Free Marketing Dissertations - Today, Marketers Have An Extremely Difficult Task, When Deciding On How To
Today, marketers have an extremely difficult task, when deciding on how to sell their products, where to sell them and most importantly, to whom. The global market has become highly competitive and consumers increasingly demanding and difficult to satisfy. Markets are full with products and services, which are very similar in features, thus it’s much harder to differentiate one’s product offer. Consequently, marketers have to constantly monitor market trends; new products and services entering the market but above all, they have to pay special attention to consumers what their needs, tastes and wants are; and what their buying behaviour is. It is crucial to the company’s success, to be able to determine what drives the customer to buy a specific product.
Customer value and satisfaction.
All consumers have basic needs and wants which the try to satisfy. To identify those needs and wants is at the basis of sound marketing practice. According to Maslow’s hierarchy of needs (please refer to Appendix 1), people have different needs they seek to satisfy, such as basic physiological needs - air, water, sleeping, eating, love etc. Once those basic needs are met, people seek to satisfy needs related to ‘self-actualisation’, e.g. career satisfaction, status and power.
Wants are closely related to needs and are often based on different cultural values and background (Kotler, 2001). As Kotler states (2001), wants are shaped by one’s society and are described in terms of objects that will satisfy needs. Once consumers can pay and thus obtain what they want, wants become demands (Kotler, 2001). Generally, consumers will choose the product that best fits their needs and that will give them the best value for money.
An organisation that wants to introduce a new product or service should carefully study what consumers want. Many companies assume that just because they feel they have a great product to offer, that consumers will doubtlessly buy it, once it’s on the market. This is a costly mistake for companies to make. A product or service, which will not satisfy consumers’ needs, won’t be successful. Consumers want to be sure that the product they will acquire will benefit them, some way. As Kotler states (2001):
Many sellers make the mistake of paying more attention to the specific products they offer than to the benefits produced by these products. They see themselves as selling a product rather than providing a solution to a need. Therefore, a product or service should be viewed as something that will help consumers satisfy their needs and wants.
As mentioned above, markets are full with various products and services, hence consumers face a number of challenges when having to select a product that will best satisfy their needs. How do consumers make their final decision on which product to acquire? Obviously, price is an important factor, and the customer will also evaluate the benefits of buying a specific product.
