CONSUMER BEHAVIOUR CASE STUDY:

1. Porsche used to be a very exclusive car and the car was targeting people willing to drive dangerous sports cars, Porsche was really focusing on having good mechanics at the time and working on the performance of the car rather than flashy esthetics. The car was also more expensive than most car on the market.

So one dimension of the customer’s decision process relies on the affective factor: Some people buy Porsche because they use to buy Porsche and they know the will have a “Porsche experience”. This profile corresponds to people who already had a history with the brand and are also the same who complained when Porsche left the niche market for a more affordable market (attachment also to the concept of exclusivity).

Secondly, there is an attitude based choice. The fact that there was exclusivity attracted only people who could afford this kind of car, successful people and so they also have high expectation for the Porsche they buy.

And finally there is the attribute-based choice and this is directly linked to the performance of the car being very challenging to drive and being also very reliable as a good performing sports car.

2. The decision process of a traditional Porsche and of a Cayenne or Panamera is close to identical. It only make sense knowing that the company for a while lost the exclusivity dimension of its cars, so Porsche really tried to make cars as they used to and even better. So the only actual difference would be the attribute-based choice process: with new innovations Porsche indeed took a risk making two new models different from what they used to make. But the fact that the affective factor was still strong by keeping the same driving experience, and also high quality driving, innovation was really appreciated. Plus it added even more attributes making the decision process easier (for example more space for more passengers and more space in the boot compartment).

3. The general consumption of Porsche in the 70s respects a classic rule of economy: supply and demand. When the price is high only a few people can afford it, and when the price is lower more people can afford it (ceteris paribus: with other things the same). The prices going down it was only normal that people from a lower social class wanted to buy this kind of car, probably also because they identified their consumption behavior with the ones of higher classes (also opinion leaders), wanting the same lifestyle but for a cheaper price.

4. Positive and negative attitudes are change with exclusivity which is highly linked with the price, and the higher the price the higher the quality which also a thing that all potential customer is searching for. This is even more true in the luxury business, making over priced products to guaranty the exclusivity. People usually tend to be attracted to this kind of product and try to reach it as soon as they can. Lacoste is a brand that suffered from exclusivity issues like Porsche for example.

Modifying the affordability of Porsche can reduce the number of customer but enhance the customer’s loyalty to the brand, or increase the number of sales but decrease the loyalty and even the satisfaction for a Porsche product.

5. Porsche in this sense is now playing the role of icon for high class and successful people. Owning a Porsche nowadays is truly a symbol of wealth and this aspect is highly valued, mostly in countries such as China where success must be shown in a very “classy” way (fact: Chinese people do not take loans and pay high involvement products such as luxury cars all at once as it is in their culture, earning a Porsche is even more impressive).