Customers, Segmentation, and Targeting

Question 1

Factors Influencing Buying Decisions

Answer 1

Organisation
Bureaucracy
Budget cycle
System compatibility

Environmental
Criticality to productivity
Linkage to bottom line
Industrial benchmark

Personal
Decision maker’s
accountability

Question 2

Consumer Buying Process

Answer 2

Typical
buying processes
Need –> Info search –> evaluation –> purchase decision –> post purchase evaluation

Question 3

Criteria for Successful Segmentation

Answer 3

Effective segmentation produce segments that are:
Identifiable 
Substantial/profitable 
Accessible 
Responsive
Viable

Question 4

2 Distinct Course of Marketing are:

Answer 4

Mass Marketing
Undifferentiated product
Work best when entire market has similar needs
Efficient production and lower marketing costs
Vulnerable to competitors targeting specific segments

Differentiated Marketing
Divide a market into segments of homogenous, well-defined needs/behaviours
Differentiated offers targeting multiple segments
Higher production & marketing costs
Hard to keep a coherent brand image

Question 5

The Consumer Buying Process:Information Search

Answer 5

Marketing activities can stimulate a desire for information
Passive information search
Active information search

Sources of information
Internal sources - Personal experiences and memories
External sources - Advertising, websites, packaging, display, and salespeople

Question 6

The Consumer Buying Process:Evaluation of Alternatives

Answer 6

Consumers evaluate products as bundles of attributes
Each attribute has a different level of importance
Priority of choice criteria can change during the process

Important considerations
Products must be in the evoked set
Consumers’ choice criteria must be understood

Marketing programs must be designed to:
Change priority of choice criteria
Change consumers’ opinions about product or brand image

Question 7

The Consumer Buying Process:Purchase Decision

Answer 7

Unforeseen circumstances can interfere with consumer’s decision to buy a product

Marketers overcome these factors by:
Reducing the risk of purchase
Making purchase easy
Finding creative solutions to unexpected problems.

Key issues in the purchase decision stage:
Product availability
Possession utility

Question 8

The Consumer Buying Process:Postpurchase Evaluation

Answer 8

Connection between buying process and developing long-term customer relationships

Four possible outcomes:
Delight
Satisfaction
Dissatisfaction
Cognitive dissonance (post-purchase doubt)

High likelihood of experiencing dissatisfaction or cognitive dissonance when:
Dollar value of the purchase increases
Opportunity costs of rejected alternatives are high
Purchase decision is emotionally involving

Question 9

Factors Affecting the Consumer Buying Process

Answer 9

Decision-making complexity
Primary reason for variations in the buying process

Individual influences
Demographics, perceptions, motives, interests, attitudes, opinions, or lifestyles

Social influences
Culture, subculture, social class, reference groups, and opinion leaders

Situational influences
Affect amount of time and effort devoted to the purchase task