Analysis of Consumers Behavior Is an Important Strategy in Marketing - Research Paper Example

Consumer behaviour and professional practice Introduction The study of consumer’s behavior is an important strategy in marketing. Consumer’s behavior is defined as a study of groups, individuals or organizations and the way they secure, select and dispose services, products and ideas aimed at satisfying their needs and the results of such processes on the society and the consumer (Dahl, 2009). Marketing is considered as a set of activity and ways of creating, delivering, communicating and exchanging products and services which satisfy the needs of the customers. It can also be considered as company’s related activities aimed at selling and buying of services and products. Major marketing activities entail, advertisement and supply of goods and delivering services to the people. Consumer behaviors such as thoughts, feelings, environment, attitude and self concept were among the challenges i encountered when i purchased a laptop from the Samsung Company recently. I realized that factors such as attitude, reference group, self concept and satisfaction play a crucial role in decision making process. Employees working in the marketing department of as business unit are tasked with creating a good relationship with the customers and selling the brand of the company. For a firm or a company to function well in the competitive market then issues such as thoughts of consumers, consumer environmental influence and consumer motivation should be put into context (Chartrand, 2009). Companies have to invest in gathering the knowledge on the behavior of the consumer. The behavior of the consumer is based on how they dispose, use and purchase of the products. Consumer’s use of the product is of interest to the organization. Studies on consumers’ behavior are relevant to the society. Purchase of high fat food by most people will affect the health of the people in the area. Marketing do not necessarily deal with the sales and advertisement as many people thing. It involves all the activities in the company aimed and extending and creating long term relationship with the consumers who are the main point of focus (Dijksterhuis et al, 2012). Some of the small tasks such as responding to a client’s call, organizing forums that invites customers to witness the progress of the company and informing the consumer of the new products in the market are important in stabling along term relationship with the client. The main goal of marketing is to satisfy consumers’ needs by provision of products and services and hence providing profit for the company. The self concept and consumer behavior Self concept refers to a person’s beliefs concerning their attributes and how they are able to process such qualities. The person’s self concept influences how they communicate, how they dress and their choice on many issues in life. It is true that the self concepts can be influenced by the environment that the person dwells in (Engel & Kollat, 1968). such issues plays an essential role in marketing of products. Marketing department have to carry out a research with the aim of getting to know what the consumers believe in. such strategies are of great importance in coming up with strategies targeting the same consumers in question. Role theory indicates that individuals behave basing on their social categories. Social roles entail norms, duties, behaviors and expectations. The theory asserts that individual behaviors are linked to their social factors. People’s actions are influenced by the place, the audience and time. The environment also plays a crucial role in the person’s behaviors and choices. People can make choices on the products to purchase depending on what their peers choose. The relationships that exist between an individual and other peoples in the society are important in determining his self concept. The individual may be influenced either positively or negatively. An individual’s self esteem influences the decisions they make in life and the way they relate with one another. Self concept and business are related. The consumer is usually the point of focus in marketing strategies. one of the approaches in marketing like marketing orientation tend to focus mainly on building a long lasting relationship with the consumer with the aim of building their trust the product or service being marketed. A good business should invest much of their resources and time in understanding the consumer (Hoyer& MacInnis, 2001).. Doing a research on the needs of the consumer and their choices tend to reward the business. The consumer should be involved in the business for progress to occur. Media and consumer‘s choice The media plays an important role in marketing. Media has an advantage of reaching millions of people around the world. It has been used as a source of information to the people ranging from business oriented, political, science and technology. Business news is important in marketing since the media has been utilized as an advertisement avenue for goods and services. Goods and services advertised in the media reach many people in the world. However competition still exists and therefore companies have to package their goods and services in a way that may attract more people compared to the product produced by the other competing firms. Competition that exist have forced companies such as Ipsos MediaCT to develop the love me, pick me and share me strategies. The approach is focus on understanding the media audience relationship basing on the content of the media and their brands. The audience in the media are believed to make decisions that are broader compared to the FMCG purchase where choices of brand is made. Minimal switching cost is realized in cases where consumers make choice on the content to consume. The presence of technological changes has impacted on the choices that consumer make due to emergency of a variety of choices. Companies have to compete in developing of a better brand because of the increased in the speed of advertisement taking place in the media. Audience and advertisers are the stakeholders that drive the revenue of the media providers that are tasked with commercial content provision. The two stakeholders’ needs may end up clashing leaving the providers with the need to satisfy them. The framework developed by the Ipsos MediaCT is based on three pillars (Jacoby, 2011). They focus on generating potential for future growth, sharing of attention and actions that includes monetizing audience relationships. Database created by the media company is aimed at comparing the score of the individual contents. The company has found out the factors that differentiate the best United Kingdom’s TV programmes. It has also given an insight of where changes are supposed to be applied to enable success in the future. Media companies should change strategies and focus on social media in order to reach more young people with their content. Current technology and the emergence of devices such as tablets , phones, laptops , game consoles and connected TVs has resulted to people being connected all the time. The presence of such connections has influenced the business world, especially on issues targeting consumer choices. The sharing of information on media has resulted to advertisement of products reach more and more people all over the world. Consumer connectivity is believed to expand markets all over the world. Entertainment brands which majorly targets the youths in the world should focus on understanding the gaming and music behaviors of their consumers so as to attract the people and develop contents that will raise consumer’s trusts. The brands reaching the connected consumers are facing a lot of challenges due to the complex communications that exist between the target populations. The use of such devices also differs from one market to the other as revealed by the Ipsos MediaCT. The emergency of new devices in the market is making the choices of the consumers broader and dynamic. Consumers with multiple devices are known to spend more time on line hence are exposed to varieties of advertisements. Attitude and attitude formation Consumer tends to relate with one another in day to day life. Social life comprises of interactions among the different people we meet during day to day life. A consumer is able to meet friends, peers, teachers and all the many people in the society who ends up influencing their attitude toward the choices they make in purchasing of goods. The attitude of the consumer is their stand regarding issues, objects, groups or institution. A consumer who has trust in a product such as a Samsung phone from the Samsung Company will find it difficult to purchase a similar product from a different company. The other company will therefore focus changing his attitude to enable the person to purchase the product (Jacoby, 2011). Actions and information a consumer is exposed to can help in changing his attitude and choice. People tend to assess the information they consume in day to day life. The information received is compared with the previous view on the same issue. The information the consumer receives regarding a certain product is judged and distorted to fit in his own belief and choice. Marketing research is therefore essential to be able to understand the consumer’s attitude toward a certain product in the market and come up with strategies to convince them on buying the products. The more consumers are involved the easier it is to change their attitude toward a certain product. Just like communication, information being channeled to the consumer is to be effective only when the involvement is high. The marketers can also focus on emotional appeal during advertisement of the product in context. Factors such as jingles, celebrity endorsers, packaging designs are crucial in changing the attitude of the consumers. Harmony between feeling, behaviors and thoughts is valued by most consumers. Changes in attitude are highly recorded in an event of inconsistencies. People have more stable attitudes in cases where as state of balance exist. The use of celebrities can be important in creation of relationship between a product and a consumer. The celebrities are majorly used to endorse such products to help influence and change the behaviors of their followers. In order to change the attitude of the consumer towards a certain products, several issues are put in context. The product or brand can be associated with a specific group, person or event. The motivational functions of the consumer should also be changed. Marketers should be aware that, attitude plays a role in the way consumers make choices pertaining to the products they are willing to purchase (Levy 2010). They should be willing to invest and collect data from the consumers and understand the attitudes that exist. They should also be aware that attitudes are not in born; they can be influenced and changed depending on the various circumstances. The marketers’ understanding can help in formulation of long term strategies aimed at change. There exist various media aimed at passing information from the producer to the consumer. Organizations have come up with strategic ways of passing information to the consumer regarding the emergence of new products in the market. The variety of ads in the media is just among the examples of what the marketing department utilizes in the provision of information to the consumer. A good example is when a consumer plans to purchase a phone. Many ads of difference phones exist in the media. The consumer will have to go through each and every detail to be able to purchase one of the phones. However some consumers can be influenced by friends to purchase the products. Satisfaction and consumer behavior The study used market segmented approach in the investigation of customer satisfaction. The consumer search behavior played a critical role during data collection process in the study. The finding of the study revealed that the satisfaction rely on the type of consumer. Active consumers are believed to search the information targeting the product before they make a purchase toward it (Lunt, 2009). Passive consumers on the other hand do not waste much time on looking for information. They usually have the kind of product in mind. They only purchase the product with the information they have in mind. However such a group is easily convinced in purchasing of the goods. Consumer’s satisfaction is believed to play an important role in the current business environment. More research has been directed towards measuring the satisfaction of the customers. Instruments for measuring the satisfaction of the customers have also been created. The study reveals that there exists a positive relationship between the satisfactions of the consumers and their behaviors toward purchasing of certain products in the market. The satisfaction of the consumer tends to impact directly on the consumers behaviors. The study indicate that word of mouth communication tend to relate positively with consumer satisfaction. Six dimensions that measures customer’s satisfaction are as follows, reliability, value of money, product innovation, convenience and the competencies of the employee. Companies should focus on developing ways that will boost positive response of customers toward the products in the market. Some of the strategies that are beneficial to the companies include avoiding service problem from occurring, dealing with the consumers who are not satisfied effectively meeting the customers’ needs and solving problems that target delivery of the services. The customer’s complaints can also be dealt with in a positive manner. The quality of a product and not its price appear to influence the choice made by the consumer in purchase of certain products, from a study conducted by Mallalieu (2011). It was revealed that factors such as friend’s opinions, quality of price, advertised goods, and comparison of prices and strength of the brand affect the choice of consumers all over the world. Other studies have revealed that indicators used to measure the satisfaction of the customer vary from each other. The knowledge of the consumer pertaining to a certain product helps reveal the behavior of the customer. Companies should focus on educating the customers on the products currently in the market. They should focus on educating employees on empathy, responsibilities and reliability to make them able to boost customer satisfaction. Reference groups Marketers subscribing to digital technology have developed new ways of collecting data from the consumers. One of the strategies employed is the use of interactive advertisement. The approach includes artificial intelligence, analysis of social network, semantics, neuroscience and mining of data. Many policy makers and consumers are not informed of how advertisement is done online and its impact in the business world. Digital marketing tracks the consumer based on the current sophisticated technologies that includes self turning and data optimization. The data collection methods have been transferred into business models that shape gaming platforms, social media, mobile devices and online video. The approach is known as the Big Data era. More methods are being developed to harness consumer information online. Major companies in the world are shifting to online advertisement. Examples of such companies are Google, face book, yahoo and micro soft. These companies are depending on interactive marketing with the consumers all over the world. The strategy is designed to harness data from individuals who subscribe to social media. The companies focus on creating a long term relationships and connection between the products, the brand and the consumers. The approach engages the consumer in major interactive forums such as games, animations, and videos with the aim of collecting data. The strategy relies on neuro marketing form that is aimed at perfecting the ad which precedes the consumer’s decision making and is registered in the subconscious mind. More and more companies are spending a lot of money in digital advertisement. Marketing research through social media has become one of the most important strategies in the current world. The methods employed in tracing data from the consumers are based on the individual use of the ads in the technological gadgets such as phones, and computers (Bennett,& Kassarjian,2000). The consumer is convinced to purchase products and services that are advertised in the media. The companies are now competing to present their ads to the people on various occasions. Such occasions include, when they are using the phones, watching movies online and utilizing the web on other issues such as research. The role of digital marketing has is continuously increasing. The advertisement has now focused on memory, emotions and attention. Consumer’s reaction on certain ads in the web has enabled companied involved to get the information required in order to develop products that suit people’s demand (Belk, 2008). Efforts are being made to educate the public and policy makers about the privacy and consumer welfare threats brought about digital marketing. Conclusions Marketing strategies that are based on investing and harnessing knowledge pertaining to the consumer are known to make impacts in the business world. Knowledge on the consumer’s behavior is vital for the growth of the organization. Companies should invest in understanding the psychology of consumers for example, their thoughts, feelings, reasoning and their choices on the brands in the market. The media fraternity has to carry out research to identify the programmes that consumers choose. The behavior of the consumer during shopping is vital to the marketing department. Marketers should depend on the current technological advances to harness data from the consumers. The data identified is beneficial in creation of strategies that will boost relationship between the products and the consumers. The current competitive market, call upon businesses to focus on designing an advertisement ad that will attract the attention of the users. Companies should focus on manufacturing products that are quality in order to satisfy the consumers. The marketing department of the various companies should focus on generating unlimited data on the target consumers. Understanding the self concept of the customers will enable marketers to come up with ways of convincing them to buy the products. Marketers should take an advantage of consumer’s connectivity to extend product information in the market. Knowledge on attitude and attitude formation of the consumers will help organization to design advertisement that may end up prompting the consumer to purchase the products. Marketers should come up with strategies that will help them deal with customer’s external influences like ethnicity, social class and culture (Williams, 2009). Internal factors such as personality, attitude, feelings and motivation should be put in mind while developing strategies that target the consumers. Consumer’s choice on the products in the market depends on the environmental influence. Marketers should be aware of the environment where such consumers are based. Getting to know about consumer environment will enable the company to supply the products and offers services that are in line with the needs of the people. . References Belk, R. 2008. Situational Variables and Consumer Behavior. Journal of Consumer Research, 157-157. Bennett, P., & Kassarjian, H. 2000. Consumer behavior. Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice-Hall. Chartrand, T. 2009. The Role of Conscious Awareness in Consumer Behavior. Journal of Consumer Psychology, 203-210. Dahl, D. 2009. Social Influence and Consumer Behavior. Journal of Consumer Research, Iii-V. Dijksterhuis, A., Smith, P., Vanbaaren, R., & Wigboldus, D. 2012. The Unconscious Consumer: Effects Of Environment On Consumer Behavior. Journal of Consumer Psychology, 193-202. Engel, J., & Kollat, D. 1968. Consumer behavior. New York: Holt, Rinehart, and Winston. Hoyer, W., & MacInnis, D. 2001. Consumer behavior. Boston: Houghton Mifflin. Jacoby, J. 2011. Stimulus-Organism-Response Reconsidered: An Evolutionary Step in Modeling (Consumer) Behavior. Journal of Consumer Psychology, 51-57. Levy, S. 2010. Intepreting Consumer Mythology: A Structural Approach to Consumer Behavior. Journal of Marketing, 49-49. Lunt, P. 2009. Economic socialization: The economic beliefs and behaviours of young people. Cheltenham, UK: Brookfield, Vt., US :. Mallalieu, L. 2011. Consumer perception of salesperson influence strategies: An examination of the influence of consumer goals. Journal of Consumer Behaviour, 257-268. Williams, P. 2009. Emotions and Consumer Behavior. Journal of Consumer Research, 000-000. Read More