Individuals in the household are purchasing and purchasing. The consumer market is defined as individuals and households purchasing or otherwise acquiring goods and services for personal consumption. State contact audiences institutions

Subculture. Any culture includes smaller components, or subcultures, that provide its members with the opportunity to more specifically identify and communicate with their own kind. In large communities there are groups of people of the same nationality, say, Ukrainians, Tatars, Germans or Azerbaijanis, who display clear ethnic tastes and interests. Separate subcultures with their own specific preferences and prohibitions are religious groups, such as groups of Orthodox Christians, Catholics, and Muslims. There are also subcultures of geographical areas.

Social status. In almost every society there are various social classes, which can be defined as follows.

Social classes- these are relatively stable groups within society, which are located in a hierarchical order and are characterized by the similarity of value ideas, interests and behavior of their members.

In the United States, for example, sociologists distinguish six social classes. In Russia, during the transition period, the class structure is just being formed.

Social classes have several characteristics. Individuals belonging to the same class tend to behave in almost the same way. Depending on their belonging to a particular class, people occupy a higher or lower position in society. Social class is defined on the basis of occupation, income, wealth, education, value orientation, and similar characteristics. Individuals can move to either a higher or lower class. Each social class has its own preferences in clothing, household supplies, leisure activities, and car brands.

Social factors. Consumer behavior is also determined by factors social order, such as reference groups, family, social roles and statuses.

Reference groups. Human behavior is especially strongly influenced by numerous reference groups. Reference groups- these are groups that have both direct and indirect influence on a person’s attitudes or behavior. These are the groups to which an individual belongs and with which he interacts - family, friends, neighbors and work colleagues. Primary groups are usually informal. In addition, a person belongs to a number of secondary groups, which, as a rule, are more formal and interaction with which is not constant. These are different public organizations such as religious associations, trade unions.

An individual is also influenced by groups to which he does not belong. Desirable a collective is a group to which a person wants or strives to belong. For example, a young football player dreams of playing for a major league team, and he identifies himself with this team, although there is no direct contact. In this case, the person reproduces the preferences of the desired group. A unwanted collective - a group whose ideas and behavior the individual does not accept.

Reference groups influence people in three ways. Firstly, the individual is faced with new behavior and lifestyle. Secondly, the group affects the individual's attitudes and self-image, since he, as a rule, strives to “fit in” with the group. Thirdly, the group pushes the individual towards conformity.

Family. Family members can have a strong influence on buyer behavior. From parents a person receives instructions about religion, politics, economics, ambition, self-respect, love. Even when the buyer no longer interacts closely with his parents, their influence on his unconscious behavior can remain quite significant. A more direct influence on everyday purchasing behavior is exerted by an individual's spouse and children. The family is the most important consumer purchasing organization within society. The ratio of influence between husband and wife varies widely depending on product category.

Social roles and statuses. An individual is a member of a set social groups. His position in each of them can be characterized in terms of role and status. Let's say, in relation to his parents he plays the role of a son or daughter, in his own family - the role of a wife or husband, within the company - the role of a director. Role represents a set of actions that those around him expect from an individual. Each of the roles played by a person will in one way or another influence his purchasing behavior.

Each role corresponds to a specific status, reflecting the degree of positive assessment of it by society. The role of a director has a higher status compared to the role of a son or daughter. As a director, a person acquires clothes, a car, a watch, which reflect precisely this role and its status. The buyer often chooses goods that judge his status in society.

Personal factors. The buyer’s decisions are also affected by his personal external characteristics, especially such as age, stage life cycle family, occupation, economic status, lifestyle, personality type and self-image.

Age and stage of the family life cycle. Over time, changes occur in the range and range of goods and services purchased by people. In the first years of life, a person needs products for baby food. During the years of growing up and maturity, he eats a wide variety of foods, and in old age - special dietary foods. Over the years, his tastes in clothing, furniture, recreation and entertainment also change.

The nature of consumption depends on the stage of the family life cycle. There are up to nine stages of a family’s life with typical product preferences at each of them. Classification is also carried out according to the psychological stages of the life cycle of a person and family. They experience certain transitional periods in their lives, periods of transformation. It is necessary to take into account the changing consumer interests that are associated with transition periods in the life of an adult.

Occupation. A person’s occupation has a certain influence on the choice of goods and services purchased by a person. For example, a worker buys himself work clothes, work shoes, the president of the company - expensive suits. The worker uses cheaper modes of transport, the president of the company travels by plane, becomes a member of privileged clubs, etc. It is necessary to identify groups by occupation whose members show increased interest in the goods and services of the company. You can specialize in the production of goods for a specific professional group.

Economic situation. The economic situation of an individual greatly affects his product choice. It is determined by the size of the expenditure portion of income, his savings, and creditworthiness. When offering products that are marketed based on consumer income, you need to monitor trends in income, savings, and interest rates. If economic indicators indicate a recession, it is necessary to change the product, its positioning and price, reduce production volumes and inventories.

Lifestyle. Individuals belonging to the same subculture, the same social class, and even the same occupation can lead completely different lifestyles. For example, a woman may prefer the life of a skilled housewife, business woman or a person free from worries. She can play several roles at the same time. This is a way of life - established forms of human existence in the world, which are expressed in his activities, interests and beliefs. It is necessary to identify the relationship between a product and a lifestyle.

Personality type and self-image. A person’s purchasing behavior is greatly influenced by his personality type, that is, a set of distinctive psychological characteristics that ensure the relative consistency and constancy of a person’s responses to the environment.

Personality type is usually described on the basis of such inherent traits as self-confidence, wariness, influence, affection, independence, aggressiveness, fickleness, etc. Knowing personality type is useful in analyzing consumer behavior when there is a certain connection between personality types and product choice. For example, a beer company can determine that beer consumers are highly sociable and use this in sales practices and advertising.

Psychological factors. An individual’s purchasing choice is also influenced by four main psychological factors: motivation, perception, learning, belief and attitude.

Motivation. At any given time, a person experiences various needs. Some are a consequence of such states of internal physiological tension as hunger, thirst, discomfort, others are a consequence of such states of internal psychological tension as the need for recognition and spiritual intimacy. Need that has reached enough high level intensity, becomes a motive.

Motive(or motivation) - a need that has become so urgent that it forces a person to look for ways and means to satisfy it. Satisfying a need reduces the internal tension experienced by an individual.

Psychologists have developed a number of theories of human motivation. The most popular of them are the theory of Sigmund Freud and the theory of Abraham Maslow.

Freud believed that people are generally unaware of the real psychological forces that shape behavior, that a person grows by suppressing many drives. These urges never completely disappear and are never completely under control. Thus, a person is not fully aware of the origins of his own motivation.

Motivation researchers have made a number of interesting, and sometimes strange, conclusions regarding what can influence the consumer’s mind when making certain purchases. Thus, they believe that men smoke cigars as an adult alternative to thumb sucking.

Abraham Maslow believes that human needs are ranked in order of importance in a hierarchical order: first physiological needs, then self-preservation needs, social needs, esteem needs, and finally self-affirmation needs. A person will strive to satisfy the most important needs first. As soon as he manages to satisfy some important need, it temporarily ceases to be a driving motive. At the same time, an impulse appears to satisfy the next most important need. For example, a starving person is not interested in events happening in the world of art and politics.

Perception. A motivated person is ready for action. The nature of his action depends on how he perceives the situation. Two different people, being equally motivated, in the same objective situation can act differently because they perceive this situation differently. For example, one may perceive a talkative salesman as an arrogant person, while another may perceive this salesperson as helpful.

Perception can be defined as the process by which an individual selects, organizes and interprets incoming information to create a meaningful picture of the world around him.

Perception is always selective. A person is simply not able to respond to all stimuli. He weeds out most of them. People tend to notice stimuli that are related to the needs they currently have, or those that they expect, or that are unusual.

Even irritants noticed by the consumer are not necessarily perceived by him as intended by the sender. Selective distortion occurs. A person strives to fit incoming information into the framework of his existing opinions. Selective distortion refers to the tendency of people to transform information, giving it personal significance. People tend to interpret information in ways that support rather than challenge their existing ideas and judgments.

A person does not remember all the information received. Memorization is also selective. A person simply forgets much of what he learns. He tends to remember only information that supports his attitudes and beliefs. It must be borne in mind that most people immediately “mechanically” and briefly remember a very small amount of information - a few words, a few simple images.

Such a feature as selectivity of perception, distortion and memorization means that it is necessary to make a lot of effort to convey your message to the recipients. This explains dramatization and repetition in advertising, as well as the main requirement for advertising - brevity.

Assimilation. A person acquires knowledge in the process of activity. Assimilation- these are certain changes that occur in the behavior of an individual under the influence of his accumulated experience. Human behavior is largely learned. Learning is considered to be the result of the interaction of drives, strong and weak stimuli, responses, and reinforcement.

Belief and attitude. People have beliefs that relate to specific goods and services. Product images are formed from these beliefs. People take actions based on their beliefs. If some beliefs are incorrect and prevent a purchase from being made, the manufacturer needs to launch an entire campaign to correct them.

Attitude- a stable favorable or unfavorable assessment by an individual of an object or idea, the feelings experienced towards them and the direction of possible actions that has developed on the basis of existing knowledge. Attitudes determine people's willingness to like or dislike an object.

In addition, relationships determine relatively stable behavior in the case of similar objects. Relationships save physical and mental energy. The various relationships of an individual form a logically coherent structure, in which a change in one element may require a complex restructuring of a number of others. It is more profitable for a company to take into account existing relations in the Russian market than to try to change them.

Purchase decision process

On the path to a purchase decision, the consumer goes through five stages: awareness of the problem, search for information, evaluation of options, decision to purchase, reaction to the purchase. The purchasing process begins long before the act of purchase and sale is completed, and its consequences manifest themselves long after its completion. The consumer goes through all five stages with any purchase. However, when making ordinary purchases, he seems to skip some stages, relying on stereotypes, or changes their sequence.

Awareness of the problem. The future buyer feels the difference between his actual and desired state. Need can be aroused internal irritants. Ordinary human needs - hunger, thirst - increase to a threshold level and turn into impulses. From past experience, a person knows how to cope with this urge, and his motivation is oriented towards the class of objects that can satisfy the urge that has arisen.

Need can be aroused and external irritants. For example, the sight of freshly baked bread makes you hungry.

It is necessary to identify the circumstances that push a person to recognize the problem. It is necessary to find out: what specific tangible needs or problems arose, what caused their occurrence, and how they led a person to a specific product. You can identify stimuli that most often attract an individual’s interest in a product and use them.

Search for information. An anxious consumer may or may not search for more information. If the urge is strong and the product that satisfies it is readily available, the consumer is more likely to make a purchase. If not, then the need may simply be deposited in his memory.

In search of information, the consumer can turn to personal sources (family, friends, neighbors, acquaintances), or use commercial sources (advertising, sellers, dealers, packaging, exhibitions). Information is offered by publicly available sources (media mass media, organizations engaged in the study and classification of consumers). Sources of empirical experience (touch, study, use of the product) are important.

The relative influence of these sources of information varies depending on the product category and buyer characteristics. The consumer receives the largest amount of information about a product from commercial sources. The most effective are personal sources. Source can influence purchasing decisions in different ways. Commercial sources usually inform, personal sources legitimize information and evaluate it.

Familiar product brands were awareness kit consumer. Newly arriving information will expand the scope of this set and will help weed out a number of brands from those being considered. The remaining brands that meet consumer criteria will be selection set. From this set the final choice will be made.

The company must develop a marketing mix that would introduce its product into both the awareness and consumer choice sets. If these kits cannot be penetrated, the product will not be sold. In addition, it is necessary to find out what other product brands are included in the selection set in order to know competitors and argue the advantages of your product.

The sources of information that consumers use need to be carefully identified and their comparative information value determined. Consumers should, first of all, be asked how they first heard about the product, what other information they have, and what importance they attach to each of the information sources used. This information is critical for effective communication with your target market.

Evaluation of options. The consumer uses the information to create a set of product brands from which the final choice is made. It is important to understand exactly how the choice is made among several brands, how the consumer evaluates the information.

Each consumer views any given product as a certain set of properties. For example, for lipstick this is color, type of packaging, prestige, fat content, taste and aroma, and for a tire - safety, tread durability, smoothness. These properties are usually of interest to everyone, but different consumers consider different properties relevant to them. A person pays most attention to the properties that are relevant to his need.

The consumer tends to attach different importance to the properties that he considers relevant to himself. Any product has characteristic properties. Characteristic properties- these are the ones that first come to the consumer’s mind when asked to think about the qualities of a product. It should not be assumed that they are necessarily the most important.

The consumer tends to create a set of beliefs about product brands, when each individual brand is characterized by the degree of presence of each individual property in it. A set of beliefs about a particular branded product is known as brand image. The consumer may know the true properties of a product from personal experience, or his knowledge may be the result of selective perception, distortion and memorization.

It is believed that the consumer attributes to each property utility function. It describes the degree of expected satisfaction with each individual property. The consumer’s attitude towards a product alternative develops as a result of his assessment.

Reaction to purchase. Having purchased a product, the consumer will either be satisfied or dissatisfied with it. He will exhibit a number of reactions to the purchase that are of interest.

Satisfaction with purchase. The degree of satisfaction with a completed purchase is determined by the relationship between consumer expectations and the perceived performance properties of the product. If the product meets expectations, the consumer is satisfied; if it exceeds them, then the consumer is very satisfied; if it does not correspond to them, then it is dissatisfied. Consumer expectations are formed on the basis of information he receives from sellers, friends and other sources. If the seller exaggerates the characteristics of the product, the consumer will have too high expectations, which will result in disappointment.

Actions after purchase. Satisfaction with the product will be reflected in the subsequent behavior of the consumer. If satisfied, he will probably buy the product next time. A satisfied consumer is inclined to share favorable reviews of a product with other people.

A dissatisfied consumer may refuse to use the product, return it to the seller, or try to find some favorable information about the item being purchased. Dissatisfied consumers may file a complaint with the firm, contact a lawyer, or contact someone who may be able to help customers achieve satisfaction. In addition, they may simply stop purchasing the product or express their unfavorable impression of it to friends and others.

The final fate of the purchased product. If the consumer adapts the product for some new purpose, the seller should be interested, since this can be played up in advertising. If consumers hoard a product, barely use it, or get rid of it, it means they are not very satisfied with the product. Equally interesting is how the consumer gets rid of the product. If he sells it or exchanges it, this will reduce the volume of sales of the product.

Features of making a decision to purchase a new product

“New” means a product, service or idea that is part of potential clients perceives it as something new. A new product may have already been on the market for some time. How do consumers first learn about it, how do they perceive it? By perception we mean not only the thought process that an individual goes through from the moment he first hears about a new product to the moment of its final acceptance, but also the individual’s decision to become a regular user of the product.

Stages of the perception process. The process of perceiving a new product consists of five stages.

Awareness. The new product is known, but there is not enough information.
Interest. The consumer is stimulated to search for information about the new product.
Grade. The consumer decides whether it makes sense to try a new product.
Try. The consumer tries out the new product and evaluates it.
Total perception (perception).

The consumer decides to use only the new product. Individual differences people are ready to accept innovations. People differ markedly in their willingness to try new product. Every product area will have its pioneers and their early adopters. Other people perceive new products much later. This made it possible to classify buyers according to their degree of receptivity. After a slow start, more and more people are beginning to embrace the new product. Over time, their number reaches a peak value, and then the percentage decreases as the number of those who have not yet accepted the product decreases.

The first 2.5% of buyers are considered innovators, the next 13.5% are considered early adopters. The early majority - "late adopters" - is 34%, the late majority, which is skeptical, is also 34%. Some are very wary of change and use a new product when it has, in fact, become a traditional product. This is 16% of the “laggards”.

The role of personal influence. Personal influence plays a major role in the process of perceiving new products. Personal influence refers to the effect that one person's statements about a product have on another person's attitudes and likelihood of making a purchase.

For new products, personal influence is most significant during the evaluation phase. It makes a greater impression on “late adopters” than on “early” ones. In situations involving risk, it turns out to be more effective than in safe situations.

The influence of product characteristics. The nature of the innovation affects the pace of its adoption. Some products gain popularity literally overnight, while others take a long time to achieve this. Five of its characteristics especially affect the rate at which a new product is perceived. Let's look at them using the example of personal computers for everyday use.

The first characteristic of the new product is comparative advantage- the degree of its apparent superiority over existing products. The higher the perceived benefits of using personal computers, say, in learning, in games, the sooner computers will be accepted.

The second characteristic of the new product is compatibility- degree of compliance with accepted consumer values and consumer experience. Personal computers, for example, are highly compatible with the lifestyle of middle-class families.

The third characteristic of the new product is complexity- the degree of relative difficulty in understanding its essence and use. Personal computers are complex and will therefore take a long time to penetrate the market.

The fourth characteristic of the new product is divisibility of the process of getting to know her- the possibility of testing it on a limited scale. If people have the ability to rent personal computers and then buy them as they choose, adoption rates will increase.

The fifth characteristic of the new product is communication visibility- the degree of clarity or possibility of describing the results of its use. Since personal computers can be demonstrated and described, this will help them spread more rapidly throughout society.

Other characteristics of a new product that influence the rate of its adoption include the initial price and ongoing costs. Consideration should be given to the degree of risk and uncertainty, scientific credibility and public approval.

The firm needs to carefully study its clients. It can serve five types of client markets.

1. Consumer market - individuals and households purchasing goods and services for personal consumption.

2. Market of producers - organizations purchasing goods and services for use in the production process.

3. Market for intermediate sellers - organizations purchasing

goods and services for subsequent resale at a profit

for myself.

4. Market for government institutions - government organizations purchasing goods and services or for their subsequent use in the field utilities, or to transfer these goods and services to those who need them.

5. International market - buyers outside the country, including foreign consumers, manufacturers, intermediate sellers and government agencies.

Schwinn sells its bicycles in all these markets. Some bicycles are sold to consumers directly from the factory or through retail outlets. It sells its bicycles to manufacturers, who use them to deliver goods or for travel on company premises. The Company also sells bicycles to wholesalers and retailers, who resell them in consumer and manufacturer markets. She could sell it. their bicycles and government agencies. And of course, it sells them to foreign consumers, manufacturers, resellers and government agencies. Each type of market has its own specific features that the seller must carefully study

Competitors

Any company faces many different competitors. Suppose the vice president of marketing wants to identify all the competitors of the company<>. The best way do then conduct research into how people make decisions about buying a bike. A researcher might interview a freshman at John Adams College who is about to spend a certain amount of money (see 25). John is considering several options, including purchasing vehicle, buying a stereo system or traveling to Europe. These are competing desires, i.e. desires that the consumer may want to satisfy. Suppose that John Adams decides that “we most need to improve our transport capabilities. He has several options: buying a car, buying a motorcycle or buying a bicycle. These are product-generic competitors, i.e., other basic ways of satisfying some specific desire. If the most attractive alternative turns out to be the purchase of a bicycle, John will think about which type of bicycle to buy. A number of product-specific competitors appear, that is, other varieties of the same product that can satisfy the specific desire of the buyer. In this case, varieties of the product There will be sin-, five- and de-ten-speed bicycles. John will probably settle on a ten-speed bicycle, after which he will probably want to get acquainted with several competing brands. These are different brands of the same product that can satisfy his desire. In this case, it is “Shvnnnn”, “Raleigh”, “Sire”, “Azuki” and “Gitan”.

Understanding exactly how consumers accept! solution may make it easier for the vice president of marketing to identify all the competitors that are preventing Schween from selling more of its bicycles. The manager will want to take a closer look at all four types of competitors, paying special attention to competing brands, since they are the ones who are actively discouraging sales from the Schwinn company.

Contact audiences

The marketing environment also includes various contact audiences of the company. We define the contact audience as follows:

A contact audience is any group that has a real or potential interest in the organization or has an impact on its ability to achieve its goals.

The contact audience can either facilitate or oppose the firm's efforts to serve markets. Beneficial audience - a group whose interest in the company is of a very beneficial nature (for example, donors). The target audience is one whose interest the company seeks but does not always find (for example, the media). An undesirable audience is a group whose interest the company tries not to attract, but is forced to take it into account if it appears (for example, contact a boycott group).

A firm can develop marketing plans for all of its key contact audiences as well as all client markets. Suppose a company wants to elicit a response from a specific contact audience in the form of favor, endorsements, or donations of time or money. For a logo, the company will need to design a product that is attractive specifically to this contact audience.

Any company operates in an environment of seven types of contact audiences (see 26).

1. Financial circles. They influence the firm's ability to provide itself with capital. Main contact audiences financial sector are banks, investment companies, stock exchange brokerage firms, shareholders. The Schwinn company seeks the favor of dashing audiences by publishing annual reports, providing answers to questions relating to all financial activities, and presenting evidence of its financial strength to the financial community.

2. Contact audiences of the media. Audiences of funds

information organizations that disseminate news, articles and editorial commentary. First of all, these are newspapers, magazines, radio stations and television centers. Schwinn is interested in getting more and better media coverage of its activities, perhaps through articles about the good exercise that cycling provides or articles about charitable activities companies.

3. Contact audiences of government institutions. Management must necessarily take into account everything that happens in the public sphere. Schwinn marketers must respond to issues of product safety, truth in advertising, dealers' rights, etc. Schwinn should consider contacting other bicycle manufacturers to jointly push for more favorable laws.

4. Civic Action Groups. Marketing decisions made by a firm may raise questions from consumer organizations, advocacy groups environment, representatives of national minorities, etc. Parents, for example, are pushing for improved bicycle safety. Schwinn has the opportunity to become a leader in designing the safest bicycles. A firm's public relations department can help maintain the firm's ongoing contact with all consumer groups (see Box 8 for another example).

5. Local contact audiences. Any company deals with local contact audiences, such as surrounding residents and community organizations. To work with the local population, large firms usually appoint a special person responsible for community relations, who is present at meetings of community members, answers questions, and contributes to the resolution of pressing problems.

6. General public. The company needs to meticulously monitor the attitude of the general public towards its products and its activities. And although the general public does not act as an organized force towards the company, the image of the company in the eyes of the public affects its commercial activities. To create a strong sense of citizenship, Schwinn will assign representatives to participate in community fundraising campaigns, make significant donations to charities, and develop procedures for resolving consumer complaints.

7. Internal contact audiences. The internal contact audiences of the company include its own workers and employees, volunteers, managers, and members of the board of directors. In order to inform and motivate members of their internal contact audiences, large companies publish information; newsletters and resort to other forms of communication. When workers and employees feel good about their own company, their positive attitude spreads to other contact audiences.

Box 8. Civic Action Group Calls for Boycott of Nestlé Products

Even the most respected firm in the market may one day be attacked by civil action groups for one of its products if, in the opinion of these groups, the firm is acting irresponsibly. By the way, most likely a dissatisfied group will call for a boycott of all the company’s products, even if only one of them came under fire. Publicity from such a boycott could damage the company's good name, which has taken many years to build.

In 1978, Nestlé became a target for similar attacks. This company, headquartered in Switzerland, produces such well-known products as chocolate bars, coffee, and a whole range of frozen food products. It also produces formula for baby food. The group that made the accusations against the company is known as Infact, or the Coalition of Action against the Distribution of Baby Formulas. According to the group, Nes Tle is aggressively pushing its formula onto mothers in Third World countries who do not know how to use it properly. The mixture is often diluted with dirty water, stored in poorly washed bottles and it is not always possible to keep it in the refrigerator. As a result, children get sick. There were also deaths.

The Infact group called for a worldwide boycott of all Nestlé products. The direct mail campaign she organized called for "more people to know about this" and asked for financial help to spread the group's message more widely. The letters from the Infact group listed all Nestlé branded products. which consumers should have boycotted.

The company, for its part, argued that it approaches the marketing of the formula responsibly and that often this formula 1, under certain conditions, turns out to be the best nutrition for babies. Nevertheless, the negative publicity was very unpleasant for the company. In March 1482, Nestlé agreed to adhere to the United Nations Code of Health to encourage breastfeeding. The Code prohibits the advertising of infant formula, the distribution of free samples, and the payment of commissions to sellers.

Consumer market - individuals and households who buy or otherwise acquire goods and services for personal consumption.

Consumers differ sharply from each other in age, income and education levels, propensity to move, and tastes. Market actors have found it expedient to isolate different consumer groups and create products and services specifically designed to meet the needs of these groups. If a market segment happens to be large enough, some firms may develop separate marketing programs to serve that segment.

In the past, market makers learned to understand their customers through day-to-day trading interactions with them. However, the growth in the size of firms and markets has deprived many marketing executives of direct contact with their customers. Managers are increasingly having to resort to consumer research. They are spending more than ever before on consumer research, trying to figure out who is buying, how they are buying, when they are buying, where they are buying and why they are buying.

The key question is: How exactly do consumers respond to the various marketing incentives that a firm can employ? A company that truly understands how consumers react to various characteristics product, prices, advertising arguments, etc., will have a huge advantage over competitors. That is why both companies and scientists spend so much effort researching the relationships between marketing drivers and consumer response. The starting point for all these efforts is the simple model shown in Fig. 30. It shows that marketing incentives and other stimuli penetrate the “black box” of the buyer’s mind and cause certain responses.

In Fig. 31 the same model is presented in a more expanded form. In the left rectangle there are two types of motivating factors. Marketing incentives include four elements: product, price, distribution and promotion methods. Other stimuli consist of the main forces and events in the buyer's environment; economic, scientific, technical, political and cultural environment. Having passed through the "black box" of the buyer's mind, all these stimuli cause a series of observable consumer reactions, represented in the right rectangle: product choice, brand choice, dealer choice, choice of time of purchase, choice of purchase volume.

The task of a market worker is to understand what happens in the “black box” of the consumer’s consciousness between the arrival of stimuli and the manifestation of responses to them. The "black box" itself consists of two parts. The first is the characteristics of the buyer, which have a major influence on how a person perceives and reacts to stimuli. The second part is the process of making a purchasing decision, on which the result depends.

Lecture 12

BUYER BEHAVIOR MODELS

The key question for marketing managers is: How exactly do consumers respond to the different marketing techniques that a firm might employ? A company that has truly understood how consumers react to various product characteristics, prices, and advertising arguments has a huge advantage over its competitors.

Marketing incentives and other stimuli penetrate the buyer's mind and cause certain responses. Marketing incentives include four elements: product, price, distribution and promotion methods. Other stimuli are the main forces and events of the economic, scientific, technical, political and cultural environment surrounding the buyer. In the buyer's mind, these stimuli cause consumer reactions: choice of product, company, dealer, time and volume of purchase.

The consciousness of each buyer has certain characteristics. These features—customer characteristics—have a major influence on how a person perceives and responds to stimuli.

The consumer market is defined as individuals and households purchasing or otherwise acquiring goods and services for personal consumption.

Consumer purchases are greatly influenced by cultural, social, personal and psychological factors.

Factors of culture. Cultural factors have the largest and most profound influence on consumer behavior. Culture is the root cause that determines human needs and behavior. From the moment of birth, the child learns basic set values, preferences, manners and actions characteristic of his family and the main institutions of society.

Social status. In almost every society there are various social classes, which can be defined as follows.

Social classes – These are relatively stable groups within society, which are arranged in a hierarchical order and are characterized by the similarity of value ideas, interests and behavior of their members.

In the United States, for example, sociologists distinguish six social classes. In Russia, during the transition period, the class structure is just being formed.

Social classes have several characteristics. Individuals belonging to the same class tend to behave in almost the same way. Social class is defined on the basis of occupation, income, wealth, education, value orientation and similar characteristics. Each social class has its own preferences in clothing, household supplies, leisure activities, and car brands.

Social factors. Consumer behavior is also determined by social factors, such as reference groups, family, social roles and statuses.

Reference groups. Human behavior is especially strongly influenced by numerous reference groups. Reference groups – these are groups that have both direct and indirect influence on a person's attitudes or behavior. These are the groups to which an individual belongs and with which he interacts - family, friends, neighbors and work colleagues.

Family. Family members can have a strong influence on buyer behavior. From parents a person receives instructions about religion, politics, economics, ambition, self-respect, love. A more direct influence on everyday purchasing behavior is exerted by an individual's spouse and children. The family is the most important consumer purchasing organization within society. The ratio of influence between husband and wife varies widely depending on the product category.

Social roles and statuses. An individual is a member of many social groups. His position in each of them can be characterized in terms of role and status. Let's say, in relation to his parents he plays the role of a son or daughter, in his own family - the role of a wife or husband, within the company - the role of a director. Role represents a set of actions that those around him expect from an individual. Each of the roles played by a person will in one way or another influence his purchasing behavior.

Personal factors. The buyer's decisions are also influenced by his personal external characteristics, especially such as age, stage of the family life cycle, occupation, economic status, lifestyle, personality type and self-image.

Age and stage of the family life cycle. Over time, changes occur in the range and range of goods and services purchased by people. In the first years of life, a person needs baby food products. During the years of growing up and maturity, he eats a wide variety of foods; in old age, he eats special dietary foods. Over the years, his tastes in clothing, furniture, recreation and entertainment also change.

The nature of consumption depends on the stage of the family life cycle. They experience certain transitional periods in their lives, periods of transformation. It is necessary to take into account the changing consumer interests that are associated with transition periods in the life of an adult.

Occupation. A person’s occupation has a certain influence on the choice of goods and services purchased by a person. For example, a worker buys himself work clothes, work shoes, the president of a company buys expensive suits. The worker uses cheaper modes of transport, the president of the company travels by plane, becomes a member of privileged clubs, etc. It is necessary to identify groups by occupation whose members show increased interest in the company’s products and services. You can specialize in the production of goods for a specific professional group.

Lifestyle. Individuals belonging to the same subculture, the same social class, and even the same occupation can lead completely different lifestyles. For example, a woman may prefer the life of a skilled housewife, a businesswoman, or a carefree person. She can play several roles at the same time. This is a way of life - established forms of human existence in the world, which are expressed in his activities, interests and beliefs. It is necessary to identify the relationship between a product and a lifestyle.

Personality type and self-image. A person’s purchasing behavior is greatly influenced by his personality type, i.e. a set of distinctive psychological characteristics that provide relative consistency and constancy in human responses to the environment.

Psychological factors. An individual’s purchasing choice is also influenced by four main psychological factors: motivation, perception, learning, belief and attitude.

Motivation. At any given time, a person experiences various needs. Some are a consequence of such states of internal physiological tension as hunger, thirst, discomfort, others are a consequence of such states of internal psychological tension as the need for recognition and spiritual intimacy. A need that has reached a sufficiently high level of intensity becomes a motive.

Psychologists have developed a number of theories of human motivation. The most popular of them is theory Sigmund Freud and theory Abraham Maslow.

Abraham Maslow believes that human needs are ranked in order of importance in a hierarchical order: first physiological needs, then self-preservation needs, social needs, esteem needs, and finally self-affirmation needs. A person will strive to satisfy the most important needs first. As soon as he manages to satisfy some important need, it temporarily ceases to be the driving motive. At the same time, an impulse appears to satisfy the next most important need. For example, a starving person is not interested in events happening in the world of art and politics.

Perception can be defined as the process by which an individual selects, organizes and interprets incoming information to create a meaningful picture of the world around him.

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