Page 276 - Introduction to Electronic Commerce and Social Commerce

262 9 Marketing and Advertising in E-Commerce

Products Division of Del Monte Foods decided to leverage The Results
Insight Networks, an offering from MarketTools, Inc.
(metrixlab.com), a provider of on-demand market research. Product cycle time was reduced by more than 50% to only 6
Through previous research, Del Monte Pet Products months, and Del Monte was able to develop a better market-
Division identified one segment of the dog owner community ing communication strategy. Furthermore, the analysis
as their target, and they wanted to understand that segment helped the company better understand customers and their
more in depth. In order to connect with millions of dog own- purchasing activities, as well as predicting market trends and
ers, Insight Networks provided Del Monte Pet Products identifying and anticipating opportunities.
Division with a direct, interactive connection to their consum- Sources: Based on Greengard (2008), Big Heart Pet
ers. Using their propriety software, Insight Networks monitors Brands (2012), Wikinvest (2016), and MarketTools, Inc.
millions of relevant blogs in the blogosphere as well as forums (2008).
in social networks, in order to identify key ideas in which con-
sumers are interested. These ideas are then analyzed in order
to predict consumer behavior trends. Such analysis is usually
done by using computerized tools such as monitoring con- LESSONS LEARNED FROM THE CASE
sumer interactions, analyzing consumer sentiments, and using
social analytics (e.g., see Killekar et al. 2013). The opening case illustrates that market research can
By utilizing social media, Del Monte can conduct better be useful in a competitive market by providing insights
market research. The conventional approach was using ques- for better product development and marketing strategy.
tionnaires or focus groups that were expensive and difficult In this case, the company collected data online from its
to fill with qualified participants. Using social media, Del socially oriented customers. MarketTools, Inc. moni-
Monte can gather much of the same data faster and at a lower tored over 50 million conversations on blogs, message
cost. All that is required now is to monitor customer conver- boards, and online media sites to find the “voice of the
sations, collect the data, and analyze the vast amount of customers.” The collected data were then analyzed.
information. The software also facilitates subgroup creation, The results of the analysis helped Del Monte improve
idea generation, and panel creation. The results of the analy- its dog food and devise new marketing strategies.
sis help Del Monte understand its customers and conse- Online market research, as seen in the case, is related
quently plan its marketing activities, communication to consumer behavior, purchasing decision making,
strategies, and customer service applications. The results behavioral marketing, and advertising strategies. All
also help evaluate the success of marketing campaigns, how these topics are addressed in this chapter.
well the business processes accomplished the goals, and bet-
ter justify proposed new activities.

The Experiment 9.1 LEARNING ABOUT ONLINE
CONSUMER BEHAVIOR
The first implementation of the above application was used to
help improve the company’s dog treat, Snausages Breakfast Companies are operating in an increasingly competitive
Bites. For guidance, Del Monte relied on its dog lovers’ social environment. Therefore, sellers try to understand customers’
community. By monitoring customer blogs and by posting needs and influence them to buy their products and services.
questions to customers to stimulate discussions, Del Monte Customer acquisition and retention are key success factors,
used text analysis methods to investigate the relationship both offline and online. This is particularly important for
between dogs and their owners. Del Monte concluded from online businesses, as most interactions with their customers
the analysis that people who own small dogs would be the are online. For a summary of factors affecting consumer
major purchasers of Snausages Breakfast Bites. The company behavior, see iresearchservices.com/5-common-factors-
also found differences of opinions based on the age of own- influencing-consumer-behavior.
ers. Next, a small sample of the improved dog food was pro-
duced and tested in the physical market. As a result of both
social media and traditional research, the product design deci- A Model of Online Consumer Behavior
sions were revised. In addition, marketing promotions were
modified. The product sells better because dogs love it. For decades, market researchers have tried to understand
Finally, the new approach solidified the community of dog consumer shopping behavior and develop various models to
lovers who are happy that their opinions are considered. summarize their findings. A consumer behavior model is