This paper aims to define a class of consumers and to cater to their Essay

This paper aims to define a class of consumers and to cater to their wants and needs - Essay Example How to define a class of consumers' How to cater to their wants and needs' For an effective and efficient Marketing strategy, segmentation is an important tool, but segmentation research data precedes selection and segmentation methods models and procedures are based on customer profiles. Profiling requires certain pre-conditions and they are that a group of customers need specific products and there is nominal variance in their expectations. This will result in effective and profitable Targeting. There is the ultra-conservative type. This segment is highly consistent with their way of doing things. In their case any deviation might alienate them therefore it is very important to cater to them repeatedly in the same form and manner as the last time. Once established they seldom change preferences. They become wary if discounts are offered or premium charged as for them it translates into loss of consistency. Cost effectiveness is acceptable if it does not disturb the status quo and bulk offerings are acceptable on similar conditions. They are very negative towards complex offerings. Then there are the conservative ones who will veer towards the new or unknown only if it involves low risk and competitive pricing. They are neutral to complex offerings and prefer to stay within a wide band of preferences, making few experiments. Lastly the Liberals who would like to try anything new and w... They are neutral to complex offerings and prefer to stay within a wide band of preferences, making few experiments. Lastly the Liberals who would like to try anything new and willing to take up a challenging offer. For them the price is secondary and the end result is foremost. They are the daring types who will experiment with new offerings. The fundamental factors for an organization deciding on segmentation can be explained as: Similarity of customer needs and wants and the customers are willing to pay premium for the products. Customers cluster into groups by need (viz., Religion, Ethnicity, Race) Cost of serving may be higher but is lower than the customer expectations and thereby a premium price can cover that escalation Purchase Decisions Four different reasons influence a buyers' decision. They are also known as 7Ps as described by Kotler and Armstrong (1994) and Booms and Bitner (1981). This needs careful study to understand customer behaviour. 1 Product. The buyer is greatly influence if the product or service is perceived as useful for him. Sometimes it may not be of immediate use but its uniqueness is the attraction. Future valuation is also a decision making factor. 2 Price. The price is not usually a stand-alone factor. It has to be comparable with other products or services but with weight given to factors like quality and after sale service. It is often the case that the customer perceives the middle price to be the best for him/her as it is neither too outlandish nor too low to belie quality. There is also a play on the mind of the buyer that the product or service should not be mediocre and the price is usually the barometer of quality.