Consumer behavior a strategic approach Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3500 words

Consumer behavior a strategic approach - Essay Example Opportunities The increased environmental awareness of the individuals has augmented the demand for eco friendly and organic products. Moreover, the new range of skin care products available for men has helped to boost the overall revenue of the company. This has also helped to increase the sales of the company (Spangler, 2008). Threats Though the company aims to sell eco-friendly cosmetics, the suppliers of the raw materials do not seem to adhere to the standards of eco friendliness. The biggest drawback of the company that can be a threat to its market position in future is the lack of an advertising and marketing department in the company (Muller, 2005). Companies like MAC, Make up Forever etc are now following the footsteps of The Body Shop by improving on the scale of their scope of social responsibility in business. The PESTLE analysis is given in the Appendix. The present market for the cosmetics industry is highly competitive in nature. At this juncture, the lack of proper ad vertising and marketing of the products of the Body Shop can substantially detrimental to its brand value and strength of the customers. The business of Body Shop is well known in the market for its ethical standpoint. The company strictly opposes to the testing new products on animals. But L’Oreal is blamed for this practice in the market. In 2008, the Animal Rights group have sternly warned the company to abolish such practices. As the ownership of Body Shop has been undertaken by L’Oreal since 2006 with an amount of $1.14 billion, the ethical standpoint of the company is now doubted by its stakeholders (Pitman, 2006). The fall in the disposable income of the individuals due to the soaring price levels have considerably... The key stakeholders and the target publics of the Body Shop are likely to be affected by the three main issues faced by the company. †¢Ã‚  Mergers of the company: the merger of the company would affect the existing shareholders and the employees of the organization. The shareholders would be suspicious about the performance of the company in the new merged position in the market. Rather the working culture of the organization would also change with the merger, this would affect the employees. The consumers would also doubt the ethical virtues of the company after the merger as LO real is known to not follow ethical issues in business. †¢Ã‚  The recession in the world economy: the crisis of finance in the global economies can force the company cut down some jobs, this would affect the employees. Rather the fall in the disposable income levels would hamper the purchasing power capabilities of the consumers. The suppliers would also be reluctant to provide raw materials at lo wer prices. †¢Ã‚  The ethical virtues of other cosmetics companies: this would directly affect the decisions of the consumers in the market. They might reduce the demand for the products of The Body Shop. Considering the initial business analysis, it can be stated that any change made in the business operations of The Body Shop would surely affect its stakeholders. Figure 1 and 2 in the Appendix, shows the stakeholders map for the Body. The most important stakeholders of the company are the customers and the shareholders.