Changing Trends In Consumer Behaviour In The Food And Beverage Industry

Food and beverage market in the United Kingdom

Describe about the Essay for Marketing Consumer Behaviour for Food Statistics.

Trends of food and beverage industry are changing day by day. People are becoming more conscious about their health than they are before. The health of people is degrading due to many factors such as pollution, poisonous ingredients in food, intake of more junk foods, etc. Obsession with health is growing among the mind of people. It is the main reason of changed consumer trends in the industry. According to many types of research, the rise of functional foods and organic foods are in trend in the food and beverage industry. The report will identify the changing patterns of consumer behaviour in this industry with the implementation of various theories and models. Consumer behaviour is the vital aspect which the companies must focus in order to sustain in the competitive business world. The food and drink industry of United Kingdom depend on many factors such as supplier relationships, a price war among the supermarkets, buying behaviour of customers, etc. The behaviour of consumers changed gradually not only ion United Kingdom but also in other parts of the world. The report will describe the development of marketing mix by the companies of United Kingdom based on the consumer behaviour of the market. However, the marketing mix will be aligned to the latest trends of food and beverages in the market. Market share of the companies is also mentioned in the study which will help in understanding the trends of the market. The factors of changing consumer buying behaviour and purchasing decision are explained in a detailed manner.

Food and drink industry is a booming market. It is the largest manufacturing industry in the United Kingdom. The turnover of the industry is 95.4 billion pounds. In the industry, there are almost more than 7000 companies which employ about 400,000 workers in the entire nation. The research and development department of various companies of this sector invests much to introduce around 17,000 new food products every year (Gov.uk 2014). New product development is practised by most of the companies associated with the industry. The food and beverage market are occupied with supermarket retail giants such as Sainsbury’s, Asda, Morrisons, and Tesco. These four supermarkets are known as “Big Four”. The convenience market is increasing day by day due to busy lifestyles of consumers. Time is an important factor for changing the trends of consumer behaviour (Anon 2016). It is the result of the formation of convenient stores where foods, drinks and daily use goods are available. It is one of the major drivers of growth in the coming years. The value of the convenience market in the United Kingdom by 2018 is forecasted to rise by 46.2 billion pounds (Barclays 2016). The emergence of healthy foods is the result of the consciousness of customers regarding their health. Food and drink manufacturing companies of the nation are consistently finding solutions to develop healthy and nutritious foods for consumers. The rise of healthy foods is the result of growing concern of diabetes and obesity among people (Solomon, Russell-Bennett and Previte 2013). It is found that people of United Kingdom are prone to obesity when compared to other countries. Manufacturing companies are concerned about this fact and are taking action in many ways. They are reducing the quantity of sugar in various beverages and foods. Salt of foods is lowered along with the increase of fibre content in foods. The concept of ethnic foods, functional foods are in trend in the changing pattern of foods and drink in the industry. Ethical foods are in demand in the U.K market (Schiffman et al. 2013). The ethical food and drink section accounts for 8.5% of total sales of household food in the year of 2013. More than 88% of people in the United Kingdom consume ethnic foods at their house. Apart from that, quality of foods is one of the most vital aspects of the industry. Food manufacturing companies of United Kingdom are known for selling safest and hygienic food in the world. Microbiologists of the country are constantly focusing on the microbiological contamination of foods with other substances (East, Wright and Vanhuele 2013).

Consumer behaviour of the industry

Consumer behaviour is defined as the actions of the customers or consumers in the market while buying a product. Marketers nowadays are focusing on understanding the consumer behaviour on the particular industry in order to cater actual products to them. Satisfaction of customers is very essential for the success of a business as well as the industry as a whole. Consumer behaviour is termed as the decision-making factors of customers while purchasing goods for their personal consumption (Foxall 2014). There are many factors which influence the behaviour of customers while purchasing required goods from markets. The factors include personal, social, psychological, situational, cultural, marketing factors, etc. Consumer behaviour differs for different products (Yoon et al. 2012). Consumer behaviour pattern is related with shopping tendencies along with attitudes, motivation of customers.

Trends of foods in the market are directly proportional to the changing pattern of consumer behaviour in the market. With the increased attention of nutritional and healthy foods by consumers, companies are manufacturing foods and drinks based on the preference of the consumers. Microbiologists of United Kingdom are known for maintaining high quality in the foods (Dolfsma 2013). There are some popular trends of consumers which emerge in the recent years. The trends are low-fat foods, the rise of eco-conscious foods, misinformation of age, consciousness about health and nutrition, the demand for anti-wheat foods, lower consumption of junk foods, etc. Consumers believe on the nutritional information of foods which are encrypted at the packaging of foods. They are interested in foods which contain low fat and low calorie. The rise of eco-conscious foods is a trend of customers while purchasing goods. People are interested in organic foods more than the normal category of foods (Kahle and Chiagouris, 2014). Price is an important factor for people of the country. Companies are providing products at lower prices while maintaining a good quality. Supermarkets of United Kingdom are selling grocery products at cheaper prices. However, the quality of the foods is maintained by them. Junk food companies are declining their sales in the market. The soft drinks are also becoming out of the market. Beverages of low calorie are in the trend in this sector. Perception of nutrition and diet is an important aspect of consumer behaviour in the market of this sector.

There are many models and theoretical frameworks of consumer behaviour that help the company for determining the nature of the customers while taking the decision in the purchasing of products. Consumer behaviour includes many subjects apart from marketing such as is a vast field which includes psychology, behavioural marketing, sociology, etc. The theories of this field are interrelated with these subjects (Kotler et al. 2015). The models that will be described in the study for understanding consumer decision-making process and selection of stores are Black Box Model, Engel Kollat Blackwell model, Maslow’s motivational theory and Sheth & Howard model.

Use of theories and models of consumer behaviour

Black box model in consumer behaviour represents characteristics of consumers, consumer responses, decision-making process and different stimuli. It is a model of behaviourism where different stimuli of customers are distinguished. The difference in stimulus is related to the purchasing decision of buyers. Marketing stimuli contain 4Ps of the marketing mix. Environmental stimuli consist of technological, economic and demographic factors (De Bock 2016). These two stimuli lead to buyer’s response and decision process.

Engel Kollat Blackwell model represents the behaviour of customers in order to make the required decision while buying a particular product. Shoppers usually decide to buy a product based on little information. According to the theory, buyer requires limited information along with the capacity of elaboration. For instance, customers are aware of their needs and they believe that a particular product will satisfy their needs. Price is a constraint that influences the buying behaviour of customers (Papadopoulos and Heslop 2014). Using this model, companies of food and drink industry can identify various aspects of buying behaviour of customers.

Howard & Sheth model claims purchase decision of shoppers. According to his model, there are multiple factors that create a significant impact in the purchasing decision of buyers. The theory forecasts that family and friends influence a lot in providing information and feedback to the customers. Retailers of the industry are formulating their goals as per the mindset of the customers. Companies consider different goals, interests and motives of consumers when they manufacture a particular product (Davis et al. 2013). Different stimuli or inputs are considered in the theory such as symbolic, social and significative.

Maslow’s hierarchy is a model which describes the basic needs and requirements of a person. The theory consists of some steps such as physiological needs, safety needs, self-esteem, love and belongings, self-actualisation and self-transcendence. It is a motivational theory which explains the development of a person and his growth. Innate needs of a person are very well mentioned by Maslow in his human motivation theory. In physiological needs, the basic requirement of food, shelter and clothes. Whenever a person is satisfied by his physiological needs he will automatically crave for security. Security and safety needs include financial security, well-being and health, personal security (Bejou and Palmer 2013). After the basic needs, the requirements of a person increase. It leads to buying things for serving many purposes.

Manufacturing organisations of the United Kingdom on the implication of these models will certainly help them in determining several factors of buying decision. Changing the behaviour of consumers leads to the emergence of new products by the companies.

A marketing mix is a tool which is used by marketers to increase the sales of the company. The marketing mix is associated with 4Ps such as product, price, place and promotion. Extension of the marketing mix is known as 7Ps of service marketing. The additional three Ps of service marketing are people, process and physical evidence. There are several tactics used by companies for increasing the brand awareness among the customers (Lang and Heasman 2015). Companies of United Kingdom are following the latest consumer trends. Competition in the market is one of the most vital reasons for developing advanced marketing mix of the company. Enterprises are doing extensive market research for collecting various data regarding market, recent trends, consumer behaviour, demands, etc. However, food-manufacturing enterprises are facing many challenges for formulating their marketing mix. Supply chain management is an important factor that is faced by the manufacturing companies. Suppliers have their basic regulations when they provide raw materials to a particular company. Big food manufacturing retailers are not able to maintain Long-term relationships with the suppliers. It is seen that the small retailers are facing more issues compared to big discount retailers in maintaining good relationships with the suppliers.

International dimension and competitiveness in the market is another paradigm that affects the development of marketing mix of the food manufacturing companies of United Kingdom. Consumer trends can be divided into two categories. Short-term and long-term trends play a vital role in adopting an improved marketing mix. Economy, the spending power of individuals, emergence of low-calorie foods, etc. are the long-term market trends of the industry. On the other hand, seasonal variations, fast food growth, price wars, etc. are the short-term trends of the market (Martinez 2013). Other factors like logistics, perishability of food items, competition in national and local markets, the sheer bulk of goods, etc, create an impact on the companies for making decisions related to frame marketing mix.

Product differentiation is a factor which can be a point of success of if the food manufacturing enterprises for manufacturing strategies based on the recent tends of consumer behaviour. Companies focus quality and nutrition in order to increase the sales of products. For the development of products, innovation is required. It is the main aspect of sustainability of the companies.  Food and beverage items are manufactured as per the consumer demands in the market. The place is decided by the company itself (Nestle 2013). It varies from one company to another. Big supermarket giants spread their reach across the nation by their supermarkets, convenient stores. On the contrary, small food retailers are not available across every part of the country. However, the items are distributed in a way so that they can reach the hands of customers in the marketplace. Price is the sensitive issue that focuses both the interests of companies and consumers (Food manufacture 2016). Consumers are price sensitive whereas companies want to make more profit in the market. The price of the products is set in a way so that it can cover the interests of customers and enterprises simultaneously. Promotion of the food items is an important aspect by which customers will get to know about the existence of new products. The companies use various promotional activities to attract more customers as well as retaining old customers (Ashurst 2016). Retaining customers is anyway profitable than attracting new customers as they provide more business to the company.

Conclusion and recommendations

The report mentions many concepts regarding marketing mix of food and beverage market in the United Kingdom. Theories of consumer behaviour are explained in a way so that the companies can benefit the advantages of the above-discussed model. Food and beverage market of United Kingdom attracts many international companies for doing business. There are many factors of growth of foreign companies in this particular sector. Consumer behaviour is a significant arena company are focusing on developing their marketing mix. It leads to increased production of food items. There are various challenges companies face while trading with the suppliers and other distributors. Other challenges are mentioned earlier which creates a problem in developing strategies for marketing. Changing trends of customers are the main reason for declining the sales of the company. Nature of buying behaviour along with the spending nature is important information which companies must gather for formulating improved sales and marketing strategy. The following paragraph contains a recommendation to the companies of the food and drinks sector in the United Kingdom.

Local retailers must focus on maintaining a sound relation with its distributors, suppliers, for the growth of sales in the market. The increase of convenient stores in the market is a reason for lower sales of the small retailers. By maintaining a good relation with the customers, retention of existing customers can be done. The products which are locally manufactured by many consumers sometimes are not available in the large discount stores. Local small food retailers can keep these products in their stores for attracting customers. Extensive market research is a good solution for collecting information regarding changing patterns of consumer behaviour in the market. Application of the theoretical models is another method of understanding customer behaviour, decision-making process, shopping habits, spending habits, etc. Consumer decision-making process is an important aspect which companies must know in order to set their marketing mix. Promotional activities are formulated based on the demands, satisfaction of customers. Different food items are popular in different areas of the nation. Companies of this industry should distribute different foods and beverages in different parts serving the exact needs of the customers in that area of distribution. Foods products are to be manufactured according to the modern trends of low calorie, low salt foods. Beverages should contain less sugar and lower in calorie. Healthy fruit punches are in recent trends in the industry.

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