Page 186 - Marketing the Basics 2nd

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Market research
SEEKING DEEP INSIGHT INTO THE CUSTOMER’S WORLD AND MIND
In Chapter 3 we discussed how marketers use segmentation, targeting and positioning (STP) to position their product. Underlying the STP process are hundreds of hours dedicated to data collection and analysis. This information is then used to gain a better insight into the customer’s mind and the world in which they live. Questions about the industry structure, the competition, economic trends, new advances in research and technology, shifts in consumer behaviour all fall under the rubric of market research. This chapter focuses on two main areas, first we look at the decision- making process a consumer goes through, we then investigate the different methods marketers use to collect market research.
INTRODUCTION TO CONSUMER BEHAVIOUR
In the previous chapters we talked about how marketers are responsible for communicating to the consumer the benefits of the product, and the differences between their product and their competitors’. Once the marketer has done so, it is the customer’s turn to respond. But how does the customer make a decision? The stimulus-response model illustrated in Figure 9.1 demonstrates how the process unfolds. Marketing and other stimuli from a buyer’s environment enters into a buyer’s mind. Once in the mind,