Study of Uber - Marketing Consumer Behavior

Question: Discuss about theMarketing Consumer Behaviorfor Uber. Answer: Introduction Uber can be considered a revolution in the transport industry (DMN 2016). Earlier booking taxi could not be imagined sitting at home and that to in an effective price. The customer can track the ride and will be get an idea about the price beforehand. The report will mainly look into the marketing strategy by Uber and the segmentation, targeting and positioning stagey by Uber. The evaluation of the strategies will help the reader get an idea about the actions that has helped Uber get a strong position in the market Segmentation, Targeting and Positioning For Uber, the employees and the customers both need segmentation. The private car owners can tie up with the Uber to gain business and providing the private cars (Dupre 2016). On the other hand, the customers need to be segmented as well depending on the taste and the preference of the customers. Thus, it is beneficial for the business of Uber to get better business form two types of groups. Uber took the help of lifestyle and psychological segmentation. The customer will be able to get an idea about the fare beforehand so they will be able to decode to take the trip or not. Moreover, the contact details of the driver is an added advantage for the customers as they will feel secured as they track the driver. The target customers for Uber will be the people who are working and are in urgent need of transport (Fitzsimmons 2016). They target the customers by giving various discounts, coupons, offers and cash back in the account. With more number of rides, they ca receive the offers. The working class is main targets. Uber is considered to be more efficient than the normal taxi service and can be booked easily with the help of the app in their smartphones. To position the product by Uber, some factors of the 4Ps are taken into consideration. As the urban people are in more need of the instant transport, hence, the placing of the products is done in the urban areas (Friedman 2016). In addition to this, the pricing of the cabs are relatively lesser than the normal cabs available in the street. However, during the peak times, there is surge pricing that make the cars available on road. The main aim of surge pricing is to help people get the cabs even during hours but by paying some extra amount of money. Marketing Strategy Word of Mouth Uber believes in word of mouth strategy (Iyer 2016). It gives out offer, coupons and discounts mainly to attract the people. In addition to this, they have sponsored a number of events (Knight 2016). They feel that rather than innovating new products that will be technologically sound, it is better to work within the people. Once the people will come to know more about Uber, they will try to experience the services themselves. In this way, Uber may not have to innovate new products but the old products will be regenerated within the public (Patriot League 2016). Referral Uber gives an offer that every individual will get addition discounts, if they refer their friends, relatives and family members to use Uber (Somerville and Levine 2016). They get a code using which they will be able to get free rides. On the other hand, the person who is using the service for the first time, will also get an offer in their first rise if they use the code given by an old customer. Uber may not have any ways to generate new products as it is mainly based on driving services but the system of referring has earned much applause. The customers are mainly attracted by the offers and discounts they get. Success The main success that has been achieved by Uber is it helps the people in gaining business as well as serve the customers. The normal people, who have might not have thought of business till now can give their cars on rent for plying by Uber. On the other hand, the commuters will not have to go out to book the cabs. Effective pricing strategy has also help the company get success in the business Recommendations The company has taken into consideration various ways that will help them to gain success in the market. However, it is being recommended that Uber should put a check on the surge pricing and the availability of cabs. Surge pricing is at times quite high the normal people might not be able to able to get a ride. As the cabs are mainly for the common people, hence, the availability of the cab should be more without the surge pricing. At times, the surge pricing is as high as thrice the normal price. In such situation, it is not possible for people with tight budget to avail the services. It has also been recommended that Uber should start the service where the individuals could avail the ride without the driver. It will be easier for the people, who are coming to place a tourist and want to go around the city all by themselves. The services could be made available by taking the charge on hourly basis. The individual can pay the price with cash or other methods like paying thorough various virtual wallets. In addition to this, similar kinds of services should be implemented but with the driver. People who are new to the city but want to take a ride around, the rental services with driver will help them. Conclusion After going though the strategies of Uber, it can be said that it has been able to condition the minds of the customers well. The coupons and the discounts have been able to attract more customers. On the other hand, the strategy of the company to attract the customers through word of mouth and referrals has proved fruitful. The customers are attracted to the offer and the discount and the coming forwards to avail the services themselves References DMN, 2016.How Uber Won The Rideshare Wars and What Comes Next. [online] DMN. Available at: https://www.dmnews.com/marketing-strategy/how-uber-won-the-rideshare-wars-and-what-comes-next/article/518825/ [Accessed 9 Oct. 2016]. Dupre, E. 2016.The Era of 'Man and Machine' Marketing. [online] DMN. Available at: https://www.dmnews.com/agency/the-era-of-man-and-machine-marketing/article/526429/ [Accessed 9 Oct. 2016]. Fitzsimmons, C. 2016.'Super is being Uber-ised': tech-focused super product called Spaceship to target millennials. [online] The Sydney Morning Herald. Available at: https://www.smh.com.au/money/investing/techfocused-super-fund-called-spaceship-to-target-millennials-20160913-grfay9.html [Accessed 9 Oct. 2016]. Friedman, R. 2016.Meet the Disrupt SF 2016 speakers andjudges. [online] TechCrunch. 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