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    The document discusses the role of consumers in marketing. It notes that consumers play a major role in marketing research before products are released through participating in focus groups and surveys. Understanding target consumers can help guide marketing plans, especially for new products. The document also discusses Abraham Maslow's hierarchy of needs model and how it relates to human motivation. Consumerism is defined as the high consumption of goods, and how in consumer societies people frequently replace goods with newer ones. The document recommends that customer focus should be treated as part of corporate strategy rather than the sole driving factor, and that understanding customers sometimes means understanding them better than they understand themselves.

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    17 Reaction

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    51 views4 pages
    The document discusses the role of consumers in marketing. It notes that consumers play a major role in marketing research before products are released through participating in focus groups and surveys. Understanding target consumers can help guide marketing plans, especially for new products. The document also discusses Abraham Maslow's hierarchy of needs model and how it relates to human motivation. Consumerism is defined as the high consumption of goods, and how in consumer societies people frequently replace goods with newer ones. The document recommends that customer focus should be treated as part of corporate strategy rather than the sole driving factor, and that understanding customers sometimes means understanding them better than they understand themselves.

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    The document discusses the role of consumers in marketing. It notes that consumers play a major role in marketing research before products are released through participating in focus groups and surveys. Understanding target consumers can help guide marketing plans, especially for new products. The document also discusses Abraham Maslow's hierarchy of needs model and how it relates to human motivation. Consumerism is defined as the high consumption of goods, and how in consumer societies people frequently replace goods with newer ones. The document recommends that customer focus should be treated as part of corporate strategy rather than the sole driving factor, and that understanding customers sometimes means understanding them better than they understand themselves.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as DOC, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as doc, pdf, or txt
    51 views4 pages

    17 Reaction

    Uploaded by

    Karl Jason Dolar Comin
    The document discusses the role of consumers in marketing. It notes that consumers play a major role in marketing research before products are released through participating in focus groups and surveys. Understanding target consumers can help guide marketing plans, especially for new products. The document also discusses Abraham Maslow's hierarchy of needs model and how it relates to human motivation. Consumerism is defined as the high consumption of goods, and how in consumer societies people frequently replace goods with newer ones. The document recommends that customer focus should be treated as part of corporate strategy rather than the sole driving factor, and that understanding customers sometimes means understanding them better than they understand themselves.

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    of 4

    Name: Karl Jason Comin

    Subject: BM 215 Philosophy of Business

    The Consumer

    I. Introduction

    Although the company is the main catalyst in the marketing of its own

    products and services, consumers also play a role in the marketing process. When

    developing your plan, remember that the consumer is the central element of all

    decisions related to marketing. Understand the roles consumers play so you can

    maximize the effectiveness of your marketing plan.

    Consumers play a major role in marketing research before a product or

    service is released to the public. Once you identify your target consumers, you can

    invite these people to participate in focus groups or send them surveys to quiz them

    on key elements of your marketing plan. Questioning them about the right price to

    charge and what marketing message appeals to them as a consumer can help guide

    your entire plan, particularly when releasing a new product or service.

    II. Summary of the Topics/Topics Digest

    Abraham Maslow (1954) developed the hierarchy of needs model which can

    help us understand the basis of human motivation. The hierarchy can be divided into

    basic (or deficiency) needs (e.g. physiological, safety, love, and end growth needs
    1
    (cognitive, aesthetics and self-actualization). Human needs are categorized in five

    major groups in hierarchical order. The first level contains physiological needs

    (water, sleep, food). After these needs are satisfied, the individual is able to focus on

    satisfying the safety needs (shelter, security, and protection) and belongingness

    needs on the third level such as: love, friendship, and acceptance. Satisfaction of

    these needs allows the individual to advance to the ego needs. Inwardly-directed

    ego needs include: self-esteem, achievement, uniqueness, and independence.

    Whereas status, prestige, reputation and social recognition come under the category

    of outwardly-directed ego needs. At the top is the need for self-actualization: striving

    to realize your full potential through education, travel, hobbies, engagement with

    environmental/social causes, etc.

    In order to progress to the higher growth needs the lower level basic needs

    must first be satisfied. Maslow said that everyone is capable of moving up the

    hierarchy and everyone strives to do so. Unfortunately, progress is often disrupted by

    failure to meet lower level needs; life changing events such as divorce and loss of

    job may cause an individual to fluctuate between levels of the hierarchy. Maslow

    noted only one in a hundred people become fully self-actualized because our society

    rewards motivation primarily based on esteem, love and other social needs.

    Consumerism

    Consumerism refers to the consumption of goods at a higher rate. The economy is

    judged by the production and selling of goods. The gross national product is the sum

    total of goods and services produced for a specific period at a specific time. The

    more goods produced and consumed by society the higher the growth rate of the
    2
    economy. The prosperity of a nation is judged by the per capita income of individuals

    residing in it. The economy is considered to be” doing well” if the purchasing power

    of the people is high.

    In consumer society, people replace their goods with newer ones. They purchase

    goods, use them and throw them away. New goods when they become old are

    replaced by newer ones. The question of repair does not arise People have money

    to purchase goods in plenty. In case, they do not do so as it leads to recession and

    depression and also results in unemployment

    III. Recommendations

    Customer focus should be treated as a subset of the corporate strategy rather

    than the sole driving factor. This means looking beyond current-state customer focus

    to predict what customers will demand in the future, even if they themselves discount

    the prediction. Companies should pay attention to the extent to which what

    customers say they want does not match their purchasing decisions. Truly

    understanding customers sometimes means understanding them better than they

    understand themselves.

    IV. Conclusion
    3
    Understanding customer needs and wants is mission-critical for marketers

    and businesses alike if they plan on achieving long-lasting success. After all, we all

    want to attract, convert, and retain customers — but we can’t do that unless we truly

    know them and what they need.

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