An Analysis of Consumer Behavior and Marketing Strategies

Submitted To-

Md. Farhan Faruqui

Senior lecturer& course instructor
Dept. of Business Administration

Submitted by-

Name ID
Md. Asibul Islam 2009-2-10-319
Shafket Ahmed 2009-2-10-205
Chowdhury
Ahsan Habib 2009-1-13-011
Jubair Rahman 2009-2-10-155
Quazi shamsul Islam 2009-2-10-154

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 Date of submission: 7th December 2011

Contents
An Analysis of Consumer Behavior and Marketing Strategies................................................................ 1
Dell laptop: An Analysis of Consumer Behavior and Marketing Strategies ............................................ 4
Executive summary ................................................................................................................................. 5
1. Introduction ..................................................................................................................................... 6
1.1 Origins .......................................................................................................................................... 6
1.2 Objectives ..................................................................................................................................... 6
1.3 Scope ............................................................................................................................................. 6
1.4 Limitation...................................................................................................................................... 6
1.5 Methodology ................................................................................................................................. 7
2. Background of Dell-laptop .................................................................................................................. 8
2.1Company Profile............................................................................................................................. 8
2.2. Company Mission: .................................................................................................................. 9
2.3.1. Products: ............................................................................................................................... 9
3. Analysis of Consumer Behavior: ...................................................................................................... 10
3.1. Profile of the Target Market: ..................................................................................................... 10
3.1.1. Demographic Factors: ......................................................................................................... 10
3.1.2. Social Factors: ..................................................................................................................... 15
3.1.3. Other Findings: .................................................................................................................... 16
3.1.4. Self-Concept: ....................................................................................................................... 20
3.1.5. Psychological Factors: ......................................................................................................... 21
3.2. Memory ...................................................................................................................................... 23
Short-Term Memory: .................................................................................................................... 23
Long-Term Memory ...................................................................................................................... 23
3.3 Attitude: ...................................................................................................................................... 27
3.3.1 Attitude component: ........................................................................................................... 27
4.0 Recommendation:....................................................................................................................... 35
5.0 Conclusion: .................................................................................................................................. 36
6.0 BIBLIOGRAPHY ............................................................................................................................ 36
Books:............................................................................................................................................ 36
Website: ........................................................................................................................................ 36

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Page 3 of 36
Dell laptop: An Analysis of Consumer
Behavior and Marketing Strategies

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 Executive summary
A successful marketer must understand consumers psychology and behavior to successfully
grip the target market. To fully understand consumer need, demand, marketers need to
accomplish marketer research. In this report, we have analyzed consumers psychology,
opinion, perception, and behavior towards Dell-laptop. Dell, Inc. is an American
multinational information technology corporation based in 1 Dell Way, Round Rock, Texas,
United States that develops, sells and supports computers and related products and services.
Bearing the name of its founder, Michael Dell, the company is one of the largest
technological corporations in the world, employing more than 103,300 people worldwide.
Dell is listed at number 41 in the Fortune 500 list. We have focused on brand equity, image,
external and internal factors etc.

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 1. Introduction

1.1 Origins
East West University is a foundation that upholds eastern cultures and values, and
evocatively fusions eastern and western thought and innovation. To do this it offers
undergraduate degree on different major subjects like Marketing, Finance, HRM, Economics
etc. Consumer behavior (MKT 410) is one of the courses of Marketing major. Precisely it
teaches us how individuals feel, think and act in the market place.

While doing the course we have learned the factors of persuading a buyers decisions,
learning, attitude, memory, self-concept and so many other vital things. To implement all of
those or in other way to practically experience those issues Mr. Farhan Faruqui, course
teacher of Consumer Behavior has given us this term paper on Dell Laptop.

1.2 Objectives
By doing the report, we will be able to know the target markets profile of Dell Laptop, their
buying purposes and preference. We will also be able to know the current market situation of
the laptop products. We will be exploring the facts how individuals get influenced towards
laptops, what they feel about different laptops and what are the comparisons.

This report will also let us know the possible commendations for Dell Laptop.

1.3 Scope
The report is prepared concentrating on Dell Laptop. The area of the survey was only in
Dhaka city. So, all the estimations have been made based on the city area. It is a
comprehensive report based on structured questionnaire survey, data calculation, peoples
opinion, our perception and knowledge, and books of Consumer Behavior.

1.4 Limitation
While preparing the report we had to face some problems.

1. For the sake of official secrecy, the concerned officials did not provide enough
information.
2. Time shortage was one of the major problems.
3. Then lacking of information among customer were another major problems. In many
case we found some people who do not have any idea about Dell Laptop. Many
people did not cooperate because they were not interested.

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 4. As because the questionnaire was in English many people could not understand the
questions and thus could not answer well.

1.5 Methodology

Nature of the study: Exploratory

Source of information: Both primary and secondary.

Primary Source: Primary source were random entities. The following factors were

considered to collect information:

Sampling method: Convenient Sampling

Information Collection instrument: Structured questionnaire for the respondents.

Sample Size: 60 individuals.

Secondary Sources: Secondary information was collected from the internet.

Analysis of information: Statistical technique through MS Excel was used to analyze the

collected data. Sum, Countif, Average, weighted average were used here.

Presentation of Information: Collected and calculated information are presented in graphical

forms.

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2. Background of Dell-laptop

Dell, Inc. is an American multinational information technology corporation based in 1 Dell

Way, Round Rock, Texas, United States that develops, sells and supports computers and
related products and services. Bearing the name of its founder, Michael Dell, the company is
one of the largest technological corporations in the world, employing more than 103,300
people worldwide. Dell is listed at number 41 in the Fortune 500 list.

Dell has grown by both increasing its customer base and through acquisitions since its
inception; notable mergers and acquisitions including Alienware (2006) and Perot Systems
(2009). As of 2009, the company sold personal computers, servers, data storage devices,
network switches, software, and computer peripherals. Dell also sells HDTVs, cameras,
printers, MP3 players and other electronics built by other manufacturers. The company is
well known for its innovations in supply chain management and electronic commerce.

Fortune Magazine listed Dell as the sixth largest company in Texas by total revenue. It is the
second largest non-oil company in Texas behind AT&T and the largest company in the
Austin, Texas area.[

2.1Company Profile
Basic Information

Company Name: Dell Laptop

Business Type: Information Technology Corporation.

Business Line: Different type of Laptops.

Product/Service: Dell Inspiron, XPS, Adamo and Studio.

Company Website: www.dell.com

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2.2. Company Mission:
Mission is to be the most successful computer company in the world at delivering the best customer
experience in markets we serve.

2.3.1. Products:

2.3.1.1 Dell Inspiron:

Dell Inspiron 14R Dell Inspiron 1525 laptop

Dell Inspiron 14R i14RN Dell Inspiron 15R-N5050

Dell XPS M1330 The XPS M1210

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Dell Adamo Adamo endgame

Dell Studio Dell Studio

3. Analysis of Consumer Behavior:

3.1. Profile of the Target Market:
In this part of the report, we have discussed the demographic, psychographic and
socioeconomic factors about the target market of Laptop. From this part it is easy to find out
all potential consumers age, sex, income, education, source of information, influential factors,
personality. This information have been found out by conducting an extensive survey based
on 60 samples and analyzed by several statistical tools.

3.1.1. Demographic Factors:

Demography is the study of human population in terms of size, density, location, age, gender,
race, occupation and other statistics. The demographic environment is of major interest to
marketers because it involves people and people who make up market and it also give them a
clear description of them.

From the survey we found the result of demographic factors which are described below:

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Gender:

Usually marketers target their products towards a specific portion of the market based on
several analyses. Here we tried to find out the sensitivity and the variation between the male
and female respondents. For that we have divided our total sample in two groups- male and
female.

We conducted our survey based on 60 peoples opinion. Among these people, 60% were
male and 40% were female.

Overall Gender DELL Consumer

Male Female (Gender)
Male Female
32%
40%

60% 68%

Figure: Gender of overall laptop market& Dell laptop

From the survey result we found that among these 60% of male, 68% are the customers of
DELL Laptop and among the 40% of female, 32% are the users of DELL Laptop.

According to our findings it is very clear that the majority customers of DELL Laptop are
male.

Probable Strategy:

They should focus more on female customers, because most of the consumers of
DELL Laptop are male.
DELL Laptop should associate its product more with female consumers by using
renowned female personalities in its marketing activities.
DELL Laptop should advertise its product more to their target market. They can
make Television Commercials or Radio advertisements and play it in between the
programs which are made for young people specially females.
They should introduce more vibrant colors. Example- Orange, green and purple.
They can use Iconic Rote. For example, they can us e key-board by proposing female
ergonomic key-board.

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 They can also use Vicarious Learning by showing in the ads corporate women are
using DELL Laptop, for targeting corporate women.

Age:
Age is one of the most important factors to identify the consumers behavior towards DELL
Laptop. Age carries with it culturally defined behavioral and attitudinal norms. It affects our
self-concepts and lifestyles. To find out the responsiveness about the DELL Laptop, we
asked questions to different age group of our sample to find out the variation of consumer
behavior in different age.

We have surveyed people of different age groups. Among our surveyed people, 55% of
people are within the 16-25 age groups. It is clear that 16-25 age group people are majority in
number.

Overall People Age DELL Laptop Consumers

Under 16 16-25 26-35 Age
36-45 46-55 Above 55 Under 16 16-25 26-35

10% 3% 2% 7% 36-45 46-55 Above 55

4% 0% 4%
16%
23%
55%
28% 48%

Figure: Age of overall laptop market & Dell laptop

From our survey we also found that 48% of people who are the consumers of DELL
Laptop are within the age group of 16-25. The age group of both 26-35 and 36-45 age
groups should also be considerable in number as the pie chart shows 28% and 16% of these
groups people use DELL Laptop. From this survey we can say that most of the consumers
of DELL Laptop are young teenagers, university students and young professionals.

Probable Strategy

They should focus on consumers who are under 16 years old.

They can associate DELL Laptop with child celebrities like Justin Bieber, Henna
Montana.

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 They can introduce special featured Laptop by using cartoon characters image on the
case of Laptop.
They can arrange quiz competition on information of DELL Laptop in schools for
creating depth and awareness of DELL Laptop with a view to persuading to buy
DELL Laptop.
They can offer discounts to whoever can show valid student ID Card.
They can offer preloaded games in the Laptop.
They can also provide free school bag with DELL Laptop.
They can arrange special fairs in schools.
They can make special school packages with schools who like to offer DELL
Laptops to their students for educational purposes.
They should also extensively focus on their big market that is 16-25 age group
because a large portion of this market hasnt captured.
They can offer a special type of Laptop for different type of target customer in the age
group of 16-25 like gaming laptop for who like to play game, studio laptop with high
multimedia feature for who like to listen music.
High configuration laptop for who are studying engineering section like CSC, EEE,
ETE.

Education:
Education has a strong influence on ones tastes and preferences. It also influences how one
thinks, makes decisions, and relates to others. However, education seldom provides a
complete explanation for consumption patterns. Those with a limited education are generally
at disadvantage not only in earning money but in spending it wisely.

According to our survey results, most of our surveyed people (49%) are Masters/MBA.

Overall People DELL Laptop Consumers

Education Education
Masters/MBA
Masters/MBA UnderGraduate
UnderGraduate
HSC/A-Level SSC/O-Level
HSC/A-Level
Diploma Others
SSC/O-Level
8% 2% 3% 0% 4%
3% 0% 8%

49%
32% 56%
35%

Figure: Education of overall laptop market& Dell laptop

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From the pie chart above, we can see that 56% of DELL Laptop customers level of
education is Masters/MBA and 32% customers level of education is UnderGraduate. So we
can say that educated people mostly prefer DELL Laptops.

Probable Strategy:

As most of the customers are educated so DELL Laptops should use green
materials to manufacture its products.
They should safely dispose off laptop batteries so that is causes least harm to the
environment for the well aware and environmentally concerned consumers of DELL
Laptops.
Advertisement should be more informative and should focus on the features and the
configurations of DELL Laptops
They should offer licensed version anti-virus and essential office tools software
They should practice social marketing which is the most preferable criteria for
educated people.

Occupation:

Most of the occupation predetermines the individuals income level. Ones occupation
provides status and income. In addition, the type of work one does and the types of
individuals one works with over time also directly influence ones values, lifestyle, and all
aspects of the consumption process. In our questionnaire we have asked question to identify
which professions respondents are appropriate target customer of DELL Laptops.

Among our surveyed people, the largest portions (54%) of participants are students.

Overall People DELL Laptop Consumer

3%
(Occupation) (Occupation)
Govt. Employee Private Employee Govt. Employee Private Employee
Businessman Student Businessman Student
Others Others
10% 4%
16%
28% 40%
54% 32%
8%

5%

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 Figure: occupation of overall laptop market& Dell laptop

From our survey result we found that 40% of people who usesDELL Laptops are students,
32% are private employees, and 16% are Government employees in occupation. So, the
company should focus on students more as they are biggest market and has biggest portion
that has been not covered.

Strategy:

As most of the customers are students, DELL Laptops should increase the number
of laptop models with different design and casing and should offer student discount.
Have to focus on offering special packages for schools, colleges and universities.
Colorful advertisement and association with young generation celebrities will help to
attract the students and increase the sales.
They can sponsor events in schools, colleges and universities like talent competition
and game tournaments to attract the attention of the students who are the largest
segment.
For private employees and business people they can emphasize more on the quality
and high features and configured DELL Laptops as they can afford high price
laptops also.

3.1.2. Social Factors:

Social factors denote the social status of the target market by considering social class and
other factors.

Social Class:
Income is highly influential in determining social class. To identify the respondents
social class we asked them about their individual income to find their actual position
in the society. The survey represents that most of the participants are in the family
income range of 40,001-50,000 or 30,001-40,000.

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 Overall Population DELL Laptop
(Income) Consumer
10,000 or less 10,001-20,000
(Income)
10,000 or less 10,001-20,000
20,001-30,000 30,001-40,000
20,001-30,000 30,001-40,000
40,001-50,000 50,001-above
40,001-50,000 50,001-above
18% 0% 7%
17%
20% 0% 4% 16%

35% 23% 20%

40%

Figure: Income of overall laptop market& Dell laptop

From our survey we found out that 40% of people who purchase and useDELL
Laptops, their family income are in between TK.30,001-40,000 and 20% users of
DELL Laptops their family income are in betweenTK.40,001-50,000. So we can
see that the consumers of DELL Laptops are middle class and upper middle class.

Probable Strategy:

Primarily they should focus more on middle class and upper middle class people as
they prefer DELL Laptops.
They can use price skimming pricing strategy to capture all layer of middle class.
They can go to the cost leadership strategyby reducing augmented features as the
countrys economic factors are little bit vulnerable.
Can offer installment method to grab lower middle class customer.
Secondarily, upper class of the society is the big portion of the laptop market.
Marketer can also attract upper class of the society by proposing high quality and
numbers of feature by charging extra price.
They can charge high price compare to competitors by proposing same features to
provide message towards the upper class customers that purchasing DELL is part of
status.

3.1.3. Other Findings:

We have found some other information like source of information, influential factors,
and ranks based on consumer perceptions which are described below:

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Most influencing factor at the time of purchase Laptop

From our survey we found out that most of our participants are influenced by friends
(32%) at the time of purchasing Laptops.

Influence Factors
Self Family Friends Celebrity Sales People Advertisement Others
1%
11%
24%
15%

13%

4%
32%

Figure: Influencing factors of laptop market

The pie chart above has shown that 32% of our participants are influenced by their
friends to purchase the laptop products and 24% people are influenced by themself
and 15% by marketing activities.

Probable Strategy:

DELL should maintain the level of quality to satisfy their existing customers as they
are the reference people for them to the new potential consumers.
DELL can launch special package in the Friends Day. For example, if two friends buy
two laptops they will be provided PENDRIVE and SPECIAL SOFTWARE.
They can arrange case competition whereby the participant will be provided special
gifts if they suggest their friends.
For creating loyal customers DELL Laptops should focus on after sales service as
they can work as reference people if they become satisfied.
As most customers are spontaneously involved in purchasing DELL Laptops,
marketer can use classical conditioning by using the image of expertise personality
like Mostofa Jobbar associating DELL Laptops in advertisement.
They can also use Iconic Rote by proposing that, We offer high processing ram.

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 Dell can provide special training program to sales personals for selling DELL
Laptops.
The highest seller of the month will get a trip.

Source of knowing about DELL Laptop

From our survey result, we came to know that 33% of people heard about DELL
Laptops from their Friends/ Relatives and Associate, 20% of the people got
information from Websites and 17% from Magazines.

Source of Information
TV commercials Magazines
Billboards Websites
Friends/Relatives/Associates In-store advertising
Others

1%
9% 11%
17%
33%
9%

20%

Figure: Source of laptop market

Probable Strategy:

DELL should maintain the level of quality to satisfy their existing customers as they
are the source of information for new potential consumers which will work as the
word of mouth.
DELL can offer special discount for siblings.
They should target different social networking sites and blog for their online
advertisement to grab online customer.
DELL can develop their own website which will be improved, informative and easily
understandable.
They should regularly update their website.
DELL should target life style and technology related magazine for their
advertisement.
They can buy full page magazine to isolate their print ad.

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 Their ad should contain more color as color is more important than size.
TV commercials can transmit very clear information to people due to its movement
and exposure. Baskin-Robbins has to apply its classical conditioning ads more on
different TV channels.

Rank based on Consumers Perception

Rank your favorite Laptop

Column5
Column4
Column3
Column2
Column1

0 10 20 30

Column1 Column2 Column3 Column4 Column5

Acer 2 1 10 15 20
Toshiba 2 4 13 17 12
Fujitsu 7 17 11 5 8
HP/Compaq 17 22 6 3 0
Dell 28 12 7 1 0
Brand 0 0 0 0 0

Figure: Rank of favorite laptop

This chart has been developed based on consumers perception about DELL Laptop. In
developing this chart we have used a 5 Space Ranking Tool. According to this chart, DELL
has the highest probability of being ranked no.1 which is strongly supported by the
consumers who favored it as their second choice.

Probable Strategy:

As HP/Compaq is close to be Rank-1 according to consumers perception, DELL

should do SWOT analysis of HP/Compaq.
DELL should increase the life time of battery and after sales service in which
HP/Compaq is stronger than DELL.
DELL should arrange seminar where they will ask for advice about customization of
DELL by providing gift to the respondent.

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3.1.4. Self-Concept:

Personality

Personality is the totality of the individuals thought having reference to him as an object.
This analysis shows that the personal characteristics of those people who have taken part in
this survey.

Personality

3.5
3
2.5
2
1.5
1
0.5
0
Rugged- Excitable- Dominatin Youthful- Formal-
Delicate Calm g- Adult Informal
Submissive
Series1 3.4166666672.566666667 2.7 2.4333333332.783333333

Figure: personality of respondent.

From the table we can see that people who stand on average. They tend to be more delicate,
excitable, dominating, youthful and formal. First, DELL has to give persuasive
advertisement by highlighting all the features.

This graph has been developed based on consumers perception about themselves. We used
a 5 space ranking tool o measure those perception. In this graph, the more close the rankings
are towards rank 5 the more the surveyors are tend to be Delicate, Calm, Submissive, Adult,
and Informal. On the other hand, the more close the ranks toward rank 1 states that the
people are tend to be more Rugged, Excitable, Dominating, Youthful, and Formal. The
ranks show the extremism of individual attributes.

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Probable Strategy:

As most of the customers of laptops are Delicate, DELL can introduce

persuasive ad in the Magazine as well as Newspaper which is considered
important media source for delicate people.
In the same time, delicate people are looking for source reliability of
advertisement. DELL can use reliable and expertise celebrity endorsement
for their advertisement like Saied Akbar.
Excitable people love colorful ads, excitable offering, exciting events like
sports. So DELL can introduce colorful ad, exciting offering like buy one
laptop get one Speaker free. DELL can also sponsor the T20 game.
As youth people love to follow opinion leader, DELL can use the image of
opinion leader like Dr. Muhammad Zafar Iqbal.
As youth people fond of stylish and fashionable case, DELL can offer stylish
and fashionable case by conducting research and development.
As youth people are interested in buying gaming and studio laptop, so DELL
can offer those.
DELL can also arrange laptop fare by targeting youth people.
Dell can arrange seminar on IT revolution which can promote DELL.
As formal people are quality concerned rather than price, DELL can offer
quality features like durability, high configuration, and friendly licensed
operating system.

3.1.5. Psychological Factors:

Conditioning:
Conditioning refers to learning based on association of a stimulus (information) and response
(behavior or feeling). There are two basic forms of conditioned learning-classical and
operant.

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Classical Conditioning:
The process of using an established relationship between a stimulus and response to bring
about learning of the same response to a different stimulus is called classical conditioning.

UCR (Positive
UCS(Image of Dr.
response/Emotion)
Muhammad Zafar Iqbal)

CR (Conditioned
CS (DELL)
Response)

UCS= Unconditional Stimulus UCR= Unconditional Response

CS= Conditional stimulus CR= Conditioned Response
Figure: Classical Conditioning of DELL Laptop

Operant Conditioning:
A response that is given reinforcement is more likely to be repeated when the same situation
arises in the future. Reinforcement plays a much larger role in operant conditioning than it
does in classical conditioning. Since no automatic stimulus-response relationship is involved,
the subject must first be induced to engage in the desired behavior. Then this behavior must
be reinforced. Operant conditioning often involves the actual usage of the product.

DELL Laptop Desired Response Reinforcement

(special discount) (Consumption) (augmented
features)

Increases Probability of
Response to Stimulus

Figure: Operant Conditioning of DELL Laptop

Through operant condition DELL Laptop can grab more customers. For example, they can
introduce special discount program in special occasions. After purchasing DELL Laptop at

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special discount consumer start liking for its augmented features. Then consumer tend to buy
DELL Laptop at full price whenever they demand for laptop.

3.2. Memory
Memory is the total accumulation of prior learning experiences. It consists of two inter
related components:

Short-Term Memory
Long-Term Memory

Short-Term Memory:
Short term memory is that portion of total memory that is currently activated or in use. It is
often referred to as working memory. It is an active, dynamic process not a static structure.

Maintenance Rehearsal:
This is the application of short term memory. Maintenance Rehearsal is the continual
repetition of a piece of information in order to hold it in current memory for use in problem
solving or transferable to long term memory.

Strategy
DELL can launch TV commercial specially before IT related program and they can hire
space in front of IDB building, Manik Mia Avenue, Mohakhali Flyover, in front of Ruposi
Bangla to create repeated rehearsal in their memory which will help to increase the likings of
DELL Laptop.

Long-Term Memory
Long-Term Memory is viewed as an unlimited, permanent storage. Long-Term Memory
carries numerous types of information such as concepts, decision, rules, process, affective
states and so forth. In case of long term memory product stays for a long term and consumer
can recall after a certain period of time.

Semantic Memory:
Semantic Memory is the basic knowledge or feelings about a concept. It represents the
persons understanding of an object or event at its simplest level.

After hearing DELL Laptop, the attributes come in the mind of the people are High
Status, Durability, High Price, High Memory. These attributes work as semantic memory
to the peoples mind. (According to our survey we found 29% people said High Status,
21% said Durability, 15% said High Price, and 13% said High Memory come in their
mind after hearing the name DELL Laptop).

Semantic Memory/ Schema:

It is what a consumer thinks and feels when the brand name is mentioned. It is the source of
personal experiences and opinions through which customers can differentiate DELL

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Laptop differently. DELL Laptop contains several characteristics, usage situations,
episodes and affective reactions.

While surveying the customers, we found several memory events about DELL Laptop
which are given below:

DELL
Laptop

High
Durability High Price High
Status
Memory

Expensive Quality High High Storage

Parts Quality Capacity

Posh
Good Aristocrat Corporate Use
Performance Customer

Figure: Schema for DELL Laptop.

Positioning of DELL Laptop:

Brand image is nothing but the schematic memory of the human beings. It is the combination
of attributes, benefits, usage situations, users and manufacturer/marketer characteristics that
people applies while interpreting DELL Laptop. It is often used interchangeably with brand
image. Product positioning has a major impact of long term success of brand. It is the place
that marketers want to have in the mind of target customer. To capture a good share in a
market one can offer consumers greater value, either through lower prices or by providing
more benefits that justify higher prices.

We tried to find out the position of DELL Laptop in the market by asking a question-

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What comes in your mind when you hear the word DELL Laptop? Like High Status,
Durability, High Price, High Memory, Portability, Availability, High Battery Life,
Convenient to use.

Position of DELL Laptop on Peoples

Mind
High Status Durability Portability
Availability High Battery Life Convenient to use
High Price High Memory Others
0%
0%
9% 15% 29%

9% 21%
7%

10%

Figure: positioning of the DELL Laptop on the peoples mind

According to our survey, we found that, majority of people (29%) said High Status comes in
their mind, 21% of total people said Durability, 15% of people said High Price, 10% of
people said Availability, 9% of people said High Battery Life and 9% Convenient to use.

DELL Laptop has to focus on its High Status and Durability of the laptop because
according to peoples opinion their positioning depends mostly on Status and Durability of
the laptop. Their High Price of laptops also plays a vital role here as 15% people gave their
opinion towards it.

Perceptual Mapping:
Perceptual mapping offers marketing managers a useful technique for measuring and
developing a product position. It takes consumers perceptions of how similar various brands
or products are to each other and relates this perceptions to product attributes.

Through perceptual mapping we tried to show DELL Laptops position compared with
other brands in the market:

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 Perceptual Mapping Column1 Column2 Column3 Column4 Column5
Attributes DELL HP/Compaq Fujitsu TOSHIBA ACER
Price 3.898305085 3.491525424 2.915254237 2.372881356 2.423728814
Quality 4.254237288 3.644067797 2.593220339 2.440677966 2.406779661

High
Quality

DELL

HP/Compaq

ACER
Fujitsu
TOSHIBA

Low High
Price Price

Low
Quality

Figure: Perceptual Mapping of Laptops

Based on our survey, we have completed our measurement and found some difference
between DELL Laptop and other brands. The measurement is shown in perpetual mapping.

From the above perpetual mapping, we can see that DELL Laptop has the best quality and
is more expensive than other brands. After DELL Laptop, HP/Compaq takes place in the
second best position from both the Price & Quality. Then Fujitsu, ACER and
TOSHIBA are in the third, fourth and fifth position respectively.

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So, now we can say that HP/Compaq and Fujitsu are the main competitors of DELL
Laptop. DELL Laptop falls in the portion of Good Quality and High Price. DELL
Laptop is not that much available around Dhaka. Only two authorized dealers are serving in
the whole country. so it is very inconvenient for people to visit dealers stores. So people are
quite unhappy for it. Moreover, people face difficulty at getting after sales service whenever
they needed.

Probable Strategy:

DELL Laptop should emphasize on word of mouth by using Iconic-Rote that we

offer the best laptop.
So DELL should increase price by proposing augmented features.

DELL should increase the use of quality materials for increasing Durability.

DELL should increase the number of dealers.

3.3 Attitude:
An attitude is an enduring organization of motivational, emotional, perceptual, and cognitive
process with respect to some aspect of our environment.

3.3.1 Attitude component:

Measurement of cognitive component:

The component consists of the belief that the people have towards different laptops. To
measure the cognitive component towards DELL Laptop we asked consumer to place
belief about the best attributes of DELL Laptop and their Ideal Laptop in a semantic
scale. To fully evaluate it, we also asked them to place their beliefs about HP/Compaq, as
they are very popular and have a position in the market from the very beginning. We
constructed the cognitive component measure like the following way:

High Status ____ ____ ____ ____ ____ Low Status

High Durability ____ ____ ____ ____ ____ Low Durability

High Price ____ ____ ____ ____ ____ Low Price

High Configuration ____ ____ ____ ____ ____ Low Configuration

High Picture Quality ____ ____ ____ ____ ____ Low Picture Quality

Portability ____ ____ ____ ____ ____ LessPortability

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BetterAfter
Sales Service ____ ____ ____ ____ ____ Low After Sales Service

The belief of customers towards ideal laptop:

Column1 Column2
Attributes Weight
(%)
Status 0.3
Durability 0.1
Price 0.2
Configuration 0.1
Picture Quality 0.1
Portability 0.1
After Sales 0.1
Service

Figure: Measuring weight

Based on our survey, peoples opinion and our perception, for the Ideal Laptop, we gave
30% weight to Status and 20% weight to Price. We gave equal weight for Durability,
Configuration, Picture Quality, Portability, and After Sales Service that is 10%. We gave
30% weight for Status because whenever people think of DELL Laptop they think about
status and because of status of their laptops they are referred by peoples friends, family and
associates. We gave 20 % to price because one of the criteria of maintaining quality and
status is to maintain its price as no one would think a laptop as High Status if it is not High
Priced. We gave 10 % weight to other attributes as those come after Status and Price as they
are the pre-determinants for the list of probable buying options.

DELL LAPTOP ( Cognitive Component - Measuring Beliefs about Specific Attribute)

Column Column Column
Column1 Column5 Column6 Column7 Column8
2 3 4
Durabilit Configurati Picture Portabilit After Sales
Attributes Status Price
y on Quality y Service
Total 255 237 232 243 243 229 229
3.816666 3.8166666
Average 4.25 3.95 3.867 4.05 4.05
7 67
4.616666 4.8666666
I 4.717 4.7667 4.717 4.73333 4.7
7 67
A-I -0.467 -0.817 -0.85 -0.6833 -0.65 -0.8 -1.05
|A-I| 0.467 0.8167 0.85 0.68333 0.65 0.8 1.05
5.317
Weight 0.3 0.1 0.2 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1
Weighted
0.14 0.0817 0.17 0.06833 0.065 0.08 0.105
Average

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 0.71
Figure: DELL Laptops Measurement of Cognitive Component.

As we know that the closer an attitude index calculated in this manner is to zero, the better is
the result. The total weighted average of DELL Laptop is 0.71. The weighted average of
DELL Laptops Status and After Sales Service are very high 0.14 and 0.105 respectively
which represents bad situation.

From measuring the cognitive components, we found that the difference between the Ideal
Laptop and DELL Laptop Status is 0.467, Durability difference is 0.8167, Price difference
is 0.85, Configuration difference 0.6833, Picture Quality is 0.65, Portability is 0.8, and After
Sales Service difference is 1.05. If we compare it to the Ideal Laptop, we find all are in bad
situation but the Price and After Sales Service are in worst situation.

HP/Compaq ( Cognitive Component - Measuring Beliefs about Specific Attribute)

Column Column
Column1 Column2 Column3 Column5 Column7 Column8
4 6
Attribute Configuratio Picture After Sales
Status Durability Price Portability
s n Quality Service
Total 237 239 210 232 243 237 244
Average 3.95 3.98333 3.5 3.866667 4.05 3.95 4.066667
I 4.717 4.76667 4.7167 4.733333 4.7 4.6167 4.866667
A-I -0.77 -0.7833 -1.2167 -0.86667 -0.65 -0.667 -0.8
|A-I| 0.767 0.78333 1.2167 0.866667 0.65 0.6667 0.8
5.75
Weight 0.3 0.1 0.2 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1
Weighted
0.23 0.07833 0.2433 0.086667 0.065 0.0667 0.08
Average
0.85
Figure: HP/Compaqs Measurement of Cognitive Component.

If we compare DELL Laptops with HP/Compaq, we can see that the total weighted
average of HP/Compaq is higher than DELL Laptops that is 0.85. We can say that the
situation of HP/Compaq is much worse than DELL Laptops in the market.

Changing Cognitive Component:

A common and effective approach to changing attitudes is to focus on the cognitive
component. DELL Laptops can change the consumers belief towards their product by
changing beliefs, shifts Importance and add beliefs.

Change Belief:
From the surveyed result, we can see that DELL Laptop has less efficiency in After Sales
Service. They have to change this belief. By establishing more service centers, DELL can
change consumers belief about their After Sales Service and can especially mention their
efficiency on After Sales Service in their advertisement. Through giving repetitive

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advertisement on After Sales Service, people will start to change their belief towards DELL
Laptop and will start to believe that they have efficiency on After Sales Service.

Shift Importance:
According to surveyed result, people think that although DELL Laptop has High Status but
it has less efficiency in After Sales Service. So if DELL Laptop focuses more on High
Status by proposing that Owning DELL Laptop is a part of status. Through this concept
DELL Laptop may be able to grab more consumers by shifting their importance in Status.

Add Beliefs:
According to our surveyed result we found that, 13% people believe that DELL Laptop has
High Memory. So DELL can promote that if one wants to do corporate work they need high
memory which DELL has. By this way DELL can add a new belief.

1. Measure of affective component:

It is emotion and feeling of the customer to a particular service. They showed their
likings about DELL Laptop in the survey that is given below:

Measurement of affective component

Strongly
Strongly Agre Neutra Disagre Disagre
Statements Agree e l e e
I like the configuration of Dell Laptops. 21 27 6 5 1
I am satisfied with the durability of "Dell"
Laptops 20 24 8 5 3
Dell Laptops are affordable 17 24 13 13 2
I like DELL Laptops 17 5 8 5 5

Table: Measurement of affective component

From the above table we can see that 27 people out of 60 people surveyed Agree
with the statement I like the configuration of Dell Laptops, 24 people also Agree
with the statement I am satisfied with the durability of Dell Laptops; 24 people
said they are Agree with the statement Dell Laptops are affordable; 17% people
Strongly Agree with the statement I like DELL Laptops.
The most noticeable thing is 13 of our surveyed people disagree with the statement
Dell Laptops are affordable; 13 people is a big number. So DELL Laptop has to
focus on their affordability.

Probable Strategy:

According to surveyed result, people think that although DELL Laptop has High
Status but it has less efficiency in After Sales Service. So if DELL Laptop focuses

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 more on High Status by proposing that Owning DELL Laptop is a part of status.
Through this concept DELL Laptop may be able to grab more consumers by
shifting their importance in Status.

Changing Affective Components:

It is increasingly common for a firm to attempt to influence consumers liking of its

brand without directly influencing either belief or behavior. If the firm is successful,
increased liking will lead to a tendency to purchase the brand should a need arise.
Marketers use three basic approaches to directly increase affect: classical
conditioning, affect toward the ad itself and mere exposure.

Classical conditioning:

One way to directly influencing the affective component is through classical

conditioning. To change the affection of the customers we need to use classical
conditioning. DELL Laptop can use celebrity on their advertisement. When people
will see their favorite celebrity is using DELL Laptop, they will be convinced by
the advertisement. As they like the celebrity, they will like the advertisement and
through this way they may change their concept.

Affect toward advertisement:

Liking the advertisement can increase the tendency to like the product. DELL
Laptop can give their advertisement on billboard by using more bright color that can
easily attract more attention of consumers.

2. Measurement of behavior component:

A series of decision to purchase or not to purchase a product or to recommend it or

other brands to friends reflect the behavioral component.
The behavioral component tries to predict the actual behavior of consumers that in
this case whether they are using DELL Laptop or not. This was measured by asking
two questions:

1. Last time I used _________________ Laptop.

The result of the survey below:

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 Laptop Used Last Time
DELL HP/Compaq Fujitsu TOSHIBA ACER

8%
13%
42%
7%

30%

Figure: Laptop used last Time

Here, we can see that 42% of consumers last time consumed DELL Laptop, 30% of
consumers last time used HP/Compaq and another 13% last time used TOSHIBA, 8% of
consumers last time used ACER, and 7% of consumers last time used Fujitsu.

2. Usually, I recommend ______________ Laptop.

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 Laptop Suggested By People
DELL HP/Compaq Fujitsu TOSHIBA ACER

12%
10%
48%
8%

22%

Figure: Laptop will be recommended by people

From our survey findings we can see that 48% people usually suggest DELL Laptop, 22%
people suggest HP/Compaq, 12% suggest ACER, 10% suggest TOSHIBA, and 8%
people usually suggest Fujitsu.

We can say that HP/Compaq is the main competitor of DELL Laptop.

3. What is the likelihood that you will buy Dell Laptops the next time when you purchase
Laptops?
Definitely will buy.
Probably will buy
May or may not buy
Probably will not buy
Definitely will not buy

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 The result of the survey is given below:

What is the likelihood that you will

buy "Dell" Laptops the next time
when you purchase Laptops?
12% 23%
12%

24%
29%

Definitely will buy Probably will buy May or may not buy
Probably will not buy Definitely will not buy

Figure: Likelihood of buying DELL Laptop.

According to our survey result, 29% customers opinion was May or may not buy, 24%
Probably will buy, 23% people said they Definitely will buy the DELL and equally 12%
people said they Probably will not buy and Definitely will not buy.

Changing behavioral components:

Behavioral component cannot change directly. With the change of cognitive and affective
component, behavioral component may change.

Changing behavioral prior to changing affect or cognition is based primarily on operant

conditioning.

Operant conditioning:

It is the main source to change the behavior of the customers. The behavior component can
be changed based on operant conditioning. If DELL Laptop gives discount to the people
and after discount people may like it due to its augmented features. Finally people will
purchase the product with full price. Through this way DELL Laptop can change the
behavioral component.

Component Consistency:
A change in one attitude components tends to produce related change in other components.
Marketing managers are ultimately concern with the influencing behavior. Nevertheless it is
often difficult to influence directly.

Consumer will often listen to sales personnel, attend advertisement, or examine package.
Marketers can therefore, indirectly influence behavior by providing information, music or
other stimuli that influence a belief or feelings.

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 Affective component
(Yes, DELL is Durable)

Cognitive Component
(DELL Laptop is
Durable)
Behavioral Component
(Purchasing DELL
Laptop)

Figure: Component Consistency

4.0 Recommendation:
Dell, Inc. is an American multinational information technology corporation based in 1 Dell
Way, Round Rock, Texas, United States that develops, sells and supports computers and
related products and services. A lot of people of Dhaka City like the Dell-laptop for it high
status, durability, high price and high memory. But Dell-laptop has some limitations which
should be fixed to attract more consumers, to increase market share, and to build loyal
customers. Dell-laptop has to do the following marketing strategies.

Advertising:
Dell laptop should increase advertisement. Dell should introduce informative adds in
the technology related magazine and daily newspaper. Dell should also focus on
Billboard advertisement. Sometimes Dell can launch TV commercial.

Improvement of Features: According to customers opinion, it should improve its

features. Otherwise it will not survive in the competitive market and lose the young
customer segment.

Should be affordable: DELL Laptop price should be more affordable. Many

people cannot purchase their laptop because of high price.

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 Increase in product line: They should introduce laptops in its store. They have to
expand their product line, have to bring new products.

Convenience:
Baskin-Robbins is not available to the customers. It has only two authorized delear in
Dhaka which is located at IDB Vhabon. It has to contract with more delear in Dhaka
city for the convenience of customers. As its target market is Upper middle class and
Middle class people, it can launch delearship in Gulshan, Uttara, Baridharaetc to catch
the target market.

5.0 Conclusion:
Dell, Inc. is an American multinational information technology corporation. Though
it has lots of limitations, it is liked by many customers due to high status and
durability.

6.0 BIBLIOGRAPHY
Books:

Consumer Behavior, Del I Hawkins, Rojer J. Best, Kenneth A. Coney,

Ninth Edition.
Principles of Marketing, Philip Kotler, Gray Armstrong, Eleventh Edition.
Marketing Management, Philip Kotler, Millennium Edition.

Website:
1. www.dell.com

2. http://www.naaptol.com

3. www.aponalo.com

4. www.wikipedia.org

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