''Need does not exist but the desire or want can be created" (Ruth Hickmott, 2008)

Today's lecture addressed segmentation one of the key areas of marketing. Marketers are constantly trying to sort people into different segments so that they can be targeted and then their product or service can be positioned effectively within that market (STP Marketing). To demonstrate the difficulties that marketers have in segmentation we were asked to group a variety of shapes, numbers and colours and found that there were endless possiblities as it could be interpreted in any way desired.

Information about customers comes from a variety of different sources such as market research questionnaires and even information supplied from the seemingly harmless Tesco club card database. Tesco can now profile each of their customers using their database. This allows them to market products directly to the different segments of consumer which, in turn, generates profit.

Smith (1957) claims that “Segmentation is based on the observation of evolution of demand and represents a more precise and rational adaptation of the product and the marketing effort to meet customer or user demands”. Similarly, Kotler (2000) describes segmentation as
“the subdividing of a market into homogenous (or similar) subsets of customers, where any subset may conceivably be selected as a target market to be reached with a distinct marketing mix". All in all, both of these marketing heavy weights describe segmentation as finding out what the different groups of people want.

In the new Feria hair colour commercial, the product has been targeted at women desiring a change in hair colour. Loreal have segmented their product to young to middle aged women (this is apparent through the celebrities used) and to an audience which regularly dye their hair (shown through the use of listing the positives, seperating their product from another hair colourant).

Perception Continued...

This week, we put our 'perception' knowledge into practice and devised some experiments that would test our classmates perception. Natasha and Laura used a variety of visual perception tests to discover what we saw clearly in the foreground and what we disregarded in the background.
The picture to the left can either be seen as a young woman or an old hag. It is your perception which interprets the way that you see it. Natasha and Lauran found that 7 out of the 8 particpiants (four female and four male) saw the young maid with only one seeing the old hag. This concept of foreground and background is important to printed advertising as a means of marketing communications. For example the picture to the right is an effective printed advert for wonderbra as the product is in the foreground and the image conveys the busty 'wonder' image that they are trying to achieve.

Natasha and Laura's experiment gave us all valuable insight into our visual perceptions and how this can be applied into marketing communications. However, it is not only visual techniques that can produce effective marketing communications but all of our other senses too. For example, Agata and Magdalena showed the class how perception can be aroused through smell. We were asked to smell different shampoos and discuss their price and if we could relate it to a brand. A majority of the participants recognised the brand of Dove and everyone identifed the cheapest brand which smelt the worst. This highlighted that our sense of smell is an important part of our perception and that we relate a less inticing smell to a cheaper brand. This lead to a discussion about the success of Dove in creating a smell which is continuous across their products, therefore making it clearly identifiable.

This developed into a more academic discussion of the perceptual set which can be best described by Vernon (1955) '' the individual develops a persistent and deep rooted way of perceiving, thinking and believing''. The perceptual set works as a selector interpreter and can be influenced heavily by marketing strategies. Our tendancy to try to make sense of things means that we actively seek to process stimuli and make some sense of it. This concept is important in Gestalt Psychology. In essence:

Gestalt is the German word for "form," and as it applied in gestalt psychology it means "unified whole" or " configuration." The essential point of gestalt is that in perception the whole is different from the sum of its parts.

To understand the complexities of Gestalt psychology please click on the following link : Gestalt Psychology

Buyer Behaviour

As a consumer, we all make decisions as to what we are going to buy and where we are going to buy it. We often don't recognise that there are many factors in play by businesses which heavily influence our decision. These factors are best described as stimuli which in turn correspond with our individual characteristics and our decision making process which result in a response. This can be demonstrated through the 'Black Box Model' pictured below:

http://tutor2u.net/business/marketing/buying_stimulus_model.asp

This visually shows the process through which our buying decisions are made. An alternative process is that devised by Kotler which suggests the following five stages of the buyer decision process: need recognition, information search, evaluation of alternatives, purchase decision and post-purchase behaviour. However this doesnt necessarily apply to impulse buying as this would discount the information search and evaluation of alternatives stages of the process.

Both the 'Black Box Model' and Kotler's five stage buyer decision process rely upon consumer behaviour as it is their characteristics which determine how they percieve the stimuli (tutor2u, [online],n.d.). The following diagram portrays the different factors which affect consumer characteristics:

For example, what would make someone chose Patene over another leading hair care product? This may depend on their social class (due to it's relatively high price), their social network (if friends/relatives use it and have recommended it), their lifestyle (if they take pride in their appearance and integrate this into their life), and their previous perception of the brand. All of these things contribute to the buyer's decision which is aroused through marketing stimuli such as printed and TV adverts. Clicking on the pantene icon below will take you to a recent pantene advert. From the advert you will be able to see that strategic marketing is vital in the persuasion of a buyer making a decision.

When looking at consumer behaviour, it is apparent that perception plays a key role within the decision making process. According to the dictionary perception is defined as the following:

1.the act or faculty of apprehending by means of the senses or of the mind; cognition; understanding.
2.immediate or intuitive recognition or appreciation, as of moral, psychological, or aesthetic qualities; insight; intuition; discernment: an artist of rare perception.
3.the result or product of perceiving, as distinguished from the act of perceiving; percept.
4.Psychology. a single unified awareness derived from sensory processes while a stimulus is present.
5.Law. the taking into possession of rents, crops, profits, etc.

Perception is probably best described by Schiffman & Kanuk (2003) who state that it 'is how we see the world around us'.It is our perception that guides our decision making process, often unconciously. Our perception is aroused by certain stimuli which is often placed strategically for the consumer. This results in affective selling techniques and ultimately persuades us to make a purchase.

Freshers First Thoughts...

Who would of thought that an egg could sum up your whole life in an 'egg-shell' (excuse the dodgy pun) but it really gets you thinking... do my possesions make me 'me' or does my sense of self make me 'me'. What i have learnt is that it's a bit of both. It was an interesting introduction to the psychology behind consumer behaviour and reflects the outlandish teaching style of our lecturer Ruth.
If writing all of our qualities inside a giant egg and allowing your class mates to fondle your personals wasn't enough, Ruth then made us create a blog... so we can share our new found knowledge with the world wide web. So here i am, creating a blog (one of many)... feeling slightly worse for wear letting you all know that the bloggin' legend has begun possibly the best series of blogs to grace the web.

Bloggin' Ledge x