Gogoro Scooter
Gogoro Scooter
Gogoro scooter is a consumer product made by Gogoro Company. This product is electronic in nature and it was officially launched in 2015 at consumers electronics show. It was revealed along with battery swapping network which is commonly known as Gogoro energy network (Brad, 2013). This product depends on Gogoro energy network as a power replacement source. It makes use of internal testing systems, to check on the speeds, acceleration, and horsepower e.t.c. The Gogoro scooter was initially developed for transportation within built-up areas. Based on the design of this product, it tuns on batteries which can be swapped easily for recharging purposes. The product comprises of sensors which gather information for instance the rate of consumption, the speed, and level of the battery as well as system fiascos. This information is relayed to the riders of this product via the mobile app for Gogoro. Looking at the market share of this product in 2015, around 4000 scooters were distributed to consumers in China. With time the market share hit 33.9%, leading to the company opening more branches in this country and in other countries in order to reach more customers (Wilson, 2011).
There are some factors which influences potential customers who do
consume this product in China. These factors can be classified into: environmental
and psychological variables. First, the issue of high cost of full prices on
this product may have an impact to the consumers of this product. This may make
these customers look for a substitute mode of transport. With the declaration
of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries to control the output of
oil generated by these countries, has favoured the espousal of green
transportation, which is commonly found in urban centres. Based on the reports
given by International Energy Agency, increasing the prices of fuel and oil
will lead to bedrock of economic situations in the country for other options
such as electrical vehicles as well as fuels made from biogas. In China, sales
of electric scooter is endorsed by the government policies such as introduction
of subsidies. These policies are likely to emerge more irrepressible with spiralling
prices of fuel and oil.
Asian counties especially China are likely to lead the market over the conjecture
period due to high number of investments as far as vehicle charging infrastructure
is concerned.
According to the reports, China is emerging as manufacturing centre for the electrical scooters. In 2017, this country reported 87% market share in Asia as far as the market of electrical scooters is concerned. The second factor which influences the decision making by the potential customers is the purchasing power of these consumers. Acquiring this product is quite expensive to most of the customers, hence they may decide to go for cheap modes of transportation rather than using these electrical scooters. Consumer spending level is directly/ closely associated with this factor which may in return depend on some economic factors such as the level of employment, wages, taxation and the prices of other related products. As a matter of fact, the more people are getting stable income, the more they make unrestricted spending on purchases. Prices of the products also impact consumers spending on this product, this is because of the high rate of inflation. They key indicators of inflation are producer price index and consumer price index. The higher the rate of inflation, the lower the purchasing power to the consumers of this product. Most customers may also be unable to purchase this product due to increased interest rates. Higher rates of interests render this product significantly costly for the customers. Hence the unemployment rate and having unstable income is one of the factors which may influence consumers from purchasing this product, since it is very expensive to acquire one (Dan, 1991).
The perception that customers have on this product may serve as a psychological factor affecting the consumption of this product by some consumers. Perception is the process by which customers select and interpret information about a certain product and then make decision about such a product. Different people may have different perception towards a product based on their beliefs towards such products (Monray, 2010). Most of the marketers emphasizes on the management of perceptions towards products. For the purpose of this report, some people believe that electric scooters are meant for people within a certain class, there are also those who believe that Gogoro scooters are meant for people within a certain class. Others says that they cannot purchase this product because of the noise they produce. These perceptions will affect the consumers when making decision to buy these products. Consumer confidence is also another psychological factor that will influence potential customers when buying these products. Irrespective of their financial circumstances, customers will most probably purchase some products when they are confident of their current situation as economic conditions (Monray, 2010). Personality is another thing under consideration as a factor which may affect the consumer behaviour on this product, every individual has his or her own personal traits when it comes to purchasing of the products. This will influence his or her purchasing behaviours. Personality in this case may also be as a result of socio-economic level, age, culture, among other things. These factors could have a great impact on the consumer behaviour on this product. It is very hard to determine the nature of personality of human beings, nonetheless there is no doubt that personality is a key factor which will influence decision making by customers when purchasing these products. There are those individuals who would feel it is worth to spend on this product while on the other hand there are those who would feel it is not worth to procure such a product. Consumer’s behaviour may also be as a result of lifestyle. This can be described as the way people stay in the society settings. Some people may prefer having Gogoro scooter, others may prefer having the normal motor bikes while others would prefer having four-wheel vehicles. People staying at different locations in China, may want to maintain their image and status. Individual status is something to do with the mentality, surroundings and social classes.
Based on the research on this product, there are those consumers who can only purchase this product based on the experience from the past and from another person’s experience (Khan, 2011). If the experience is awesome, most customers will go ahead and purchase this product. Based or the statistics given above, most of the customers in 2015, after the launch of this product purchased it based on the experience of others.
Environmental factors such as cultural, social, family and personal influences may also affect the consumer behaviour on this product. In any culture there is many groups with different customs and beliefs. Social factors are based on people within the same group but are in different social classes. This may be defined by several parameters such as income, education, occupation e.t.c. In China there are different cultures with different beliefs on this product, some people believe that people within Taiwan region are the one who need scooters because of their customs and geographical locations. This has a great value to the market of this product (Khan, 2011). There are those within a certain class who feels that they cannot use electrical scooter and instead they prefer alternative mode of transportation. This depends on what these people do for leisure. This will have an impact on the consumer behaviour on this product. Another environmental variable that will influence potential customers from influencing this product is the location (Monray, 2010). In China, some locations have poor roads networks hence introducing this product to consumer may not ogre well. When such product is introduced to the customers within these regions, they may respond negatively. In places where road networks are good and in towns where most people are located. They may respond positively as far as purchasing of electric scooter is concerned.
Lastly climate change may affect purchasing of electric scooter. This product may not be used when climate is not favourable. During rainy seasons use of this product may lead to many accidents and may affect the health of the users. There are those people who prefer using this product when the weather is moderately hot. This will also depend on the roads where Gogoro scooters are supposed to pass.
Launching this product in China, can be recommended due to many users. Looking at the market share of this product in most of the regions, it is quire high. The government of this country need to consider solving some problems which could affect purchasing of electric scooters by most of the customers. One of the recommendations is decrease in fuel and oil prices so that customers can afford to purchase and maintain these scooters. Another thing that need to be looked at, is decreasing interest rates and regulating the inflation rates. In places where the road networks in urban areas, government need to repair and maintain them to enable consumers travel safely.
References
Brad, G 2013, Bike, scooter, and chopper projects for the evil genius, McGraw-Hill Publication
Dan, M 2010, Failure strength of an electric scooter restraint system, Lane Transit District
Khan, M. 2011, Consumer Behaviour and advertising management. New Age International
Mornay, R 2010, Consumer behaviour, Oxford University Press.
Wilson, B 2012, Gogoro Smartscooter First look, Motorcycle USA.
