group project of MKTG410 .

Nawaf Alhayef

Nora Perez Ruiz

Rosa Servin

* The project requires each team to develop a well-detailed and supported profile of consumers of some product or service to be selected by the team members. In order to understand consumers, it is necessary:

(1) To describe them in terms of demographics and lifestyles, and identify a useful basis (or bases) for segmenting the market

(2) To highlight those factors that affect consumer's perception of the product consumption

(3) To understand the impact of learning on consumption

(4) To determine how consumers attitudes form and change by marketing communication activities of the company

(5) To explicate the nature of the typical purchase decision process for the product category

Rosa: The success of every business, company, organization, or retail depends on how many customers they are able to sell their product or service. We all know that but do we all understand what it takes or how much effort it takes to be able to convince the consumer to even consider your product in this modern, dense with competition world?! Businesses spend a good amount of time and money to psychological research of their ideal consumer, they need to know what people buy and why, the consumer’s identity, social status, decision-making process, and so much more additional information. Customers, on the other hand, want companies to understand them and offer them the best product they need and want for the best price they can afford, and obviously, Walmart is doing a great job at that, considering they are number one on the Fortune 500 list and for the sixth year in a row.

Demographics is one of the oldest and widely used ways to segment the consumer base, it is been around for so long that businesses nowadays are starting to forget about it and try to move on to more modern and interesting approaches. But there is a reason why Walmart still relies heavily on this aspect of segmentation. The world is changing, families are not what they used to be, fertility rates are declining, the age and income distribution are shifting, and all of this is affecting the businesses. The decreasing birth rate and more and more people deciding to have fewer kids or none at all mean fewer people shopping. Another interesting point is that the younger generations’ lives are completely different than the baby boomers, they used to have more buying power, more opportunities and less debt, so they were able to spend more money shopping. The population is aging, there will be over 60 million people over the age of 65 in the next five years, and unfortunately, a lot of retailers fail to notice this fact, adjust their target audience and stop favoring the 24-to-44 age demographic.

Walmart has a vast and growing consumer population because they have a wide-range target audience. Their low prices and great quality products attract people from all demographics and lifestyles. You can walk into any Walmart and know its a one stop shop, from their grocery section to their automotive services. This welcomes all busy mothers that don’t want to go to 3 different stores to pick up a quick dinner, diapers and get an oil change all at the same time.

Segmentations have also been used to help keep their stores organized and maximize consumer spending. For example, keeping all of the clothes segmented by age, and gender,or keeping the food all the way in the back. Walmart has a segment for all types of people.It does not matter their age, or gender there are products and services for everyone. It takes a lot of planning on how a store will be set up. Usually Walmarts have their food areas all the way to the back of the store to insure that you walk through 1 or 2 aisle before you get to your destination and on your way there you find something you need or would like. They also have all different kinds of departments that will attract people from all different intrences. They have the outdoors area next to the hunting gear so you can see something that you might be missing. They also have the automobile, tool and housing department together because these aisles are targeting a handyman kind of person. All of the electronics are part of the store to attract students and other gamers. All of these segments have a purpose and a target audience to help entice the consumers.

NAWAF:

To determine how consumers attitudes form and change by marketing communication activities of the Wal-Mart Company

Customers comprise of a very important asset to a business. The success of any company depends partly on other input factors and largely on the number of customers it can sell its products and services to. it is common knowledge that all businesses should seek to expand their market share by attracting and retaining the existing customers but most people in management do not know the strategies to use to convince customers and attract them to their business and product in this modern competitive times. Wal-Mart has spent a great amount of money on marketing since it was formed and even after becoming the leading retail company in the world, it still spends a fortune on marketing.

Before presenting anything for sale to the customer, Walmart starts by knowing the customer. Demography is one of the key attributes that are used in customer segmentation. Different Walmart stores display and present products to the customers based on the characteristics of the populations have at different times. The Approach used by the company in the 1980s may not be applied today. The changing demographic factors such as family size, age, and income distribution affect the decision making of the company’s marketing department. For example, a decrease in birth rates and the existence of smaller family sizes as well as more people has led to a decline in sales of children's products and focusing more on the aging population. Lack of focus on the population characteristics may lead to losses and eventual closure of the business.

Businesses spent more time and money on marketing to convince their ideal customers to keep on buying from them to keep the business running and revenue coming. The marketing process starts from research and development where the company engages in surveying to know what the customer needs, at what time, price and the reason why one product is more demanded than the other. Customer needs keep on changing due to changes in psychological welfare, social status, demographics, consumer’s identity, changes in government policies and availability of alternative goods. These factors contribute to changing the consumer attitude towards a product and the producer must keep the customer informed as much as possible to keep the relationship alive. On the other hand, customers want a company that understands them, their decision-making process, the amount they are able and willing to pay for a product and service and the quality of the product that can serve them the best. When there is a disconnect between what companies avail to the market and what the customer needs there is likely to be a poor relationship between the two parties due to the presence of unsatisfied needs. Wal-Mart has been doing a great job to win the customers and creating an environment where the customers can feel free to shop based on the information presented to them, and the product and service delivery process of the company.