I would like to express my deepest gratitude for your patience in guiding me to the end of my research. This achievement would not have been possible without the confidence of the esteemed academics of Mahidol University College of Management in my potential, as well as the constant encouragement of my family and friends. Since eyeglass lenses are part of the daily life of people with vision problems, the aim of this research paper is to understand customers, how Thai people decide to buy a pair of eyeglass lenses.
Most of the interviewees said that physical necessity and service quality are related to premium spectacle glasses, followed by promotion and social factors. Prescription lenses and optical frames generate approximately 60% of the market's total profit contribution, while sunglasses and contact lenses contribute only 40%. Due to the increasing number of optical shops in Bangkok, the optical lens market in Thailand is becoming more and more competitive.
With an offer of affordable fashion glasses (Just222, 2019), it introduces a price concept of eyeglass frames with prescription lenses to the market. Although it is very difficult to convince customers to understand the technology or design behind the transparent plastic parts that are invisible to the eye, some customers still prefer to buy premium lenses. An eyeglass lens product is an invisible product that requires more effort to sell compared to an eyeglass frame.
This research aims to understand the decision making behavior of customers to purchase spectacle lens product in Bangkok.
Objectives of the Study
Research question
LITERATURE REVIEW
- Consumer behavior
- Purchasing decision-process
- Pre-purchase
- Purchase
- Post-purchase
- Black box model
- Modify Consumer decision-making process with Black box model
- Framework
- Promotion
- Perceived quality
- Physical needs
- Social
- Emotional factor
In the optometric industry, intangible product (service) including eye examination, lens consultation and optical distribution (Moss & Shaw-McMinn, 2001). For example, one of the research points out that the family is a powerful and reliable source of information. Once they have learned about the characteristics of the product and service they are considering, expectations are created (Lovelock & Wirtz, 2004).
In the optical shopping process, this stage takes place after the customer has purchased and worn the glasses frame and lenses. It shows the interaction of stimuli, consumer characteristics and responses that occur in the consumer's mind. Black Box model and consumer decision making are two parts of the concept of consumer behavior.
The marketing mix can be referred to as the marketing cue in the stimulus phase of the decision-making model; other environmental factors are the social cause. The internal influence of the buyer's black box is the awareness of the problem and the physical signal in the stimuli phase. The decision-making process in the buyer's black box is the same as information seeking and alternative evaluation.
As this study aims to understand consumer decision-making behavior related to the purchase of premium lenses, it will focus on the pre-purchase process. In the survey on shopping behavior in malls (Joseph, 2019), it was highlighted that product quality is the most important factor that influenced respondents while shopping, followed by price and promotions. Therefore, quality perception is one of the important factors that the consumer usually considers when making the purchase decision.
Since they also believe that healthy vision is essential (Fylan et al., 2005), most of the eyeglass wearers believe that eye examinations and lens changes can maintain their eye health. It is undeniable that the changed lifestyle in the digital era has brought about the increasing need for the corrective glasses due to the increasing demand for visual needs (Roman, 2017). The concept of social influence was referred to as the normdative belief and used as the subjective norm in the theory of planned behavior (Ajzen, 1991).
The emotional factor is that which wiped out purchase decisions by the feelings of the heart that dominate over head and mind to satisfy needs (Pillai, 2010). They can influence consumer's decision making even when their financial situation is in the uncertain stage.
METHODOLOGY
RESULTS
- Demographic
- Physical need
- Promotion
- Social
- Perceived quality
- Service quality
- Other factors that can be considered
- Location of the shop: More than half of the interviewees said if there is more than one choice, they will consider buying from the location that is close to their
The results show that only 60% of the respondents believe that promotion and discount significantly influence their decision. Most of the interviewees mentioned that they feel good if the store has a discount campaign. One of the interlocutors said that he will shop only during the discount period.
All interviewees affected by the store's discount promotion are younger than 40 years old. They explained that corrective lenses are one of the health care products and their vision is important. Based on 36% of respondents, the store's official website is important to them, as they find stores that provide eye and lens knowledge, helping them choose products before visiting the store, are more reliable than official websites. web store that only offer promotions. or discount.
The findings therefore show that the visibility of the store in the online environment is also essential from the point of view of consumers. Another group of interviewees researches types and brands of eyeglass lenses and searches for high-quality optical retailers from internet reviews. What's more, thirty-six percent of respondents also look for information on the store's official website and the official website of the lens brand, believing that official websites are a reliable source.
The majority of those interviewed expressed that they trust information from friends and family more than information from the Internet, as these people have real personal experiences and do not get any benefits from the store. They prefer brands they can recognize, as they feel that brands can guarantee the quality of the products, although only a few people are specific about the brands. All the interviewees mentioned that the service memory is one of the most important factors influencing purchase decisions.
For example, Jube said, “Optometrist will show all the lens choices that meet my needs. The majority of interviewees agreed that if the staff was able to answer all their questions and not be a hard sell, they would trust them and buy the lens they were suggesting. 16% of respondents prefer optometrists to optometrists to take care of their vision and require a primary eye health examination at the optical shop.
CONCLUSION
- Conclusions
- Recommendations
- The theoretical contributions
- The managerial implications
- Limitations of the study
- Further research
After gaining insight into the important factors that influence customers' purchasing decisions regarding premium lenses, through questions based on theories from many respected authors and existing research, some interesting ideas have been developed and presented in the open discussion about the overall results and analysis. This study identified five key elements from interviews with consumers who purchased premium lenses. Physical need is the main factor that drives consumers to purchase a new pair of lenses.
Many of the interviewees said that if lenses are expensive, they will choose the lower price range to get the lenses they need so that the total price is not over their budget. This indicates that customers who prefer to buy premium lenses usually prioritize the quality of the lens before the frame. The theoretical contributions of this study are to find the relationship between influencing elements and premium eyeglass lens purchase decision in Bangkok.
In addition, they need to promote social, which is the first element that makes consumer recognize their store. For the management implications, according to the results on the purchase of premium eyeglass lenses, owners of the optical shops should focus on three things that are specifically observed quality, promotion and social influence. They should compare their store with competitors in the area and improve the store's environment to build professional image by installing new technology equipment.
In addition, the owner of the optical shop can develop the knowledge of the staff by training and updating the new information. Additionally, optical store owners can take advantage of online channels such as blogs, websites that consumers use to gather information from eyeglass lens product reviewers, and where to buy to create more brand awareness and drive purchase intent. Second, since the interview was conducted at the convenience of the researcher and the participant within a short period, the interviewees may find themselves limited, which may lead to a lower level of accuracy and reliability (Fisher, 2004).
Finally, some questions may be misinterpreted because the questions used in this study were translated from the English version to the Thai version, so they cannot reflect the full original meaning. Future research should conduct both qualitative and quantitative research to better understand the factors that influence glasses wearers' behavior and to truly understand the pain point. Moreover, this research shows that glasses wearers usually repurchase their glasses in the same store. Further research should investigate the factor that causes eyeglass wearers to try a new optical store.
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