Cadbury Research Paper

Introduction

In an increasingly competitive business world, it is essential for businesses to be very efficient in terms of cost, production, and operations to ensure the continuity of the business. Any businesses found lagging behind in these terms are bound to face losses, and possibly failure. As businesses progresses through the decades, we find that radical changes are happening to policies of companies, methods of operation along with various other things too, resulting in the increase of production scale, higher capabilities of supplying, and better capabilities of handling demands. Unfortunately as production increases, the amount of resources required to continuously deliver products increases along with it. Some companies indiscriminately harvest our natural resources to fulfil the demands, without thinking of the possible consequences. This is an unethical conduct and should not be done by any companies if there is to be any hope for humans, and the natural environment to continue surviving on earth. Every business should have policies and realisation on their Corporate Social Responsibilities (CSR) to continue maintaining stability of this world.

However, the progression is not only limited to businesses. There has been an increase of awareness on environmental conservation of late. Some may argue that the growth of this group might hinder the progression of the free market, but their presence has kept much unethical practices at bay. This shows how important the behaviour of consumers can be in influencing the practices of companies and firms.

The purpose of this case study is to highlight the importance of Corporate Social Responsibility and provide better understanding about the consumer's behaviour.

Reason Why People Consume Chocolate

Chocolate is a form of confectionery that is usually related to pleasure, formed by the mixture of cocoa, milk, sugar, butter and multiple other ingredients. Although there is not really any specific reason for a single person to consume chocolate, multiple studies about it suggested that people eat chocolate, simply because it tastes good. An article published in The Daily Pensylvania written by Mike Tuhy, et al. (1994) supports this idea and stated that "a revolutionary study conducted by Psychology Professor Paul Rozin and graduate student Willa Michener has established that people actually eat chocolate because they enjoy its taste". However the taste itself is not the only reason why people consume chocolate.

People have classified chocolate, as a type of comfort food, claiming that it helps relieve stress, depression and sadness. A number of scientific researches have shown that Trytophan, which is a part of the ingredient of a chocolate, stimulates the release Seretonin, an anti-depressant. Chocolates also help the release of endorphine, which acts as our body's natural pain killer, and helps relieves stress. These discoveries support the theory that chocolate helps relieve stress and depression. Chocolate consumers also claim that every time they feed on chocolates, they feel a sensation likened to falling in love. Phenylethylamine which is also part of a chocolate's ingredient, is responsible for this "crazy in love" feeling according to some scientific articles on chocolates. Scores of women even compare the taste of chocolate, and the feeling of it melting on the tongue, to the pleasures of orgasm, some say it is even better than orgasm.

Those who are health conscious realise that consuming chocolates also bring about benefits to our general health. Research shows that consuming dark chocolate help curb cardiovascular diseases. It also provides assistance of reducing cholesterol in a low-fat diet besides lowering the blood pressure of an overweight or a normal person. On the same topic BBC health reporter also suggested another benefit of the dark chocolate being "chocolate, particularly dark chocolate, does contain antioxidants which can help to mop up harmful free radicals - unstable chemicals that can damage our cells" (Michelle Roberts Health reporter, BBC News, 27 March 2012). Shown in that same article was a recent study that suggests that eating chocolates can help keep a person's weight under control, however there are not yet any concrete evidences to explain the plausibility of such a theory.

Relevance of Self-Concept to Marketing

Self-concept is basically defined as a set of behaviour, attitudes, personality, picture, or an image that a person perceives himself to be. It is a part of the many psychological concepts in marketing. Generally, those who fall into this self-concept category are the young consumers like children, teenagers, and young adults. It is commonly understood among marketers that personalities of the people differ, and those different personalities, pictures, and attitudes affect their judgement and how they think and behave against products or services in the market. Therefore it is thoroughly important to understand the self-concept in order to produce a sound marketing strategy to tackle potential consumers of this group.

As have been mentioned earlier, the younger consumers are those who fall into the self-concept category. These are the segment of consumers who are less defined, still in the process of building and developing their qualities and personalities. In the process of defining and developing themselves, this segment of consumers will turn to their source of reference, for example peers, family members, teachers to get ideas on what will be adequate to enhance