Marketing 101: Complex Buying Behavior

The process consumers use to buy products and services is different for every individual and every category of product.  However, we have been able to categorize this behavior based on their degree of involvement, and the degree of difference between the brands in the product category.  There are four types of Buying Behavior: 1) Complex Buying Behavior - Has high involvement with significant levels of differences between brands. 2)...

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Marketing 101: Pyschological Factors of Consumer Buyer Behavior

Consumers are complicated.   If they bought things based on only a select criteria, then it would be easy to convince others to buy our products and services.  There would be no need for elaborate ad campaigns and large advertising budgets.  Unfortunately, consumers are influenced by many different stimuli, and they use many different factors to decide what to buy and when to buy it.  One of the major influencers of consumer...

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Marketing 101: The VALS Study

As marketers are certainly aware, a consumer's economic situation will undoubtedly affect their purchasing decisions in some way.  Marketers of income-sensitive products and services should be watching for changes in a demographic's income, savings and access to the prevailing interest rates.  If financial trends are towards a recession, we should be making proactive changes to alter our product and service lines, or reposition the messaging...

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Marketing 101: Social Factors Affecting Consumer Buyer Behavior

In my last post I examined the cultural factors influencing consumer buyer behavior.  Cultures, subcultures and cultural trends all shape the Model of Consumer Buying Behavior.  Another major part of consumer buyer behavior is the element of Social Factors.  Human beings are social. They need people around them to interact with, and to discuss various issues in order to reach to better solutions and ideas. We all live in a society...

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Marketing 101: Cultural Factors Affecting Consumer Purchases

In my last post I discussed the basics of Consumer Buyer Behavior, and I explored the Model of Consumer Buyer Behavior.  We are going to continue our discussion by exploring the various characteristics affecting consumer buying behavior.  Recall that consumer purchases are not just simple one-and-done affairs.  They are affected strongly by cultural, social, personal, and psychological factors.  These are all factors that we...

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Marketing 101: An Overview of Consumer Buying Behavior

There are many mysteries in life.  Love, happiness, success, the meaning of life, teenagers, and for marketing professionals, consumers can be the biggest nut we try to crack and understand on a daily basis.  It's our job to understand how to convince our target market to buy what we have to offer.  How do we get them to see the value in our messaging so that we can get value from them in return?  It all revolves around the...

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Marketing 101: Sampling Plan

In the last Marketing 101 post we examined common Contact Methods for acquiring Primary Data.  I listed three traditional methods: telephone, mail, and focus groups.  The fact of the matter is that online technologies have completely changed how we as marketing directors and CMO's do our jobs.  I truly believe this is for the better.  It so so much easier to collect the Primary Data we need via online methods, and it tends to...

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Marketing 101: Primary Data - Contact Methods

In my last Marketing 101 piece, I spent some time introducing the Research Methods that we typically use in Primary Data collection.  Remember that Research Methods consist of surveys, experimentation and observation.  Surveys are the workhorse of Primary Data collection.  They tend to give us the bulk of our information related to customer trends and buying behaviors.  In order to conduct these surveys, information is collected...

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Marketing 101: Primary Data Collection - Research

In this edition of the Marketing 101 series we will take a quick look at Primary Data collection.  So far we have been discussing data that is considered secondary.  Secondary data was collected by someone else.  Whether it was your sales department, or a comScore research report that you purchased, it was created by someone else other than your department.  It did not involve any of your department interacting with existing...

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Marketing 101: Marketing Intelligence: External Data Sources

When conducting Marketing Intelligence you will need to explore External Data sources.  Here is a list of popular paid and free external data sources. ACNielsen Corporation www.nielsen.com/us/ In 100 countries around the world, Nielsen provides clients the most complete understanding of what consumers watch and buy.  Provides television audience data along with supermarket scanner data on sales, market share, retail prices, and household...

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Marketing 101: Developing Marketing Information

Next in our discussion of Marketing Information Systems, we're going to explore Developing Marketing Information.  Marketing Information Systems rely on multiple types of marketing data.  As a Marketing Manager, you need to stay on top of creating and maintaining these data sources that are vital to your ability to make strategic marketing decisions.  You can obtain the data you need from internal databases, marketing intelligence,...

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Marketing 101: Managing Marketing Information: An Overview

Now that we have finished our overview of the Marketing Micro-environment, it's time to begin looking at Managing Marketing Information. Why do we care about marketing information?  Marketing Information allows the Marketing Manager to do their job; it allows them to make real strategic decisions involving a business's brand, it's products, and the messages communicated to it's Publics.  Marketing Information provides a business with...

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Marketing 101: Microenvironment - Publics

This week's Marketing 101 is going to continue on in Marketing Microenvironments.  Today we are focusing on Publics. In simple terms, a Public is any group of people that may have an real or potential interest in ... or an impact on ... your business's ability to achieve its objectives - whatever they may be.  Why should you care about Publics?  It's simple.  Publics can help, or hinder your ability to get your message out...

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Marketing 101: The Microenvironment - Competitors

I want to start this week's post with a bit of caution: even though there may not be a lot to write, this part of the Micro-environment is by no means small or light.  In fact, it is complex, requires a lot of thought and study, and must be properly evaluated.  It's your Competitors. The marketing concept states that in order for your marketing to be successful, your business must provide greater customer value and satisfaction that...

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Marketing 101: The Micro-environment - Customers

Next in the Marketing Micro-environment, we come to Customers. Customers are the key to sales.  If you don't have customers, you can't sell anything. Managers must continually study customer needs and try to anticipate how they are developing so they can meet these needs effectively now and in the future.  However not all customers are the same.  Managers must actively study five distinct categories of customer markets. Consumer...

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