Consumer Behavior and Successful Marketing Strategy - Essay Example

Consumer behaviour and successful marketing strategy Name: College: Date: Introduction The study of consumer behaviour focuses on some of the processes people use to select, secure and dispose goods and services. Consumer behaviour brings together different concepts from sociology, psychology, marketing and economics. Marketing strategy is the processes that enable an organization to concentrate its limited resources on the optimal opportunities with the aim of increasing sales, as well as, achieving a competitive advantage (Hartline, 2012, p.872). An effective marketing strategy plays a critical role in assisting the organization achieves its development goals and objectives. Marketing strategy combines both basic and long term activities within the field of marketing that aim at analysing, formulating and selecting consumer oriented strategies (Kuusela, 2014, p.32). The study of consumer behaviour is essential for the successful development and implementation of an effective marketing strategy. This is true because consumer behaviour attempts to understand the decision making process of buyers such as how emotions influence their buying behaviour. Using empirical research gathered from peer-reviewed journal articles, this paper will discuss about the significance of studying consumer behaviour in developing and implementing an effective marketing strategy. The paper will also study the characteristics of individual consumers so as to understand their needs and wants. The paper also asses some of the influences from groups such as friends, society, family and referrals on consumer behaviour (Mela, 2010, p.14). In this paper, marketing strategies will serve as the fundamental underpinning of marketing plans designed to fill market needs and reach marketing objectives. Research has shown that marketing strategies are developed as multiyear plans. However, a tactical plan is often used to detail specific actions that can be accomplished within the current year (Miller, 2013, p.78). Most of the time horizons that are covered by the marketing plan often vary with individual company, industry or country. However, time horizons are now shorter with more dynamic and interactive marketing strategies coming up every year. Consumer behaviour The study of consumer behaviour focuses on how people make decisions to spend their resources such as time or money on consumption items. These consumption items include what they purchase, why they make the purchase, when they make the purchase and where they purchase the product poor service. There two major consuming entities, they are: the personal consumer and the organizational consumer. The personal consumer is one who purchases products and services for his own personal consumption. Products and services purchased by the personal consumer are designed to be used by the ultimate consumer who is the end consumer (Miller, 2013, p.15). The organizational consumer include non-profit and profit business, government agencies and institutions that purchase products and services to run their organization. The study of consumer behaviour is deeply rooted in the marketing concept. Recent studies carried on marketing strategies suggest that, an organization has to achieve its full profit potential from every customer for it to outperform its competitors. According to the studies, there are three major drivers that facilitate successful relationships between marketers and customers, they are: customer value, increased customer satisfaction and building a structure for customer retention (Mothersbaugh, 2013, p.74). Studying consumer behaviour assists an organization in offering products and sources that are of value to the customer. Customer value is the ration between the customers’s perceived economical or functional benefits and the resources used to obtain such benefits. Therefore, a customer’s perceived value on products or services is often relative and subjective (Mothersbaugh, 2013, p.49). Consumer behaviour and developing a marketing strategy This section of the paper aims at exploring on the study of consumer behaviour and its significance in developing a successful marketing strategy. A business has to understand their targeted customers if they are to make profits by satisfying their needs. The business’s attitude should also be reflected by its organizational setup. Studies on successful multinationals have revealed that different factors influence the thoughts, feelings and actions of consumers. These factors are dynamic and often involve interaction and exchanges between the business and the consumer (Peter, 2012, p.49). The study of consumer behaviour is critical in identifying the most preferable marketing strategy to be used. Consumer behaviour is dynamic. This is because feelings and the way a consumer thinks constantly changes. For example, the internet can have a significant effect on the internet on information searching behaviour. Through consumer research, a business can easily keep up with this changes and developments. Consumer behaviour mainly involves interaction between the environment, business and the feelings, thinking and emotions of the consumer (Peter, 2012, p.48). A marketer who has such information is in a better position to satisfy the needs and wants of customers. The study on consumer behaviour assist the market understands the exchanges that take place between the seller and the consumer. The marketer’s role is to assist create these exchanges by developing and implementing marketing strategies. Consumer behaviour plays a critical role in marketing strategy (Polegato, 2009, p.5). Marketing strategy is expected to design, implement and control a plan that influences exchanges that aim at achieving organizational objectives. Through the study of consumer behaviour, a marketer can develop marketing stimuli that are directed at selected target markets which can influence consumer’s thinking and buying behaviour. An effective marketing strategy plays a critical role in defining the business’ visions, missions and goals to the consumer. A good marketing strategy also outlines the steps that are required to be taken for the business to achieve its goals. Any marketing strategy affects the way the business is run. As a result, it should be planned and developed after a comprehensive study on the business’ consumer behaviours. The study of consumer behaviour is very essential for the overall development and implementation of the organization’s marketing strategy (Scott, 2012, p.32). This is because a marketing strategy sets the direction and goals for marketing. It is therefore different from a marketing plan which only outlines the specific actions that should be taken to implement the marketing strategy. In the study of consumer behaviour, all consumers are perceived to be unique. The uniqueness of each consumer is often reflected in their consumption pattern and process of purchase. The study of consumer behaviour offers a marketer with variable lessons as to why consumers differ from one another (Vanhuele, 2013, p.32). By studying consumer behaviour, a marketer will understand how a consumer receives stimuli from their environment, as well as, the specifics of the marketing strategies of different products and services. Consumers respond to stimuli by either buying or not buying goods and services. The marketing concept Consumer behaviour research can significantly assist online markets increase their chances of succeeds. According to recent studies, marketers perceive the marketing concept as the appropriate philosophy for conducting business (Vanhuele, 2013, p.31). The marketing concepts suggest that, a business should be able to satisfy the needs and wants of the consumers to make a profit. For a business to implement the marketing concept, it should have a comprehensive understanding of its customers and stay close to them to offer goods and services that they can purchase and use appropriately. McDonalds is one of the most successful businesses in the fast food industry. Case studies carried on the company indicate that the business has designed its entire system to serve customers and stay close to them. McDonald is highly committed to developing and implementing menu items and services at prices that offer value to its customers (Thomas, 2012, p.12). The marketing, designing and the HR department in McDonald focus their efforts in increasing the value of services offer to their customers. Other companies such as Coca cola have reduced prices of their products while at the same time maintaining their quality. Before a company develops any marketing’s strategy, it should first determine what its consumers want and how much they are willing to pay for product (Scott, 2012, p.94). They should then design, produce and market the best quality products and services that they can offer for the price consumers are willing to pay. According to most researchers, marketing may be perceived as the link between a city’s material requirements and its economic patterns of response (Polegato, 2009, p.5). This is because; marketing satisfies the needs and wants of consumers through the exchange processes and building long term relationships. Marketing can also be looked at as an organizational function since it sets the processes required in creating, delivering and communicating value to customers. Through marketing, customer relationships can be easily managed in a manner that also benefits the organization and its stakeholders. An effective marketing strategy is one that selects a specific target market through market analysis and segmentation. Such a strategy should also aim at understanding the consumers buying behaviour and devise ways of offering superior customer value. There are several competing concepts that an organization can choose to operate with, these may include: the production concept, the marketing concept or the holistic marketing concept (Peter, 2012, p.45). In the production concept, a firm chooses to specialize in producing as much as possible of a given product or service. A production oriented approach is often deployed when there is a high demand for a product or service. In the marketing concept, the business focuses its marketing plans on attracting new customers or supplying goods and services that suits new customer needs. For example, a business can carry out a study on consumer behaviour with the aim of gauging consumer desires (Polegato, 2009, p.5). These desires will later on be used to develop a product that has been adjusted to the information gathered from the study. The holistic marketing concept often looks at marketing as a complex activity which acknowledges that all factors that are in play in the market matters. The holistic marketing principle takes a broader and a more integrated perspective in developing and designing marketing activities and strategies. There are four main components that characterize a holistic marketing, they are: relationship marketing, internal marketing socially responsive marketing and integrated marketing (Peter, 2012, p.36). Developing an implementing a successful marketing strategy The main aim of developing a marketing strategy is to assist the business grow its business and increase its brand awareness. A successful marketing strategy also helps the business build trust with its customers hence, should be developed using data gathered from the study on the targeted consumer behaviour (Hartline, 2012, p.867). Finding reliable sources of marketing information and learning how to use them is significant in developing an effective strategy for the market. The marketing strategy should be kept simple and consistent, as well as, base it on all available facts about the conditions in the market. Research has shown that a business’ marketing attitude may influence how it views the market. Market profitability can therefore be increased by improving the organizations marketing skills (Hartline, 2012, p.874). Developing a market plan that works is often the first step in improving the profitability of the business. Marketing is an integral part of any business. Any marketing decisions will have a profound effect on the entire business. A marketer should therefore understand the different outcomes that will arise from each marketing decision made. Obtaining market data is one of the most important steps in developing and implementing a successful marketing strategy. With the arrival of market informational systems, up to date data on markets is easily accessible (Vanhuele, 2013, p.36). Knowledge on market conditions makes it possible to make informed decisions. Recording trends in the market allows markets to gain additional confidence in taking risks when developing and implementing market strategies (Fifield, 2012, p.44). The next step after the marketer has gathered sufficient data on consumer behaviour should be identifying the business goals. For the business to develop its marketing strategy, it first has to identify its overarching business goals. After the business goals have been identified, the marketer should now profile his competitors. The marketer must use information gathered from the consumer behaviour study to develop a profile of its customers whose needs are been targeted (Mothersbaugh, 2013, p.98). The profile will reveal the buying patterns of the consumers, as well as, how they buy, when and what they buy. Profiling customers will enable the marketer to better review trends and ensure they do not miss out on any new opportunities. Successful multi-nationals have professional teams tasked with the responsibility of profiling customers. This ensures that their products and services are not irrelevant with their marketing message. Such companies include Coca cola, McDonalds, Pepsi and Samsung mobile. Research has also revealed that, profiling customers enables a company to maintain relationships with its existing customers (Hartline, 2012, p.873). Developing and implementing a successful marketing strategy also requires the business to profile its competitors. As part of the business’ marketing strategy, the marketer should develop a profile of its competitors. Profiling competitors entails identifying what their products are, their supply chains, as well as, their pricing and marketing tactics. After the marketer has profiled the competitors, he or she can identify the strengths and weaknesses of the business (Scott, 2012, p.42). This will significantly assist the marketer in developing a marketing strategy that is more effective and seeks to improve the business’ overall performance as compared to that of its competitors. Conclusion In summary, the study of consumer behaviour ensures the marketer is well informed of the needs and wants of the target clientele. Study on consumer behaviour also impacts the marketer with useful information such as the age and population distribution of the customer. This information can then be used to profile the targeted customers. A marketer should use information gathered from the study on consumer behaviour to develop and implement a marketing strategy. Such a marketing strategy will be successful because it is developed in consideration of the customer’s needs and wants (Vanhuele, 2013, p.48). Reference Fifield, P. (2012). Marketing strategy. New Orleans: Routledge. Hartline, F. (2012). The long-term effect of marketing strategy on brand sales. Journal of Marketing Research, 47(5): 866-882. Mela, A. (2010). Consumer behaviour and sensory preference differences: implications for wine product marketing. Journal of Consumer Marketing, 28(1): 5-18. Miller, B. (2013). Consumer behaviour: applications in marketing. New York: Sage. Mothersbaugh, H. (2013). Marketing Strategy, Text and Cases. Boston: Cengage Learning. Peter, F. (2012). Consumer behaviour and demand response of tourists to climate change. Journal of Annals of Tourism Research, 39(1): 36-58. Polegato, S. (2009). 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