Running Head: CONSUMER BEHAVIOR ANALYSIS REPORT 1

CONSUMER BEHAVIOR ANALYSIS REPORT

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WORD COUNT: 2500 words

Contents

Introduction ................................................................................................................................................. 3

Psychological Concepts that Underpin Consumer Behavior .................................................................. 4

How Moncler uses motivational theories .................................................................................................. 5

How Moncler uses Perception Theories .................................................................................................... 6

How Moncler uses Personality Theories ................................................................................................... 7

How Moncler uses Lifestyle Theories........................................................................................................ 8

Recommendations & Conclusion............................................................................................................... 9

Reference ................................................................................................................................................... 12
CONSUMER BEHAVIOR ANALYSIS REPORT 3

Introduction

According to Levy (2019, p. 6), Moncler was established in 1952, France. The company's

headquarters are currently in Italy. Through the years, the firm has been able to combine style

and evolving technological research in activities relating to the world of mountains (Moncler,

2019, p.183). Specifically, Moncler collections integrate the extreme demands for outwear in

such settings. The current C.E.O. and President of Moncler is Remo Ruffini who took over in

2003. Up to date, company operations involve the manufacture and distribution of clothing and

accessories through the boutiques and the exclusive multi-brand outlets as part of its

international departmental stores.

Ordinarily, firms that assess and understand their consumer behaviour show increasing

sales besides growth in consumer loyalty. More precisely, understanding the psychological

concepts of consumer behavior is a milestone for any brand (Statista.com, 2019, para. 5).

Moncler has been able to incorporate consumer behaviours as a critical part of its marketing

strategy besides designing a luxurious brand which has enabled it to retain and attract even more

customers. Aaker (2016, p.213) and Biel (2014, p.202) explain, the human life always revolves

around consuming goods and services, which is closely related to the human behavior and it is

for this reason that most brands will engage in numerous strategies that assure they use consumer

behavioral concepts to influence repeat purchase while enhancing consumer loyalty.

The following report illustrates how motivation, perception, personality and lifestyle

theories influence repeat purchase while building on customer loyalty in the case study of

Moncler brand. But, this exposition begins by discussing how psychological concepts underpin

consumer behaviours, customer loyalty. The author report conclusion is deductive reasoning and
CONSUMER BEHAVIOR ANALYSIS REPORT 4

giving recommendations of how the brand in question, Moncler, can make brand image

improvements.

Psychological Concepts that Underpin Consumer Behavior

Various reports (Cravens, 2014; Statista, 2019; Moncler, 2019) contend that perception is

one of the most core psychological concepts with a significant impact on consumer behaviour . It

influences the reason the customer fails to purchase or do purchase a product. A study by

Moncler (2016, p.56) has shown that the nature of perception remains a dominant factor

influencing consumer behaviour. Typically, a customer will decide on whether to purchase a

particular product after processing information and consequently making a decision in the

manner in which the processed information affects the perception of a product. Moreover,

information processing will begin with exposing the consumer and attracting their attention

constructed by the marketing stimuli, thus resulting in the interpretation of the obtained

information. The focus of perception is on what an individual may get from created sensations

and the assigned meaning of the various market stimuli and exposures (Aaker, 2016, p.78).

Malhotra (2018, p. 71) and Mengxia (2017, p.122) argue that selective exposure is what

underpins consumer behaviour. The researchers say that selective exposure determines the

degree of exposure to a particular market stimulus that the customer may be willing to accept the

experience. Worth noting is that the consumer experiences affect the perceptual filters and

eventually impact on why a consumer will choose to purchase a specific brand and ignore a

substitute brand. Kotler (2014, p.45) has explained that the significant factor of selective

exposure is perceptual vigilance. Such an argument depicts consumer behaviour once they enter
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the shop. Put differently; a customer is most likely to process stimuli based on the significance to

his/her personal need which will determine if he/she chooses to purchase a specific brand.

How Moncler uses motivational theories

Lannon (2015, para. 6) defines consumer motivation as the internal state, which drives

individual customers, thus facilitating the identification and purchase goods and services to fulfil

their unconscious and conscious desires. Kumar, Luthra & Datta (2016, para. 3) adds that

meeting these needs is what consequently motivate these customers to make repeat purchases

while building their loyalty. Typically, motivational theories explain the impact of beliefs,

feelings and thoughts to influence customer purchase. That way, brands that fulfil consumer

needs are most likely to be bought. As a brand, Moncler has adopted various elements of

motivational theories to build customer loyalty and promote repeat purchase.

To start with is by promoting positivity. Keller (2018) has shown that over the years,

Moncler has been able to inspire, persuade and ultimately motivate its customers. The company,

for example, engages retail experiences with a reliable customer service that generates positive

emotions besides promoting positivity to encourage sales. This is a hook to encourage customer

loyalty. Secondly, it is by using testers. The firm's current merchandising strategy is appealing to

diverse groups of prospective customers and capitalizing on its heritage as a premier Italian

apparel company. The brand tests its products frequently to create an appeal to the existing

customers and the prospective consumers (Statista.com, 2019, para. 8). This really helps to grow

the brand position and engage the target audience which nurturing the customer relationships and

building the customer loyalty.

How Moncler uses Perception Theories

Moncler (2018, p. 285) illustrates that perception theory generates from a very simple

premise: all senses together with the inputs going into them must be studied and categorized.

More precisely, perception is when an individual is aware of something through his/her senses.

This explanation is further expounded by Reuters (2019, p. 31) which states that, when people

perceive anything they react to it via the faculty of decision making or the instincts.

Moncler has utilized perception theory concepts to its advantage. The company has achieved

this by maximizing the amount of time customers spend on the departmental stores or on their

website. According to a study done by Moncler (2018), the company aims at giving its customers

the most innovative welcoming experience to afford them the right perception no matter what.

This creates a spree of impulse buying, repeat purchase on a whim while discovering and

exploring each step in their shopping.

Pretty succinctly, at Moncler, the brand has established the right consumer perception

(Jacoby & Olson, 2017). They deal with products that intrigue their customer for ski activities

and attracts them. For instance, for their high end customers like athletes and seasoned

consumers, they emphasis on quality, technology, safety, packaging, hygiene and effective ways

to present their products. The company has also been able to segment its customer groups and

has used these groups to show the different categories of consumers. Consequently, the effort to

improve the customer perception of the products has improved and reflected on the growth of

sales (Moncler, 2018). It has made their customer community feel like a family which has been

the perfect recipe for brand loyalty.

How Moncler uses Personality Theories

Globalization and industry competitiveness has made all companies to strive seeking

attention of their customer by creating distinctive brand images for their products. For example,

Moncler is better known as an apparel and lifestyle company. It supplies sportswear, clothing

and jackets to individuals of all ages. This type of perception is built on human characteristics

and is what makes the brand personality. Moncler has created its personality from three major

sources; one, is associating its diverse range of consumers with its brand; and, creating an image

that justifies its class and stature. Moncler (2016) proposes that brand personality must possess a

set of human characteristics to connect to the brand. Moncler has afforded this through its self-

expression and self-symbolization for instance, by going for foreign endorsements in India

among other countries. Even more, its brand personality has included the demographic features

such as social class, age and gender that continue to directly influences the brand users, product

spokespersons, stakeholders besides indirectly affecting the product attributes as well.

At Moncler, the personality (including brand personality) continues to enjoy a certain

consensus which serves as an explanation for affective bonds for repeat purchase and symbolic

consumption established to the brand. It has been able to differentiate itself from the industrial

competition to present itself as a vehicle of expressing a different set of ideals and

expressiveness. As an example, Health (2017, p.65) has quoted several customers associating

Moncler products with a sense of social and personal meaning in terms of stature,

competitiveness and ergonomics. By effectively using concepts of personality theories, the brand

has been able to influence customer preferences and choice as one element to generate value for
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the company and its consumers. In addition, the strong, favourable brand personality has

provided the consumers with an image and emotional fulfilment.

How Moncler uses Lifestyle Theories

Moncler has been able to explore the consumer trends. The firm has been able to gain

insight of how their consumers perceive luxury and consequently attach based on these factors.

For instance, Moncler has a segmentation of its customers in terms of materialistic customers,

social seeker customers, rational customers and non-luxury customers. Biel (2014) argues that

since Moncler is positioned in a very luxurious market, its expansion has made the brand cross-

over into the snow-sports industry where most customers value functionality and quality in the

cold-weather. Precisely, Moncler targets the social-seeker, rational and materialistic consumers

besides having an opportunity to alter the brand perception to non-luxury customers.

Moncler (2019) has noted that rational customers will always remain attracted to the winter

sports merchandise supplied by Moncler because of its fit and quality. These customers will

purchase products they desire, that not only look good but are also functional. Similarly, social-

seeker clients go for the products that will project their social status (Levy, 2019). This particular

segment wants to associate with the Moncler logo and will put on these apparel to maintain the

status in the eyes of others. In addition, the materialistic consumers will purchase luxurious items

to make them feel better about themselves while hanging around other individuals who are

likewise materialistic and brand conscious. For this reason, Moncler remains the best choice for

these segments of consumers as a brand for winter sports merchandise because of the brand

positioning, price point and style. On the contrary non-luxurious consumers are not initially
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attracted to Moncler merchandise, but with time notice the admirable style and quality offered by

the brand. This is compared to other snowboard and ski equipment brands (Moncler, 2018).

Consequently, some customers within this segment will end up purchasing merchandise

following individual motives of their own.

Recommendations & Conclusion

Key concerns as a potential investor are: the company’s vision and mission and how the

current business strategies align to those goals; financial position and earnings projection as well

as the business risks. To start with, Moncler through the various brands must maintain customer

focus and creativity as a design company. As the fast fashion industry transitions by

incorporating digitalization, which has rapidly transformed customer behaviors and expectations,

the company’s strategy should align to this objective. The company’s willingness to take to

digital platforms, i.e. online sales, generally through mobile and change the role of physical

stores in various markets must be able to be reshaped to take advantage of current opportunities.

On the same, is whether the company is willing to optimize the digital store portfolio to create an

easier and convenient online shopping experience. The transformation framework should be

based on this. Secondly, is the current financial position in terms of profit margin, net profit, net

sales besides the anticipated growth. This will be a good indicator of the customer acquisition

cost and churn rate. Lastly, is the business risks such as operational and financial risks that are

likely to impede overall growth of the business. These are indicators or evaluators of growth
CONSUMER BEHAVIOR ANALYSIS REPORT 10

Previously, Moncler only relied on endorsements of figures in the mainstream media and

sponsorship (Cravens, 2014, p. 234). However, the brand has seen a shift by engaging in active

communication with its customers through the ad and marketing campaigns besides the intense

utilization of social media platforms. The firm has noted the necessity and significance of taking

a more hands-on approach to strategically target the potential customers around the globe. This is

partially attributed to the commitment afforded by the senior management to the brand

development, geographic expansion and streamlining the retail channels to maintain a solid

position as a luxurious apparel supplier. This realization has been elaborated through various

theories in this paper. On the same, by pursuing a market share gains customer loyalty. But, as

Aaker (2016) disputes, this may sometimes not be the case because a substantial gain in market

share increases the company’s customer base diversity. Consequently, the firm is obligate to

serve a large heterogeneous customer base with a set of homogeneous products. Several authors

(Reuters, 2019; Moncler, 2019; Keller, 2018; Lannon, 2015) have insisted that such disparity is a

dangerous dynamic for the firm. It undercuts the attention and service of very high potential

customers while diluting to cater to a vast assortment of less promising clientele. Arguably, this

may be the case with Moncler.

While using the different theories (motivation, personality, lifestyle and perception) to build

customer loyalty and facilitate repeat purchase, the firm ought to manage the strange paradox:

the race of winning market share and increasing profit margin, may actually worsen profitability

as opposed to improving it. A company such as Moncler that is interested in constructing a loyal,

solid customer base must therefore use an approach that is different from that which is only

interested in building a market share. As Malhotra (2018, p.53) and Mengxia (2017, p. 162)

propose, in order to build loyalty will require that that the company emphasize on the product
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value and show interest in demonstrating good relationships with the consumers. In that case, the

company ought to realize that part of the business objective is building as a stable customer base

and not just making a that single sale. Given that premise, the author recommends that instead on

laying much focus only on price breaks, increased services, longer hours, the firm should invest

resources to turn first time skiers, customers who are willing but have never been on board

before, to very loyal customers.

Related to the same, the current merchandising strategy at Moncler is appealing to

diverse groups of potential clients besides capitalizing on their heritage as Moncler, the premier

Italian outwear enterprise. But, the brand should become publicly traded and continue its

expansion to new markets. According to Levy (2019), currently, the distribution strategy consists

of departmental stores partnerships, globally branded retail stores, and an easy and appealing

navigable website making the e-commerce setup.

Finally, the Moncler should increase the number of its luxurious departmental stores and boast of

more than 300 stores in United States, Europe and Asia. While doing this, the brand must remain

very selective to where it sells its merchandise, and its presentation in order to maintain its

exclusiveness and the luxurious image.

Reference

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