The Changing Consumer and the Impacts on Marketing Strategy

Student Full Name: Gloria Mariel Sens Luna

University: Dublin Business School

Student Number: 10288520

Course Title: M.Sc. Marketing – Digital Media Stream September intake

Lecturer Name: John Staunton

Module number/Subject Title:  B9MK116 The Changing Consumer

Assignment Title: “The Changing Consumer and the impact on Marketing Strategy”

Index

Introduction………………………………………………………………………………………...…3

Attitudes Formation………………………………………………………………………………….4

The Concept of Consumer Behavior and its influences…………………………………………4

Multicultural Marketing Strategy……………………………………………………………………5

The current changing consumer behavior transforming marketing strategies………………..6

Technology and its impact on consumers’ behavior……………………………………..…...…8

Adoption of new products………………………………………………………………………......8

Developing strategies through Market Research and Sales Forecast……………………...…9

Consumer loyalty as a fundamental marketing strategy and Post Purchase Behavior…..…12

Conclusion…………...………………………………………………………………………………13

References..…………………………………………………………………………………………14

“The Changing Consumer and the impact on Marketing Strategy”

Introduction

Nowadays, successful companies are adopting complex, well researched approaches towards consumers. As markets change rapidly, companies are entitled to remain up to date, according to their markets’ needs. To become a buyer’s trust worthy brand or product, it is compulsory to fully understand his motivation processes and idiosyncrasy.

It means to study markets behavior, how they share information with family, friends or peers and what kind of cultural backgrounds are involved, in order to have a more specific focus when trying to understand their perceptions and expectations.

As noted by Kermally (2004), during the last decades, marketing’s emphasis has been to revolutionize companies into consumer driven businesses. At social levels, demographics and socio-economic aspects define consumers’ needs and lifestyles. Therefore, companies need to be able to properly respond to these factors.

Our current era is defined by carefully studying consumer behavior and providing excellence in services. Marketing discipline as a whole, will always be influenced by psychology and philosophy, which are intrinsically linked to economics and management.

Attitudes Formation

Kumra (2007) explains that modern consumer behaviour specialists give a great importance to attitudes formation as these lead consumers to behave the way they do. Attitudes researches can easily predict wheter a product will be of preference or not by customers. Based on an attitude research, marketers can focus on developing a more positive projection of their products to attract clients’ attention. Psychologists explain that attitudes are created in two ways:

Social influence: Refers to interpersonal relationships. Family values, interaction with groups and society at different stages in life

Conditioning: Refers to constant publicity or messages by mass media, trying to convince people of the good value or pleasant characteristics of a service. It can deceive and conduct consumers to a positive way of thinking towards a product.

The Concept of Consumer Behavior and its influences

Consumer behavior can be categorized individually or in a group context, influence of friends or acquaintances. Or even to an organizational level, for example when managers make decisions that involve the use of certain brands or products. Services, ideas and tangible products are all part of consumer behavior.

As expressed by Khan (2006), the concept of Consumer Behavior can be defined as a decision making process involving an exchange between companies and users. Users asses, acquire and dispose of goods and services. Clearly, this process starts before a purchase is made, it begins in consumers’ minds and leads to an internal and external study about their behavior.

Marketers’ job consists in comprehending the needs of different groups of consumers in order to create strategic marketing plans. They must conduct in-depth researches as behavior is what determines consumers’ purchase decisions.

Consumers’ behavior is influenced by a vast range of factors divided in two groups:

In addition, consumers are influenced by marketing efforts and strategies, which are created to offer superior customer value.

Multicultural Marketing Strategy

Business planners, product developers and marketers, should all take the cultural background approach into account when launching a new campaign or product. A brand is basically based upon creating an emotional and intellectual bound with clients.