Consumer Behaviour:

Segmenting, Targeting & Positioning

MICHAELA MOHAMED | 22101945
11 November 2022|CBB01 | Ruth Mukori
FIS | Randburg Campus | Group 1
Section A: Case Study A.
Question 1: Market Targeting & Segmentation.

a) Petite Fox is a second-hand online store for eco-friendly individuals with children
who seek for apparel that is still of a high quality (Torres-Hastie, 2022). Petite Fox
has to deal with two separate target markets as they have a clear-cut difference
between a customer and consumer. Being a brand that offers primarily
childrenswear apparel, these individuals are seen as the consumer and their
parents/guardians would then be the customers; however, with the subset section of
maternity-wear the consumers are also the customers.

The age range of the “children” consumers was stipulated as 0-months up to 10-
years-old (Mari-Louise, 2019), but the age range for pregnant individuals and
“customer” parents of the “consumer” children can be expected to be young adults,
roughly 16-35. I say this range as teen pregnancy is a real occurrence and in 2021
2.7% of all 14–19-year-olds females in the country were pregnant, which has
decreased since 2019 which was 5.7%, despite this it is still a prevalent issue
(StatsSa, 2022). According to the data, the main contributing factor to the rate of
teen pregnancies is poverty (NACOSA News, 2018), and considering that those with
a tighter budget are more likely to participate in the second-hand market, these
individuals fit right into this segment (Chu, 2020). Another contributing factor to this
range is because 70% of millennial and Gen Z customers say that sustainability is a
crucial consideration when making purchases (Chu, 2020), thus meaning they are
more likely to thrift than any other generation given its nature.

This leads into the second characteristic for Petite Fox’s marketers, their consumers
and customers must have an attitude of being environmentally conscience and
preserving, and to quote the brand there are about how “parents should be able to
afford quality clothes for their kids without spending a fortune or damaging the
environment” meaning they clientele will mirror these beliefs back to them (Mari-
Louise, 2019).
 Another point to add is how younger generations are technological, meaning they
are more inclined to use this online store (Pilette, 2021). Petite Fox also claims that
they are aiming to be accessible to any parent regardless of their background,
income, or location (Karim, 2022), however it is simply not possible. Given how their
brand is still digital, not just anyone can access it, someone who lives in an urban
area within South Africa can access their website as they have internet and data
connection, which is needed for Petite Fox to be available to these
consumers/customers.

Figure 1: Graphic Showing Segmentation

b) When looking at Petite Fox at first one might think that their segmenting approach is
concentrated considering they are operating within a niche, however upon further
inspection it is evident that the brand uses the differentiated approach. A business
developing a campaign that speaks to two or more distinct target markets,
demographics, or marketing segment is known differentiated marketing and can be
used to increase its customer base, dominate its niche, and increase brand
awareness by focusing on a variety of clearly defined customer profiles (Hofacker,
2022). I say Petite Fox is using this approach as they cater for children through their
childrenswear well as parents-to-be through their maternity wear products (Mari-
Louise, 2019), this shows two distinct segments; children and pregnant individuals.
As illustrated in Figure 1 it can be seen the separation of the one consumer, i.e., the
children and the other consumer i.e., those in need of maternity apparel.
Question 2: Family Decision-Making.

a) The family life cycle can be theorized as a development with varying phases. By
knowing where a person is in the family life cycle, marketers can predict their needs
and adapt their marketing strategies to satisfy those needs (Walia & Chetty, 2020).
The family life cycle model aids in creating a consumer profile, which businesses
can use to choose which group of customers to target (Walia & Chetty, 2020). Many
adapt the theory model to fit their views, however a the most common opinion of the
stages goes as follows:

Figure 2: Family Life Cycle

Stage 1 – Bachelorhood: Individuals are young, and their incomes are usually low
as they are just starting out in their careers and they are also described as being
more concerned with appearance (Walia & Chetty, 2020). As a result, they tend to
spend more money on trendy items and premium and impulsive purchases occur,
thus it can be conclude that individuality exists at this stage (Walia & Chetty, 2020).
Stage 2 – Honeymooners: Marriage brings responsibilities, and thus the need for
resources changes; people in this stage tend to have the highest purchase rate,
particularly for consumer durables, because they are in a better financial position
due to the lack of children (Walia & Chetty, 2020).

Stage 3.1 – Full Nest 1.0: The full nest 1.0 stage begins with the birth of the first
child as the birth of a child causes significant changes in a family's purchasing
behaviour and at this point, most of the money is going towards purchasing baby
items and products (Walia & Chetty, 2020). Furthermore, in many cases, the mother
may be forced to quit her job, resulting in a significant reduction in family income ; as
a result, the couple is dissatisfied with their financial situation and has less
disposable income (Walia & Chetty, 2020).

Stage 3.2 – Full Nest 2.0: At this stage of the cycle, the family's financial situation
improves, due to career advancement and with this improved financial position,
families continue to be product-oriented, but they are less influenced by advertising
as they have more purchasing experience; furthermore, because the children are
older at this point, the expenses are school-related (Walia & Chetty, 2020).

Stage 3.3 – Full Nest 3.0: At this point, the family's income is increasing, and their
financial situation is becoming more secure, and this type of family spends a lot of
money on consumer durables, primarily because they need to replace older items
(Walia & Chetty, 2020). This demographic is more likely to purchase products such
as tasteful furniture, necessary devices, and luxuries (Walia & Chetty, 2020).

Stage 4 – Empty Nest: Children no longer live at their parent's house, so with no
child-related expenses to bear, the family's financial situation stabilizes, and savings
begin to build up (Walia & Chetty, 2020). Since the couple is now free to pursue their
desires, hobbies have become an important source of fulfilment for them and more
money is now spent on luxury, self-improvement, medical care, and health-related
products (Walia & Chetty, 2020).

Stage 5 – Solidarity: It involves retired individuals who are living alone following the
death of their partner and as a result, their lives tend to become lonely, and their
 income decreases significantly as a result of retirement (Walia & Chetty, 2020). This
causes significant changes in their consumption patterns and way of life and
healthcare services become an important part of their daily lives (Walia & Chetty,
2020).

This model illustrates where consumers are in terms of fiscally, emotionally, and
mentally. This tool can be used by Petite Fox to analysis how and who they want to
target, by specialises their campaigns and products to fit the criteria demands by
their chosen group.

b) As explained in 2a Stage 3.1 begins with the birth of the first child and their birth,
thus this is the stage Petite Fox should be ideally targeting. Stage 3, but more
specifically 3.1; the beginnings of starting a family, is when consumers purchase
baby products such as babywear apparel (Walia & Chetty, 2020). I suggest this
stage as it targets both types of their consumers, women going through maternity as
they are starting a family which occurs during this stage and due to the fact that the
process of starting a family results in the children, which will also be apparent during
this stage, and they are the second type of their consumer Petite Fox has.

c) The stage fast-fashion brands would most likely target is also the 3 rd stage, however
they would target Stage 3.2, rather than Stage 3.1 like Petite Fox. It can speculated
that the children during this stage are prepubescent and also going through
adolescence, so between the ages of 4-15, in other words small children to young
teens. Fast-fashion brands would target this stage due to a few reasons; children
grow fast, and their clothing needs to be replaced more frequently than adults, on
average every 6 months is ideal, and another reason is because parents are more
likely to spend on their children’s closet than their own (Publisher, 2017). Another
reason this stage is ideal for fast-fashion brand is because children of this age start
to dress themselves, children statically starting themselves from the ages 5 or 6
(McCarthy, 2021) and children thus form autonomy and are deceive of what they
want to wear. Childrenswear just like another market sector has microtrends, for
children it might the current show of their generation or a print or pattern, and these
change frequently so a fast-fashion brand would keep up with these changes in child
demands for fashion, such as in 2019 the style and prints in fashion were animal and
space prints (Udayar, 2019)

Figure 3: Illustration of Microtrends

Section B: Essay.

Attitudes are largely viewed as one of the most significant factors that influence buying
behaviour, and they reflect either positive or negative evaluations of an "attitude object,"
which can range from product to brand to advertisement, or any other aspect of
consumption in marketing and consumer behaviour (Duggal, 2019). Subsequently,
attitudes influence consumers' decisions to buy or avoid specific products or brands
(Duggal, 2019). An attitude fulfils a personal justification while also influencing
consumer shopping and purchasing behaviour patterns; consumer attitude is simply an
amalgamation of a consumer's beliefs, feelings, and behavioural intentions toward some
object in the marketing context (Dean, 2010). Consumers acquire attitudes through a
variety of channels, including direct experience, word of mouth, and marketing, but one
of the most important drivers of attitudes is a consumer's personality (Duggal, 2019).
Due to the deeply individualistic essence of character, attitudes differ greatly from one
consumer to the next, and even though attitudes and behaviours are frequently
consistent, they can be situational such as disliking a brand, but their product is the only
one available at the given time (Duggal, 2019).

The ABC model of attitude is frequently used in therapeutic settings to reframe negative
feelings, particularly in cognitive behavioural therapy, and theorizes (consumer) attitude
has three components: affective, behavioural, and cognitive (Nadeau, 2022). Affective:
This is defined as how an individual feels about a specific situation, person, or object
and this is frequently an impulsive reaction based on memory or prior experience with
the object of the attitude or something similar (Nadeau, 2022). Behavioural: This
component is defined as how the attitude's object causes a person to behave, and this
behaviour is usually viewed as predictable (Nadeau, 2022). Cognitive: How one thinks
about the subject of the attitude is defined as this aspect, this can be shaped by the
opinions of primary reference groups or secondary reference groups (Drew, 2022)

The interaction between the three ABC elements leads to the hierarchy of effects (Dean,
2010) and this concept is used to categorize different levels of motivation or
involvement with an attitude object that a person may have (Kenton, 2021). Standard-
learning hierarchy is where consumers will do a lot of research and form opinions about
the attitude object, after that, the consumer will decide how they feel about the attitude
object (Dean, 2010). The person's behaviour is a direct result of their feelings or affect,
so when a high level of involvement is required for purchase decisions, the cognition-
affect-behaviour approach is frequently used (Dean, 2010). The order of events in the
low-involvement hierarchy is cognition-behaviour-affect, thus when making a purchase,
a consumer with an attitude shaped by the low-involvement hierarchy of effects relies
more on what they know than on how they feel, so after making a purchase, the
consumer develops feelings about a good or service (Dean, 2010). The order of affect-
behaviour-cognition defines the experiential hierarchy of effects; in this situation, the
consumer's decision to buy is solely influenced by how they feel about a particular good
or service (Dean, 2010). After the purchase, cognition reinforces the initial effect and
attitudes created by the experiential hierarchy of effects, emotional contagion is typical
(Dean, 2010).

Comprehending the reason of a consumer's attitude is a fundamental first step toward

reshaping or fitting into it; the functional theory of attitudes explains the functional
motives of attitudes toward consumers (Dean, 2010). There are four possible functions
of attitudes, each of which attempts to explain the source and purpose of a specific
attitude to the consumer. The utilitarian function is centred on the utilitarianism ethical
theory, and an individual will make decisions solely with the goal of maximizing
happiness for all; when a consumer's choice is determined by how much pain or
pleasure it will cause, their attitude is distinctively based on a utility function (Dean,
2010). The value-expressive function is used when a consumer bases their opinion of a
good or service on their core beliefs or self-concept, the main factor of a person
embracing the value expressive function is the association or reflection that a good or
service has on the customer and when a customer accepts a good or service with the
intent of having it affect their social identity, this specific function is used (Dean, 2010).
When a customer believes that using a product or service might damage their self-
image, the ego-defensive function is evident; furthermore, it's challenging to shift the
ego-defensive attitude and the ego-defensive attitude is a strategy used by people to
hide their own unsettling traits (Joubert, 2013). People who are careful to organize and
provide structure regarding their attitude or opinion of a product or service typically
possess the knowledge function, by incorporating fact-based comparisons and real-
world statistics into the message strategy, a marketer can alter a consumer's knowledge
function-based attitude, thus marketing campaigns that are ambiguous and irrelevant
will not work on customers with a knowledge attitude (Joubert, 2013).

When it comes to sustainable purchases, the conclusion of the categorized attitude is

debatable, considering the ranging ways a good/service can be sustainable, specifically,
and what need is it fulfilling. In terms of Petite Fox their form of sustainability is through
the second-hand market (Mari-Louise, 2019), but how exactly is thrifting “sustainable”?
Factually speaking the second-most polluting industry is the fashion industry, and this
due to the carbon emission released because of the over-production of apparel, in other
words the fashion pandemic: fast-fashion (Razvi, 2022). Thrifting culture was always
prevalent in low-income communities, but due to being more sustainable it has become
trendier to thrift, in essence thrifting is a counteract to fast-fashion culture (Razvi, 2022).
Thrifting keeps the already existing clothes in the cycle and eliminates the entrance of
any new contenders, thus decreasing the carbon footprint as much as thrift-doers can in
their capacity (Razvi, 2022). The influx of newcomers has hurt the old community of
intended users, and sometimes results in inflated online re-reselling, however Petite Fox
does not contribute like this, they offer up to 90% off the original retail price (Mari-
Louise, 2019), which is evidently in the name of sustainability and not capitalism.

Petite Fox’s genuine and culturally correct approach to their online market makes them
reliable and trustworthy
Section C: Case Study B.

Question 1.
Section D: Case Study C.

Question 1.
Image References:

Molly Mears, 09.08.2020, Fashion Editorial, Unsplash. [Online Image]

https://unsplash.com/photos/4_90zmmdo_4 [Accessed: 02.11.2022]