Today, successful entrepreneurial activity is impossible without marketing research. For those companies that produce products or services, provide advice or engage in sales activities, it becomes extremely important to study consumers, their needs, specific and standard requests, as well as the psychological and cultural aspects that guide them in the purchase process.
What does market analysis include
The process of collecting information about the situation on the market for products, consumer demands and major trends in the competitive environment is an essential part of the activities of the marketing department. Many decisions regarding the volume and structure of products, as well as the strategy for its promotion and sale are based on the information that specialists receive as a result of market analysis. To make the data as reliable and useful as possible for the company, the analysis should include the following actions:
- Compiling a general description of the markets where the product is supposed to be sold, as well as assessing their volume and calculating the share of the enterprise.
- Studying the dynamics of market development, forecasting its possible changes, highlighting the main factors influencing these parameters.
- The formulation of the main requirements that consumers place on the product.
- Analysis of the market of competitors: their technical capabilities, influence on the market, information about the price and quality of the product.
- Determining the advantages that the company has over competitors.
Marketing and its tasks
By and large, the main goal of marketing is to optimize the process of selling a product or service by increasing the compliance of their quality and composition with the needs of end consumers. In other words, the head of the enterprise expects marketers to recognize the universal and specific needs of the consumer, analyze the situation of competing companies and find the ideal market for selling the product.
Paradoxes and peculiarities of the consumer market
An entire segment of marketing has been singled out to study consumer behavior. It collects information about how customers choose a product (service, idea) and what they say about the experience of using it.
Analysis of consumers faces a lot of difficulties and problems, because it is not so easy to find out what buyers want, understand their motivation and behavior. Many buyers are happy to take part in surveys andgive answers about what they want or need. However, while in the store, they show completely different tendencies and do unpredictable things.
The shopper may not be aware of the motives behind their purchases, say what is expected of them (hence their answers are unreliable), or change their mind at the last moment. Therefore, the subject of marketers' study is the stereotypes of behavior inherent in the target consumer, as well as what he needs, what he wants, how he perceives the product, and which route he chooses to the point of sale of the product.
Query statistics (phrases that Internet users enter into the search box) can serve as a more or less objective reliable source of information.
The result of the use of improved and scientifically developed questionnaires was the identification of eight main motives that guide almost every person who makes a decision about the advisability of any acquisition. Consumer analysis found that buyers tend to:
- Be safe.
- Feel important.
- Concentrate on your ego.
- Be creative.
- Be the giver and receiver of love.
- Hold power.
- Preserve family cultural values and traditions.
- Get immortality.
The universality of this list is that it is relevant for absolutely any product (goods or services) and can be used practicallyevery marketer.
What is called the consumer behavior model
Until recently, marketing specialists had to analyze consumers in "combat conditions", that is, directly in the process of selling goods. The increase in companies and the growth of their structures led to the distance of marketing managers from the end customer. Today, these people do not contact consumers personally. They consider the behavior of buyers on abstract models, the essence of which is what kind of response a buyer has to various marketing incentives.
The task of these specialists is to study the processes occurring in the mind of the consumer in a short period from exposure to an external stimulus to making a purchase decision.
After all, consumer analysis boils down to answering two basic questions:
- How can a shopper's cultural, social, personal and psychological makeup influence their behavior in the store?
- How is a buying decision formed?
Cultural factors and their impact on consumer needs
The influence of cultural factors on the behavior of buyers is regarded as quite significant. What matters is the general cultural level, the influence of certain subcultures and social class. The analysis of consumer markets through the prism of cultural values provides a lot of useful data, because it is culture that can be called a determining factor in the needs and behavior of manypeople.
Culture is instilled in children from an early age, firmly introducing specific sets of values, stereotypes of perception and behavior. This is facilitated by the family, educational and social institutions.
Consumer portrait: belonging to social class
The division of society into social classes and strata, to one degree or another, determines the needs and desires of most consumers. Social classes are called fairly homogeneous and stable groups of people who are united by common values, interests and behavior.
Market analysis involves looking at the consumer profile, so it is imperative for a marketer to understand how income, work, education, place of residence, housing conditions, and even the level of general development of various social classes and strata of the population differ.
Customers belonging to the same class show identical or very similar preferences regarding the choice of different products (clothes, home furniture, leisure, cars, food). Knowing the consumer market and the tastes of their target audience, a competent marketer will be able to use this effective leverage and stimulate demand for a particular product.
What are social factors and how they affect consumer psychology
Among the social factors that influence how buyers evaluate the need to make a purchase, there are:
- Family.
- Reference group.
- Role.
- Status.
To be consideredalso the influence of primary and secondary membership groups. This is an environment that, to a certain extent, forms a person's subjective view of a particular need.
Primary membership group - family members, friends, employees. Secondary - a professional team, religious communities, clubs. Reference groups carry out the following impact on the consumer:
- May affect how an individual feels about life and themselves.
- Able to push a person to certain actions and attitudes, which will eventually shape his behavior and lifestyle.
- Can and do affect what products and brands an individual prefers.
In addition to the influence of those groups to which a person belongs, he can be exposed to the influence of an external (foreign), but attracting community. In an effort to be like members of the "desirable group", the individual buys goods that represent for him a different way of life.
Family as an important factor influencing consumer behavior
Families are the first and often the strongest relationships for many people. Being closely connected with parents or guardians, children adopt their preferences, habits and orientations.
In the lexicon of marketers, there are such concepts as:
- Guiding Families.
- Spawned families.
The first type is the society in which a person was born and raised (parents, immediate family). Here, concepts of religion, life goals, a sense of self-worth and love are laid. The guiding family also becomes an environment withcertain political and economic views. All seeds planted in childhood bear fruit later, throughout life.
True, the role and influence of the generated family (wife, spouse, children) is much higher. Compared to the indirect influence of the guiding family, it can be called direct.
Buyer personality factors
The value of this category cannot be compared with the influence of the others, since the individual characteristics of a person (physiological, economic, psychological) are a unique combination of all other factors.
Among the most significant are:
- The age of a person, the stage of the family cycle. These indicators directly determine what goods the consumer may need. Children need to buy baby food, adults tend to try out novelties and exotics, and closer to old age, many have to switch to diets. In addition, analytics and query statistics in the most popular search engines confirm the fact that not only the life cycle of the family, but also the psychological stage of the family's life, greatly influences the structure of consumption. Today, the marketer is sure to pay attention to the specific needs of people after divorce, widowhood, remarriage or other important events.
- Sphere of activity of the consumer. This indicator is perhaps the most important, because it is on the occupation of a person that his income and needs depend. Workers are forced to buy and wear special clothes and shoes, while corporate presidents cannotdo without expensive suits and country club memberships for the elite. The task of the marketer is to identify groups and categories of consumers in accordance with their occupation and professional activities. In accordance with these data, the manufacturer will be able to give the product specific characteristics.
- Economic situation. Of course, most purchases are planned by an individual with an eye to their own financial capabilities. The characteristics of a person's economic situation are the level and stability of the expenditure side of the budget, the amount of savings and assets, the presence of debts, creditworthiness, as well as the attitude towards the process of accumulating money.
- Lifestyle is another personal factor that should be distinguished from social class and occupation, as a way of life is usually called a person's form of being, which is expressed by him through activities, interests and opinions. The lifestyle most capaciously reflects the essence of a person, as well as his ways of interacting with society. The success of a marketer largely depends on the ability to "throw a bridge" from the company's products to groups united by lifestyle. For example, the head of a computer manufacturing company may see that the hallmark of his customer base is a focus on achieving professional success. The natural consequence is to conduct more in-depth research on this target group, as well as the use of symbols and words in the advertising campaign that correlate with success.
Conclusion
In general, market analysis is aimed atto create a product that will be as useful and attractive to the consumer as possible. As a last resort, the product should look like this. The formation of a positive image of the product is achieved through the development of the correct, "working" packaging and advertising campaign.
According to the unwritten rule of marketing, a product sells better if it has a favorable image. That is, the image of the product should be associated exclusively with the notions of well-being inherent in certain categories of buyers. An illustration of any unpleasant or painful aspect is considered unacceptable.
The study of all the intricacies of marketing, a thorough analysis of data, the use of psychology, sociology and economics are used precisely to satisfy the need of the buyer, to provide what he so lacks (or seems to lack).
Often a company resorts to such a technique as educating its client. This approach involves offering an entirely new product along with promoting the problem it solves.
