Consumer Behavior Is Essential For Effective Marketing Marketing Essay

Consumer air Is Essential For Effective exchange Marketing Es adduceIntroductionA Consumer is som genius who acquires smashings or serv grumps for direct apply or ownership or else than for resale or mapping in proceeds and manufacturing exploit. (Investor words, 2010). We quite a little classify consumers in two categories (i) personal consumers / retail consumers, and (ii) organisations as consumers. In each case bahaviour is analysed differently. I provide c at single whilentrate in this essay on personal consumers and their demeanour and its implications for effective trade.Consumer behaviour is the demonstrate individuals or groups go through in recognizing subscribe tos, finding ways to unclutter these drives, making debase finalitys (e.g., whether or non to lever come along a harvest and, if so, which brand and where), interpret discipline, overhear believe plans, and implement these plans.Understanding customer erudition and motivations has treme ndous implications for selling and selling, process improvement and, in turn, reaching tar describeted consumers and grow rewarding profit. With the Consumer-Centered era pine gone, in the New Era orentation to alter long-term bonds with consumers it is essential to convey consumer behaviour and to understand much than of the customers psychology, their home(a) and external motivations, preferences, trapations, and actions to be able to provide a tailored respect proposition. As a discupline, this is referred to as customer relationship management (CRM). draw showing consumer way, measures, and selling actions.(graph from Norton, 2005)Consumer attitudeThe process of bribe is largely biasd by consumer attitudes. In the context of commercializeing, it is towards point of intersection, brand, place (eg retail store), etc.Consumer attitudes be a composite of a consumers (1) beliefs ab erupt, (2) feelings most, (3) and behavioural intentions. These components argon vie wed to initiateher since they be extremely interdependent and together embrace the forces that influence how the consumer de damp react to the object.(Perner, 2008)Beliefs Consumer beliefs hurl the sack be positive (e.g. chocolate tastes run intoably) as wellspring as ban (e.g., chocolate makes me plentifulten up). In addition, some beliefs whitethorn be neutral (chocolate is a treat), and some may differ depending on the person or the internet site (e.g., dark chocolate gives a lot of energy and stimulatesgood when you enquire to study or boost your energy level, simply not good more(prenominal)over before sleep fourth dimension).Often consumer believes can be inaccurate (e.g. pork is healthier than chicken).Feelings/Affect- is the consumers feelings toward a brands crossway or service. Some clock these feelings be ground on the beliefs (e.g. a person feels nauseated when thinking rough a hamburger because of the amount of fat it contains), but at that place m ay resemblingwise be feelings which are sexual relati nevertheless independent of beliefs (e.g.I like ice cream)Behavioural intention. Is what the consumer plans to do with respect to the object (e.g., debauch or not buy the brand). This can be a logical consequence of beliefs (or affect), or may reflect other circumstancese.g., although a consumer does not re solelyy like a bar/restaurant, he or she forget go at that place because it is a hangout for his or her friends. (Perner, 2008)Changing behaviour of customers can be challenging because existence like to believe that their behaviour is rational therefore, once they use our ingatherings, chances are that they will continue un little someone is able to get them to switch (Perner,2010).Consumer Choices The com completely accepted and studied path of consumer plectrums, overly illustrted in Elliot (1997), includes 5 main stepsNeed/ opportunity recognition2. Information breast to3. Evaluation of alternatives4. Purcha se5. Outcome of secure/feed poleNeed/opportunity recognition.Consumers fill out a need for a product/service when they percive a opening amid their current state and their desired state. This can be both because of a change for the worse in their current state (need recognition) or when the desire controlm to be further away (opportunity recognition). ( Elliot, 1997).That can be as easy as concluding that we need draw because we reach just channel out and cant make a barroom without it. Or when a mother decides that buying an Armani top for her son would plausibly make her family more recognisable and admirred.Information Search.after appointing a product which will satisfy the need or opportunity gap, it is assumed that a customer will assay for information to help him make a decision. Here it has been established that there are two ways in which information font takes place. Those are internal and external searches.Internal vs. outdoor(a) Search(Perner,2008)Interna l search involves the consumer identifying alternatives from his or her memory/experience. Internal search is influenced by motivations, attitudes, personality, age, lifestyle, comprehension and learning/ experience. This is a good deal the only search method employ for scurvy involvement products or fast moving consumer goods (FMCGs), thus building top of discernment awareness is crucial task for marketing communications e finickyly in hose low-involvement products categories (Elliot, 1998).External search involves information from surroundings that influences the get decisions. Those external factors influencing decision process include situational influences, much(prenominal)(prenominal) as, animal(prenominal) environment and time, and social influences such as attendise as well as culture, subculture, social class, group membership, family, friends, work/school peers, co-workers, throng from the alike sports/hobby clubs, neighbors etc.There are various referent gro ups that people consciously or unconsciously consider during their search. Those include membership, aspiration, avoidance, word of mouth, opinion, leadership. in spite of consumer interests and beliefs, they will strive to conformity and thus usually the internal search has to compete with their external influences because they want to belong to, and be accepted by, people from their direct environment.Consumers are more plausibly to use an external search for high involvement products. For instance before buying a can, the consumer is more likely to ask friends opinions, read reviews in Consumer Reports, consult several tissue sites, and visit several property offices. Thus, it is extremely important that firms that offer products that are packed predominantly through external search invest in publicise and marketing to ensure having information available to the consumer in need-e.g., through brochures, weave sites, or naked as a jaybirds coverage.Evaluation of choicesThe evaluative criteria are the product belongingss, functional, emblematical and emotional, on which the relative mathematical operation of the competing alternatives will be compared (Elliot 1998).Decision rules can beI. Compensatory, when a poor performance on one attribute can be offset by good performance on other attribute. (e.g. one car is not as fast as other but its cheaper. If the price is sufficiently inexpensive, the consumer may because select it over a car with mend acceleration that costs more)II. Non-compensatory, when only one standard is used and alternatives which dont measure up are eliminated. (e.g. when a customer wants to fuck off a UK-branded product, lets say cereal, although there will be some(prenominal) other cereals with self equivalent(prenominal) ingredients and good taste they wont be considered)Considering that human beings seek to reduce cognitive efforts, a great deal the way for choice evaluation are rules of thumb, e.g. cheapest is best, or cognize brand is always better than unknown, etc. Unfortunately this type of thinking lots lead to taxonomical bias when compared with the rational decision making work of economic theory. Those would be believes that e.g. if an item is on sale it must be a good deal, or all branded products are of the same quality.PurchasePurchased is practicablely influenced by time, the more time between the intention to buy and the purchase the more opportunity for change in original intention. But in many instances a conscious purchase intension is not develop prior(prenominal) to the purchase act and in this case a disclose of product may installation urge purchase. US studies show that 83% decisions to purchase of snack foods take place in the supermarket itself rather than prior to shopping. Obviously higher involvement products are more likely to be pre planned than lower involvement products. (Elliot, 1998)Outcomes of PurchaseThese make important implications for the proximo p urchase decisions. The cognitive climb points to grandness of prior expectations as a determining how well consumer will evaluate the purchase experience. The lower the expectations the little dissatisfaction on poor product performance, and the more satisfaction on good product performance is seen.Consumer InvolvementThe amount of effort a consumer dresss into inquisitive depends on a number of factors. There is a classical exemplification to measure consumer involvment in purchase decision. This model shows that involvmnet depends largly on price, type of product, relative frequency of purchases, symbolic meaning, social visability, time commitment, potentiality for harm, potentiality for poor performance of product/service etc. (Elliot, 1998)In practice the price or high significance will mostly effect the involvement of consumers. E.g if we buy boat or house we are more likely to put more effort in research than when we buy washing powder. The same is true for extremely l ife significant products such as calculating machine or medications, which tend to be given more forethought than lets say notepad or pen. (where you shop, ease / proximity of parking, ambience, safety, provision of churl care, etc)Influences on Consumer Behavior(Perner 2008)The lifetime regular recurrence.Individuals and families tend to go through a life cycle The sincere life cycle goes from http//www.consumerpsychologist.com/images/cb/Simple_FLC.png (Perner 2008)In real life however, there are many more complications possible, such as couples undergo divorce, single parents run house or remarry or become involved in other non-marital relationships, or impediment on their own etc. combine all the possibilities gives a depiction of the Family Life Cycle to the one downstairshttp//www.consumerpsychologist.com/images/cb/Family_Life_Cycle.png (Perner 2008)Obviously young hit with still little cash and highly influenced by their peer environment will suck in different needs , and make different purchases to young couples, and young couples will greatly vary in their customer behaviours to full nest families. Then again there is a significant difference in amount, type and variety of products purchased between dwell I, Nest II and III families, since different age of children in the family will have various demands / needs, and the older the children the more influence they will have on parents and their purchase decisions themselves. Empty nest family with no children in the house often can afford more luxurious items than before. They will often look for comfort and durability and high quality of goods. one-time(a) singles will have similar needs, but if retired or lonely may not be able to afford as high standards of products as empty nest and thus minimalistic approach can be seen in their purchase behaviour.Apart from differences in customer behaviour arising from Family Life Cycle it is in like manner important to mention that behaviour change s with age, health, career and fiscal status.Older people tend to have great income but also greater obligations such as mortgages, children, and spouse. Different ages are concerned with different financial rewards and obligations. That often leads to different consumer behaviour.Figure 2.5 Consumer life military issuesUnderstanding the life event triggers behind the large-minded decisions that consumers make, assists information providers in targeting information at the times and places in peoples lives when they most need it. (Australian government, 2010)Family decision making model some other relevant consideration includes the Family decision making model. It is important to realise that it is not only the decision maker(s) in the family that count during the decisions processes of the family. Although they decide where and which product, brand to buy, there are also initiator, ultimate users, the information gatherers/holders- who seek out information about products of rele vance, Influencers- who do not eventually have the decision power, but they may make their wishes known by asking for specific products or causing embarrassing situations if their demands are not met. And then again all those have different role to that of the buyer. (Perner, 2008)It was measured that parents under childrens (age 4 -12years) influence in US purchase products worth apporximately $4,400 per year per child. This comprises n aboriginal $ one hundred fifty billion annually in US market alone. (McNeal,1997). This statistic is even more prominent if we look at China and heir one child policy and the six-pocket syndrome (where all 4 grandparents and parents can cherish and spoil 1 child only (Goll,1995)From the marketing point of view, family decision-making model let ons some problems since the purchaser can be targeted by point-of-purchase (POP) marketing efforts that cannot be aimed at the decision maker, or influencer. It should also be noted that family decisions are often radical to a great deal of conflict. The reality is that hardly a(prenominal) families are plastered seemly to avoid a strong tension between demands on the familys resources. (Perner, 2008)Family decision making model can be observed in nearly any shop. This will take place when a family is out and about maybe doing grocery shopping and then suddenly one of the children will point to a toy or Christmas tree that courts its guardianship (that will be the initiator). There will be various criteria to consider maybe some information provided on the spot about this point Christmas tree the fact does the family have already one or not and in what condition it is, also time of the year will have influence on the decision making process. The user or a Christmas tree is the whole family but especially children. Mother of the family will often be the decider who will try to satisfy the whole family and purchase something that is interoperable and safe a s well as will look rep resentative in the home surrounding. Father will often payment for the tree and make the purchase thus in this scenario will be the buyer. This issue is addressed by many shops by offering great displays of child-attractive items, together with parent-satisfying product descriptions to fulfil needs of the decision maker, and not occasional(prenominal) value deals to finally convince the ultimate buyer.The Means-End Chain.Is another model of consumer behaviour where consumers buy products not because of their attributes per se but rather because of the ultimate benefits that these attributes provide, in turn leading to the satisfaction of ultimate values. An important implication of direction-end duress is that it is usually most effective in advertising to focus on higher level items. (Green Book, 2005)This can be illustrated on example of UHT milk. A consumer may not be interested in the process and alchemy of ultra high temperature process of milk preservation, but might rat ionality as adheresSelf satisfaction/esteemKids will continue to get all calcium and vitamins required for growth and strong bones, and he milk is there whenever neededChildren can safely use the milk when they need it without a need to go back to a shop for weeks at a time.Milk can be stored longer without taste and properties change, retentive life properties of UHT milkUHT milk producers use this model and emphasise the long life properties of milk, and thus in consumer lore this is the main focus point. They often dont make further investigation to find out that UHT milk has sufficiently less vitamins and minerals then fresh milk, and oft make decision to buy long life milk instead of fresh milk.Diffusion bending ModelAnd last but not least we should note that not all consumers will choose to buy new products at the same time. Dependingly on their education, experience, capacity to purchase and desires we will be able to identify Innovators who buy first but comrpise less th an 5% of consumers, e.g. people who follow the latest releases of technology/ sort engineering and will purchase the products as soon as they reach the market even if they dont necessary need it, and it means paying premium price for those goods. After the first purchases by Innovators, the earlier adpoters will show their interest. They benefit form using the product and want to maintain an edge over the rest of their peer group / consumers at large. However the vast majority of the curve ignores most marketing efforts at the earliest stages until they are convinced that the product or inclination is not a fad. Successful new products, the hits, are most want by Innovators and proto(prenominal) Adopters soon after(prenominal) introduction and then previous(predicate) majority will follow the trend to purchase. After some time the later majority will make the decision to buy, and then when the products/ function are no longer considered new by majority of population the lagg ards will come to belive it is ecessary for them to aquire this product. Possibly that will take place after the older model they owned is no longer functioning and it is necessary for them to replace it. Those clients frequently benefit from large discounts, since new more coveted models are often already available on the market. The described above model is commonly known as Diffusion Curve model or 5 segments model, and can be illustrated as bellow (actual percentages will vary according to the product / sector / consumer miscellanea)Viral Marketing and Consumer Behavior(Graph from Braziel, 2007)This model doesnt equally apply to all products, it is mostly used for electronics, computers, fashion clothing, house appliances such as AGD (white goods) and RTV (audio / visual electronics) products. Thats because we cant really communion about innovative products when it comes to FMCGs like bread, milk, butter. Also it would be hard to splatter about laggards when the product of concern was something e trulyone needs in daytime to day life.Knowing about the diffusion curve model and the fact that new products are usually initially adopted by a few consumers and only spread later, and then only gradually, to the rest of the population, companies learned that to introduce new products they must be well financed so that they can halt afloat until their products become a commercial success by generating self-sustainable profit. They also realize that it is actually important to beguile initial customers, since they will in turn influence many succeeding customers brand choices. That is wherefore many brands use post-purchase evaluation forms and ensure quick response to any dissatisfaction, so consumers feel understood, respected and powerful. This helps in creating good overall impression about the product or brand, which is likely to be passed on to Early adopters and beyond. passwordThere are two main applications of consumer behavior in marketing (Pe rner 2005)Using consumer behavior to make better marketing campaigns. For exampleby grounds that consumers are more receptive to food advertising when they are hungry, food/snack companies learned to schedule snack advertisements late in the afternoon. As a result of increased receptiveness consumers are more likely to memorize the items and either buy there and then or next time when they see the product on the supermarket shelf.by understanding that new products are usually initially adopted by a few consumers and only spread later, and then only gradually, to the rest of the population, companies learned that (1) to introduce- new products must be well financed so that they can stay afloat until their products become a commercial success. (2) it is very important to please initial customers, since they will in turn influence many subsequent customers brand choices.Social marketing involves getting ideas across to consumers rather than selling something. E.g.To reduce the inciden ce of transmission of diseases through illegal dose use the best solution, obviously, would be if we could get illegal drug users to stop. This, however, was deemed to be infeasible. It was also determined that the practice of overlap needles was too ingrained in the drug culture to be stopped. As a result, using knowledge of consumer attitudes, Dr. Fishbein pass waterd a campaign that encouraged the cleaning of needles in bleach before sharing them, and this marketing campaign was hugely successful (Syed, 2009)Attitude research has shown that consumers often tend to react more favorably to advertisements which eitherAdmit something interdict about the sponsoring brand (e.g., the Volvo is a clumsy car, but very safe), this approach makes consumer perceive the advert more reliable, and will pay off by their better attitude towards brand/product advertised.ORAdmits something positive about a competing brand (e.g., a competing supermarket has slightly lower prices, but offers less service and selection).Two-sided appeals must, contain overriding arguments why the sponsoring brand is ultimately superior-that is, in the above examples, the but part must be emphasized. (Perner, 2008) over again this two side appeal gives consumer perception of rational, reliability and this type of advert is more likely to be listened, believed in and remembered.Knowing it is generally very difficult to change beliefs that people hold, some companies try to change the importance of beliefs by decreasing them or by strengthen them by advertising e.g. milk smart set can emphasise on the importance of milk ingredients such as calcium and iron for the health being of people, and thus increase the perception of importance for milk in consumer eye, which will then lead to increased milk sales.Companies can also add to consumer beliefs, e.g. metric grain makers can add beliefs that their cereal are more convenient and well than other cereals, which sounds quite plausible to some pe ople if the advert uses sufficiency credible terms for ingredients. Thus consumer perceive those cereals more appropriate for breakfast than others and are more likely to purchase them when next time see them in the shop.Using consumer choices model described in the introduction, some companies will seek to create in the eyes of target consumers a perception of need of e.g cooking spice, by advertising it as a miracle mix which will make every dish you make tasty and delectable by all family members. That perception of opportunity may trigger the consumer purchase decision.Knowing that information search for FMCGs is mostly internal, food producers try to make impression on the consumer e.g by making tomatoes look more sizeable and appealable to potential consumers e.g we can see tomatoes with green stems or sorry organically grown sign on the packaging that will trigger the consumer desire to eat healthy and even though those tomatoes may not be any healthier than the other 5 ty pes that sit on the shelf. The perception of healthy / organic will arise in consumer mind and thus he will be more likely to purchase them.In relation to purchase decisions of consumers, many companies, especially those selling low involvement goods, use a marketing dodge which is directed at one of humans basic motivation- curiosity. By packaging a product with interesting and/or innovative pictures and images, they try to wake up consumer curiosity and in this way win the consumer interest and encourage impulse to buy.Knowing that fulfilling original expectations of consumer will often lead to repeat purchase some products e.g Heinz Ketchup by introducing a claim of great thickness and delivering on it better compare to other brands, can win consumer because consumer attention is drawn towards thickness only and satisfying this attribute alone give consumer overall perception of good performance.Emphasising consumer brand committal, many shops introduce loyalty cards, which giv e additional credits for shopping in particular shop, such as entitlement to discounts and promotions. Loyalty cards databases on the other hand enable understanding the clients better and give offers that best suit their behavior/habbits. Its a win-win situation for seller and buyer the consumer has a perception of being special/appreciated and can see the reward for loyalty, while the shop has more information about the customers.For example, it was established that a buyer of full fat milk is 2.5 times more likely to purchase children orientated products. That is because a lot of parent buy full fat milk for their kids, and having kids means we buy for them more than just milk. Knowing that, a shop/company can send kids products brochures only to those people buying full fat milk rather than spend money on approaching adults who dont have kids and are unlikely to purchase childrens products.All the models described above are important to know and consider to help spot emerging pa tterens and trends relative to the marketing and branding process. However they seem to be slightly overcomplicated and we need to realise that every day consumer patterns as well as practical marketing often varies from the theoretical models. To support this view we dont need to look far, we read from countless articles e.g McCole (2004) suggests that there exists a sizable gap between the worldviews of academics and practitioners. And Brennen (2004, p. 492), in his editorial comments in a special issue that explored the genius of the academic-practitioner divide, notes that a consensus seems to be emerging that much, or perhaps most, of work do by academics is of limited relevance to practitioners. (Syed H. Akhter, 2009). Also there are numerous studies which show that a large percentage of consumers dont research their purchases or limit the research to minimum, e.g. on average 52% of people in US obtained no independent information on products/services purchased and even for purchase of a new car, more than 30% of people visit only one car dealer.(Elliot, 1998).A lot of those theoretical models, together with practical / anecdotal experience, indicate that decisions made by customers are mostly emotion-driven or impulse driven. The purchase decisions often depend on curiosity, value perception (an approximation of reality), brand loyalty or rules of thumb , rather than research, and that is why marketing, branding and advertising need to enhance value perception for the customer and take care of a good purchase experience rather than just focusing on the purchase product/service.ConclusionTo leave off this paper on dynamics of consumer behaviour in practical marketing, I decided to look into Early Learning Center (ELC) brand and their marketing strategies. With their consumer base largely being 0-6 year old children, specifically I sought evidence of ELCs marketing efforts reflecting a sound understanding of the behavior of their target customers, the adults who buy those goods on childrens behalfEarly Learning centre of attention (ELC) miniature Sale Now OnEarly Learning Centre (ELC) is basically a marketing and distribution company, but one that also designs and commissions the constitute of its own-branded products.It was established in 1974 as a mail order firm, and was an early adopter of direct sales through the Internet the website www.elc.co.uk was first launched in 1999 and proved to be successful in its first year in terms of profit generated on internet-driven purchases..In 2007 Mothercare plc acquired Early Learning Centre for 85m (49m plus 36m debt). Mothercare is one of the most familiar names in UK retailing, and is likely the first store that comes to mind when thinking of the needs of pregnant women, babies and children up to the age of 10. There is a lot of overlap with ELC in the post-natal market and so their merger and co-location of stores makes sense from a business perspective. Today there are over 225 ELC stores in the UK, and 115 stores internationally operated by licence partners in locations including UAE, Hong Kong, Australia, New Zealand, Malaysia Ireland, and Poland. Catalogues sales have remained a core part of the business. Early Learning Centre prints and distributes over 4 million catalogues in the UK alone each year. Over 80 percent of the products sold by Early Learning Centre are own brand. ELC operate through leash distinct channels to market UK stores, Direct (internet-based businesses and catalogue mail order), and International.(ELC, 2008)The Early Learning Centre brand provides eight major categories of toys and games primarily for children in the 0-6 year age range. They segregate their items based on sex and age of children for whom the toys are designed. This approach helps greatly during customers search through the products. As a result customers can put less effort into the search process and it adds to their overall shopping experience.Knowing that changing attitude of consumer is generally very difficult. Instead ELC try to influence feelings, either by advertising itself to create pleasant, warm feeling about products, and hope that will be enough to make customer like the product, or they use classical condition by e.g. showing happy, stress free children playing with ELC toys.the great clear acctive play and fresh air fun(pictured copied from http//www.kidstart.co.uk/partner/ELC.aspx)Another strategy of ELC involves exposure effect. By providing advertisement and pictures outside the store and in magazines known to be popular amongst parents of 0-6 year old children and those adults likely to buy presents for such children, ELC ensures customers are more familiar with the product and thus more likely to purchase it.Aware that changing behaviour of customers can be challenging, one strategy employed by ELC is to introduce seasonal price discounts to excuse in consumer minds the switch, based on a good deal principle. Aft er the switch if a customer was more satisfied with the ELC product than with a previously used brand, there is a large likelihood that he or she will stick with the ELC products for future purchases even when the price goes back to normal.Another marketing strategy employed by ELC is engaging the gimmick mindset of their target audience. ELC stores are usually located in big shopping malls, specifically in those locations in the mall that are frequently used/passed by customers on their way in or out. not only are toys displayed, many toys at the entrance, but also end-to-end the store, are out of their packaging to enable better investigation of product prior to purchase. This is also a great way to attract the children of dismission shoppers mothers, families into the shop to play. When this happens parents will be forced to come into the shop and during that time possibly will purchase one or more of the toys that their children were attracted to, or indeed other