Blogging - A blog is a type of website usually maintained by an individual with regular updates regarding a specific subject or topic. Here are some of the benefits of blogging:
the consumer and citizen are well informed regarding the subject or topic.
blogs have potential to help with the development of the business or organization, blogs also help to develop stronger relationships and brand loyalty with its customers as they interact through blogging.
blogs are a great way of sharing knowledge within the organisation.
blogs are a great way of gaining feedback from readers, which obviously helps to improve for the next time.
blogs can build up the profile of the writer, showcasing the talent and expertise.
I have enjoyed blogging, it has really helped me understand this subject (understand the customer) I wish i had made a blog straight after the lecture as this would have helped me more throughout the year.
Defintion - "memory refers to the proccessors that are used acquire, store, retain and later retreive information. there are three major proccesors involved in memory, encoding, storage and retrieval." Nostalgia - a wistful desire to return in thought or in fact to a former time in one's life to one's home or homeland, or to one family and friends a sentimental yearing for the happiness of a former place or time. (Dictionary.com)
In our lecture we started off by doing a activity basically caroline our lecturer had a shopping list on the board she asked us to look at the list and said try and remember them but don't write them down. She asked us to then write down which of the things that we remembered there were 10 list of things i got 7 out of 10 the funny thing was that none of us got 10 out of 10!!!
We also did a music quiz we had to name the brand for example the M&S advert caroline played the ad we were not allowed to look we had to guess which ad the music represented. This ad was the summer one it had alot of memory connected to it for me, it reminded me of summer and gave me a happy feeling, it was interesting to know that people in my class had the same feeling as i did. This ad was using nostalgic triggers which actually worked.
"Learning is the acquisition of knowledge and memory is the storage of internal representations of that knowledge." (Blakemore, 1988) "Without memory we would be servants of the moment ..... relying on reflexes.... civilisation itself is the ditillation of human memory"
The Memory Process
EXTERNAL INPUTS - ENCODING (information is placed in memory) - STORAGE (information is retained in memory) - RETRIEVAL (information stored in memory is found as needed.
Nostalgia and the 5 senses - Music, Images, Smells, Touch, and Taste.
(I have prepared a mood mood but don't know how to upload it, i will try to find out and will do so.)
Social Class can be difined as"as the division of members f a society into a hierarchy of distinct status classes have either more or less status." (Difintion from Consumer Behaviour SCHIFFMAN)
Socail class can also difined as "status hierarchy in which indivuals and groups are classified on the basics of esteem and prestige accuired many through economic success accumulation o weath." (Defintion from business. dictionary.com)
Social Class is a division of society made up of persons possessing certain common socail characteristics which are taken to qualify them for intimate, equal status relations with one another and which restrict their interaction with members of other social classes. (Krech, Crutchfield & Ballachey in Dubois 2000)
Measuring social class
Great britain
ABC1 C2 D E
A - upper middle class
B- middle class
C1- lower middle class
C2- skilled working class
D- working class
E- lower class
In our lecture we were talking about socil class, we then had to get into groups and talk about one specific group we we asked to talk about upper class, we had to create a mood board related to what things they may be into, what thier lifestle is like what people they may be assocaited with, etc. here is a pci of the mood board that we prepared for our upper class people!!
we felt that this type of social class would maybe read the guardian, most likely to have gone to university, have a very nice luxury car, they may have interests in different types of animals such as tigers instead of dogs and cats, we had a picture of perfect teeth on the board the reason being for this was because these types of people have enough money to spend on teeth and they have to maintain looking good as they have a reputation to keep. We felt that they would also have a lovely house with contempory furniture and a big garden. They may even have an interest for horses, they may read gracier mazagine rather than OK!! For me this was a very fun activity to do, it was nice to find out about other peoples class and cultures.
Caroline our lecturer showed us this video which i enjoyed watching!! its a good laugh!!!!
"Family can be difined as two or more persons related by blood, marriage, or adoption, who reside together." (Defintion from Consumer Behaviour SCHIFFMAN)
Family plays a integral role of influencing our purchasing behaviour as a child the choices are determined by parents based upon safety and need of child consideration. similarly the child influences the the decision making process realetd to the whole family like colour or family car, etc.
The family purchasing process can be examined from four perpectives:
Power Structure
Decision Making stage
Family Culture
Role Structure
Like societies families are also structured of roles and each family member occupied his or her role. For ex gender role preferences reflect culturally determined attitudes towards the role of husband, wife, mother and father in each household. preception of these roles based on gender affects the decision making process and household decision making process.
Group Influence and Consumption
Cultural - Social - Personal - Psycholigical - BUYER
Here are some defintions of the family:
Nuclear family - father mother and children who live together
Extended family - nuclear family plus other relatives such as grandparents, aunts, etc.
Family of orientatation - the family you were born into
Family of procreation - the family founded through marriage
I feel that every family is different everyones needs and wants are different to others, i feel that it all depends on the number of children there are in the family what ages they are, what careers the parents have, etc. For example My father was the only one working, My mother was a housewife, still is, I' am the last child i have older siblings, i remember when i was growing up we would all make decisions together if we were to buy a new TV we all get a say as to which one we like.
"Personality - a persons unique make up which consistently influences the way the person responds to his or her environment" What is personality, personality has been approached by theorists in a variety of ways, some have emphasized the dual influence of heredity and early childhood experiences on personality development. Others have stressed broader social and environmental influences and the fact that personalities develop continuosly over time." (Consumer Behaviour, chapter 5 SCHIFFMAN)
The big five scale of personality type -
Openness to experience
Conscientiousness
Extroversion
Agreeableness
Neuroticism
"Self concept - the beliefs a person holds about his or her own attributes and how he or she evaluates those qualities". (Soloman, 1999)
"people see themselves as they imagine others see them."
In this lecture we had an interesting activity to to, we had to choose a brand and prepare a presentation of a mood board images based on their advertising. We had to have picture's of what lifestyle this brand member would have, for example the tyoe of house, car, make up, jewellery, social life, etc. We decided to choose Chanel.
Enterprise Week was held at the bucks new uni, the events took place for over two weeks different days for different programmes. This was a very exciting opportunity for students to get an idea of what life would be like after their degree's, it was also good for students who felt maybe the degree they are doing isnt qiute right for them, there were people to help them decide which direction they may be best to head in. All different types of people came from different organisations and job sectors to educate students about the field that they work in for example what qualifications are needed, skills, experience, etc.
Enterprise week also gave us students the opportunity to get involved in fun games and activities such as, the apprentice challenge, doughnut selling challenge, all linked in with marketing for example pricing the doughnuts, advertising, place to sell, etc.
Susan Jones Director of enterprise week at bucks new uni ws quoted saying "this years enterprise week will be a great experience for everyone taking part, there will be a host of opportunities for both business people and would be both entrepreneurs and we look forward to the involvement of indivduals and local businesses across the region".
Segmentation, targeting and postioning comprise a three satge process, we first determine which kinds of customers exist select which ones are best off trying to serve and finally implement our segmentation by otimizing our products, services for that segment and communicating that wehave made that choice to distinguish ourselves that way.
Segmentation, Targeting and Positioning are marketing tools are by a company, to get competitive advantage in the market. They help the company to differentiate its product offering that of its competitors ensure that the same reaches the exact market profile for which is intended. Market segmentation is the process of dividing the market into similar groups according to the charactestics intended for the product at hand.
Targeting - is the process of selecting the most lucrative market segments for marketing the product. positioning involves the formulation of a definitive marketing strategy around which the product at hand would be finally marketed amongst the target audeince. (CBS Business Network) Market Segment defined: Divison of the total market into smaller relatively homogeneous groups.
Great advice from this lovely gentleman!!!
"The focus of the marketing concept is consumer needs, at the same time recognizing the high degree of diversity among us, consumers reseachers seek to identify the many similarities or constraints that exist among the peoples of the world." (Consumer Behaviour, SCHIFFMAN)
In this lecture we looked at how a persons level of motivation and degree of involvement affects their behaviour, and to understand how a persons values and attitudes affect their behaviour, also how marketers take advantage of the persons behaviour.
"A customer value is defined as the ratio between the customers perceived benefits econimic, funtional and psychological and the resources monetary, time, effort, psychological used to obtain those benefits." (Consumer Behavour, SCHIFFMAN)
"A value can be difined as a belief about some desirable end state that transcends specific situations and guides selection of behaviour. Thus values are general and different from attitudes in that they do not apply to specific situations only. A persons set of values plays a very important role in his or her consumption activities, since many products and services are purchased because it is believed they will help us to attain a value related goal." (Consumer Behaviour A European Perpective, Motivation, Value and Involvement)
The most important key event in my life that made an impact on me was when i went to Mecca (Saudi Arabia) I'm a muslim and for a muslim it is compulsory to make a trip to mecca at least once in their lifetime.
I went to perform Umrah (Pilgrimage) i went for 2 weeks with my family, i felt like a new person when i came back i was very thankful for what i had i stopped complaining about what i did'nt have and started appreciating what i did have. I became a happier person, started thinking positive for me this was definitely the best time of my life.
VALS - The most well known and widely used segmentation system in america is VALS (values and lifestyles) developed at what is now SRI international in california.
In the lecture we talked about groups and peer pressure, we started talking about groups - A group is two or more individuals who share a set of norms, have role relationships and experience interdependent behaviours. Groups influence the socialisaion process ie they influence what we learn and how we behave. we talked about how consumers belong to various groups, how to categorise those groups and how marketers target theses groups.
There are many different group types such as family, gender socail class, school student, work regular, college friends, neighbours, golf clubs, formal union committies old people, celebrity set sportsmen, and many more.
"From a merketing perpective reference groups are groups that serve as frames of reference for individuals in thier purchase or consumption decisions. The usefulness of this concept is enchanced by the fact that it places no restrictions on group size or membership nor does it require that consumers identify with a tangible group ie the groups can be symbolic such as owners of successful small businesses, leading corporate chief executive officers, rock stars, golf celebrities". (Consumer Behaviour, SCHIFFMAN)
A reference groups influence is more powerful and important for purchases that are luxuries rather than necessities, socially conspicuous or visible to others.
" Its no secret that children watch a lot of television, as a result of this children are constantly bombared with messages about consumption, both contained in commercials and in the programmes themselves". (Consumer Behaviour book)
As i was reading from the consumer behaviour i came across this piece of text which opened my i eyes and i thought this is so true, "the more a child is exposed to television, whether the programme is a local soap or bay watch the more he or she will accept the images depicted there as a real"
Children are increasing the target of advertsing and marketing because of the amont of money they spend on themselves, the influence they have on thier parents spending on the nag factor and because of the money they will spend when they grow up.
There was a time when children would only nag about sweets and ice cream but times have now changes children are now asking for alot more clothes, shoes, latest computers, latest games, etc. this is all due to the advertsing and marketing side of things.
children are now getting what they want more because there are more working mums, the divorce rate has gone higher this means double presents from mum and dad!!! grandparents are living longer, older stepsiblings, reduced birth rates, later births of first child.
Mintel Data
Toys 2008 market size (2007) £2.2 Bn
Comics 2008 market size (2007) £129M
OTC Kids Midicines (2009) £203M
Pocket money 2008, the vast majority of children are not just reliant on a single source for thier pocket moneybut recieve funds from other areas. Children across the three age groups from less affluent households tend to recieve more pocket money than those from the AB soci - economic group. (Mintel)
This video for me was very touching, it is so important to make parents understand how marketing to children could have a big impact on a child's life not in a good way, we should let out children be little and try and make them understand how important it is to enjoy being little!!! "LET THEM BE LITTLE"
Something else that i found interesting was the Advertising Standards Authority, it has information about how marketers should not make specific advertiments for example its says adv must not take advantage of childrens inexperience or their natural crudulity and sense of loyalty, it also has many other interesting information regarding marketing to children.
Traditionally consumer researchers have approached decision makers from a rational perspective, in this view people calmly and carefully intergrate as much information as possible with what they already know about a product, painstakingly weigh the pluses and minutes of each alternative and arrive at a satisfactory decision. ( Consumer Behaviour, Micheal Solomon)
Kotler's Buyer Decision Process Need recognition Information search Evaluation of alternatives Purchase decision Postpurchase behaviour
Proposed by the harvard business school in the mid 1960's Behaviour is said to depend upon an indivdual's subjective perception of the risk inherent in buying a product - people's tolerance to risk varies
Also in our lecture we had to do an excercise in groups, we were asked to draw a picture of a typical over 50 year old, we had to describe what interests he may have, etc. We as a group thought that this man "john" would be a bus driver, he is married and has many grandchildren, he likes reading the sun, enjoy's going to the pub and also enjoy's playing bingo every week. we drew a picture saying all of this on the face, which looked quite funny!!!
This lecture for me was very interesting we were looking at generation marketing!! "The method of marketing to specific generations is affecting the way that we promote and sell products and services". Each one of us is a product of our generation, all generations are different and have different needs and wants. There are four different popular generation catagories that most marketers tend to focus on they include: 1, Millenials or generation 2001ers, born after 1980 2, Baby busters or generation Xers born between 1965 and 1980 3, Baby boomers born between 1946 and 1964 4, Mature citizens born between 1909 and 1945 In class we were set a task to focus on a generation, our group was given tween's we had to describe the generation in detail, we found that a tween girl is aged 9 - 11 too old for toy's but too young for boy's, not so long ago the age for tween's was 6. We found that tweens are very easy to market they usually follow any fashion or trend that is set for their age group. They are interested in mary kate olsen's, hannah montana, that's so raven. They are most likely to complain about life being so hard beacuse they don't have enough money to buy the latest hannah montana bag!!!!!!!!! Todays tween's are raised on TV, they are the most materialistic of all generations. Marketers age Generations Pre school
Children
Tweens
Generation Y
Generation X
Baby boomers (young)
This video is a example of how marketers are aiming their products to the tween gerneration, even though it is so wrong what they are trying to do which is to attract tweens to buy thier products, but what they don't understand is that they are actually messing with the tween generations minds making them believe that wearing these types of clothes are cool.
In this lecture we looked at gender, how males and females brains work and think differently. Not so long ago it was a norm for women to saty at home and look after the children while the husbands went out to work. Gender roles for women are changing rapidly, social changes such as the dramatic increase in the proportion of the women in waged work have led to un upheaval in the way women are regarded by men.
Modern women now play a greater role in the decisions regarding traditionally male purchases. for example more than 60 per cent of new car buyers under the age of 50 are females. (This Information is taken from Consumer Behaviour, A European perspective)
This advertisement is obviously trying to attract women, it is showing a successful, beautiful women showing her beauty the ad is trying to tell the female audeince that you too could look like this beautiful women if you use the mascara!! these types of ads really do grab womens attention, i don't know about all women but this ad surely has attracted my attention.
"Females are depicted as attractive sexual objects, obsessed with appearance and dating" (Ruth 1995, p388)
While the traditional conception of the ideal male is tough, aggressive, muscular man who enjoy's manly sports and activities is not dead, society.s definition of the male role is evolving. Men in the late 1990s are allowed to be more compassionate and to have close friendships with other men. in contrast to the depiction of macho men who did not show feelings, some marketers are promoting men's sensitive side. (This Information was taken from the Consumer Behaviour book A European Perspective)
Defining Perception - "perception is the process of sensing selecting and interpreting consumer stimuli in the external world" (wilkie 1994)
"Perception is defined as the process by which an individual selects, organizes and interprets stimuli into a meaningful and coherent picture of the world" (Consumer Behaviour, p.g 158, SCHIFFMAN KANUK)
perception can be described as how we see the world around us, everyones perception of things are different.
Sensation - Attention - Interpretation
preception is the process of attaining awareness or understanding sensory information.
While researching what perception really means i came across a simple and useful website talking about perception.
Sensation - is the immediate and direct response of the sensory organs to stimuli. A stimulus is a unit of input to any of the senses, examples of stimuli (sensory input) include packaging, products, brand names, advrtisements and commercials. (Consumer Behaviour SCHIFFMAN) There are 5 marketing senses in marketing:
First Impression's - In our lecture we were talking about first impressions, our lecturer Ruth invited 2 young ladies to stand in front of the class, their names were Magda and Agatha. The class had to describe the 2 ladies. For example what they looked like, what kind of fashion they were into, the kind of music they are interested in, where they were orginally from, what kind of socail life they have, etc. It was interesting to find out that the class did very well, most of us had a cler idea as to what the girls were like.
After the lecture i relized how important first impressions really are, it was interesting to find out that people make judgements about others very quickly at the first meeting. Some say that it only takes a few seconds to evaluate somebody based on the way they are dressed, their body language, their face expressions, etc.
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