The implication of Consumer Action Groups to marketers

1. 
   Note that consumer abuse is a crime
   
2. 
   Engage in thorough market research
   
3. 
   Understand consumer rights
   
4. 
   Consider credibility of promotion strategies
   
5. 
   Analyse the interdependency of consumer decision making process
   

Motivation is the driving force that impels individuals to act. Needs are the essence of the marketing concept. The key to a company’s survival, profitability and growth in a highly competitive marketplace is its ability to identify and satisfy unfulfilled consumer needs better that the competition.

If a need is not satisfied, it leads to a drive. A drive is a state of tension, either physiological or psychological which must be satisfied or gratified. Need gratification leads to the state of equilibrium.

Unsatisfied need Tension Drives Behavior Goal satisfied

Tension Reduced

No safe shelter for 10yrs need to have a safe shelter join housing cooperatives upon acquiring a stand and building a shelter then tension is reduced.

Needs aroused to a high level of intensity become motives, and drive the individual to act to satisfy these needs.

Needs are aroused by stimuli otherwise they do not manifest themselves. As a marketer, what stimuli do you need to bring to the market to arouse consumers?

1. 
   Emotional arousal
   

2. 
   Cognitive arousal
   

3. 
   Environmental arousal
   

4. 
   Physiological arousal
   

It is important to note that consumers can be sensitised to through adverts. These arousals are uncomfortable such that they build tension until they are satisfied.

Maslow suggested that the needs of consumers can be ranked in their order of importance from biogenic to psychogenic (bodily to mental). The hierarchy can be used with the product life cycle to build a buyer profile ie where to maximise the company profits.

(Status, symbol or belonging)

(Love, belonging)

(Security and protection)

(Food, water, shelter etc)

Despite the criticism of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs that it is somewhat rigid, recent studies have yielded information that described products a meeting various needs as outlined by Maslow from more basic needs (eg basic functions and safety needs) to higher order needs (eg Beauty and Self expressive needs). They found that consumers were willing to pay 30% more for a brand that would satisfy their expressive and basic needs.

Maslow’s needs hierarchy is readily adaptable to market segment and the development of advertisement appeals because there are consumer goods designed to satisfy each of the levels and because most needs are shared by large segments of consumers. Eg buying healthy foods, medicines, low fat and diet products to satisfy physiological needs, shaving creams, mouthwash and cosmetic products are bought to satisfy social needs.

Hierarchy of needs can be used to stress how a product should be perceived by prospective consumers. The key to positioning is to find a niche/an unsatisfied need that is not occupied by a competing product or brand. For example, adverts for soft drinks stress the social appeal of the drink. They show a group of young people enjoying themselves and the advertised product (REDDS). Other adverts stress refreshment eg Coca Cola. Other product adverts focus caloric contents eg Low Fat Yoghurt, Margarine.

The trio of needs consists of;

1. 
   Need for achievement
   

Individuals with a strong achievement often regard personal accomplishment as an end in itself. The achievement need is closely related to both the egoistic need and the self-actualisation need of Maslow.

People with high achievement needs tend to be more self confident, enjoy taking calculated risks, actively res their env and value feedback.

2. 
   Need for power
   

3. 
   Need for affiliation
   

It thus relates to the desire of friendship, acceptance and belongingness.

Marketers therefore need to analyse the characteristics of the target market to determine its dominant motivational need, and then design adverts that place the product in such a context. Thus adverts add that add social appeal (OMO adverts, power appeal, status appeal (Car Sales adverts)

Measurement of Motives

Motives are hypothetical constructs in that they cannot be seen or touched, handled, smelled or otherwise tangible observed. For this reason, no single measurement method can be considered as a reliable index. Therefore, researchers rely on a combination of various qualitative techniques to try and establish the presence and or the strength of various motives.

Marketers need to know in which segment a need is more dominant. Three techniques can be used;

1. 
   Project Techniques
   

1. 
   During a vacation, i am going to.....
   
2. 
   My wish is to......
   

2. 
   Observation
   

3. 
   Focus Groups
   

Personalities give guidance for predicting behaviour (behaviour such as submissiveness, tough, reserved, outgoing etc) a personality can thus be described as the sum total of ways in which an individual reacts and interacts with others. It is a characteristic trait that a person has. Consumers act differently because they have different personalities.

Sigmund Freud presented a three fold structure of personality which was based on the ID, the ego and the superego. His theory is known as the Fredian Theory. Basically, individuals have three interacting systems.

(Diagram adopted from Schiffman)

1. 
   ID (Impulsive Drive)
   

Implication includes; compulsive purchase, use intensive dist???, fast moving consumer goods, imp were product differentiation are little importance eg cellphone recharge cards.

2. 
   EGO
   

It also controls the socio-cultural conditioned Super-ego. The level of development of the ego may differ for one individual to another therefore the desires of individuals are gratified differently.

3. 
   SUPER-EGO
   

1. 
   According to Freud, the impulsive drive part of our personality seeks instinctive, impulsive solutions, products or services.
   
2. 
   The ego-part of our personalities seeks practical and realistic solutions. It is our ego that makes consumers to seek for information about the product.
   
3. 
   The super-ego part of our personalities seeks moralistic and perfectionist solutions. It is guided by culture. For example, Muslims are not allowed to eat non-Halaal-certified meat. That culture guides their super-ego.
   

NB this refers following from or being influenced by Freud). This group includes the likes of Karen Horney, Alfred Adler, and Harry Stack Sullivan etc.

Freudian successors have tended to de-emphasise the importance of the Impulsive drive in favour of the more ego related social factors. They believed that interpersonal relationships and particularly those between parents and children are crucial to individual personality. They argue that the interaction with people can have the three major C.A.D. orientations.

‘CAD’ is a synonym for; Compliant Orientation, Aggressive Orientation and Detached Individuals.

These are;

1. 
   Compliant Orientation
   

The implication of this orientation to marketers then is that marketers should identify the opinion leader, innovator and include them so that they will influence others. For example; Valentines Present, Birthday presents. Remember their relationships.

2. 
   Aggressive Orientation
   

The implication to marketers is that marketers need to understand their personality and design strategic ways of reaching them. They have a particular need for power and the ability to manipulate others.

3. 
   Detached Individuals
   

1. 
   Consumers with a compliant orientation can easily be in included using adverts that stress social needs. Eg the Redds Advert.
   
2. 
   Consumers with an aggressive orientation can easily respond to adverts with a masculine appeal. Eg Sta Soft energises and revitalises the shine, Hairspray etc
   
3. 
   Consumers with detached orientation are likely to do additional activities therefore can easily switch brands as they do not have a desire to conform.
   

It focuses on the quantitative measurement of traits or indentified characteristics that define a person. A trait is any distinguishing and relatively enduring way in which one individual differs from others. For example, people can be distinguished by the degree to which they are socially outgoing. This is the Degree of Extroversion. Introverts are more quiet and reserved.

Some traits that are relevant to consumer behaviour include;

Innovativeness (the degree to which a person like to try new things

Materialism (amount of emphasis placed on acquiring and owning products)

Self-consciousness (image of self)

These traits are put on a continuum scale to obtain a consumer personality profile for any given individual.

The scale measures on a five point agreement which is: Strongly Agree, Agree, Neutral, Strongly Disagree and Disagree.

Traits include assertiveness, intelligent, suspicious, self sufficient, controlled, tense, talkative, innovativeness etc.

Certain personality traits ate important in understanding consumer behaviour and marketers need to understand this. Traits help marketers segment the market. The shared traits are basis for segmenting while specific levels of the traits are basis for including our customers.

1. 
   Dogmatism
   

Dogmatism is a personality that measures the degree on individual displays towards unfamiliar brand and towards information contrary to their established beliefs. It measures the degree of rigidity. A person who is highly dogmatic approaches the unfamiliar defensively and with considerable discomfort and uncertainty.

A person who is lowly dogmatic will readily consider unfamiliar or opposing beliefs.

Therefore, consumers with low dogmatism are likely to prefer innovative products to traditional alternatives. On the contrary, consumers with high dogmatism are more likely to choose established rather that innovative products or alternatives. It would need celebrities and experts in the new product to get through to them.

2. 
   Consumer Innovativeness
   

3. 
   Ethnocentric
   

This is the process by which the organisation interprets and organises sensation to produce a meaningful experience of the world.

Sensation usually refers to the immediate, relatively unprocessed result of stimulation of sensory receptors in the eyes, ears, nose, tongue and skin. According to Lindsay and Norman (), perception and sensation are impossible to separate because they are part of one continuous process.

Consumers perceive an organisation’s products so that they can select, organise and interpret the products.

Nature of Stimuli Selection

Aroma, bright light ads Organisation Perception

Interpretation

Expectation

Learning Interpret brand Info

Motives

The role of the marketer is to enhance the selection of the organisation’s products rather than consumers through adverts, packaging and branding.

The way people perceive the world differs between individuals. Eg, people interpret one stone sculpture/painting differently.

Perception is important to you because it represents the way the consumer

views your product or service. You can influence the perception of your

consumer by understanding the current perception consumers have of your

product and making changes so your product is recognized, interpreted, and

stored in their memory (rather than simply ignored). See Chapter 5 for the

basics on consumer perception.

Familiarize yourself with perception, sensory thresholds, and the process that

consumers go through to construct their perception. You can then use this

information to tailor your marketing stimulus — such as ads, packaging, and

pricing — for each particular segment that you’re trying to attract.

Perception is such an important part of getting consumers to purchase your

product or service that I’ve dedicated Chapter 16 to explaining how you can

influence perception of whatever it is that you’re selling while educating consumers

about your particular offering.

Attitude

1. 
   Absolute Threshold
   

Sensory adaptation occurs when the sensor organs (sight, smell, taste and touch) are exposed to the stimulus of some intensity. As the sense gets used to the sensation, it will not respond to the stimuli anymore. For example, as one is about to dive into a swimming pool, he imagines the coldness of the water but once in the water, he loses that imagination. It means his body has gotten used to the cold water.

For this reason, television adverts change their advert campaigns, same as the other media forms. It is important that the new advert campaigns or designs be above the absolute threshold. Adverts should also be flighted at the end of interesting programmes. When adverts are flighted in between the flighting of an interesting program, there is bound to be reduction of the stimuli and the advert is not detected.

2. 
   Differential Threshold/Just noticeable Difference. (Weber’s Law)
   

The issue of when and if a difference between two stimuli will be noticed by consumers is relevant to many marketing situations.