Why should you focus on consumer behavior for targeted marketing?
Javier Ramirez
Liberty University
BUSI 520: Strategic Marketing Management
Muriel Wilson
January 4, 2022
Why should you focus on consumer behaviour for targeted marketing?
Imagine standing at the supermarket, in front of the hair products aisle, and choosing a
single shampoo from the dozens of varieties sitting there.
You browse through the product descriptions and every shampoo claims to make your
hair ‘shiny, bouncy, voluminous and smooth,’ and they all contain the same ingredients like
aloe vera or lavender. You take a while to consider what’s right before picking one that
claims to deliver value for money. The thought process that led to your choice forms the
crux of consumer behaviour in marketing.
In a world where you can get 50 different varieties of instant noodles under the same
roof, it’s becoming increasingly difficult for brands to push their products to consumers.
Being novel is not enough—your product needs to be good-quality, affordable, and
exclusive at the same time! Understanding what consumers want can give your product an
edge over the competition.
Realising why consumers prefer certain products over others can help you market your
product to the right audience and drive home more revenue. This type of marketing, known
as targeted marketing, can refine your marketing strategies—you know exactly whom to sell
to, how much to sell and what price you need to sell at. If you are interested in a marketing
or business career, an innate understanding of consumer behaviour can develop your
marketing instincts and allow you to shine.
If you want to learn how consumer behaviour can impact targeted marketing, this blog
is for you; we’ll delve into the definition of consumer behaviour and tell you why it’s
important.
What is consumer behaviour?
This is essentially a study of the psychology behind buying habits and conducting
research will help you dig deeper into why certain age groups prefer specific products, what
they like about it and if they would buy a different product with the exact same
composition. This allows you to understand who your target audience is and refine your
product as per customer preferences.
From large multinational organisations to small neighbourhood retail stores, all sales
establishments can benefit from understanding target market analysis. A common example
of companies utilising consumer psychology is placing small, accessible items near the cash
register. As most people have to wait at the counter to pay for their purchases, they may
use this time to browse these items, which may influence their decision to pick up a few
extra things.
Important aspects of consumer behaviour that affect marketing strategies
You might find understanding the role of consumer behaviour in business, difficult, as it
might not always be linear or logical. However, most consumers follow certain patterns in
their spending habits. Being aware of the types of target markets and the factors influencing
these patterns can help you make educated guesses about the way consumers perceive
your product.
Social factors: Factors like the culture of your customers, their societal values,
educational background and lifestyle all determine what kind of products they buy. For
example, if the customers coming to your establishment are deeply religious, they will not
like products that hurt their sentimental beliefs.
Personal-need factors: Your product needs to fulfil a purpose to be bought;
otherwise, customers will not buy your product, even if they have the money to. For
instance, if you place fancy toys in the local grocery store, chances are that very few toys
will be bought.
Economic factors: You should keep in mind that the cost of your product can be its
greatest advantage or deterrent. Comparing the prices of similar products is an important
aspect of consumer behaviour. If you price it too low, your product can be perceived as
being of low-quality. If you price it too high, people will not buy your product as they can get
cheaper alternatives.
How understanding consumer behaviour helps with targeted marketing
Understanding the motivation behind customer behaviour can help you utilise them to
your advantage and influence customer mentalities. Here are some ways in which you can
use targeted marketing, backed by consumer behaviour research, for the benefit of your
business:
You can mitigate risks for your business: If you are considering releasing a new
product, it’s best to test market sentiments by releasing it in a controlled environment - this
is why most companies distribute free samples to judge customer reactions.
Doing this can help you make the necessary adjustments before releasing your products
on a larger-scale. This can also mitigate economic losses of large-scale production if your
product proves to be unpopular.
You can create an effective marketing strategy: Studying consumer behaviour can
help you build a successful marketing strategy. Armed with the knowledge of what your
customers want, your marketing campaigns can hit the points that lead to the product
having maximum impact. Important questions related to price and promotion of the
product will also be answered at this stage.
You can achieve better customer insights: A study of consumer behaviour can give
you an insight into their brains. You can conduct online surveys, distribute free samples with
feedback cards or hold personal interviews. Analysing the feedback and applying it to your
marketing strategies can improve your chances of success.
The way your business communicates with clients and customers determines sales.
Consumer behaviour can help you connect with your customers by crafting the message of
your campaign based on what’s important to them.
Consumer behaviour is an important component of the syllabus of any marketing
degree. If you wish to gain expertise in consumer behaviour, you should consider obtaining
a marketing qualification.
Before moving ahead for any other details it is the first step to know that what
consumer behavior is? In general terms, consumer behavior is the studying of how
individuals make their buying decisions while opting to buy any product and service. There
are different facets of consumer behavior while making any purchase such as, what
motivates him to buy a product or service, what he feels for that particular thing, his
perceptions or factors like his daily buying of necessary things.
While entering the market it is a vital aspect to understand the consumer behavior as
they can comprehend the assumption for the buyers. It assists with understanding what
makes a customer purchase an item. It is critical to evaluate the sort of items preferred by
customers with the goal that they can deliver it to the market. Marketers can even get an
idea of the preferences of customers and then configure their marketing endeavors
dependent on the findings.
On what factors do Consumer Behaviour rely upon?
Let us dig deeper and understand the various consumer behavior factors in brief that
how they are responsible for marketing purposes. below mentioned are three factors:
Psychological, Personal, and social.
Psychological Factors
In the present scenario, buyers are being influenced by numerous issues that are special
to their perspective. Psychological components can incorporate the impression of a need or
circumstance, the individual’s capacity to learn or get info, and a person’s attitude. Every
individual will react to an advertising message dependent on their perceptions and
perspectives. Subsequently, advertisers should consider these Psychological components
when making efforts, guaranteeing that their message will speak to their intended target
group.
Personal Factors
Personal Components are attributes that are explicit to a person and may not identify
with others inside a similar group. These qualities may incorporate how an individual
decides, their extraordinary needs and interests, and assessments. While discussing more
about the personal factors, choices are additionally impacted by age, sex, background,
culture, and other personal choices.
For instance, an elderly man will probably have diverse buying practices than a youth buying
anything, which means they will pick items that may not be liked by a millennial.
