Manegerial Marketing

CUSTOMERS AND THEIR BUYING BEHAVIOR

6.1. Buying Behavior Differences in customer's habits, their cognitive structures and their motives cause them to
behave differently when buying. Although an individual doesn't act the same way in all situ-ations, people tend to act
consistently. Consequently, we may identify six groups of consumers by their buying behavior: 1- A habit-determined
group of brand-loyal consumers who tend to besatisfied with the product or brand last purchased. 2- A price-cognitive
group of consumers who decide princi-pally upon the basis of price or economy comparison. 3- A cognitive group of
consumers who are sensitive to rational claims. 4-An impulse group of consumers who buy on the basis of physical
appeal and are relatively insensitive to brandname. 5- A group of emotional reactors who respond to product symbols
and are heavily swayed by images. 6-A group of new consumers who haven't yet stabilized the psychological
dimensions of their behavior. Particular characteristics of some products have a psychological influence on buying
behavior. Six classes of products may be identified by their psychological appeal: ♦ 6.1.1. Prestige Prestige
products are those which become symbols. They not only represent image or personality attribute but become identified
with they attribute. Ownership of a prestige-laden automobile isn't only a symbol of a success but is evidence of success
expensive homes , house counter cloth-ing , period furniture ,art objects and certain magazines fall into this category.
♦ 6.1.2. Maturity Maturity products are those which are typically withheld from younger people because of social
customs. Consequently , the initial use of such products suggests that the customer has achieved certain stage of
maturity. Products in this category include cigarettes, cosmetics, coffee, beer and liquor. ♦ 6.1.3. Status Status,
those which impute class membership to their users. Particular brands are selected because consumer believe these
brands are impute success, substance, quality, or other attributes to the user. We may say that prestige products denote
leathership while status products denote membership. ♦ 6.1.4. Anxiety Anxiety products are those which are
used to alleviate a personal or social threat. This category would include soaps, dentifrice, perfumes and razors. These
products involve ego-defense, where as the three preceding classes of products are concerned with ego-enhancement.
♦ 6.1.5 Hedonic Hedonic products are those which depend highly upon their appeal to the senses. Their appeal
is immediate and frequently results in impulse purchases. Included in this category are snack items, many types of
clothing, presweetened cereals and visualatyle features such as design and color. ♦ 6.1.6. Functional
Functional products arc those to which little cultural or social meaning has been imputed. Most staple food items, fruits
and vegetables and many building products fall into this group. 6.2. Customer Income In addition a marketing man will
hear and use the terms "money income" - "real income" and "psychic income". • Money income is the amount of a
person receiver in actual cash or checks for wages, salaries, rents, interest and dividends. • Real income is what
the money income will buy in goods and services, it's purchasing power. If a person's money income rises five percent in
one year but the cost of what he buys increases eight percent on the average, then his real income decreases about
three percent. • Psychic income is an intangible but highly important income factor imputed to climate, a satisfying
neighborhood, enjoyments of one's job etc. 6.3. Population Population it one of the main components of a market.
Therefore, a marketing man should study all aspects of the distribution and composition of the population. 0n the
following sections we shall consider only those population factors which affect the consumer market. In analyzing
population a marketing executive should first find out which characteristics of the population "such as age, education or
family size" substantially affect the composition of the market for his product or service. 6.4. Total Population A logical
place to start is with on analysis of total population and here the existence of a "population explosion" becomes evident.
The total spent for food, clothing, leisure-time, goods and services, home furnishing, automobiles and all the other
products and services demanded by the population reaches an astronomical figure. This market is so large and so
heterogeneous that it must be analyzed in segments. 6.5. Number Of Families And Size Of Family The rate of
household and family formation is a population factor of considerable significance to marketing men. A household is
defined as one or more person living in the same dwelling unit.Every new household or family is potentially a market for n
dwelling place, furniture, appliances and other home furnishings. May firms direct on entire segment of their promotional
program to young married couples. For manufacturers of appliances and furniture the number of families is often more
important than the size of the family. 6.6. Age Groups The size of various age groups has a substantial effect on the
market for certain products. The youth market (under twenty) for instance constituted 60 percent of the population in
today's. Developments in this market are upsetting traditional advertising appeaser overloading traditional media and are
revising our previous understanding of how children think and buy. More and more, the teenage market is being
recognized as an important one. Not only is the size of this market growing but its members have an increasing amount
of money to spend. I here are good customers for record, automobiles, cosmetics,clothes, jewelry and other products. In
order to tap this market, many manufacturers are adopting new product and distribution policies, bor instance, some
clothing manufacturers are now designing junior read-to-wear dresses which reflect the age and not merely the size of
the teenage girl. Many deportment stories have ready-to-wear departments labeled "college", "junior" or "miss" which
handle similar or duplicate styles but different sizes. Entire promotional programs are geared to segments of the youth
market. Children's television shows, for example, are sponsored by cereal manufacturers and other advertisers in an
effort to develop brand preferences at an early age. Other manufacturers select as advertising media those magazines or
radio programs which receive high ratings among teenage audiences. Manufacturers and middlemen alike are
beginning to recognize the people in over fifty five age group. This group is logical prospects for small law-cost housing
http://www.managerialmarketing.com Powered by Joomla! Generated: 1 February, 2011, 22:26
 Manegerial Marketing

units, health products and cosmetics developed especially for older people. Many firms are also developing promotional
programs to appeal to buying motives of this group and to cater to their buying habits. 6.7. Sex Another widely
employed and very useful method of segmenting the (Turkish) market is to divide it into two groups; men and women.
The women's market is big, rich and powerful. This market is well educated and is moving into better jobs. Furthermore,
the number of women is increasing at a more rapid rate than the number of men and they are living longer. Special
efforts and to plan products as to interest women. Manufacturers of such diving products are cigars, guns and
ammunition, men's wear, wristwatches etc. are only a few examples of the kinds of companies which must pinpoint
marketing population. A bitter understanding of the male market is resulting in revaluation of product and advertising
strategies. New promotional appeals, new packaging and new advertising media are some of the phases of marketing
programs affected by an awareness of the growing, changing, profitable men's market.

http://www.managerialmarketing.com Powered by Joomla! Generated: 1 February, 2011, 22:26