Identify a brand that recently launched a new product (e.g., Apple’s Vision Pro, Coca-Cola’s Creations). Using the resources provided in the class and topic resources, provide a 500- to 750-word analysis addressing the following items:
Identify the relevant segmentation for the product and then explain the characteristics within each segment that makes up the target market.
Explain the insights into the consumer’s psychological needs that have influenced the product’s functions, features, and design. As you develop your explanation, consider the following psychological concepts: motivation (as described by Maslow's hierarchy of needs), perception, learning (including both behavioral and cognitive approaches), as well as values, beliefs, and attitudes.
How did the brand help consumers through the decision-making process? Explain each step in the process and how the brand enhances relationship marketing during the decision-making process.
Explain how the brand may have used the seven stages in the new-product development process. What could the brand have done differently in these steps to improve the chances of success with the new product?
Consumer Psychological Needs and Product Design
The Vision Pro's functions, features, and design are deeply influenced by core psychological needs and concepts:
Motivation (Maslow's Hierarchy): The Vision Pro primarily addresses Esteem Needs and Self-Actualization Needs.
Esteem Needs (Achievement & Status): The high price and premium branding (advanced technology, sleek design) appeal to the need for prestige, status, and recognition. Owning the "next big thing" in computing satisfies the desire to be an achiever and an industry leader.
Self-Actualization Needs (Productivity & Creativity): Features like the infinite canvas for work, immersive media, and new collaborative tools cater to the desire for personal growth, maximizing productivity, and fulfilling creative potential.
Perception: The key design feature, EyeSight (which displays a user’s eyes when someone is nearby and obscures them when fully immersed), manages social perception. It aims to reduce the negative perception of isolation often associated with VR headsets by allowing the user to be "present" and reassuring those around them.
Learning (Cognitive): The visionOS interface, which uses eye and hand movements for control, leverages cognitive learning. Its design builds upon existing spatial understanding and a user’s learned experience with Apple's intuitive graphical user interfaces, making the complex new technology feel immediately familiar and easy to adopt.
Values, Beliefs, and Attitudes: The product appeals to core beliefs in Apple's brand promise of quality, privacy, and seamless integration. It taps into the attitude that technology should be an invisible tool that augments reality, rather than a clunky device that separates the user from it. The focus on privacy and security appeals to the strong value many Apple customers place on data protection.
Sample Answer
The recent product launch analyzed here is Apple Vision Pro, a spatial computing headset.
1. Market Segmentation and Target Market
Apple's segmentation strategy for the Vision Pro focuses heavily on psychographic and demographic factors to target the high-end, early-adopter market.
| Segmentation Base | Target Market Characteristics |
| Demographic | Affluent Professionals and Creatives: High income (necessary for the $3,499+ price point), aged typically 25-55, with occupations in technology, design, finance, or other industries where advanced multi-tasking and remote collaboration are critical. They are often already deep within the Apple ecosystem. |
| Psychographic | Innovators and Early Adopters: Individuals with a "pioneer" personality who are passionate about technology, have a high desire for the latest, most advanced gadgets, and are willing to pay a premium. They value productivity, cutting-edge design, and status associated with owning a first-generation Apple product. They are "succeeders" or "aspirers" who view technology as a tool for personal and professional advancement. |