Essay Example on Perception plays a major role in information processing and consumer Decision

Perception Perception plays a major role in information processing and consumer decision making It begins with consumer exposure to marketing stimuli and ends with interpretation Bianca Vainikka It is unique to each individual so it is not an objective reality Different individuals may have their own version of brand description and associations based on their perception Perception refers to the senses that any organism uses to collect information about its environment Hanna The concept of perception is just as important in business as it is in life DR BRIAN MONGER When it comes to perception in marketing it is about recognizing how consumers perceive a product and service of the company Debbie Donner Thus the motivation of customer when buying products or services tends to depend on image It is important that a marketer understands customer behaviour and uses perception to attract target group of people in order to effectively affect their decision making In addition perception and marketing strategy should be applied together in order for a product or brand image to go through customer's mind and stick deeply in a long term Marketing mix as the main concept of marketing strategy should therefore be consider as a priority in this regard Marketing mix or the so called 4Psconsists of product price place and promotion It is adopted to help a company to know how to put the product in the right place at the right time with the right price As a result analysis of the four elements of the marketing mix with perception is essential to understand how the sharing economy has evolved and become viable Each of the four elements will be discussed in more detail below respectively 

Firstly when it comes to product Dibb and Simkin 2001 stated that it is the most vital component in the marketing mix Products and services are the main factors to attract customer especially in new product development the company should have new product design new packaging look good quality preferably branded product Gautam Singh 2011 When it comes to product of sharing economy most of them will be intangible or services for example Grab and Uber which provide transportation and logistics services In Thailand Grab provides many types of services including not only Grab Car but also Grab Taxi Grab Delivery Grab Bike and Grab Hitch Grab Car is the standard unlicensed car service offered by Grab which operates similarly to Uber Grab Taxi is a service that pairs with many licensed taxi services in most of its cities allowing you to get a professional licensed taxi through the application Grab Hitch is a social ride sharing option with a cheaper price than others A customer will tag along with other customers who are heading at the same direction or destination Since motorcycle is very popular in Thailand Grab also renders bike service to customers in big cities where people suffer from serious traffic congestion In the past few years Grab and Uber services have disrupted the taxi industry in Thailand and have seen an enormous increase in popularity surpassing conventional taxis 

The main reason is that their services can solve the long lasting problem of conventional taxis refusing customers because of traffic jam Customers can conveniently book a car in advance through online application without having to wait on the street outside and possibly getting rejected repeatedly Secondly price is also essential for customers to make a purchasing decision so it needs to be reasonable Price analysis and comparison with the competitors must be conducted because it is important for a company to set the right price for its product or service to be competitive When it comes to price of Grab and Uber fares are dynamically calculated using various different factors in different countries In Thailand compared with conventional taxis fares charged by Grab and Uber services are apparently lower This is because it is the car owners themselves who provide services to customers hence unlike normal taxi drivers they do not have to pay for a rent for their cars resulting in being able to charge lower fares In addition customers can also choose to pay a fare in many ways including debit card credit card or cash whereas they have to rely on cash only when using conventional taxis Thirdly place also plays a crucial role in the marketing mix because it is the path where people can have access to the product Pour Nazari and Emami 2013 stated that it is the way of activity that aims to deliver product and service to customers To explain a company should put its product into the right distribution channels which are easily accessible for its target customers 

When it comes to place Grab and Uber only focused on densely populated cities such as Bangkok Chiangmai and Phuket where traffic congestion is severe and people are looking for new alternatives of travelling This strategy proves to be very successful since the usage rate of their services has skyrocketed due to plenty of demand for taxis in these big cities Lastly promotion Novak 2011 suggested that it is a communication system between companies and individual customers in order to inform and convince its customers to buy their products and services It is the process that customers are persuaded and offered to accept brand and product Fill and Turnbull 2016 The promotional strategies can facilitate communication and send messages to target audience through advertising personal selling public relations sale promotion and sponsorship When it comes to promotion Grab and Uber has been promoting itself using social media such as Facebook Twitter and other online advertisements It successfully utilizes mobile application through smartphone platforms to reach the majority of their target customers They also apply several various promotional strategies to attract new customers as well as existing ones mainly in a form of discounts provided to passengers