The marketing stimuli are received by the potential consumer along with the other stimuli already existing in the environment. These stimuli may be social, economic, cultural, technological or political in nature. At the point of receiving the marketing stimuli, the consumer already has a certain mental, emotional and psychological frame of mind developed over the years by his cultural, religious, social, family and psychological background. However, most of these factors (or buyer characteristics) exert their influence at the sub-conscious level so that the consumer is not really aware of their existence or working.
Knowledge of consumer behaviour is helpful to the marketer in understanding the needs of his different consumer segments and developing appropriate marketing strategies for each. It is also useful for the marketer in developing an understanding of how consumers respond to the various marketing stimuli, which he/she provides in terms of the product, price, promotion and place. If the marketer can correctly identify the stimuli that evoke a positive response in the consumer, he/she can very easily design effective marketing strategies using these stimuli.
Motivation: Strong, unfulfilled need which spurs a person to take action for his satisfaction.
Perception: Process of selection, organisation and interpretation of stimuli into cohesive, coherent picture.
Stimulus: An input to any one of the five senses.
Attitudes: Enduring and learned tendencies to act in a particular consistent way with regard to a given object or idea.
Belief: A descriptive thought that an individual has about a product, service, idea or practice.
Learning: Process of applying results of past experiences to evaluate a new situation or modify future behavior.
Demographics: Objective and easily measurable characteristics of a population such as age, income, education, occupation, sex and marital status.
Psychographics: The technique of measuring lifestyles using psychographic characteristics such as attitudes, opinions and interests.
Lifestyle: An individual’s pattern of living in the world as expressed by the manner in which he/she spends money and time on various activities and interests, and the opinion that he/she holds.
Reference group: A group that serves as a point of reference or comparison for an individual in the matter of forming value, attitudes or behaviour.
Sub-culture: ‘Culture within a culture’; distinct groups of people grouped on the basis of nationality, religion, geographic region or race and having their own distinct motives, values and behaviour patterns.
Social class: Division in a society comprising people sharing the same social status, values, beliefs, attitudes and exhibiting a distinct preference for certain products and brands.
Diffusion of innovation: Process by which the acceptance of an innovation (or product, service or idea) is spread by communication to members of a society and the adoption of the innovation in terms of actual purchase of the product.
Motivation: Strong, unfulfilled need which spurs a person to take action for his satisfaction.
Perception: Process of selection, organisation and interpretation of stimuli into cohesive, coherent picture.
Stimulus: An input to any one of the five senses.
Attitudes: Enduring and learned tendencies to act in a particular consistent way with regard to a given object or idea.
Belief: A descriptive thought that an individual has about a product, service, idea or practice.
Learning: Process of applying results of past experiences to evaluate a new situation or modify future behavior.
Demographics: Objective and easily measurable characteristics of a population such as age, income, education, occupation, sex and marital status.
Psychographics: The technique of measuring lifestyles using psychographic characteristics such as attitudes, opinions and interests.
Lifestyle: An individual’s pattern of living in the world as expressed by the manner in which he/she spends money and time on various activities and interests, and the opinion that he/she holds.
Reference group: A group that serves as a point of reference or comparison for an individual in the matter of forming value, attitudes or behaviour.
Sub-culture: ‘Culture within a culture’; distinct groups of people grouped on the basis of nationality, religion, geographic region or race and having their own distinct motives, values and behaviour patterns.
Social class: Division in a society comprising people sharing the same social status, values, beliefs, attitudes and exhibiting a distinct preference for certain products and brands.
Diffusion of innovation: Process by which the acceptance of an innovation (or product, service or idea) is spread by communication to members of a society and the adoption of the innovation in terms of actual purchase of the product.
source : Unit 3 BMK501 WOU ONLINE COUSE MATERIAL
