Consumer Behaviour By Parveen Ahluwalia as on 16/09/2013

"No strategy can be made if you don't understand your consumer."

Consumer Behaviour

Before we get into it, let's see what exactly we're up against and what/how we should be prepare for the same; ready? Here goes:

• Doors getting slammed on your face. 
• People cursing at you (will and might involve your family member's too)
• Run, when dogs are set on you. (And you thought they were cute?)

Same consumers are being targeted by various other brands and thus consumers are spoilt for choice. Thus, Understanding (them through) Research and Targeting becomes imperative. 

Caltex was an diesel engine oil whose major chunk (as much as 90%) of consumers were the Truckers. 

Consumers can be classified into:

• Influencers (Mechanic and Truck Driver)
• Users (Truck Driver)
• Decision Makers (Truck Driver and Mechanic)
• Purchaser (Owner of the fleet/the truck)        

Marketing will target all the four segments of the consumers, but Advertising will target the user/consumer, always. 

A trip from Delhi to Bombay was undertaken, and was done so by travelling in the back of a truck in order to 'immerse yourself as a consumer - Consumer Immersion'

C - School (Grads)

- Unsure
- Default
- Homogenous
- Comprehension/ Communication Skills


B - School (Grads)

- Focussed
- Over Ambitious
- Commercial Orientation (Greedy)
- Skewed (95% MBA students are engineers)
- Communication Skills??????


Consumers need to be understood in their entirety.

Consumer - Category - Relationship

A Target Segment will first have to Identified then you (try) Connecting with them and then you Interview them and then only begin to Analyse them.


Consumer Adoption Life cycle 

LED TV
             -> 28 to 60 Years
             -> Monthly income being more than 1 lakh
             -> Salaried/Self-Employed/Businessman or a Trader/Student

*Self - Employed needs a professional qualification.
*Businessman or a trader has no such criteria.

Priority is a key factor in buying the said product/brand in question.

(18-21) - Lifestyle/Brand Conscious (Branded Animal) => because flaunt value matters.
(24-28) - Young Working Professional
(28-    ) - Early Nester
(35-45)* is the target segment for LED TV, because needs have moved from a need driven to commodity driven.  Every stage I move to, everything changes, my priority to my needs.

"Talk to every band of Customer Segments, that is the whole objective"  


Market V/S Marketing Research (and then we also have Communication Research.)

• Market Research is at Macro levels

• Marketing Research is at Micro level 

-> Financial
-> Industrial
-> Social (Family Welfare, Child Care)
-> Public Systems (Rural Development)
-> Consumer

 

Marketing Research (agencies) :

-> Nielsen (formerly known as ORG)
-> IMRB (Affiliated to JWT)
-> TNS
-> IPSOS

Hierarchy of an Agency(Advertising):                                

Director - (Services)
              |
Account Director
              |
Account General Manager 
              |
Account Supervisor
              |
Senior Account Executive 
              |
Account Executive (CTC would be 10-15K a month)





Hierarchy of an Agency(Research):

Director - (Research)

              |
Project Director
              |
Project Manager 
              |
Senior Research Executive 
              |
Research Executive (CTC would be 10-15K a month)




Research Design

-> Introduction and Background (why are we doing?)
-> Research Objective
-> Research Methodology (How are we doing?)
-> Time and Cost (How much it costs?)