CONSUMER ATTITUDES

Consumer Attitudes within Promotional Marketing Campaigns



Consumer Attitudes within Promotional Marketing Campaigns

Introduction

The notion of marketing management refers to a pre-determined strategy aimed at achieving a given marketing objective. Consumer behaviour, and the study of consumer response to a company's interaction with the commercial environment, represent key deliberations and are integral to the success of a marketing strategy. Historically, the study of consumer behaviour has been rather neglected; with Dubois (2000) suggesting that it is the stepchild of the marketing discipline.

This essay seeks to explore the relationship between these two concepts, while examining some of the key reasons why marketers should attempt to understand consumer behaviour.

It could be reasonably assumed that a consumer is in the best position to make a rational product purchase if that person has access to all the information available to them. Issues such as price, quality, product brand image and others affect the attractiveness of a product and its subsequent chances of being purchased.

Understanding consumer behaviour gives marketers the chance to influence the availability of this information in a way which is beneficial to the company. Providing positive information on product attributes relative to the competition will evidently increase the affiliation and information consumers have with that product. The reasons for this are explained later in this essay.

From the perspective of the organisation, a company's ability to retain a personal relationship with its customers can be restricted when it is dealing with large numbers of people. In such situations, failure to adequately understand the target market may result in any number of negative consequences such as delivering a product to the market which consumers do not demand. Dubois (2000) suggests that understanding consumer behaviour is necessary when direct contact with those consumers is not feasible.

Consumers as Decision Makers

By analysing and predicting the way in which consumers may be likely to react to a company's marketing activity, (e.g. a new product launch) the best course of action can be ascertained (e.g. a choice between initial sales promotion or a sustained advertising campaign). Hence, understanding a consumer's likely reaction is vital to successful marketing management.

Consumers can be said to react to a product depending on their individual circumstances. Soloman et al. (1999) defined a customer thought process involving initial problem recognition, related information search, and evaluation of alternatives, and a subsequent choice of purchase. Through the various marketing communications channels, marketers are able to manipulate an information search, influence the evaluation, and to a certain extent help identify with the original problem.

A person looking to purchase a replacement video games console, for instance, will begin by assessing which one is best for them. The information search can be influenced by Microsoft, by ensuring that the appropriate amount of hype and advertising material reaches such a consumer while in this decision making process stage. Messages which they may wish to communicate to the consumer may include superior games, better technology, and value for money. By creating necessary hype about their new console, they are also able to influence ...