Consumer Behavior Essay on Louis Vuitton

Consumer Behavior Essay (Louis Vuitton)
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Consumer Behavior Essay (Louis Vuitton)
Business organizations are under constant pressure to stay relevant considering the dynamism within their operational settings. Any business manager understands that consumer needs change consistently. With such changes comes the demand to match the needs. In contemporary business operations, there are also cases of increased competition. In attractive industries, new businesses and potential competitors emerge. It is also worth remarking that business organizations must address the emergence of technology and how it affects business outcomes. Amidst all such dynamic elements, business organizations must grow. That triggers questions into how business managers can foresee the growth of their organizations amidst uncertain operations. Part of the answer lies with an insightful understanding of consumer behavior. It is the role of a business organization to understand its consumers and their behaviors. With a mastery of consumer behaviors, businesses can predict the needs of their consumers, develop products, and change business operations according to those needs. One of the organizations that have mastered the science of consumer behavior is Louis Vuitton (LV). At the height of failures in the fashion industry coupled with developments in technology, LV remained relevant. In this analysis, emphasis is put on how Louis Vuitton has transitioned over the years to position itself towards younger consumers and the market. LV's insightful understanding of design and consumer behavior changes in the fashion industry has been vital to its growing relevance to the younger generations.
Understanding Consumer Behavior
Consumer behavior is one prospect that defines the buying behaviors of individuals. Naturally, people do not just make purchases. Before an individual makes a purchase, he/she undergoes the influence of multiple personal and environmental factors (SanMiguel et al., 2021). In the study of consumer behavior, there are specific questions that individuals must answer before they decide to make the actual purchase. That is, a consumer must answer questions on how often to buy, where to buy, what to buy when to buy, and how to use the products or services. Answering such questions leads to purchases. Presently, business organizations employ technology to understand some of the answers to consumer purchase questions. For customers who frequent some outlets, it becomes easy to predict their purchase behaviors. Additionally, organizations assess their sales volumes and sales revenues to understand the products or designs that are more attractive to their consumers (Sethna & Blythe, 2019). However, as noted, needs among consumers change consistently. Also, businesses need to attract more customers as having only potential customers in place can render an organization unprofitable in the long run. As such, businesses must have a more insightful understanding of the deeper emotional and psychological forces that steer consumers into the purchases.
There are multiple determinants of consumer behavior that business organizations must understand to stay relevant in their operational settings. Primary among the determinants are the situational factors. Situational factors are temporary and can include prospects such as scent, lighting, music, colors, layout, and location (Sethna & Blythe, 2019). In the business world, companies try to make the situational factors as favorable as possible. That is because the situational factors are what drive new customers. The situational factors also contribute to unplanned purchases. In the fashion industry, the use of situational factors such as design, color, and scent have been used to differentiate brands. People are becoming more accustomed to other situational factors such as moods, time, and holidays that keep influencing consumer behaviors. Understanding the trends in situational factors could give an organization such as LV an insight into what to sell or design for whom and at what time.
There are also personal factors that affect the purchase behaviors among individuals. Personal factors are the demographic factors such as occupation, income, gender, and age. People make purchase decisions because they believe that the decisions befit their personality (Sethna & Blythe, 2019). With personal factors come aspects of lifestyles such as leisure activities and daily routines that both define purchase behaviors. Take for instance age. In any industry presently, age is an important factor in defining what to sell. The fashion industry traditionally segmented its consumers into age groups among other demographic factors to ensure that each individual is satisfied when they visit the stores. Unfortunately, not all fashion outlets understand the value of age in consumer behaviors. For instance, one factor that is contemporarily linked with age is affinity to technology. The younger generations are showing different purchase behaviors from the older generations (50 years and above) (Szmigin, 2018). To the young, the convenience of the internet makes it easy for them to abandon visiting physical stores. One fashion outlet that has a good understanding of the prospect is Forever21 which declared bankruptcy in the US after spending much of its resources opening physical outlets as it targeted the younger generations. With more of their target customers preferring online purchases, Forever21 missed in an attempt to address age as a demographic need.
Other social and psychological factors have born influenced consumer behaviors. While every other aspect of consumer behavior stems from their psychological and emotional influences, some prospects link directly to psychology. A person’s ability to understand information, perception of needs, and mindset influence consumer behaviors (Szmigin, 2018). One’s state of mind could influence his/her reaction to a marketing campaign. Presently, brands understand the amount of information that people have about different products. The marketing strategies, especially those that target the younger generations must be specific and truthful (Sudjono, 2020). An organization such as LV has found an avenue of instilling technology and information into marketing. The use of computer games, for instance, opens spaces for growth through an affiliate industry that is fast gaining popularity among the younger generations (SanMiguel et al., 2021). Ultimately, social factors such as people surrounding buyers, sexual orientation, religious and ethnic background, level of education, and social class bear significance in the buying behaviors. Brands understand that different cultures manifest varying customs and rituals that determine what people purchase and even how people live their lives. For companies that target large consumer segments, it is understandable that people within a similar social class normally showcase similar buying behaviors. A business organization is tasked to understand their customers and the factors that determine their buying behaviors if such businesses are to stay relevant in their operations.
LV Consumer Behavior Insights among the Young
Louis Vuitton is one of the organizations that has b...