The Preferences And Brand Choices Of Female Customers For Cars In Oman

Impact of Culture and Values on Buying Patterns of Women

Analyse the strategic role of marketing using contemporary perspective(s), evaluated against relevant research literature.

Modernisation has changed the perceptions of the modern woman as well. The mindsets of women in the earlier centuries and that in the present times have a huge amount of difference. The modern perceptions of women consumers are bound to be affected by their modern thought processes. The nature and the mindsets of the people as a whole are bound to evolve with age and with time. At the initial times of the development process though women were inherently strong, men were considered to be much stronger in comparison to them. In several parts of the world, women were considered to be weak and they were not allowed to take their own decisions. However with the advancement of time this particular perception towards women changed drastically. They were no longer considered to be weak and submissive. It began to be considered that they could take their decisions for themselves. With this change in perception there started to be a change of behavioural patterns of the women. With time women became economically independent and they took their own decisions.

The journal article which has been provided is related to “the identification of the preferences and the brand choices of the female customers for the cars which relates to the Muscat region”.

The International Journal of Science and Research published the given article which relates to the modern day women and their preferences towards brand choices and the preferences for Cars. It mentions the fact that women are economically empowered as they are independent and are capable of buying things as well as possessions according to their needs and their preferences. It is also natural for the upbringing as well as the education levels of the women to impact the way in which their decisions are taken.

The research in the field of the car and commercial vehicle sales in the Omani Automobile Market is anticipated to witness a slow recovery in the coming years. The Business Monitor International research estimates that the passenger car sales in the Omani Market have been down for a long period of time. The total vehicle sales in Oman fell by a considerable percentage and the commercial car units also fell considerably. It has been stated that there has been a decline in the sales because of the fact that the decline in the prices of oil is bound to reduce the willingness of the consumers to spend on any sort of high value products. Economic slowdown has also contributed to the decline in the sales of the cars.

Impact of Economy on Car Sales in Oman

The article in the Internal Journal of Science and Research related to the brand choices and the preferences of customers aims at studying the impact of the culture and the values at Oman on the buying patterns of the women of that place. The article relates the purchasing choice of the Omani women with respect to their awareness and the urge for education. The change in the perceptions of the women has contributed to the changes in their behaviour as consumers. The study comprises of a descriptive research and the qualitative method is applied. This is done in order to understand the changing patterns in the behaviours of the female consumers.

The article which has been provided for the given study, aims to understand the women consumers and their thought processes which impact the way in which their decisions are to be taken. The main aim of the article provided is to understand the factors which determine the choice of the cars or brands in Oman by women consumers. The basic article is that of a descriptive research and it involves the collection of information for the assessment, review and the analysis of the decision making variables of the women customers in the choice of the cars which they would like to purchase and also the suitable effectiveness of the car manufacturers in the implementation of the marketing programs for the marketing campaigns in Oman.

The article refers to the consumer decision model which has been developed and implemented to help in the evaluation of the factors which impact the decisions of the consumers. For several centuries, the customers have taken major decisions of their lives based on past experiences. The customers usually refer to those brands with which they have had a prior experience. There is an undermined cycle which governs the consumer decision model which comprises of “problem or opportunity recognition”, “search”, “alternative evaluation”, “purchase decision”, “purchase act”, “post purchase decision”, “feedback” in a continuous cycle. These impact the decisions of the customers and ultimately help in the evaluation of their choices.

The article mentions the method of interview which was conducted to question the women in Oman as to what their preferences were. All categories and age groups of women were questioned in order to understand their mindsets. The women were students, working women who were independent and also potential buyers. Interviews were also conducted with senior managers in the automobile companies to understand the trend of buyers in the Omani market who are women. Four segments of women were included in the study which comprised the women who were aged 20 and above and also of Omani Nationality, those who were aged between 30 to 40 years and were also of Omani Nationality, women aged between 40 and 50 years and those who were above 50 years and of other nationality. In the particular study the 20+ group were considered to be arrived and peer dependent, the 30+ group were considered to be materialistic and achievement oriented group, the 40+ category were considered to be fiercely independent and adventurous and lastly, the 50+ age group category which are referred to as the inwardly content group.

Consumer Decision Model and Its Impact on Buying Decisions

The first group as interviewed showed a tendency to buy expensive and high profile cars like BMW among others. The reason behind this choice can be analysed as the group being peer dependent and being just arrived. Their reasons are also bound to be peer oriented as their might be an inherent sense of competition between them. This segment of the youngsters needs cars which are like their status symbols are famous but are also low on maintenance. They often take advice from their parents either from their fathers or brothers but in several cases their ultimate decision to purchase a car lies within them.

The second group is stated to be the group having the most amount of aspiration and the women belonging to this group definitely have much more aspiration in comparison to the first group. The women of this group have been found to put an immense amount of importance on the acquisitions. It has been found that women belonging to this particular age group show the need to have possessions like houses, cars, the best of all branded apparels and other possessions. This particular section of the women buyers have the desire to be treated as serious buyers by the car owners. This particular section of the Omani women has shown a certain sense of yielding to the different forms of social pressure. They have taken their decisions mostly based on the peer pressure and also due to the reason of social conformance. The interest of this section of the women at the time of car purchase related to their car’s characteristics and their probable performance was considerably good.

The next group of people, namely the 40+ category have been found to be fiercely independent and adventurous as well. The segment of women has faced several hardships in life and because of this they have become extremely strong in a feminine sense and have purchased cars relying on the advice from social sources in their choice of cars. In case of this particular age group of women it can be said that buying of cars for them is a pure necessity, as it facilitates in the transportation process. As stated in the interview process they state that owing a car helps in putting forward the belief that women cannot be bounded by any sort of shackles.

The last category of people namely the 50+ group are referred to as the inwardly content group. This is the most patient group and the women members of the group have witnessed the transitions in the Omani traffic and also the requirements of the cars accordingly. Many of them have owned cars at a much later stage in their lives and because of this they have no peer pressure or outside pressure for which they have had to buy cars.

Interviews Conducted to Understand Buying Patterns of Women

In the other two journals which have been studied in this context, there have been mentions regarding the shopping patterns of female customers and their brand loyalty and the patterns of purchase of the shoppers in Oman. The first journal related to the cosmetics buying behaviour of females and a proper study of the particular journal has revealed that there is a similarity in the patterns. Women tend to be more and more brand conscious and they also tend to consider the implications from their peer preferences in their buying choices (Khraim 2011)

The second journal related to the shopping preferences of the consumers has also shown certain similar patterns in the buying preferences. They have also changed with the age groups of the people (Belwal and Belwal 2014).

The economy in the country of Oman is mostly dominated by the industrial sector which is responsible for the contribution of about 55 % in the total GDP of the country. Oman is thought to be one of the most liberal as well as democratic countries in terms of the choices which have impacted the economy of the country. The country is also politically stable. For a long time the customers of Oman who are value conscious have desired the need for a trusted source for the quality and the pre-owned vehicles. The segmentation of the customer choice of cars can be divided into economy cars, sedan cars and finally the premium SUVs.

The overall scenario of Oman with respect to the political condition is considerably peaceful and untoward towards any sort of hazards. This nature of a country is considered to be ideal for business of any organisation.

The economic situation is great for the reserve which the country possesses naturally. The resources with which the country has been blessed is responsible for a high standard of living and also of proper income of the people. The social situation of the country can also be considered to be more or less convenient for people to operate in a suitable way. The social status of Oman is more or less good enough to be considered among the top countries which are peaceful (Riffai, Grant and Edgar 2012).

The technological, specifically the automobile background of the country is quite good in comparison to several countries. The automobile manufacturers are also reliable and they can be relied on by the woman consumers.

Conclusion

All in all the Omani market and the consumers there lead to several conclusions which can be made regarding the situation. The conclusions which can be made are that the women consumers of different ages can take decisions which can impact their lives. The country has the scope of women of all age groups to take whatever decisions which they feel like. They also can make their own inferences about their probable choices.

With regard to the Omani car Companies it can be said that they can manufacture cars which keep in mind the needs of each age group of women consumers. More specifically it can be said that specific cars should be manufactured keeping in mind the needs of each of the four segments of the groups of the customers. In case a particular car brand can provide all car types pertaining to all the cohorts of the female Omani population, that brand is obviously bound to be popular among all groups of female car consumers

References

Al-Shamsi, Q., Rahman, M.S., Abdullah, A. and Claereboudt, M.R., 2013. Consumers’ Preference Mapping and Their Behavior with Regard to Traditional Halwa Using a Structured Survey Questionnaire. Journal of food products marketing, 19(4), pp.311-328.

Belwal, R. and Belwal, S., 2014. Hypermarkets in Oman: a study of consumers’ shopping preferences. International Journal of Retail & Distribution Management, 42(8), pp.717-732.

Khraim, H.S., 2011. The influence of brand loyalty on cosmetics buying behavior of UAE female consumers. International Journal of Marketing Studies, 3(2), p.123.

Manickam, S.A. and Sriram, B., 2013. Modeling the impact of marketing information on consumer buying behavior in a matured marketing environment: an exploratory study of the middle east consumers. Journal of Promotion Management, 19(1), pp.1-16.

Riffai, M.M.M.A., Grant, K. and Edgar, D., 2012. Big TAM in Oman: Exploring the promise of on-line banking, its adoption by customers and the challenges of banking in Oman. International journal of information management, 32(3), pp.239-250.