Consumer behaviour...

M&S Food Brand...

It’s not just food...It’s M&S

food...

Nadia Moeil

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Contents Page

1) Front Page
2) Contents Page
3) Introduction
4) The Brand “M&S”
5) Consumer Decision Process
6) “ Continued
7) Need Recognition
8) “ Continued
9) Search
10) Sensory Systems
11) “ Continued
12) “Continued
13) Learning
14) “ Continued
15) Memory
16) Motivation
17)

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Introduction…

“An appropriate marketing stimulus is formulated based on

consumer personality and needs to prompt sales. Consumer adjusts
behaviour to the market place based on internal needs and
interpersonal factors”,

http://www.allbusiness.com/glossaries/consumer-
behaviour/4960226-1.html

The purpose of this essay is to analyse the ways in which a brand

uses elements such as television commercials to enable them to
have an impact on their consumers purchasing behaviour.
Concentrating on consumer behaviour theories and applying them
to the Marks and Spencer’s food brand. When referring to M&S
throughout this essay, it is always just relating to their food brand,
even though the brand is sometimes referred to just as M&S.

“It’s not just food it’s….M&S food”.

In the highly competitive market that M&S the brand is in;

making it more difficult for the brand to maintain a continual loyal
consumer base whilst also influencing purchase patterns.

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The brand…

“It’s not just food…it’s M&S food”

Marks and Spencer’s have spent the last five years putting in
place and building a strong brand; through introducing new
products and services, broadening their multi-channel offers, and
expanding international presence.

“M&S Food”

Marks and Spencer’s are continually trying to expand and

strengthen their brand through strategies of;

• Increasing the pace of change and operational executive in

the business; this process allows Marks and Spencer to
reach their consumers wants and needs more effectively, and
responding to their consumers in a shorter time frame in
order to keep the brand interesting and fresh, and up-to-date
within it’s market.
• Leveraging M&S by building more channels to the market;
due to the brand wanting to be one of the top competitors,
offering their consumers better products and services
compared to some of their main competitors e.g. Waitrose.
• Building their international portfolio to grow their global
consumer base; with positive implications of opening up
opportunities for the brand to become internationally
recognised, enabling them to compete with other brands that
offer similar products/services.
• Reinvigorating their brand communications; through
continually keeping the brands image new and exciting
through aspects such as advertising commercials including
celebrities, this allowing M&S to appeal to a wider consumer
base.

“Better understanding of consumer’s helps business making

decisions”. Grunert.

M&S Plan found on their website.

http://corporate.marksandspencers.com/aboutus/our_plan(3)

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Consumer decision process model…

Using the five-stage model; to analyse the consumer decision

process; for a consumer who wants restaurant standard food
products.

Consumer X is having difficulty in finding food

Problem products that are of restaurant standard.

Consumer X views one of the M&S food

commercials on the television representing a
selection of their food items. Consumer X
also hears excellent reviews from friends
Information
and family whom have also purchased food
Search
products from M&S.

Consumer X purchases similar food products

Evaluation of from a range of food retailer brands e.g.
alternatives Waitrose, Tesco, M&S.

Consumer X tests out all the products that

they purchases, and have come to a
conclusion that the M&S food products met
Product Choice
their criteria of restaurant standard.

Consumer X now purchases all their food

Outcomes products from M&S due to the continuous
satisfaction they receive due to the good
quality of the food. Consumer X also pays
particular attention to any M&S commercials in
order to look out for any new ranges etc.

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 The decision making process as seen above; can be influenced by
many different elements e.g. brand loyalty, impulse buying, the
consumer particular budget. This has implications of the consumer
taking into consideration each stage very carefully.

Within the food industry; M&S have many competitors, therefore

need to strengthen their brand as much as possible in order to
become their consumer’s first choice compared to the many other
alternatives that they face with.

In order for M&S to become the chosen outcome of the consumer

decision process; they create a positive brand equity through their
product campaigns; such as their television cnmmercials all having
a series of executional equities that help the recognition and impact
the consumers that they are targeting at. They also create a Ad
Specific, with elements such as;

• Mouth watering photography

• Sensual women’s voice-over stating ‘this is not just food...it’s
M&S food.
• The adverts all containing the same background music, same
sultry voice-over, same style of filming, same end line in each
advert.

By doing this, M&S are creating a sensory store within their

consumers, with the long term affect being; multiple and continuous
sales, as well as strengthing their brand. They are also able to
communicate their good quality, innovation and convenience.

“It’s was a turnaround campaign which came at a time when

M&S had lost touch with it’s core customers. It gave them
reasons to come back”. Sue Lindermen, a chief strategy
officer of the media investment group Mediacom.

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www.fedspending.org/fpds.php?

The M&S commercial is also consistent with the Gesalt principle;

due to encouraging consumers to purchase because of attributes
that are offered to them e.g. good quality, mouth watering food
items, the appeal of the photography within the adverts; all that are
enhanced within the adverts.

Need recognition…

Due to M&S enthusing through advertising campaigns, that their

products/services are of excellent quality, this triggers problem
recognition within consumers by making them aware of their
desired/actual state, and in this case M&S want the desired state to
be their products/services compared to their competitors. The
implications of a consumers ideal state moving upward, creates
opportunity recognition, allowing M&S to become the provider for
solving the problem of the consumer desiring better quality food
products.

Need recognition in the case of M&S, the consumers actual state

can decrease if they run out of a product, M&S would target those
consumers and encourage them through advertisement to purchase
those products that they may have ran out of from one of their
stores. However, if the consumer normally uses M&S’s competitors
then the brand would struggle to grasp those sales.

With the main focus of M&S being on the quality of their food;
they would direct their attention on the consumer’s actual state, by
satisfying their needs for example food quality that they may have
desired for.

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Fig.1 Problem recognition: Shifts in actual or ideal states

Ideal State Ideal Ideal

Actual State Actual Actual

No Problem Opportunity Need

Recognition Recognition

(Soloman 2010)

Another role that plays an important part within this process is the
brand loyalty and recognition, M&S have created a strong brand for
their food products, and build a strong consumer base whom all
desire good quality food, all helping to eliminate the steps from the
decision making process by influencing the consumers decision and
encouraging them to skip the analyse of the alternatives and
search, when the consumer becomes familiar with the M&S brand,
perceiving the product as a qualitative object.

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Search…

Food is a important daily purchase for many consumers; the

marketers of M&S want to limit the consumers search to their
specific brand. The M&S food commercial is an excellent example
of the advertisers emphasizing on the good quality, innovation and
convenience, creating a strong brand name, in order for consumers
to recognise that the food they buy from M&S “it’s not just food…
it’s M&S food”.
However due to the current climate, consumers are still wanting
quality, but due to less disposable income; many consumers are
having to decrease their budget for food purchases; this having a
negative affect on M&S as they would need to compete with other
brands that offer cheaper products.

There are two types of search; internal and external.

“Internal search involves scanning and retrieving decision-relevant

knowledge stored in memory. External search consists of collecting
information from the market place”. Blackwell 2006

The food commercial for M&S is used to increase and encourage

awareness of the brand with implications of higher brand
recognition, the search is limited in the case of strong brand
recognition, however for M&S this is a much tougher process
compared to consumer recognition of a good quality car such as a
BMW; as that particular brand targets a more exclusive market.

The internal search is the result of the consumers increased

knowledge of the brand and product. The psychological factors that
influence the consumer’s knowledge are through the advertising of
the brand.

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Psychological core…
Perception…

“Perception is defined as the process by which an individual selects,

organises, and interprets stimuli into a meaningful and coherent
picture of the world” Schiffman 2004

M&S are aware that consumer’s attention can shift very quickly
causing information to not be passively processed; only a small
number of stimuli in the consumer’s environment are ever noticed.

Referring to the M&S commercial that is advertised, M&S

marketers use excellent photographic images of their food, crisp
colours, enough light to enhance the image of the food; all this
refers to the sensation part of the process.
The advert also wants to create positive interpretations and attract
attention from their consumers on their brand due to the adverts
focusing on excellent quality; this key point is what M&S want their
consumers to remember when they want or need to go purchase
their weekly food shopping for example.

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Sensory Systems…

“These responses are an important part of hedonic consumption, or

the multi-sensory, fantasy and emotional aspects of consumer’s
interactions with products”, Soloman 2006

The table in fig.2 below represents the practical application of

sensory inputs in the M&S advertising.
For marketers to increase and decrease attention; they use
techniques such as;

• Appeal to the consumer’s hedonic needs by creating higher

levels of attention.

Fig.2 Sensory systems

Sensory stimuli Application

Vision (colour)
“Each component of colour (hue,
saturation, lightness) affects the
emotions as measured by
Mehrabian and Russell’s PAD –
pleasure, arousal and dominance
– (1974) (Valdez 1993), or
affects the emotions experienced
when looking at the ad (Williams
1991; Gom et al. 1997)” (Lichtle
2007)
M&S enhance the visual aspect
of their food products through
excellent photography in order to
make their products more
appealing.
The power of colours, are an
important aspect in evoking
positive and negative feelings
towards a advert; therefore by
using good food photography;
M&S are able to create a
positive experience when
consumers watch their advert.
Due to all the competition
within the market that the brand

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 M&S are in, colour can be a
crucial drive to sales and to the
strengthing of their brand.

Sound Due to the sexual orientation

that their advertising campaigns
portray, the background music of
their television commercials
creates that desired mood of the
“food pornography”.
M&S are using the same
background music in all their
television adverts, in order to
allow strong recognition from
consumer’s however if M&S
were to change the background
music, this may have a negative
affect on the brand, as
consumer’s would be listening
out for the original music, and
lose realisation of the
relationship between the brand
and the advert.

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Learning…

Fig. 3 learning types adapted by Foxwall 1997

Learning

Cognitive Behavioural

Verbal Information Vicarious

Processing Classical Instrumental
Conditioning

Cognitive

Many marketers believe that consumers observing the behaviour

of others when purchasing products such as M&S food; therefore
learning that those consumers are meeting their desires hence encouraging others to
follow.

The M&S food adverts try to show the good quality of their foods
from the photography and voice-over describing each food product
within the advert in a seductive voice, all creating a positive
reinforcement for buying the product/products.

However, as the world is still under-going the effects of the recent

recession, this could cause a negative affect on the brand due to
consumers actively using information from the world around them
to master their environment, and due to the recession, many
consumers environments have become disrupted due to lack of

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disposable income causing consumers to purchase brands that are
less expensive and that focus on price cuts.

Behavioural

Theorist believe; that learning happens as a reaction from

responses to external events.

Fig 4. ‘The Black Box’

The consumer as a black box, a behaviourist perspective on

learning.

Stimulus Consumer Response

M&S want those consumers whom have had positive

experiences from purchasing from their food brand to give feedback
to other consumers due to the consumers experiences being shaped
by feedback they receive through life e.g. a consumers mother
always using Marks and Spencer’s meat products as they cook
well,
therefore handing down those experiences to the consumers i.e. the
daughter whom carries on this tradition.

M&S consumers respond to their brand name, their commercials

and advertising campaigns; which are all marketing stimuli due to
the learnt connections they have formed over a period of time.

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Memory…

According to the information-processing procedure; the memory is

staged into three categories.

Stimuli

Touch
Eye-sight Hearing
Sensory Organs

Perception

Sensory memory
(Millisecond -1 second)

Attention

Short-term memory
Working memory Forgetting
(< 1 minute)

Long-term memory
(Day’s, months, years)

http://thebrain.mcgill.ca

In the case of M&S advertising, at the sensory memory stage ,

the consumer is exposed to the commercial. In order to pass
information through the attention aspect, M&S use the sultry voice-
over and sexual appeal of the good quality food, this catching the
attention of the consumer, however the message needs to then be
stored from short-term into long-term memory. M&S make this
transaction by repeating their slogan in each advert “It’s not just

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food…it’s M&S food”, and the same voice-over and photography in
order to keep their brand name fresh in their consumers memories.

The efficiency of their advertising tools is measured through recall

and recognition; both these factors influence the retrieval
procedure, and this being one of M&S goals.

Motivation…

Motivation is a psychological state that refers to the methods that

cause people to behave as they do. Motivation occurs when a need
is generated, and that the consumer wants to satisfy.

Motivational Theory (Mitchell)

Four common characteristics which emphasize the definition of

motivation;

• Motivation is typified as an individual phenomenon

• Motivation is described, usually, as international
• Motivation is multifaceted; 2 of the most important factors
being; (i) what gets people activated (arousal) and (ii) the
impact of a consumer to connect in desired behaviour
(direction or choice of behaviour).
• The purpose of motivational theories is to predict behaviour.

(Paul Weeks 2007)

Soloman (1996) and Kotler (1997) believe that aspects around

consumers caused them to behave how they do mainly due to
needs; some biological (utilitarian) and psychological (hedonic).

M&S food brand are highly associated to being of good quality

and the different seasons influence their marketing strategies, and
this can be seen in their television commercials e.g. close up
photography of the mouth-watering food, voice-over describing the
delicious food, food often being a consumer’s passion, bodily
craving or pleasure; which are all central to the experience of
desiring as well as re-creating the physical aspects of motivation
without sinking into biogenic needs. Implications of their marketing
strategies allows consumers to be motivated to purchase M&S food
products if they desire or need food of a good quality.

Theorists such as Kotler (1997) and Solomon (1996) believe that

consumer’s are judged on possession of a product e.g. M&S food

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 allows their consumers to feel superior in the sense that M&S offer
restaurant standard food products compared to a consumer getting
average standard food products, implications also being that a
consumer is hedonically motivated to buy M&S Food for their
feeling of superiority and knowing they are going to be satisfied due
to the food being of restaurant standard.

Maslow’s hierarchy of needs…

Self-actualisation; Self-
fulfilment, enriching
experiences

Ego needs; Prestige,

status, accomplishment

Belongingness; Love,
friendship, acceptance by
Safety; Security, others
shelter, protection

Physiological;
Water, sleep, food

(Levels of needs; Solomon 2010)

M&S food advertising mostly influences the physiological needs
e.g. food, self actualisation (self actualised consumers have
frequent occurrences of peak experiences), due to M&S setting out
to give their consumers an enriching experience from eating their
food products, belongingness due to M&S food being very much a
social act, and eating being a necessity of human survival.
The motivational levels of Maslow’s hierarchy stimulate the
consumer to choice a specific product i.e. one of the M&S food
product,

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Attitudes....

“Mental position or emotional feelings about products, services,

companies, ideas, issues, or institution Attitudes are shped by
demogrpahics, social values, and personality, In advertising, the
desire to generate favour perceptions toward the thing being
advertised and to promote positive consumer attitudes”.

(http://www.allbusiness.com/glossaies/attitudes/549486391.html)

An attitude can supply more than one role, however in many cases
one will be more dominate, therefore when the dominate role is
identified e.g. good quality food, the marketers of the M&S Food
brand then can highlight this aspect via their communications and
packaging, as well as their commercials prompting positive thoughts
on what is being marketed resulting in a sharp preference for both
the ad and the product.

M&S Food marketers know that they have to deal with the
consumer’s decision-making process; and understanding that
consumers form attitudes towards objects other then the product
itself, which can then influence their final decision.
The M&S Food commercials all contain the same factors;

• Sultry voice-over
• Same back-ground music
• Clear, crisp photography of the products
• Same slogan “It’s not just food...It’s M&S food”.

The implications of the repetition factors in their commercials are all

part of affecting the consumer’s manner positively, evoking a good
mood from the ad, and creating a brand attitude.

M&S create a positive attitude from their marketing tools e.g.

commercial, through carefully constructed television adverts,
presenting their products to the better of their ability through the
photography, and creating a relaxed luxurious mood from the other
aspects of their commercials e.g. relaxing, sumptuots back ground
music.

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A theorist that backs up the above is Fishbein (Fishbein model
1975);

The model processes three component attributes;

• Salient beliefs; M&S want a positive belief from the

consumers on their food products; before they even go to
evaluate e.g. M&S Food want to come across as a luxurious,
good quality brand; doing this particularly through their
commercials.
• Object-attribute linkages; M&S Food brand want their
consumers to be aware that their products, offer an important
attribute, compared to their competitors; implications being;
their attributes creating a positive brand image as well as
encouraging a stronger consumer base.
• Evaluation; the consumers of the M&S Food brand are
encouraged to evaluated each of the brands attributes
positively with positive implications such as; repeat
purchasing, stronger consumer base, stronger brand imagd.

Another way, in which the brand could influence their

consumers more positively, is by; introducing celebrities into
their commercials, due to a large percentage of consumers being
inclined to the celebrity world and lifestyle. The implicit message
of doing so is that celebrities would endorse the product, use the
product, and many even depend on the product for success e.g.
celebrity B for example would buy M&S Food products at a
dinner party with other celebrity guest, and the food then
becoming the spectacle of the party, creating a positive brand
image.

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Environmental Influences...

1) Culture and Social –

(Culture is defined simply as the earned distinctive way of life of a

society. The dimensions of culture include the social organisation of
society, religion, customs, and rituals, values and attitudes towards
domestic and international life, education provision and literacy
levels, political system, aesthetic systems and language”. Kotler
2005)

The cultural implications for marketing the brand are important, as

a correct submission of them for the product can influence the
success of the brand. Due to M&S Food being a globally positioned
brand, different consumer’s cultures have to be taken into
consideration in order for M&S to adapt their food ranges for those
particular consumers.

The model of cultural process

Cultural meaning and physical environment

Fashion Marketing

Cultural meaning in product

Rituals

Cultural meaning in consumption

Social Interactions Intentional Actions

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 (Tim Froggett)

“Marks and Spencer’s is to break with 85 years tradition by stocking

brands other then those with an M&S label”.

(http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1999634/Marks-and-
Spencer-to-stock-other-brands.html)

M&S are making improvements to adapt to the needs and wants

of their consumers by now introducing brands other than their own,
however this may decrease the appeal of their branded products,
but to combat this; majority of the products within the food stores
are M&S branded products.
M&S are influenced by the social environment, and due to the
social environment being very diverse, the consumer’s tastes also
become diverse. Consumers moving to other countries may develop
a different culture, affecting aspects such as consumer’s lifestyles
e.g. eating. To combat the diverse environment, that the brand is
in, M&S Food Brand adjusts their product range e.g. introducing
different foods from different cultures such as Chinese etc; inorder
to satisfy their consumer’s different needs and wants with
implications of receiving loyal consumers whom appreciate the
changes that M&S have made.

Sub-Cultural and Groups –

“Packets or segments of culture which (while reflecting the

dominant aspects of the main culture). Show different customs,
norms, and values, due to differences in geographical areas or
(within an organisation) departmental goals and job requirements”.

(http://www.businessdirectory.com/definition/subculture.html)

Society shapes consumer’s beliefs, values, and norms. Consumers

without realising, absorb a view that defines their relationship with
certain brands e.g. M&S Food Brand.
Consumer’s living in a particular society hold many core beliefs
and values; and this has a knock on affect on brands such as M&S;
therefore their advertising tools e.g. television commercials, are
there way of targeting those consumer’s whom have built up those
beliefs and favouring to either the brands competitors or the brand
itself, encouraging continuous sales and to strengthen those beliefs
in the hope of creating implications of long-term committed and
loyal consumers.

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 When concerning social groups; M&S need to make social
structure and ideology one of their focal-points when regarding the
use of their marketing tools with positive implications of consumers
being able to relate to the brand and fit it into their social group
and status, and due to M&S Food targeting consumers whom have
the disposable income which enables them to purchase the good
quality that M&S offers, giving the impression of luxury compared
to Tesco value products which could give the notion of cheapness.
However; many consumers have gained strong beliefs from friends
and family making it tougher for the brand to acquire the attention
of those particular consumer’s, having to focus more their
advertising tools having a strong positive affect to enable them to
gain that attention e.g. adding other elements to their commercials
(celebrities).

Lifestyles –

“The lifestyle concept is one of the most widely used in modern

marketing activities. It provides a way to understand consumers
everyday needs and wants, and a mechanism to allow a product or
service to be positioned in terms of how it will allow a person to
pursue a desired lifestyle”.

(Solomon 2006)

The M&S Food Brand; wanting to be recognised for their good

quality, innovation and convenience; therefore their consumer’s
lifestyle presents a important part of how M&S market their brand.
Lifestyles determine what hobbies consumers like to take part in,
how they spend their disposable income. The different decisions
that consumers are exposed to gives M&S opportunities for market
segmentation strategies, with implications of allowing M&S to
recognise the types of products, and specific brands that their
consumers choice, and hence wanting their brand to appeal to those
consumers with the particular designated lifestyle segment that
acquires and wants good quality which M&S continually try to
express throughout their advertising tools.

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Attention...

“Attention is the degree in which consumers focus on stimuli within

their rang of exposure”.

(Solomon 2006)

Due to consumers being exposed to numerous amounts of

advertising stimuli, marketers have to become more inventive,
therefore M&S have created their “It’s not just food...It’s M&S
Food”, introducing their consumer’s to the excitement and
luxuriousness of their brand through the sultry voice-over
describing the delicious elements of the food introduced in each
commercial, and the clear, colourful photography of the food.
M&S also strengthen their brand and grab the attention of their
consumers through other means of advertising e.g. bill boards,
internet advertising, and independent reviews
(http://www.qype.co.uk/place/137161-marks-and-spencers-
Didsbury).

Elements that are used in the M&S Brand to entice the attention
of their consumers are;

Music – M&S Food Brand commercials use the same music in each
commercial due to wanting their consumers to recognise the brand
straight away from just hearing the back ground music. The music
gives a relaxing, sensual feeling, and portrays the brand to being
luxurious. Other wanted implications would be to affect the
consumer’s long-term memory positively, so that the brand is the
only one that is set in their memory which then produces
continuous sales and creates a loyal relationship between the brand
and the consumer.

Colour – Throughout the M&S commercials; rich, deep colours are

used to create a lavish atmosphere, the food products presented in
each commercial are shown in a way that portrays the good quality
that M&S claim their food products are of. The implications of the
immensity of the colour element, allows M&S to make a connection
with their consumers due to the commercials backing up the claims
of good quality, innovation and convenience.

Grabbing the attention of the brands consumers, is a key element

in making sure the brand strengthens, and becoming the top
competitor within their market. Once they have acquired the
attention of their consumers M&S can then consider changing
elements of their advertising tools to make the brand; fresh and

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exciting, however too much change can defer the attenthon of their
consumers, and could even lead to the loss of loyal consumers
whom are not keen on the changes, if any are made.

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