Study of
consumer behaviour in Service Marketing
Service Marketing Notes B.Com CBCS Pattern
Consumer Behavior in service
All of us buy different services for various reasons. One person
may prefer to go to a restaurant for good food while the other may opt for an
exclusive restaurant, for status. One person may prefer to read ‘The Times of
India’ early in the morning, while the other may prefer to read the same
newspaper after coming back from the office. There are women who don’t go to
beauty parlors at all, whereas there are others who go regularly. Similarly,
there are many such examples telling us that people show different behavior in
buying and using different products and services.
In the purchase of any particular service six distinct roles are
played. These are:
i) Initiator: The person who has a specific need and proposes to
buy a particular service.
ii) Influencer: The person or the group of people who the decision
maker refers to or who advise. These could be reference groups, both primary
and secondary. It could be even secondary reference group like word of mouth or
media, which can influence the decision maker.
iii) Gatekeepers: The person or organization or promotional
material which acts as a filter on the range of services which enter the
decision choice set.
iv) Decider: The person who makes the buying decision,
irrespective of whether he executes the purchase himself or not. He may
instruct others to execute. It has been observed at times, more typically in
house hold or family or individual related services, one member of the family
may dominate in the purchase decision.
v) Buyer: The person who makes the actual purchase or makes
bookings for a service like travel, hotel room, hospital, diagnostic lab, etc.
vi) User: The person who actually uses or consumes the product. It
can be other than the buyer. In a number of services, it has been observed that
users are also the influencers.
Factors influencing buyer behavior
There are a number of factors or variables which affect the buying
behavior. For
example; people go on holiday during the vacation time so vacations
become a variable. A person may visit an exclusive restaurant
during ‘happy hours’, which he does not visit normally. In this case the
marketing efforts of the organization (sales person and the scheme) become
the factor influencing to buy. Similarly, there are other factors which affect
the buying
decision. These factors can be classified into four major categories, namely:
1. Situational Factors: The situational factors influencing the
buying behavior are, the influence of time pressure in product and brand choice, the
atmosphere of the retail outlet, occasion of purchase etc. For example, if you are
traveling, then demand for lodging and boarding will obviously be
there.
2. Socio Cultural Factors: Buyers or consumers do not take buying
decision or the decision not to buy, in a vacuum. Rather, they are strongly influenced
by Socio Cultural factors.
a) Cultural Factors: Children acquire from their environment a set
of beliefs values, and customs which constitute culture. These
beliefs, values and customs go deeper and deeper as a person grows. Therefore, it
is sometimes said that culture is learnt as a part of social experience.
The various sub-categories within a culture can be identified based on
religion, age,
gender, occupation, social class, geographical location etc. This
classification is significantly relevant from the consumer behavior point of
view
b) Reference Groups: There are certain groups to which people look
to guide their behaviour. These reference groups may guide the choice
of a product but may not be the brand. Peer groups and the peer pressure have generally
been observed to play an important role in the purchase of credit cards, cell
phones, etc. The knowledge of reference group behaviour helps in
not only offering substitutes but also in pricing and positioning them. It is
important to
note that there are ‘negative’ reference groups also and some
persons don’t want to associate themselves with these groups. The negative
reference groups guide the behaviour in terms of “what not to do”.
c) Family: The family is another major influence on the consumer
behaviour. The family consumption behaviour to a large extent
depends on the family life cycle. The stages in family life cycle include
bachelorhood, newly married, parenthood with growing or grown up children,
post-parenthood and dissolution. Knowledge of these stages helps greatly in knowing
the buying process. Often family members play a significant role in the
purchase of a
particular service, for example it’s the teenage children who influence the
parents to decide on a destination and middle aged buy more of insurance
services than the younger ones.
3. Psychological Factors
a) Perceptions: It is the process by which buyers select, organize
and interpret
information into a meaningful impression in their mind. Perception is also
selective in
which only a small part is perceived out of the total what is perceptible.
Buyer’s perception of a particular product greatly influences
the buying behaviour. For example, if the buyer’s perception of a product is not
positive it requires much harder efforts from the marketing or sales
person to convince the buyer on the qualities of the product and thus
suggesting him to purchase it.
b) Attitude: An attitude is a learned predisposition to respond in
a consistently favourable or unfavorable manner with respect to a market
offer (i.e. a brand, a particular shop or retail outlet, an advertisement,
etc.). Attitude is a dispositional term indicating that attitudes manifest
themselves in behaviour only under certain conditions. Knowing a buyer’s
attitude towards
a product without knowing the personal goals is not likely to give a clear
prediction of
his behavior.
c) Motivation: Motivation is the driving force within individuals
that compel them to action. This driving force is subconscious and the
outcome of certain unfulfilled need. Needs are basically of two types. First,
the ‘innate needs’ those needs an individual is born with and are mainly
physiological. They include all the factors required to sustain physical life
e.g., food, water,
shelter, clothing, etc. Secondly, the ‘acquired needs’ those which a person
acquires as he/she
grows and these needs are mainly psychological, like love, fear, esteem,
acceptance etc.
For any given need, there could be a variety of goals.
4. Personal Factors
a) Personality: Personality can be described as the psychological characteristics
that determine how an individual will react to his or her environment. There are a number
of dimensions (personality traits) against which an appreciation of an individual’s
personality can be developed. Each personality trait denotes two
absolute points and a person’s personality characteristics can be identified
somewhere between
those two absolute points, indicating the proximity to either of the two.
b) Life Style: Lifestyle as distinct from social class or
personality is nothing but a person’s pattern of living and is generally
expressed in his/her activities, interests and opinions. Life styles suggest
differences in the way people opt to spend on different products differently.
Life style variables (psychographics variables) help a firm to identify the
‘Inner consumer’ or the feelings of the consumer about their products which
needs to be stressed in advertising campaigns.
c) Demographic Factors: Buyer’s demographic factors like age,
gender, education, occupation, etc. also have influence on the purchase
behaviour. These factors are very much significant in the study of behaviour of
buyers. For example, fast food outlets are more patronized by the teenagers
than the elderly persons- example of age as a factor; air travel is more used
by the executives than the factory workers-examples of occupation as a factor.
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Production Positioning
Once that target segment or market is clear, the service
marketer has to position himself appropriately for that segment. Positioning,
as is now well understood in marketing, is an integral part of strategy for a new
service provider. Even in the case of a mature business, a service marketer
needs to reaffirm its positioning in the minds of target customers. At times, a
subtle shift in positioning may also be necessary to keep up with the changing
consumer preferences or to cope with the challenges from competitors.
Briefly, the positioning is a mental image or picture that a
service provider would like to have about it in the consumer’s mind. It is a
deliberate attempt at building an identity of a certain kind for the service. The act
of creating an image about a product or service in the consumers mind is known
as positioning.
In the words of Kotler, “Positioning is the act of designing the
company’s offer and image so that it occupies a distinct and valued place in
the target consumers minds.” In short, the process of creating an image for a
product in the minds of targeted customers is known as product positioning.
Close-up tooth paste is looked upon by the consumers more as a mouth wash than
a teeth cleaner, while ‘pepsodent’ has created an impression of germ killer in
the consumers minds.
STEPS IN PRODUCT POSITIONING
1) Identifying potential competitive advantages: Consumers
generally choose products and services which give them greatest value. The key to
winning and keeping customers is to understand their needs and buying
processes far better than the competitors do and deliver more values.
2) Identifying the competitors position: When the firm understands
how its customers view its brand relative to competitors, it must study how
those same competitors position themselves.
3) Choosing the right competitive advantages: It refers to an
advantage over competitors gained by offering consumers greater value either through
lower price or by providing more benefits.
4) Communicating the competitive advantage: The Company should
take specific steps to advertise the competitive advantage it has chosen so
that it can impress upon the minds of consumers about the superiority
claimed in respect of the product over its competing brands.
5) Monitoring the positioning strategy: Markets are not stagnant.
They keep on changing. Consumer tastes shift and competitors react to those
shifts. After a desired position is developed, the marketer should continue
to monitor its position through brand tracking and monitoring.
ELEMENTS OF POSITIONING
It is concerned with the following four elements.
1) The Product: Design, special feature, attributes, quality,
package etc. of product create its own image in the minds of the consumers.
Material ingredient of a product is also important in the process of
product positioning.
2) The Company: The goodwill of a company lends an aura to its
brand. For example, Tata, Godrej, Bajaj etc have very good reputation in the
market
3) The Competitors: Product image is build in consumers mind in
relation to the competing product. Thus a careful study of competition is
required.
4) The Consumer: Ultimate aim of positioning policy is to create a
place for the product in consumers minds. Therefore, it becomes necessary
to study the consumer behaviour towards the product.
TECHNIQUES OF PRODUCT POSITIONING
Following technique are used in positioning a product in the
market:
a) Positioning
by Corporate Identity: The companies that have become a tried and trusted
household name. For example, Tata, Sony etc.
b) Positioning
by Brand Endorsement: Marketers use the names of company’s powerful brands for
line
extentions or while entering another product category. Lux, Surf, Dettol etc.
c) Positioning
by Product Attributes and Benefits: It emphasize the special attributes and
benefits of the product. Close-up is positioned on fresh breath and cosmetics
benefits.
d) Positioning
by use, Occasion and Time: It is to find an occasion or time of use and sit on
it. For example, Vicks vaporub is to be used for child’s cold at night.
e) Positioning
by Price and Quality: Company position its brand by emphasizing its price and
quality.
Eg. Nirma detergent powder.
f) Positioning
by Product Category: Brand is perceived to be another product category. Eg.
Maruti positioned its van as omni , family car.
g) Positioning
by Product User: Positioning the product as an exclusive product for a
particular class of customers. E.g. Scooty as a two wheeler for teenagers.
h) Positioning
by Competitor: An offensive positioning strategy and is often seen in cases of
comparative
advertising. E.g. Tide and Rin
i)
Positioning by Symbols: Some companies use
some symbols for positioning their products. Eg.vodafone symbol.
Segmentation of Services
Market segmentation is the sub- dividing of market into
homogeneous sub section of customers , where any sub section may conceivable be
selected as a market target to be reached with a distinct market mix. The
marketer has to identify his targeted customers (segments ). For example, a
motorcycle manufacturing company has to identify their market segments, like
female officers, teenage college students, and middle aged customers. After identifying
the segments the marketer ( manufacturer ) has to understand their tastes and expectations.
In the case of female customers, they need not use much power full vehicles, like
that the teenagers demand most powerful and stylish vehicles and the middle
aged customers need vehicles having more mileage.
Benefits of market segmentation
No one can satisfy all people all time, can satisfy some people
all the time or all people for some
time. This concept is reflected in market segmentation:
1. Facilitates proper choice of target market
2. Helps distinguish one customer group from another within a given
market
3. Facilitates effective tapping of the market, adapting the offer
to the target
4. The “ divide and rule” concept as a strategy of dividing
markets for conquering them
5. Helps crystalise the needs of the target buyers and bring out
more predictable responses from
them, helps develop marketing programs on a more predictable base, helps develop marketing offers that
are most suited to each group
6. Helps specialization required in products/services ,
distribution , promotion, and pricing
for matching the customer group and developing marketing offers and appeals that match the needs of such groups.
7. Makes marketing effort more efficient and economic, helps to
identify less satisfied segments and concentrate on them to improve level of
satisfaction
8. Helps to concentrate efforts on the most production and
profitable segments instead of frittering
them away over irrelevant or unproductive or unprofitable segments
9. Brings benefits to the customer as well, in various ways
10. When segmentation attains high sophistication, customers and
companies can choose each other and
stay together.
Steps in the Segmentation Process
Five major steps are involved in dividing markets into meaningful
segments, although these steps and
their description may vary from one situation to another.
a. Define and analyze the market—determine market parameters
(based on characteristics that may
include or exclude customers from a group) within organization’s mission and business definition, as well as its
strategic intent.
b. Identify and describe potential segments—decide on the most
useful dimensions or variables for
selecting members of potential market segments; then aggregate customers into homogeneous groups, develop a profile
of the characteristics of each group, etc.
c. Select the segment(s) to be served—select segments by
evaluating against predetermined criteria,
then rank according to the organization’s ability to serve the market
profitably while providing customer
satisfaction.
d. Determine the product positioning strategy—determine the best
“fit” between a product and a market
according to features most desired by customers; consider competitors’ positioning strategies, organizational
goals, and the market situation.
e. Design and implement the marketing program—develop a tactical
plan (marketing mix) and determine
objectives for the marketing program; all elements of the marketing mix must be consistent with the selected
positioning strategy.
Bases of segmentation (Factors of service market segmentation)
Service
Market segmentation dividing the Hetrogenous market into homogenous sub-units.
Heterogeneous means mass marketing, which refers people as a people.
Homogeneous means dividing the market into different sub units according to the
tastes and preferences of consumers. The following are the popularly
used bases for segmenting service markets.
a) Geographic Segmentation It is the simplest way of segmenting
the market. Under this approach, the market will be divided into various
geographical units. Companies generally use the marked divisions such as
nations, states, regions, cities and towns to get the benefits of already
existing database resources at a very low price. Geographic segmentation
reflects in the identification of cultural groups, climatic differences,
resource combinations, demand supply gaps, religion and race. It provides
opportunity to the service stalls to explore distinctive opportunities for
product development as well as product differentiation.
b) Demographic Segmentation Demography is the study of population.
Under this approach, the market will be divided into segments based on various
demographic variables such as age, family size, gender, family life cycle,
income, occupation, education, religion, race, nationality and social class.
The differences in consumer responses based on the demographic variables are
studied and accordingly segmentation plan is worked out. The demographic
variables are the most popular basis for differentiating customer groups.
Wants, preferences, user status and usage rates are mostly associated with
demographic variables. In addition, demographic variables are easier to measure.
c) Psychographic Segmentation This approach is more focused than
geographic and demographic approaches. Under this approach, consumers are
divided into groups based on lifestyle, personality and values. Many a time,
the consumer belonging to the same geographic and demographic group may exhibit
different psychographic profiles. People belonging to the same demographic
group may vary in their activities, opinions, value perceptions and interests.
To use this basis of segmentation, service providers have to develop a sound
database on the psychographics of the market in order to make the service offer
more focused.
d) Behavioural Segmentation For this approach, consumers are
divided into groups based on their knowledge, attitudes and use or response to
a service. The variables used under this segmentation are occasions, benefits,
user status, usage rate, loyalty status, buyer readiness stage and attitude
towards the service.
e) Techno graphic Segmentation The market for technology related
services has been on a tremendous rise during the last one-and-a-half decade.
Marketers are trying to identify the customer groups that have the willingness
as well as the ability to use the latest technology. Forester Research
Incorporation has developed a ten-category segmentation scheme, which is also
called 'technogrality'. Identification of segments was based on the interaction
of three variables. These are attitude towards technology, application of
technology and the financial position of the consumers.
Customers Need and Expectations
Customer Expectations are the needs, wants, and preconceived
ideas of a customer about a product or service. Customer expectation will be
influenced by a customer’s perception of the product or service and can be
created by previous experience, advertising, word of mouth, awareness of
competitors, and brand image. The level of customer service is also a factor,
and a customer might expect to encounter efficiency, helpfulness, reliability,
confidence in the staff, and a personal interest in his or her patronage.
Knowing what the customer expects is probably the most critical step in
delivering service quality. If an organization is able to understand and meet
customer expectations, then customer satisfaction may be easily attained.
Types of Customers Expectations
Customer’s service expectations largely depend upon the
reference points of an individual customer that is why from a single point of
service different customers hold different expectations. Depending upon varied
reference points, service expectations can be divided into different levels or
types that are:
a)
Ideal
service level: Ideal level of a service may be explained as a “dream
service”. This is the kind of a service a customer would expect in ideal
situation and will generate a delightful service experience.
b)
Desired
service level: Desired service is the “wished for” level of service quality
that a customer believes can and should be delivered. This is the level of
service a customer would expect in normal circumstances.
c)
Adequate
service level: It is the minimum level of service that a customer will
accept without being dissatisfied. It may not be the best but bare minimum a
customer would accept.
d)
Predicted
service level: It is the level of service quality a customer believes a
firm will actually deliver.
Factors affecting Customers expectations
1)
Internal
Factors: the internal factors that impact consumer expectations include
individual needs, level of involvement, past experience, and service
philosophy. Individual needs influence the consumption values a consumer will
expect from a service. For example, someone who is extremely hungry will expect
more in terms of quantity of food that is the functional value, than someone
who is dining with a significant other. In the latter case, quality of service
and aesthetics will be more important. He or she may be looking for social or
even emotional consumption benefits. Level of involvement will impact consumer
expectations.
2)
Situational
factors: Consumer expectations are often modified by situational factors.
For example, the reason for the purchase will often modify expectations. A
business that uses a commercial employment agency to hire a high level
executive will have different expectations than if they were hiring a dock worker
to load trucks. Their ideal, desired, and adequate service levels will all be
higher. They will expect the firm to spend more time in screening applicants in
the former case. Consumer mood will affect expectations. Individuals who are in
a joyful, positive mood normally have lower adequate service expectations than
an individual who is in a bad, negative mood. The ideal and desired levels of
expectations are not normally affected. The predicted level may be a person in
a bad mood will often predict they will receive poor service. Weather may be a
factor for a couple of reasons. One reason is that weather affects peoples,
mood, which in turn, will affect what they expect. Second, weather itself will
modify expectations. In foggy, snowy, or heavy rain, passengers expect airline
flights to be delayed.
3)
Firm
produced factors: Firm-produced factors include promotions, pricing,
distribution, service personnel, tangible cues, other customers, firm image,
and pre-service waiting. Examples will vary but here are the ways that
expectations would normally be effected. Promotions by a service organization
will affect the predicted level of expectations. It may have an impact on the
desired level, but seldom will it affect the ideal level. Adequate level of
expectations may be raised if consumers are promised a certain level of service
by advertisements or sales personnel. Pricing normally has a direct impact on
expectations. As price increases, expectations increase. Distribution will
affect the predicted service level and may impact the adequate, but seldom
impact the ideal or desired. Service personnel can affect all four. Promises or
communication by the service personnel of the service can modify any of the
expectations either upward or downward. Tangible cues normally only affect the
predicted. Other customers normally impact only the predicted although they may
have an impact on the other level of expectations depending on what they say or
do.
4)
Competition
Factors: The competitive options available to consumers will impact their
desired and adequate level of consumer expectations. Normally the ideal and
predicted levels are not impacted. A business firm that has ten competent
accounting firms from which to choose will normally have higher expectations
than a business firm which has only four from which to choose. The desired
level will change because there are alternative available that can supply the
service. The minimum level of expectations will increase because there are
other competent firms than can perform the service at a higher level. Thus,
competition normally drives expectations upward.
Managing Customers Service Expectations
1)
By
Calculating: Customer expectations can pose a major challenge to service
provider. That’s because expectations are wondrous creatures: They grow, they
shrink, they change shape, and they change direction. Customer expectations
keep on shifting constantly. The satisfaction or dissatisfaction of customers
is determined by these expectations and the service providers, ability to meet
those expectations.
2)
Watch
for changes: If customers’ satisfaction level is changing, the service
provider needs to find out if something has happened, either at the customers
end or at service providers’ part, to affect their expectations or perceptions.
Whether that change in satisfaction level is upward or downwards it needs to be
analyzed what is happening. If satisfaction is rising, the service provider
should continue the same performance; if satisfaction is slithering downward,
figure out how to reverse the situation before it falls off the chart.
3)
Managing
Promises: Customer expectations are affected in a big way by the external
marketing communications. Whatever a company promises to deliver it to its
customers through advertising and promotional activities that affect the level
of expectations. If a company is able to deliver what it has promised to its
customers, it will generate customer satisfaction and loyalty but if a company
makes big promises it will raise customers expectations and in case it fails to
meet those expectation, the company will loose its reliability. The service
provider should be very realistic in making promises.
4)
Getting
It Right the First Time: Best efforts must be made to deliver the service
right first time. Definitely, a company must work upon a good service programme
in case service failure occurs but it is also very evident that it is not
always possible to recover a service once it goes bad. So effective internal
marketing programmes, sound procedures and systems, right kind of environment
must be created to provide a good service encounter.
Meaning of Perception
The term “perception” can be defined as the
ability to derive meaning. Derived from the word “perceive”, it refers to the
ability of giving meaning to whatever is sensed by our sense organs. It is the
process through which an individual interprets ones’ sensory impressions to
give meaning to them. Schiffman defines it as “the process by which an
individual selects, organizes, and interprets stimuli into a meaningful and
coherent picture of the world.”
Perception is the process of selecting,
organizing and interpreting information inputs to produce meaning. A person
receives information through the senses: sight, taste, hearing, smell and
touch. How and what consumers perceive strongly affect their behaviour toward
products, services, prices, package designs, salespeople, stores,
advertisements and manufacturers.
Nature of perception:
1. Perception is a complex process. After a
stimulus is detected by the sense organs, the perception process comes into play and involves the interplay of three
processes, viz., selection, organization
and interpretation. It is a dynamic process.
2. It is also an intellectual process; it
involves a lot of cognitive effort. Once sensation takes place, the perception process involves the
selection, organization and interpretation of data.
3. Perception is broad in nature; it includes
a physiological component (through sensation), as well as sociological and psychological components.
4. Perception is a subjective process as two
people may perceive the same stimuli differently. While two persons may be exposed to the same stimuli, the manner in
which they select them, organize and
interpret them is different. This is because the two are impacted by their
background, learning and experiences, motivation, personality, cultures, values
and lifestyles, social class effects etc
which may be different from each other.
Factors affecting the perception of consumers
Perception
of a consumer is affected by the following factors
1. Motives and needs: Our motives and needs will definitely
influence our perception. For example, a hungry person is motivated to
recognise only the food items among other articles. His attention cannot be
directed towards other things until his motive is satisfied.
2. Cognitive
styles: People are said to differ in the ways they characteristically
process the information. Every individual will have his or her own way of
understanding the situation. It is said that the people who are flexible will
have good attention and they are less affected by interfering influences and to
be less dominated by internal needs and motives than or people at the
constricted end.
3. Mental
set: Set
refers to preparedness or readiness to receive some sensory input. Such
expectancy keeps the individual prepared with good attention and concentration.
For example, when we are expecting the arrival of a train, we listen to its
horn or sound even if there is a lot of noise disturbance.
4. Selectivity: This
is the degree to which the brain is selecting from the environment. It is a function
of how much is going on around the individual, and also of how selective
(concentrated) the individual is on the current task. Selectivity is also
subjective. Some people are a great deal more selective than others.
5. Expectation: Expectations affect the perception of
a person. Expectations are related with the state of anticipation of particular
behaviour from a person. For example, a technical manager will expect that the
non- technical people will be ignorant about the technical features of the services.
6. Situation:
Elements
in the environment surrounding an individual like time, location, light, heat
etc., influence his perception. The context in which a person sees the objects
or events is very important.
7. Cultural
Upbringing: A person’s ethics, values and his cultural upbringing also play an
important role in his perception about others. It is difficult to perceive the
personality of a person raised in another culture because our judgement is
based upon our own values.
8. Past experience:
This leads us to interpret later experience in the light of what we already
know. Psychologists call this the law of primacy, Sometimes sights, smells or
sounds from our past will trigger off inappropriate responses: the smell of
bread baking may recall a village bakery from twenty years ago, but in fact the
smell could have been artificially generated by an aerosol spray near the
supermarket bread counter.
Perceptual process/ mechanisms
The perceptual process starts when a person is
exposed to a stimulus and the sensory receptors report the same to the human body. While the senses may be exposed
to various stimuli, the human senses
select only some of these at a point of time. This is because the sense organs
have a limited capacity at a
particular point of time. After the sense organs, report a few stimuli, the
perceptual process takes over. Of
the stimuli that have been detected, few are selected, organized and interpreted for meaning. This is known
as perception.
Although we may differ in perceptual
processes, universally speaking, the perceptual process comprises four components, viz., input, perceptual mechanism,
output and behaviour. Let us have a discussion
on these.
i. Input: The input to the perceptual
process refers to the various stimuli that surround an individual and exist in his environment. It could
assume various forms, for example, it could be another person, object, thing, or situation. The perceptual process begins
when the sensory receptors detect a
stimulus in the environment, which acts as an input to the perceptual
mechanism.
ii. Perceptual mechanism: The
perceptual mechanism consists of three sub-processes, viz., selection, organization and interpretation. Once the sense organs
detect a stimulus in the environment,
a person selects, organizes and interprets it through perceptual selectivity,
perceptual organization and
perceptual interpretation. Put together, these are known as perceptual mechanisms.
1. Perceptual selection or perceptual
selectivity refers to a tendency within a person to select one or a few out of the many stimuli present in the environment;
this selectivity is based on one’s
demographic, socio-cultural and psychographic factors. A person would tend to
select those stimuli that appear
relevant and attractive to him.
2. Perceptual organization refers to the
process of organizing the various stimuli with other cues around so that a whole picture can be created. In other
words, the various stimuli are organized
and given a form. It is the process of organizing inputs into a definite and
interpretable structure.
3. Perceptual interpretation refers to the
process of drawing in inferences out of the organized whole (of stimuli), and giving meaning to it.
iii. Output: Once the input has been
interpreted, it results in an output. This output towards the stimuli assumes various forms, for
example, in the formation of emotions and moods, feelings and opinions, as well as attitudes and
beliefs.
iv. Behaviour: The resultant behaviour
is an outcome of the output. Based on his emotions and moods, feelings and opinions, as well as attitudes and beliefs, a
person would enact out behaviour. This
behaviour is a function of and will be reflective of such emotions and moods,
feelings and opinions, as well as
attitudes and belief.
Elements of Perception
Elements of Perception are given below
1) Sensation:
Sensation is the immediate and direct response of the sensory organs to
stimuli. A stimulus may be any unit of input to any of these senses. Examples
of stimuli include services, packages, brand names, advertisements and
commercials. Sensory receptors are the human organs that receive sensory
inputs. Their sensory functions are to see, hear, smell, taste and feel. All of
these functions are called into play, either singly or in combinations, in the
evaluation and use of most consumer services.
2) The Absolute Threshold - The lowest
level at which an individual can experience a sensation is called the absolute
threshold. The point at which a person can detect the difference between
“something” and “nothing” is that person’s absolute threshold for the stimulus.
Sensory adaptation is a problem that causes many advertisers to change their
advertising campaigns regularly. Marketers try to increase sensory input in
order to cut through the daily clutter consumers experience in the consumption
of advertising. Some increase sensory input in an effort to cut through the
advertising “clutter.” Other advertisers try to attract attention by decreasing
sensory input.
3) The Differential Threshold The
minimal difference that can be detected between two stimuli is called the
difference threshold or the JND (just noticeable difference). A 19th century
German scientist named Ernst Weber discovered that the JND between two stimuli
was not an absolute amount, but an amount relative to the intensity of the
first stimulus. Weber’s law states that the stronger the initial stimulus, the
greater the additional intensity needed for the second stimulus to be perceived
as different.
Targeting – Meaning, Significance and Drawbacks
Target
marketing approach is important to a marketing plan because it allows the
company to focus on the needs and wants of its target audience and enables them
to plan of what they want to accomplish and achieve in the future. Target
markets represent the people or the consuming public who may consume of
purchase your products and services, have the capability to purchase it
financially and can be easily reached by marketing campaign or advertisements.
Behavioral, socioeconomic and demographic data enables company to identify what
messages will attract the best and positive response among its target markets.
Stiff competitions among businesses are unavoidable and to remain competitive,
businesses must invest in advertisements to increase market awareness and focus
on their target markets to create a long lasting and good relationship with the
consumers.
A marketing plan summarizes the tactics, methods or
strategies a business follows to reach its target sales and profits. To come up
with these strategies and tactics, a business needs to gather information about
the wants and needs of its potential customers. A market research will enable a
company to learn and identify who among its potential customers will most
likely purchase its products and services. The individual consumers are the
target audience for the company’s marketing campaign and product and sales
development. The target audiences comprise segments of the whole market most
commonly known as the target markets. A company without a clear vision of its
target markets will hardly make it to the top of the industry.
In order for a company to come up with an effective marketing
plan, it should put into consideration the importance of its target markets.
Businesses should concentrate on the demographic factors of its target markets
such as age, gender, income, family status (married, single, married with kids
or retired), ethnicity and educational level. Likewise, possible criteria to be
included are recreational tendencies, geographic and time constraints.
Among the advantages of using target markets in making a
marketing plan are for easy identification of more opportunities and right
product positioning. Selecting the appropriate or correct target market allows
advertising to come up with ads focus on a specific target audience and use the
most effective and cheapest media.
Target marketing has also its own drawbacks. Since this
approach needs a solid research to be more effective, some small businesses are
also reluctant to invest in this type marketing. Marketing through this type
will require higher administrative and promotional cost for several audiences.
This is proven to be very effective but also very costly.
Target markets are important to a marketing plan because it
gives the company a direction of what it wants to achieve and accomplish in the
future.