Page 339 - Foundations of Marketing

306 Part 4 | Product and Price Decisions

information through toll-free numbers and
websites. American Express has increased
Companies with Excellent Customer Service its reputation for customer service by train-
ing its customer service representatives to
be more engaging and less structured when
Snapshot 2 Google the total product offering, all marketers of
Ranking Companies
21
discussing customer concerns.
Amazon
1
Whether as a major or minor part of
3
Apple
goods sell customer services. Providing
UPS
4
good customer service may be the only way
5
Sony (tied)
that a company can differentiate its products
Hilton (tied)
6
when all products in a market have essen-
7
Marriot International
8
This is especially true in the computer

American Express
9 FedEx tially the same quality, design, and features.
industry. When buying a laptop computer,
10 Southwest Airlines for example, consumers shop more for fast
delivery, technical support, warranties, and
price than for product quality and design, as
Source: Karen Aho, “2012 Customer Service Hall of Fame,” MSN Money , http://money.msn.com/ witnessed by the high volume of “off-the-
investing/2012-customer-service-hall-of-fame-1 (accessed January 17, 2013). shelf,” noncustomized, sometimes lagging
in technology, discount laptops sold at Best
Buy, Costco, Walmart, Target, and the like. Through research, a company can discover the
types of services customers want and need. The level of customer service a company provides
can profoundly affect customer satisfaction. Add-on features can enhance a product in the
eyes of the consumer. Consumers often infer a higher level of quality from the mere avail-
22
ability of add-on services.
LO 4 . Explain product position- PRODUCT POSITIONING AND
ing and repositioning.
REPOSITIONING
Product positioning refers to the decisions and activities intended to create and maintain a
certain concept of the firm’s product (relative to competitive brands) in customers’ minds.
When marketers introduce a product, they try to position it so that it appears to have the
characteristics that the target market most desires. This projected image is crucial. Crest is
positioned as a fluoride toothpaste that fights cavities, whereas Rembrandt is positioned as a
whitening toothpaste to fight intense stain.

Perceptual Mapping

A product’s position is the result of customers’ perceptions of the product’s attributes relative
to those of competitive brands. Buyers make numerous purchase decisions on a regular basis.
To avoid a continuous reevaluation of numerous products, buyers tend to group, or “posi-
tion,” products in their minds to simplify buying decisions. Rather than allowing customers
to position products independently, marketers often try to influence and shape consumers’
concepts or perceptions of products through advertising. Marketers sometimes analyze prod-
uct positions by developing perceptual maps, as shown in Figure 11.3 . Perceptual maps are
created by questioning a sample of consumers about their perceptions of products, brands,
and organizations with respect to two or more dimensions. To develop a perceptual map like
product positioning Creating the one in Figure 11.3 , respondents would be asked how they perceive selected pain relievers
and maintaining a certain in regard to price and type of pain for which the products are used. Also, respondents would
concept of a product in be asked about their preferences for product features to establish “ideal points” or “ideal
customers’ minds clusters,” which represent a consensus about a specific group of customers’ desires in terms

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