionally conventions, regions, sex and ration, nearer and dearer surroundings.

6. A) NEEDS AND DESIRES
The needs and motives of the people play vital role in perception. Perception of a
frustrated individual is entirely different from that of happy going persons. Some Researchers
as if ATKINSO has further pointed that when pictures of individuals of social settings are
shown to them, they perceiving in different ways. People at different levels of needs and
desires perceive the same thing differently.
PERSONALITY:
Individual’s personality is another factor that has profound. Influence on
perceived behavior. It is a trait saying that optimistic people perceive the things in factorable
terms. Pessimistic being in negative terms, Mellow contains that between these two extremes
there exists a category that can see things more accurately and objectively. Individuals who
have real prospective abilities can function effectively without being defensive about their
limitations in this personality.
B) EXPERIENCE:
Experience and knowledge have a constant bearing on perception. Successful
experience enhance and boost the perspective ability and laid to accuracy and self-confidence
in perception of person where as failure erodes self-confidence.
2) EXTERNAL FACTORS:
A) SIZE:
The bigger the size of the perceived stimulus the higher is the probability that is
perceived size establishes dominance, overrides other things, and there by enhances
perceptual relations.
B) INTENSITY:
Intensity accumulates and functioning to increase the chance of selection. The greater
the intensity of a stimulus, the more likely it will be noticed. An intense stimulus has more
power to push itself our selection filters than does a weaker stimulus.

7. C) FREQUENCY:
The frequency principle states that a repeated external stimulus is more
attention getting than a single one. “A stimuli that is repeated has a better chance of catching
us, during one of the periods when our attention to a task a warning.” In addition, repetition
increases out sensitivity or alertness to the stimulus.
Thus, the greater the frequency with which a sensory stimulus is presented, the greater the
chances we select it for attention.
D) STATUS:
Perception is base influenced by status of the perceiver. High status people can
extent influence on perception of an employee than low status people.
E) CONTRAST:
Stimuli that contrast with the surrounding examination are more likely to be
selected for attentive then the stimuli that blends in.
Understanding the importance of Brand awareness and Brand loyalty
Brand
Brand means it is a name, sign, symbol, color combination or slogan to identify of a
specific product, service or business.
Definition: A Brand is a name, sign, symbol, slogan or anything that is used to identify and
distinguish a specific product, service, or business. A legally protected brand name is called a
proprietary name.
Brand awareness
Brand awareness refers to customer’s ability to recall and recognize the brand under
different conditions and link to the brand name, logo, and jingles and so on to certain

8. associations in memory. It helps the customers to understand to which product or service
category the particular brand belongs and what products and services are sold under the brand
name. It also ensures that customers know which of their needs are satisfied by the brand
through its products (Keller).Brand awareness is of critical importance since customers will
not consider your brand if they are not aware of it.
Brand awareness Decision making?
Decision making process
Understanding the decision-making process helps you to better understand how to structure
your brand awareness process.
 What makes them buy your product?
 Do they decide, upon and impulse, to purchase your product?
 Do they need several hours to mull over the possibility of making the purchase?
 To what extent do product type, price, and environment affect the purchasing
decision?
Stages of purchasing decision
 The first stage in making a purchase decision is to perceive a need.
 The second stage in making purchasing decision is to seek information.
 The third stage is where the potential customer evaluates alternatives to your brand or
product.
 The fourth stage involves an assessment of the buying value. Is the product worth the
price? Do the values it possesses make it a worthwhile purchase?
 The fifth and final stage involves an assessment of the purchase decision.
Understanding that the stages of a purchasing decision vary both in time and whether the
stages really are distinct, one can better assess where they might be able to have an influence
on someone’s decision to purchase.
Brand Loyalty
Brand loyalty is the repeat purchase made by the consumer out of commitment to the
brand. In many cases of loyalty, marketers may do well to check if the repeat purchases are
made out of commitment or if they are inertia purchases. A consumer may keep buying a

9. brand of soap or toothpaste because of its availability with regard to a specific stock-keeping
unit which he can afford. Brand loyalty is indicated when the consumer deliberately chooses
a brand from a set of alternative brands.
The consumer does not go through a decision process to select a brand when he/she is
brand loyal. Though there is a great deal of similarity/overlap between habit and loyalty, the
repeat purchase made out of convenience can be classified under habit whereas a purchase
made out of commitment is loyalty.
When a consumer develops loyalty towards a brand he/she develops a favorable
attitude towards the brand resulting in commitment. Brand loyalty offers a number of
advantages to the marketer. Brand loyal consumers start building a relationship with the
brand. They may become advocates of the brand by their positive word of mouth. Brand loyal
consumers may become passionate about the brand and form clubs which results in further
strengthening the brand. Drawing upon several theories and models associated with consumer
loyalty and learning processes, consumers may initially become loyal to particular brand
because of its functional benefits. Loyalty across toothpastes, cars, banking services and
books clearly show that a brand has to score on functional aspects whenever consumers use
‘search-oriented’ products. For instance, a consumer may go through the ingredients of
Colgate Total and derive inferences about the benefits and try the brand. Loyalty on such
search-oriented products gets initiated when the consumer experiences the benefits of
functional attributes.
A second dimension, however, is whether the customer is committed to the brand. Philip
Kotler, again, defines four patterns behavior.
1. Hard-core Loyals – who buy the brand all the time.
2. Split Loyals – loyal to two or three brands.
3. Shifting Loyals – moving from one brand to another.
4. Switchers – with no loyalty (constantly looking bargain, looking for something different).
Factors affecting Brand Loyalty
It has been suggested that loyalty includes some degree of pre-dispositional commitment
toward a brand. Brand loyalty is viewed as multidimensional construct. It is determined by

10. several distinct psychological processes and it entails multivariate measurements. Customers
perceived value, brand trust, customer’s satisfaction, repeat purchase behavior, and
commitment are found to be the key influencing factors of brand loyalty. Commitment and
repeated purchase behavior are considered as necessary conditions for brand loyalty followed
by perceived value, satisfaction, and brand trust. Fred Reich held, one of the most influential
writers on brand loyalty, claimed that enhancing customer loyalty could have dramatic effects
on profitability. Among the benefits from brand loyalty – specifically, longer tenure or
staying as a customer for longer - was said to be lower sensitivity to price.
Brand promise
The marketer and owner of the brand have a vision of what the brand must be and do
for the consumers.
Brand promise is what a particular brand stands for (and has stood for in the past). It
has its roots from the identity that it gains over a period of time. Usually, brand promise is an
attribute common to ‘Parent’ brands. Herein, the brand may broadly stand for Quality,
Performance, Trust, or False promises. However, the extensions, or the brands under the
parent brand umbrella, may stand individually for a particular trait which it has delivered
over the years, for example, ‘the best sparing teeth’, or ‘the trusted bank to bank with for
centuries ’.
Global brand
A global brand is one which is perceived to reflect the same set of values around the
world. Global brand transcend their origins and create strong enduring relationships with
consumers across countries and cultures. They are brands sold in international markets.
Examples of Global brands include Face book, Apple, Coca-Cola, Sony etc. These brands are
used to sell the same product across multiple markets and could be considered successful to
the extent that the associated products are easily recognizable by the diverse set of
consumers.
Benefits of global branding
In addition to taking advantage of the outstanding growth opportunities, the following
drives the increasing interest in taking brands global:

11.  Economies of scale (production and distribution).
 Lower marketing costs.
 Laying the ground work for future extensions worldwide.
 Quicker identification and integration of innovations (discovered worldwide).
 Preempting international competitors from entering domestic markets or locking you
out of other geographic markets.
 Increasing international media reach(especially with the explosion of the Internet ) is
an enabler.
 Increases in international business and tourism are also enablers.
 Maintaining consistent brand image.