Free Marketing Dissertations - Customer Attitude: A Personal Reflection In The Words Of Drucker (1974) One
Customer Attitude: A Personal Reflection
In the words of Drucker (1974) one of the aims of marketing is to know and understand the customers so well that the product or service fits them and sells itself. Drucker (1974) further suggested that understanding the customers will help market a product or service in a way that will make the customer ready to buy. The acquisition of information on customers is an essential facet of success in commercial environments (Assail, 1995). Keeping this thought in mind the author of this essay will try to explore the variables or issues that irritates a customer as well the factors that pleases them. In order to achieve a deep rooted understanding of customer attitude, areas like social class, lifestyle, family influences, culture and the influences of reference groups should be considered (Hawkins, Best and Coney 1983; Peter and Olson, 1999) Conducting such a research requires time and resources and is out of scope for this essay. The author also agrees that the most effective way of understanding the customer psyche is to put oneself in their position. Hence for the purpose of this essay the author will like to limit the discussion to the factors that affect the authors own shopping experience.
Before elaborating on the likes and dislikes of my own shopping experience it is important to define the term ‘customer’ and stages through which a customer goes through. From an organisational viewpoint a customer is an individual or group of individuals to whom they provide products and services in return of payment (Smith, 1997). The customers’ shopping experience is not restricted to the point of purchasing the product or service only but can be described as a complete experience divided into three distinct phases. The three clear phases or stages are that of Pre-Sales, Sales and After-Sales. The pre-sales phase comprises of situations which develop customer expectations through advertisement or various forms of information about the product. The sales phase comprise of customer experience at the point of purchase. The after-sales phase includes the time when the customer is actually using the product and needs support or advice. Numerous studies have explored the quality dimensions of these phases with respect to: reliability, tangibility, responsiveness, assurance, and empathy (e.g., Berry et al., 1990; Parasuraman et al., 1991).
In the pre-sales phase the author is mostly irritated by the lack of adequate information or in many cases misleading information about the product or service. Ideally the author would like to have enough information about the product (quality, price, benefits, availability etc) before making a purchase decision. The author is highly appreciative of organisations that provide elaborate and correct information about their products and services (specifically information about hidden costs or terms and conditions).
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