At the heart of what any consumer wants is value from their product/service. Therefore “marketing-orientated companies attempt to create customer value in order to attract and retain customers” (Jobber 2010, p.13). As trends emerge though, the needs and expectations of the consumer in order to ascertain this value changes. In any service you “try and deliver the basic expected services…and not irritate them whilst you’re doing it” (McKnight 2012). It’s dependent on “how the customer perceives the benefits of an offering and the sacrifice that is associated with its purchase” (Jobber 2010). If the perceived sacrifice is greater than the perceived benefit then the consumer is unlikely to partake in that purchase/service. For example, in the coffee industry, the consumer may determine the cost of buying a coffee as the price of the item and the time taken to get the coffee, and if the perceived benefits of taste, effect, look etc. don’t match up then the consumer won’t purchase the coffee.
Customer Value = Perceived benefits – perceived sacrifice (Jobber 2010) In the coffee industry, as in many industries, consumers are “demanding greater transparency along supply chains and are willing to pay higher prices for ethically and environmentally sourced food and drink products” (Keynote 2014). This means that the firms have to be socially responsible in their practices and mindful of the environmental impact of their company. Solomon et al. (2006, p.46) mentions how “corporate social responsibility has become increasingly prominent in companies’ provision of and stakeholders’ approaches to buying goods and services”. They “recognize the changing nature of their customer”. As customers have begun to expect this some major coffee shops have adjusted their practices to align with expectations. For example Starbucks aim is “for all of [their] coffee to be grown under the highest standards of quality, using ethical trading and responsible growing practices” (Starbucks Corporation 2014) and Costa Coffee claims, “whenever you drink Costa coffee, you're supporting farmers and farm workers worldwide who are working to improve their livelihoods and those of their families, while protecting the planet at the same time” (Costa Coffee 2014). If you go on either one of these companies websites then this information is easily accessible.This is what consumers want so firms are adhering to this; “consumers are demanding to know where their products have come from” (Keynote 2014) and this doesn't look likely to change as “it has been argued that environmental concern is gradually becoming a new universal value” (Solomon et al. 2006). Consumers are also expecting firms to be more socially responsible. Starbucks came under heavy fire in recent years for “immorally minimising [its] tax obligations” (Shearman 2012). By doing so the firm failed to meet some of its customers’ expectations on such issues and therefore caused damage to it’s “brand consumer-satisfaction score” (Bainbridge 2012). Starbucks isn’t the only one to have received any criticism. Whilst receiving nowhere near as high publicity, Costa Coffee has received crticism for an advert which uses “more aggressive tactics” than normal (Brownsell 2009), though it is suggested that this could be due to slow growth of the industry and an attempt to still “sustain profits and footfall”. However critics have claimed that “it serves only to weaken a sector and cheapen the brand involved” (Brownsell 2009). On the other hand Costa Coffee does do its part to be socially responsible. As well as having its own charity called The Costa Foundation which aims to “relieve poverty in coffee-growing communities” (Costa Coffee 2014b). They also sponsored Olympic medalist Ed Clancy's team, Rapha Condor Sharp, for the Tour of Britain (Reynolds 2012) which is good publicity and promotes healthy exercise and they are committed to their corporate social responsibility plan by investing in lots of new environmentally friendly packaging for UK stores with an aim to “achieve zero waste to landfill operations by 2017” (Weston 2013) It’s down to the firm to ensure that they are always meeting or exceeding their customers expectations whether that’s in the product itself or the sales pitch or customer service. As long as they do this then the firm will do well. |
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