Discussion Board #1 Reply #1
Mktg 640--Consumer Behavior
Liberty University
na
May 15, 2020
John,
You did a great job explaining what consumer behavior is. I agree that understanding consumer
behavior concepts allow organizations to pinpoint products that are wanted and desirable and
that will fill in gaps that are currently in the market. Also your point on future opportunities that
companies can latch onto is another great way to use consumer behavior concepts.
Studying consumer behavior is important because it helps marketers understand what
influences consumers’ buying decisions.
By understanding how consumers decide on a product, they can fill in the gap in the market
and identify the products that are needed and the products that are obsolete.
Studying consumer behavior also helps marketers decide how to present their products in a
way that generates a maximum impact on consumers. Understanding consumer buying
behavior is the key secret to reaching and engaging your clients, and converting them to
purchase from you.
A consumer behavior analysis should reveal:
What consumers think and how they feel about various alternatives (brands, products,
etc.);
What influences consumers to choose between various options;
Consumers’ behavior while researching and shopping;
How consumers’ environment (friends, family, media, etc.) influences their behavior.
Consumer behavior is often influenced by different factors. Marketers should study consumer
purchase patterns and figure out buyer trends.
In most cases, brands influence consumer behavior only with the things they can control; think
about how IKEA seems to compel you to spend more than what you intended to every time you
walk into the store.
So what are the factors that influence consumers to say yes? There are three categories of
factors that influence consumer behavior:
1. Personal factors: an individual’s interests and opinions can be influenced by
demographics (age, gender, culture, etc.).
2. Psychological factors: an individual’s response to a marketing message will depend on
their perceptions and attitudes.
3. Social factors: family, friends, education level, social media, income, all influence
consumers’ behavior.
1. Consumer Differentiation:
In marketing, consumer differentiation is a way to distinguish a consumer from several other
consumers. This helps to make a target group of consumers with the same or similar behavior.
Though you have a targeted customer demographic in your business, you can still have
variations between individual customers. Each group of consumers is different, and their needs
and wants differ from other groups. When a marketer is knowledgeable about the
differentiation of each group of consumers, he can design a separate marketing strategy.
Consumer differentiation will help to tailor your strategies to the needs of varying customer
groups. When consumer differentiation is done, you can expand the width and breadth of your
services. You will be able to effectively serve a wider group of people.
2. Retention of Consumers:
“Consumer behavior is of most importance to marketers in business studies as the main aim is
to create and retain customers,” says Professor Theodore Levitt (Kumar, 2004).
Consumer behavior is not just important to attract new customers, but it is very important to
retain existing customers as well. When a customer is happy about a particular product, he/she
will repeat the purchase. Therefore, marketing the product should be done in such a way that it
will convince customers to buy the product again and again.
Thus, it is very evident that creating customers and retaining them is very important. This can
be done only by understanding and paying attention to the consumer’s buying behavior.
3. Design Relevant Marketing Program:
Understanding consumer behavior allows you to create effective marketing strategies. Each
campaign can speak specifically to a separate group of consumers based on their behavior.
For example, while targeting the kid's market, you may have to look out for venues such as TV
ads, school programs, and blogs targeting young mothers. You will need to take different
messaging approaches for different consumer groups.
A study of consumer behavior enables marketers to understand what motivates consumers to
make purchases. Furthermore, the same motive can be utilized in advertising media to stir the
desire to make a purchase. Moreover, marketers should make decisions regarding the brand
logo, coupons, packing, and gifts based on consumer behavior.
4. Predicting Market Trend:
Consumer behavior analysis will be the first to indicate a shift in market trends. For example,
the recent trend of consumers is toward convenience and quality food. This changing market
trend was observed by many brands during a study conducted using 128K customer reviews.
By conducting a consumer behavior study, a company saves a lot of resources that might
otherwise be allocated to produce a product that will not be sold in the market. For example, in
summer, a brand will not waste its resources producing a product that will not sell in summer.
Based on consumer behavior, the company decides on a production strategy that will save on
warehouse costs and marketing costs.
5. Competition:
One of the most important reasons to study consumer behavior is to find out answers to some
of the questions:
Is the customer buying from your competitor?
Why is a consumer buying from your competitor?
What features attract a consumer to your competitor's products?
What gaps are your consumers identifying in your products when compared to your
competitors?
Studying consumer behavior facilitates understanding and facing competition. Based on
consumers’ expectations, your brand can offer competitive advantages.
6. Innovate New Products:
We all know some of the big names, such as New Coke, Crystal Pepsi, Colgate Kitchen Entrées,
Earring Magic Ken Doll, and Wheaties Dunk-a-Balls Cereal. Can you see the similarities between
these products? Yes, they all failed!!
The sad truth is that most new products and new ideas end up in failure. There is an estimate of
new product failures – they range from 33% to 90% based on the kind of industry.
Companies consistently strive hard to improve the success rate of their new products or new
ideas. One of the most important ways is to conduct a sound and thoughtful consumer
behavior study.
With the help of consumer behavior analysis, Nike realized that most of its target audience is
not professional athletes, but many of them were striving to be more like them. So at the 2012
Olympics in London, Nike introduced a campaign to encourage athletics called ‘Find Your
Greatness'. It aimed to promote the aspirations of being an athlete, not just with high-
performing athletes, but wanted to include all people regardless of their physical capability.
The campaign was well planned and was data-driven, of course, carefully analyzed before
taking any action. This message inspired many consumers and had enormous appeal to target
consumers.
7. Stay Relevant in the Market
When the world is changing as rapidly as it is happening today, the biggest challenge we all face
is staying relevant to our target market. And do you know what the main reason behind the
rapid changes is? It is the ever-changing behavior of our customers.
When developing a marketing strategy companies need to set levels for the marketing mix
based on the understanding of the overall market and the target market in order to create the
outcomes desired. Regulatory guidelines require organizations to develop policies, laws and or
guidelines to protect or help consumers. The creation of informed individuals means that
consumers also need to be educated about their behaviors and the way that marketing can
influence them. This is done with the intent of creating effective and reasoned behavior that
will influence purchasing and business ethics.
