Wawa, Inc is an American chain ofconvenience stores and gas stations located along the East Coast ofthe United States, operating in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Delaware,Maryland, Virginia, Washington, D.C., and Florida. The company’scorporate headquarters is located in the Wawa area of ChesterHeights, Pennsylvania, in Greater Philadelphia. As of 2008, Wawawas the largest convenience store chain in Greater Philadelphia,and it is also the third-largest retailer of food in GreaterPhiladelphia, after Acme Markets and ShopRite (Wikipedia).

 

Unlike most gas station brands, Wawa started out being a foodmarket and incorporated the line of gasoline pumps in 1996.Ventured into the Florida market in 2012, Wawa represents a uniquecombination of various elements, such as digital ordering, fastservice, decent-quality food, and a clean atmosphere, to create agas station concept that is somewhat new and innovative. Inthe past a couple of years when the pandemic-resulted lockdown wasin place, Gainesville has seen closures of both gas stations andfood markets (restaurants). At the same time, Wawa’s openings wereseen in several locations. Consumer awareness and brand loyaltysoon started to grow. Seen as an innovative business model, Wawafocuses on satisfying consumer needs and wants. Efforts such askiosk-assisted digital ordering, loyalty programs featured withdiscounts and promotions, and neat product placements designated toenhance consumer satisfaction have successfully promoted Wawa’sbrand value within a newish market segment (i.e., Gainesville),which originally had limited brand recognition.

1. Analyze how Wawa’s business model, which combines conveniencestores (with good-quality foods) and gas stations, satisfiesconsumer needs and wants through four core influences that affectconsumer buying decisions. (24 pts)

Instructions: Identifyeight different perspectives under the four coreinfluences and each perspective has 3 pts.

1. If you were the CMO (Chief Marketing Officer) of Wawa, whatmarketing research questions (3 pts) are worth probing into (basedon real problems) and what marketing research methods could be usedto address these questions? (3 pts)