Role of Consumers in Marketing - Essay Example

Role of Consumers in Marketing Every business has to operate in an environment where it interacts with other companies, the regulators, and its clients. The company shall begin by taking notice of the existing competition, customer characteristics, power of suppliers and distribution channels as a way of measuring its strengths against its competition (Keller, 2009). From the marketing perspective, managing the interactions between the company and its customers becomes the priority. Managers within the firm can control some environmental factors while, in some cases, the company has to adopt the factors as they are and incorporate them into its decision-making process. This paper shall look at the role of consumers in developing a marketing plan, and the interaction between consumers, the operating environment, and the marketers. The macro environment forces are a combination of factors that affect the operations of every organisation in all industries (Keller, 2009). Such factors include the government policies, economic environment, and the cultural aspects of where the business operates. Such factors affect each company differently depending on the nature and kind of its produce. Competitors do fall within the category of the microenvironment but when the competitor is large enough to control the industry the other competitors regard it as part of the macro environment. The economic environment analyzes the level of demand for the existing products, and higher production reduces prices thereby leading to an increase in consumption. The socio-cultural environment forces comprise of the demographic forces, cultural forces, social responsibility, and ethics and consumerism. The cultural environment, on the other hand, looks at the shared beliefs and behaviours within the operating environment. In particular, social behaviour and cultural attitudes determine consumer behaviour and purchasing decisions. These socio-cultural factors manifest in different ways, and the company has to incorporate them in its sales forecast. As an example, a company with operations in Thailand has to consider the role of Buddhism in the society given that most men have to spend a number of years as Monks. This means that they will have reduced expenditure for such a period, and the company sales will decline slightly. The political environment affects businesses in a number of ways with the main one being legislations by political parties. Such legislations affect the rate of taxation, conditions for operating in the country, and the nature and quality of output. The same legislations affect patenting, where existing laws shall dictate how a company shall patent its products and how many. The government shall protect the interests of its citizens by requiring all companies to inform clients about the contents of their products with usage instructions. Government regulations are so involving such that a change in the policies shall have significant changes in organisational operations (Kotler & Keller, 2009). Ever changing nature of the marketing environment The current and future changes of the global marketing environment are unprecedented and quite complex to determine. These changes will introduce numerous dimensions and trends an example being the rising levels of connectedness from local to global scales. With the rapid changes, consumers and authorities will push for corporate social responsibility, ethics, and sustainability. On their part, marketers will push for new business models, commercialising production lines and improve on the marketing paradigm (Kotler & Keller, 2009). The economic environment has changed a lot in recent years with many countries working hard to reduce debt, therefore, increasing savings while boosting growth has been a challenge. This scenario shows that it is easier for a government to reduce expenditure but hard to come up with reforms that boost growth and in cases where the reforms work, they will take a number of years for a positive outcome. Kotler and Keller (2009) say that changes in market forces have made it possible for emerging economies to grow at a higher rate than the developed ones. The rate of population shall remain constant in developed countries, but it shall double in the developing countries in the next thirty years. These people shall provide demand for products, and they will dictate the rate of growth of urban centers. This active population shall dictate the purchasing power of these economies. In the developed countries, the aging population keeps on increasing every year and by the year 2048, people aged over sixty years will be more than those who are under fifteen years. Marketers shall have much fewer target groups to sell to given that the aging population may not buy much compared to the younger generation. Technology shall play a critical role in the evolution of marketing through sustaining marketing activities. On the other hand, marketing shall determine the kind of technologies manufacturers will produce as a way of addressing consumer needs and marketing requirements. With improved digital communications, consumers and markets shall be able to solve issues in their relationships with consumers being able to confirm the authenticity of marketing information. Current technology has improved access to information leading to more informed consumers and higher rates of sales. Role of consumers in the formulation of a marketing strategy A consumer is the final user of a product or service. Consumer behaviour refers to how people make purchase decisions under the prevailing conditions. Marketers begin by understanding this behaviour so that they can formulate appropriate marketing stimuli that shall boost sales and increase brand loyalty. The beginning point of understanding consumer behaviour is examining purchase decision processes that include any economic changes, which may trigger consumers to buy more of a given product. From research, consumers spend on average 21 minutes to buy grocery items and in total, the consumer shall cover 24% of the market store while shopping. While trying to understand what makes people go for shopping, marketers found out that 60% of all purchases are not planned for. This leaves marketers in a fix when trying to make decisions regarding consumer behaviour given that most purchase decisions are unpredictable. Each consumer changes purchasing behaviour depending on pressing individual needs and interpersonal factors. In order to understand these needs, researchers will begin by ascertaining how consumers think with respect to physical and social influencing factors before they make a purchase (Kotler & Keller, 2009). Researchers have found out that every purchase decision, even though randomly made, shall depend on personal emotions, social setting, consumer goals, and values. Abraham Maslow pointed out that consumers buy products to satisfy both physical and biological needs. Such needs could be related to safety and security, to satisfy love and affiliation with others, to gain prestige and esteem or for self-fulfillment. Once marketers learn these consumption needs of consumers, they shall avail products that take care of consumers’ immediate needs (Danciu, 2013). Consumers also vary when they determine whose needs they want to satisfy with the product they intend to buy. In such a scenario, marketers shall avail a product with specific features for the intended use, and they will charge a premium for the extra features. Such decisions determine if a consumer shall buy a product just because it is on fashion, new, or because it satisfies a certain need. Another factor that affects purchase decision is the importance attached to a commodity (FamilyMart, 2012). As an example, a consumer shall spend less time choosing a packet of chocolate from many chocolates in comparison to buying a vehicle. In this case, marketers shall take time to package the vehicle more appropriately than one shall do for the chocolate. Marketing plan Danciu (2013) says that for the marketer to design and implement an effective marketing plan, he will begin by understanding buyer behaviour and steps each consumer takes when making a purchase decision. Consumers make the work of marketers easy given that on many occasions, their actions are predictable. On the marketing plan, the marketer shall recognise that consumption begins with a need followed by searching for information about a product that shall satisfy that need. After getting information, the consumer shall go to the place where he shall find that product. At this point, the consumer will compare various product mixes and prices then pick the one offering the highest satisfaction. Kotler (2002) says that the marketing plan employs strategies that enhance communication with consumers as they look for information about a product that satisfies their needs. A company will employ competitive analysis strategies as a way of finding out benefits to consumers when they use its products in comparison with what competitors have, thereby enabling the company to gauge how competitive its product is. Many companies strive hard to create good relations with consumers while looking for strategies for retaining such consumers (Kotler, 2002). A marketing plan shall come in to list ways of retaining consumers while developing long-term relationships. One of the ways of increasing sales is by offering discounts or giving promotional items after every purchase. In addition, the plan should provide ways of offering after sales service while analysing the customer experience as the customer consumes the product. With a good marketing plan, a company will segment its market, conduct research on each segment, and understand consumer requirements then proceed to design promotional strategies aimed at increasing market share (FamilyMart, 2012). When the company has determined its consumer preferences, it becomes easy to design a product that shall satisfy those needs there by providing an avenue for advertising and creating good public relations with the consumers. A marketing plan is one tool each marketer shall use to understand the current operating environment and its consumers. How a marketer relates with the current and potential consumers shall determine the rate of growth of the market share. Marketers should create a good relationship with consumers as a way of creating consumer loyalty and increasing consumption. Reference List Danciu, V. (2013). The Future of Marketing: An Appropriate Response to the Environment Changes. Theoretical and Applied Economics, 558(2), 33-52. FamilyMart. (2012). Market Environment and Business Strategy. 29-39. Keller, K.L. (2009). Building strong Brands in a Modern Marketing Communications Environment. Journal of Marketing Communications, 15(2-3), 140-152. Kotler, P. (2002). Marketing Management. Boston, MA: Pearson Custom Publishing. Kotler, P., & Keller, K.L. (2009). Marketing Management. Upper Saddle River, NJ. Prentice- Hall. Read More