EB Games a Look into Consumer Behavioral Patterns
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Introduction
The paper will focus on process through which customers use in buying video
games
Mainly, they are bought from dedicated stores and is usually a complicated
process
Numerous steps are involved in the process of buying these games or console for
a specific consumer
o Pre-purchase process
o Purchase process
o Post-purchase process
Pre-purchase process analysis
In this process, main focus would be on two features which are sold at EB games
Various steps are available for analysis in pre-purchase decision process
o Problem recognition
o Information search
Pre-purchase buying analysis cont.…
o Evaluation of available alternatives. Consumer has to reach out why to buy that
particular product and from where to purchase
o Purchase decision. Consumer has made all decision and is ready to purchase the
selected product from a given store
 This step is very sensitive and marketers need to understand it since it can break
organizational activities completely
 After purchase, important to note is influencing consumer decision
Factors influencing consumer decision making
 Consumer decision to purchase a product need to be influenced after analyzing
what makes consumer purchase certain product
Factors that influence consumer buying decision may be either
o Internal
o External
Factors influencing consumer decision making cont.…
Product brand. This explains various aspects of buying such as product delivery into
the store and practices that are enforced by the store
Generally, EB games do not offer glorious characteristics and do not inform their
customers price they charge on their games
The product and its value should dictate the product price since variety of the same
product influences decision reached out by customers
To some extend, this has created a perception of unfriendly price offered by EB
Factors influencing consumer decision making cont.…
Stigma of buying used vs. new. Psychological factors need to be considered
when buying products from EB
o First, the product serves as a symbol of affiliation to young consumers, mostly
teenagers
Specification of game type due to product variation. When dealing with video
games or console, this pre-purchase decision is very important.
o Product specification draws in the aspect of platform compatibility in video
games and console. Buy similar to a friend in order to share
Factors influencing consumer decision making cont.…
Advertisements on products. Consumers are mainly attracted to what they see
from advertisements when they want to purchase.
o Advertisements may be through television or online
o EB games product are failing in this area since they do not offer adequate
advertisements since they mainly rely on their website and occasional big events
o If a customer has not heard of EB games product, it would not be possible to buy
or even think of the product
Factors influencing consumer decision making cont.…
 Buying in stores vs. online. This product buying alternative presents two fold scenario
and has very great impact on the video games and console market
o The time spend when buying product from either online or in store greatly influences
customer pre-purchase decision.
o Generally, it takes more time cost to purchase and get product online due to shipping cost.
o In store buying grants customer product immediately
o Online buying of games is changing by initiating online shopping and get product
immediately through online delivery but it is not fully developed
Factors influencing consumer decision making cont.…
Reference groups. Usually they play a very big role in developing customer prepurchase decision
o It goes deeper to even consider not only the game type but game store
o It is very ridiculous to get consumers who has bought from a company but despises
other consumers from buying from the same company.
o This is common with EB games and company should focus on it in order to create
positive reference groups
Factors influencing consumer decision making cont.…
Lifestyles. Living conditions of various customers greatly influence buying
process of any product besides consoles
o Usually, customers do not buy products or services that do not conform to their
way of living
o Life style is highly correlated with social class because it is the one that influences
how people interact and what they consume
Factors influencing consumer decision making cont.…
Culture. This a very key determinant of what people believes in, eats, dresses or
interacts with others.
o By controlling people way of life, culture guides what people would consume and
in turn what they buy
o Culture influences buying decision in various ways;
o Some culture values being outside or taking a lot of time in studies and movies are
not part of it
Purchase process analysis
Purchase process describes how consumers gets to make decision on they buy
particular product
It factors one of previous steps as well as buying process itself
 purchase decision mainly focuses on the process involved in deciding on what
product to buy
Product buying mainly involves factors like;
o Price gives product value offered in the market
Purchase process analysis cont.…
 When a consumer goes for EB games, the factor to be given highest priority is the
price of the product
o Place in which the customer can buy the product in need
 Regardless of the inconvenience faced when getting the product, customer has to
find a way of getting the product
 To increase chances of client getting reach of many products, it is highly required
to have an online platform selling EB products
Purchase process analysis cont.…
o New versus owned. This is very important that highlights success of EB business
games.
 This idea aims at buying product from the customer and sell it back to another
customer
 Being a customer of EB products makes it possible to be supplier of their products
as well
 Mainly, they sell used games which can be sold to other new customers at a
discounted price
 The concept of used games brings a notion of inferior products because it cost less
Purchase decision making
 The purchase of any product starts with initiator. In this case, many teens do not
have their own income and the key person is parent
The purchase initiator influences gatekeeper who in case of teens is the parent or
guardian
The next person in the buying process is the influencer
Lastly, user is the final consumer of the product which is bought by the influencer
Purchase decision making cont.…
The entire purchase decision making process can be summarized as in diagram
below
Post purchase process
This process is usually overlooked by many organization in their selling process but
it is very influential when it comes to purchase decision making
In the process of improving post purchase, EB gives customers 7 days guarantee of
returning any product that does not satisfy their needs
Marketing strategies to improve EB image and product positioning
Determine EB current position and taking necessary measures to improve on
product
Determine perception by customers and other organization
Selecting target customers who can help in improving business processes.
Factoring in current trends within the organization
Defining company positioning strategy which is driven by company strategy
Enhancing consumer experience
Creating clear customer experience that can be communicated to the company
Understanding the customers by emphasizing on their needs and problems
Capturing customers feedback which has to be in real time. Real time means data
has to be collected on live scenarios like calls and messages
Using quality framework to develop team work
Conclusion and recommendation
EB company is very complex and it is not possible to define how it operates
From business analysis perspective, it is possible to better environment for
customers
These are possible ways through which customer environment can be made
attractive
o Creating customer valuation
o Updating and changing advertising practices
o Improving on hiring and work practices within the organization
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behavior and fashion marketing.
Jansson-Boyd, C. V. (2010). Consumer psychology. Maidenhead: Open University
Press
Goldsmith, E. B. (2016). Consumer economics: Issues and behaviors.