Case Study: The Jamisons Buy an Espresso Machine

At 4:52 p.m. on Friday, January 29, 2021, Brock and Alisha Jamison bought an espresso machine. There was no doubt about it. Any observer would agree that the purchase took place at precisely that time. Or did it?When questioned after the transaction, neither Brock nor Alisha could remember which of them first suggested the idea of getting an espresso machine. They do recall that in the summer of 2019 they attended a dinner party given by a friend who specialized in French and Chinese cooking. The meal was delicious, and their friend Brad was very proud of the Krups espresso machine he had used to cap off the evening. The item was expensive, however, at about $900.

The following summer, Alisha noticed a comparison study of espresso machines in Gourmet magazine. The performance of four different brands was compared. At about the same time, Brock noticed that Consumer Reports also compared several brands of espresso machines. In both instances, the Krups brand came out on top.

Later that fall, new models of the Krups were introduced, and a model they liked was selling for $700 in department stores. The Jamisons searched occasionally for Krups in discount houses or in wholesale showroom catalogs, even searching the Internet, hoping to find a lower price for the product. They were simply not offered there.For Christmas 2019, the Jamisons traveled from Los Angeles to the family home in Michigan. While there, the Jamisons received a gift of a KitchenAid mixer from Brock's grandmother. Although the mixer was beautiful, Alisha immediately thought how much more elegant and useful an espresso machine would be. One private sentence to that effect brought immediate agreement from Brock. The box was (discreetly) not opened, although many thanks were expressed. The box remained unopened the entire time the Jamisons kept the item.

Back home in Los Angeles in January, Alisha saw that the Krups was sale-priced at $600 at Sur la Table, one of the major gourmet stores in California. Brock and Alisha visited a branch location on a Saturday afternoon and saw the item. The salesperson, however, was not very knowledgeable about its features and not very helpful on explaining its attributes. The Jamisons left, very disappointed.Two days later, Alisha called a different location for Sur la Table in a more urban location and talked to Dora Mayeur, a seemingly knowledgeable salesperson whose co-worker, Stephanie Wales, claimed to own and love exactly the model the Jamisons had in mind. Furthermore, Dora said that they did carry KitchenAid mixers and would make an exchange of the mixer, which had been received as a gift and for which no receipt was available.

On the following Friday morning, Brock put the mixer in his car trunk when he left for work. That afternoon, Alisha and six-month-old Brock, Jr., rode into town with a friend to meet Brock and make the transaction. After meeting downtown, they drove through uncharacteristically heavy rainy-day traffic to Sur la Table to meet Dora, whom they liked as much in person as they did on the telephone. Dora conducted a brief review of the types and models available.There was the Nespresso brand, which used Nescaf coffee capsules, for about $400. There were four varieties of the FrancisFrancis brand, priced between $430 and $720. At the top of the price structure was the multilingual, Swiss-made Jura brand, priced at $2,200. The Krups that they had coveted was also there, selling at $600, but it was much larger than they thought. In fact, the item was the shape (and seemed to be nearly the size) of the Vienna Opera House.There was a somewhat smaller, less expensive Krups twin-tower model, and the Jamisons toyed with the idea of buying it, but Dora suggested that the more expensive version was well worth the money. The Jamisons then confirmed their initial decision to take the $600 Krups model and asked Dora about exchanging the KitchenAid mixer they had brought with them. "No problem," said Dora.

After making a quick phone call, Dora returned with bad news. Sur la Table had not carried that particular model of mixer. This model mixer was a single-color model that is usually carried at department stores and catalog sales houses. The one carried by the specialized culinary stores, such as Sur la Table, was a two-tone item. She even offered to allow the Jamisons to use her phone to verify the availability of the item. The Jamisons did exactly that.

Alisha dialed several of the suggested stores, looking for a retailer that carried both the Krups and the KitchenAid model, but she quickly learned that they were distributed through different types of retail stores. A young man who answered the phone at one store, however, seemed friendly and helpful, and Alisha was able to obtain his agreement to take the item as a return if she could get there that afternoon.

The store was about one-half mile away. Brock volunteered to brave the elements and return the mixer. He took the shopping shuttle to the store with the still-unopened mixer box under his arm. About an hour later, Brock returned cold and wet, with a refund. Together, the Jamisons bought the Krups espresso machine at 4:52 p.m. and proudly took it home.⁵

Questions (30 marks)

1.Consider the major factors that influence consumer behaviour.For each section (cultural, social, personal, psychological), identify and explain one factor that influenced the Jamison's decision. (8)

2.Explain how Alisha and Brock moved through the Consumer Buyer Decision Process when purchasing the espresso machine. (10)

For the next two questions, research the Krups brand on their US website: https://www.krupsusa.com/BREAKFAST-APPLIANCES/SUPER-AUTOMATICS/c/super-automatics?superCategoryCode=coffee-machines

3.Describe Krups' target market for the high-end espresso machines.Describe at least two descriptors for the target market from each segmentation base (demographic, geographic, psychographic, behavioural). (8)

4.Describe the market targeting strategy that is being used by Krups.Explain. (4)