Advertising Assignment III

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Course Learning Outcomes for Unit III Upon completion of this unit, students should be able to:

2. Assess the impact of advertising on consumer-buying behavior.

3. Analyze the importance of considering the consumer in business-to-consumer (B2C) and business-to-business (B2B) applications.

4. Discuss the process of segmentation by identifying the target market and positioning strategies.

4.1 Explain how a company segments an identified market by utilizing demographic, behavioral, geographic, and psychographic criteria.

4.2 Identify the target market(s) for a company. 4.3 Explain the positioning strategy for a company.

Course/Unit Learning Outcomes

Learning Activity

2

Unit Lesson

Chapter 3, pp. 54–83 Chapter 4, pp. 90–113 Unit III Case Study

3

Unit Lesson

Chapter 3, pp. 54–83 Chapter 4, pp. 90–113 Unit III Case Study

4.1

Unit Lesson

Chapter 3, pp. 54–83 Chapter 4, pp. 90–113 Unit III Case Study

4.2

Unit Lesson

Chapter 3, pp. 54–83 Chapter 4, pp. 90–113 Unit III Case Study

4.3

Unit Lesson

Chapter 3, pp. 54–83 Chapter 4, pp. 90–113 Unit III Case Study

Required Unit Resources

Chapter 3: Buyer Behaviors, pp. 54–83

Chapter 4: The IMC Planning Process, pp. 90–113

Unit Lesson Marketers strive to understand consumer behavior with the end goal of being able to provide products/services that consumers want and need. Buying decisions can be separated into two types: the business-to-consumer (B2C) and the business-to-business (B2B) models. The B2C model is characterized by

UNIT III STUDY GUIDE

Understanding the Consumer

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a business selling the products/services to the consumer, and the B2B model suggests that a business is selling the products/services to another business who will then use the products in producing their own products/services. Consumers go through a systemized approach when deciding on which products to purchase. Think about Sally and Ed Jones—a married couple who just recently had twins. After having the twins, they realized that their Mini Cooper automobile was not going to be large enough to comfortably transport their family. This would represent the problem-recognition phase of the buying process. Being on a limited budget, Sally and Ed understood that this purchase could not be taken lightly, and the decision would require a significant amount of research. As they entered the information-search phase, they conducted an external search, looking at all of their options by analyzing the advantages and disadvantages of each. At this point, Sally and Ed needed to thoroughly evaluate their alternatives, leading into the final purchase decision. After the purchase was made, they evaluated whether this new vehicle actually served their growing family’s needs. A summary of this buying process is identified below:

 Problem recognition: The consumer recognizes his or her own need or want, which is identified through a gap in the perceived needs.

 Information search: The consumer begins an internal search by thinking about the brands to consider, and the consumer begins an external search by accumulating information from a variety of external sources. This external search could include friends, books, magazines, the Internet, salespeople, and other sources of information.

 Evaluation of alternatives: The consumer evaluates a variety of alternatives, including both brands previously under consideration as well as new ones.

 Purchase decision: The consumer makes a decision and purchases the product/service.

 Post-purchase evaluation: The consumer evaluates the purchase to determine if it fulfills the needs and wants.

Understanding this process will enable advertisers to produce the most effective advertising campaigns, thus maximizing their already limited marketing dollars. Consumer buying continues to fluctuate, possibly as a product of changing trends in the consumer-buying environment. These trends represent a need for advertisers to refine their traditional advertising strategies and re-focus on how these trends are affecting consumer-buying behavior. The following list contains such trends:

 Age complexity: Because of advancements and exposure to media, children are growing up faster. On the other hand, some elderly adults tend to like much younger fashions. This creates a complex environment for determining age generalities when it comes to advertising.

 Gender complexity: Traditional roles—lifestyles and interests of men and women—have changed, creating a more complex gender identification model.

 Busy lifestyles: Consumers are busier than ever, which creates incredible time pressures. This creates challenges for advertisers with respect to actually reaching these busy consumers.

 Diverse lifestyles: Young people are not following the traditional life-cycle paths pursued by their parents and grandparents. This suggests that advertisers need to create alternate advertisements to appeal to these new life stages.

 Communication advances: Consumers are enjoying significant advances in technology, which are primarily driven by the Internet; this creates opportunities and challenges for advertisers.

 Focus on healthy living: Consumers are trending toward a healthier and younger lifestyle, focusing on nutrition and regular exercise. Advertisers need to take this into account when creating advertisements.

The B2B buying environment suggests that a business is selling a product/service to another business rather than selling a product/service to a consumer. This environment is quite different than the B2C for a variety of reasons. The B2B buyer is interested in purchasing products that will enhance their product offering. Additionally, they are purchasing in significant quantities and have multiple decision makers involved in the process. These multiple decision makers are referred to as the buying center—each having a designated responsibility in the overall B2B buying decisions. Members of the buying center might include the following:

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 Users: These individuals represent those who are actually using the product.

 Buyers: These individuals actually make the purchase.

 Influencers: These individuals provide valuable information to aide in the decision-making process (engineers).

 Deciders: These individuals are responsible for authorizing the purchase.

 Gatekeepers: These individuals control the flow of information to the members of the buying center (administrative personnel).

There are three basic types of B2B purchases, which necessitate different approaches by the marketing and advertising team:

 Straight rebuy: This type of purchase requires little advertising and marketing effort, as the firm is purchasing exactly the same product from the same vendor.

 Modified rebuy: This type of purchase requires more advertising and marketing effort, as the firm is considering different vendors and different product types.

 New task buy: This type of purchase requires the most advertising and marketing efforts, as the company is looking to purchase a completely new product from a company that they may have never purchased from.

The B2B buying process is more complicated and lengthy than the typical B2C buying process. As mentioned earlier, the involvement of multiple decision makers and the purchasing of significant quantities of products provide challenges and opportunities. Once the needs have been identified, buyers develop specifications of exactly what the product is that they are looking to purchase. The next step involves asking potential vendors to submit bids. The buyer then evaluates the bids, negotiations develop, and the vendor of choice is selected. This vendor then “wins” the opportunity to sell their product to the company. This coveted position provides the opportunity for years of a profitable partnership.

Flash Cards

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