Aqualisa Case Study

Q1. Aqualisa launched the most significant shower innovation in recent British history: the Quartz shower. The shower provides significant improvements in terms of quality, cost, and ease of installation. In product testing, the Quartz shower received rave reviews. However, early sales of the Quartz have been disappointing. The company is faced with some key issues about whether to change the channel strategy, promotional strategy, and the overall positioning of the product (niche or a mainstream product) in the context of their existing product line.

This case shows that despite the fact Aqualisa had a great product it doesn't necessarily mean that this is going to manifest in great sales of the product.

Innovation needs managing in an integrated way; it is not enough just to manage abilities in a technological superior product. Aqualisa had the generation of a technological innovation but lacked the ability to relate this to end users. The challenge for Aqualisa is in effectively communicating to its customers and making them aware of the fact that they have developed such a product, before their competitors catch up. In order, for Aqualisa to succeed they need to synergise the components of their marketing mix through an effective communication, positioning, and distribution strategies.

In the case in states that only about 60% of U.K homes, consumers are only probably going to buy at most two showers in their lifetime and because key influencers in the decision making process like plumbers where apprehensive of adopting the new technology it also led to the company's low sales because the majority of the UK shower market is made of replacement showers and plumbers tend to remain loyal to their selected brand as it is the most comfortable for them in using when installing because of their previous experiences.

Aqualisa also is suffering due to the diffusion of innovation. Usually, when new products or ideas come about, they are only adopted by a small group of people initially and if the key influencers in the decision making process of consumers such as plumbers and showrooms. Influence of early adopters of the technology is crucial for Aqualisa as they have a direct influence in consumers purchasing behaviour.If Aqualisa fail to attract these key influences the product will go unnoticed despite its superior technology.

Q2. The nature of the purchasing behaviour in this product category is that consumers usually buy a shower out of necessity and is rarely an impulse purchase. The involvement hierarchy and multi-attribute attitude models assume a remarkable amount of information processing in order to take a decision for end users especially in a product category like showers where the majority of people have little knowledge of the different attributes of the different products. Experienced consumers are able to find product attributes familiar and consult their evoke list, while novice consumers have to devote controlled cognitive capacities to the same tasks and are influenced by experts as they believe they have considerable knowledge of the product i.e. showers.

Consumers when purchasing a new shower it is because they have identified a problem recognition such as functional attributes poor pressure, varying temperature, hard to turn valves and worn out showers and when they step into a store they cannot differentiate the different showers the salesman will play a significant role in their decision making process.

People who are concerned with the category and have some prior knowledge the importance of installing a new shower may have some more emotional benefits because they may be concerned with energy consumption, time consumption in daily life and showers are quicker, lack of space in the bathroom and installing a shower would allow them more room.

Aqualisa demonstrates the importance of conceptualizing change in terms of shifting relationships between the elements that constitute adopting new technologies or staying with the familiar. The role of involvement of the consumer in the decision making process is then crucial to the product category because if a Aqualisa Quartz shower is recommended to them by a plumber or a sales person and if the consumer is not price sensitive then they will usually let the experts knowledge influence their decision rather than if a consumer has to install the shower themselves with their own hands the ease of use of the product could be an important factor.

Q3. Harry Rawlinson can employ this understanding to generate sales momentum for the Quartz product by using in formulating a distribution strategy by targeting the key influencers in the decision making process. The end user of the product is not necessarily the individual that buys the product,