Introduction to the Positioning Process What you’ll learn to do: explain the process of selecting a positioning and differentiation strategy Positioning and differentiation are powerful tools to help you establish the market position you want for your product or service. In this section you’ll learn how various positioning approaches work for different target segments and how to choose an effective positioning and differentiation strategy. The Positioning Process LEARNING OBJECTIVES Explain the concept… Read More »the process of selecting a positioning and differentiation strategy

Introduction to Defining Positioning and Differentiation What you’ll learn to do: define product positioning and differentiation, and explain why they are important to marketing a product or service Positioning addresses an important question: What do you want to be known for? Positioning provides the basic foundation for effectively marketing any product or service to a target audience. Positioning goes hand in hand with differentiation (in much the same way that segmentation and targeting… Read More »Introduction to Defining Positioning and Differentiation

Why It Matters: Positioning Why learn about positioning? Ever since you were small, you have loved special occasions and gatherings. It started with sprawling extended-family picnics when you were a child. From there, you graduated to bigger and more elaborate events: attending fairs and grand openings, crashing weddings and voter conventions, wandering through business expositions at the local convention center. In fact, one of your favorite memories is of the time you… Read More »Why It Matters: Positioning

Putting It Together: Consumer Behavior Applying the Concepts: Finn’s Family Buys a Pet Do you remember Finn, the newest little consumer who arrived at the beginning of this module? Let’s suppose that Finn’s parents decide they want him to grow up with an animal friend. This gives us a chance to apply what we’ve been discussing about consumer behavior and see what happens as they go through the consumer decision process to buy… Read More »Putting It Together: Consumer Behavior

The Organizational Buying Process LEARNING OBJECTIVES Explain the B2B purchasing decision process Making B2B Buying Decisions The organizational buying process contains eight stages, which are listed in the figure below. Although these stages parallel those of the consumer buying process, there are important differences that have a direct bearing on the marketing strategy. The complete process occurs only in the case of a new task. In virtually all situations, the… Read More »The Organizational Buying Process

Introduction to B2B Purchasing Decisions What you’ll learn to do: explain the B2B buying process and factors influencing B2B purchasing decisions Up to this point, our discussion about decision making has focused on individual consumers (B2C). Next we will shift attention to the decision making of businesses and other organizations when they are considering what to buy (B2B). While many of the same principles apply in business-to-business purchasing decisions, there are… Read More »Organizational Buyer Behavior & B2B Purchasing Decisions

Social Factors LEARNING OBJECTIVES Describe social factors that influence what and when consumers buy People Influencing People Social factors represent another important set of influences on consumer behavior. Specifically, these are the effects of people and groups influencing one another through culture and subculture, social class, reference groups, and family. Culture A person’s culture is represented by a large group of people with a similar heritage. Culture exerts a strong influence on a person’s… Read More »social factors that influence what and when consumers buy

Psychological Factors LEARNING OBJECTIVES Describe psychological factors that influence what and when consumers buy Consumer Decisions and the Workings of the Psyche When we talk about psychological factors that influence consumer decisions, we are referring to the workings of the mind or psyche: motivation, learning and socialization, attitudes and beliefs. Motivation A motive is the inner drive or pressure to take action to satisfy a need. A highly motivated person is a… Read More »psychological factors that influence what and when consumers buy

Personal Factors LEARNING OBJECTIVES Describe personal factors that influence what and when consumers buy In addition to situational factors, there are also individual traits and characteristics that can shape purchasing decisions. These include things like demographics, life stage, lifestyle, and personality. Demographics Demographics are an important set of factors that marketers should not overlook when trying to understand and respond to consumers. Demographics include variables such as age, gender, income… Read More »personal factors that influence what and when consumers buy

Situational Factors LEARNING OBJECTIVES Describe situational factors that influence what and when consumers buy Buying Task The buying task refers to the consumer’s approach to solving a particular problem and how much effort it requires. The level of consumer involvement is an important part of the buying task: whether the buyer faces a high-involvement decision with lots of associated risk and ego involved, versus a low-involvement decision with little risk… Read More »situational factors that influence what and when consumers buy