Page 57 - Marketing the Basics 2nd

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do is figure out why they buy from your competitor and not you. What is it that Lexus can do to win over drivers from BMW and Mercedes? Non-users are harder work. Here the marketer must do missionary work, trying to convert the non-user to become a believer in the product category.
consuMeR aTTiTuDes
Consumer attitudes toward the product can also be used to segment a market. Consumers can hold a fanatic, positive, indifferent, negative or hostile attitude toward the product. Knowing what the customer thinks about the product, greatly aids in crafting the promotional message.
OCCASIONS
Finally, grouping buyers according to the occasions for when a product is purchased or consumed is another means of dividing a market to learn more about a consumer’s behaviour. With this knowledge, a marketer can modify the marketing-mix to encourage a change in consumption patterns. An interesting example is the marketing done by DeBeers of South Africa about diamonds. A number of years ago they ran ads offering the advice that a man should spend two months’ salary when buying an engagement ring for his beloved. Men, not knowing better, accepted this advice from a truly biased source and this has become widely accepted in the US. A more recent campaign makes the point that if your wife stuck around with you for 25 years the least you can do is buy her another diamond ring. Again, men, not knowing better accepted this advice from a well and truly biased source. Their latest campaign in Japan is targeted at getting single women to realize that they can buy a nice diamond ring on their own, they don’t need a man and use a attractive, single Japanese female movie star as the their spokeswoman. In each case they are trying – and generally succeeding – in expanding sales by widening the number of occasions that you might buy a diamond ring.