Smartwatches: Exploring Consumer Use & Trends - Essay Sample

Introduction

Although the number of people wearing watches has decreased significantly, companies, such as Apple have developed new designs and features of their products to meet the expectations of the customers (Armstrong, Adam & Denize 2014). The development of technology devices impacted the decisions people make regarding the use of smartwatches. Apple believes that many people overrate market decline for the watches. The case study discusses possible reasons why people wear watches, factors that motivate people to buy and wear watches and marketing and advertising techniques Apple believes motivates customers to buy watches.

Is your time best spent reading someone else’s essay? Get a 100% original essay FROM A CERTIFIED WRITER!

Save 25%

Reasons Why People Buy Watches Today

The first reason why people buy watches today is that they are convenient. People can easily take a glance toward their watches and plan their time effectively. However, Apple believes that developing new designs of watches can attract more clients they serve as minicomputers. The introduction of the Apple watch would allow customers to send and receive text messages, as well as monitoring the heart rate. Therefore, the company expects that people will buy watches to serve more than just observing time. The company believes that customers want to make their lives simple by buying multipurpose devices. For example, mobile phones run out of battery, suggesting that consumers will not check time properly. Consequently, watches make life better and simple by keeping technology running on the wrist. According to Maslow's hierarchy of needs, various factors motivate customers to buy a product. The first level of customer needs is physiological and this includes basic needs, such as food and shelter. Other levels include safety, love and belonging, esteem, and self-actualization (Tuten, 2019). In this context, safety would encourage consumers to buy Apple Watch to monitor their heart rates; thus, promoting safety and other functions.

Motivational Factors to Buy Apple Watch

The first motivational factor why Apple believes customers would buy Apple Watch is that it operates as a mini laptop. Besides telling the time, owners can receive, check, and send messages. Also, they can surf the internet, as well as monitoring their heart rates. Because of these reasons, Apple Watch offers more than just telling time as most people believe that they can check the time using other mobile devices, such as mobile phones. Also, they can run technology on their wrist, which is convenient compared to other technological devices. Also, Apple Watch prices signify luxury services because the prices range from $350 to $10,000. It means that customers would buy Apple Watch they can afford. Although Apple has a positive brand reputation, many customers consider the company's products expensive (Armstrong et al., 2014). Therefore, it should consider the interests of various categories of customers. Therefore, the company should consider adjusting its prices so that more customers can afford the watches.

How Marketers Would Encourage Customers to Buy the Watches

The first advertising tool is using Apple Watch Edition and a price tag on it to ensure it is eye-catching. For example, marketers attach a price tag of $350 on Apple Watch so that customers decide to buy if they can afford it (Dam, 2019). The second marketing strategy is using medical personnel to encourage clients to buy the watches since they can monitor their heart rates using the watches. For example, the marketing team can insert a picture of a doctor using the watch to monitor the heart rate of a patient. In this way, they will spend the amount since they know that they will more services more than just telling the time. Additionally, segmenting the marketing to the financial needs of the customers would help to apply the marketing mix elements (Armstrong et al., 2014). For example, the marketing team can use price discrimination so that more people buy watches since they can afford it. It means that prices can be different or the same device in different marketing, depending on the potentials of customers. Lastly, the marketing manager should use celebrity endorsement to promote brand awareness. The technique is effective since celebrities have a huge influence on followers; hence, they can increase the demand.

Conclusion

The use of watches has declined internationally but this had led to the development of new features and designs to encourage more people to buy watches. Apple Company believes that more people will buy Apple Watch because of its unique features besides telling the time. For example, clients can monitor their heart rates and send messages using the wrist device, making it simple and convenient to use. Additionally, attractive marketing messages, such as the use of medical personnel and price tags and explanation of its unique features would attract more clients.

References

Armstrong, G., Adam, S., & Denize, S. (2014). Principles of marketing. London: Sage.

Dam, R. (2019). The MAYA principle: design for the future, but balance it with your users' present. Retrieved from https://www.interaction-design.org/literature/article/design-for-the-future-but-balance-it-with-your-users-present

Tuten, T. (2019). Principles of marketing for a digital age. New York: Sage.