Business to Business...

The potential market of buying/selling business to business is huge as there are many different types of business each requiring many different elements in order to help it run. Businesses are categorised into three main types of organisations:

1. Institutional Organisations -E.g. Not-for-profit

2. Government Organisations - E.g. Education/ Transport

3. Commercial Organisations - E.g. Distributors/ Retailers

Each different type of organisation (and the businesses within it) will require a different approach to marketing itself to another business. Behind one consumer transaction there are many business to business transactions therefore applying the appropriate approach to marketing may land a business a sustained contract in a long line of suppliers and retailer where there business will repeatedly be required. However this also means that there is a lot of competition and that efforts must be made to be competitive yet efficient.

Kotler recognises the differences in consumer markets and industrail or business to business marketing. The main method of a business marketing to another is through personal selling, often taking the form of a sales person pitching the relevant information to the other business. This method is used less in consumer marketing as it would mean only reaching a limited amount of people when, in comparison, advertising could reach a much wider audience. Furthermore, where consumers are able to buy on impulse companies can not afford to do that due to it's high risk nature, most companies adopt a purchasing policy that involves many stages. Therefore the decisions of a business will usually affect the business it is buying/selling from/to in the long term.

Culture...

Culture is a complex concept, which is often very difficult to define. Ralph Linton (1995) offers that ''culture is the configuration of learned behaviour and results of behaviour whose component elements are shared and transmitted by members of a particular society.''

Culture is made of three essential components:

1. Beliefs - processes that reflect our knowledge and assessment of products/ services.

2. Values - indicator which are used a a guide for what is an appropriate behaviour.

3. Customs - modes of behaviour that are culturally approved ways of behaving in certain situations.

In terms of purchase decisions, culture is a very complicated element where it is hard to determine how it makes an effect. However, it is extremely important in an individuals characteristics, and must therefore make direct impact on their decision making processes. For example, values such as material wealth which is prevelant in the UK affects the way that we buy as we will aim to give the image of wealth through our purchases. The Geert Hofstede analysis for England demonstrates strong feelings towards individualism and masculinity, this may affect the purchase decisions we make as they may possibly be influenced by our aim for individuality and masculinity.

For products that are marketed globally culture is a major factor. For example, culture involves language and perceived meaning therefore if a product is to go world-wide it should be recognisable by many cultures in order to be made a success. The cleaning product formally known as 'Jif' was difficult to say in languages such as French and Spanish so it was turned into 'Cif' which is recognised and easily spoken by many countries.

Culture is an extremely complicated topic for discussion when determining it's effects on Kotler's buyer decision process. What can be noted is that it is deeply ingrained in each of us and will impact upon our decision processes. The following link takes you to an article where the culture of decision making is discussed with clarity, it is definately worth taking a look at:

http://www.winstonbrill.com/bril001/html/article_index/articles/251-300/article251_body.html

Social Class is...''a division of society made up of persons possessing certain common social characteristics which are taken to qualify them for intimate, equal status relations with one another, and which restrict their interaction with members of other social classes'' Krech, Crutchfield & Ballachey in Dubois 2000.

Social class is often determined by a complex set of variables ranging from income to family background. However, income is often the variable most closely associated with your social class and the purchases made available through a high/low income often symbolise social class. For example, a person with a very high income will be able to afford the lastest Mercedes- Benz car, whereas, an individual with a low income may only be able to afford a second-hand ford escort. In a warped way, these things symbolise our standing in society when really someone of a lower class could win the lottery and be able to afford the same as a higher class individual and someone of a higher class (due to family background) may have no money at all and be unable to afford the luxuries associated with the higher classes.

In terms of consumerism, social class is a good indicator for products that have a symbolic aspect, for example, fine art, but is a bad indicator for low to moderate priced goods such as cosmetics as class does not tend to affect these. Income is a good indicator of purchase decisions for non-symbolic, but high- expenditure goods such as washing machines. For products such as cars or houses both social class and income affect the purchases made. In terms of marketing and advertising, appealing to the different classes is quite difficult to achieve. However, brands such as Harrods produce adverts with class and a regal element to them, suggesting that they are targeting the higher classes. This may put the lower classes off from going there as they may feel inadequate for the standard of people expected by the shop.

Marketing For Children...

"We're relying on the kid to pester the mom to buy the product, rather than going straight to the mom."

The children of today have increasingly more involvement in the making of purchase decisions due to more autonomy and the ability to be more vocal about what they want their parents to buy. The term ''pester power'' is the child's ability to effectively nag their parents into buying something that they may not other wise buy. Marketing towards children therefore involves stimulating ''pester power'' through advertising that will create strong desire or want for the product. As children are exposed to more and more advertising the importance of tapping into the phenomenon that is ''pester power'' is even more vital for companies and brands to do. The products don't even have to be the typical newest Barbie or play-ground trend, children are targeted for products starting from food such as the sunny D orange juice product so that even in the super market the parents are unable to avoid being pestered.

According to the Mintel Pocket Money report (2008); children are increasingly adopting adult lifestyles as children are growing older younger, this, in turn, affects what they wish to spend their money on... giving them hefty buyer power. In terms of marketing, if a product can be marketed in such a way where it demonstrates an aspiration to be older and more grown-up the children exposed to the advertisement will be more inclined to take it seriously.

Mintel also notes that the amount of money recieved as pocket money has decreased due to the current financial climate, therefore when marketing a product suitable for the younger aged individual, the price should aim to be as low as possible. The decrease in pocket money may only effect the toy/clothing industries as these tend to be higher priced compared to that of the confectionery industry. However, this does not necessarily mean that more money will be spent on sweets etc as there has been a major shift in the emmergence of a more healthy lifestyle. In terms of pester power, a parent who would supposedly have a little more disposable income coupled with the guilt of maybe not being able to supply all their child's wants and desires (due to the current economy) will supposedly be more effected by the child's ability to pester.

The image above depicts Piaget's four stages of cognitive development. These demonstrate the intellectual abilities of an child and highlight that children are not little adults, in fact, until they reach the age of fifteen they are uncapable of reasoning as an adult. Jean Paiget who derived these different stages was not a psychologist, but a biologist, who observed and recorded the ability of children as they grow older. Therefore, Piaget does not provide any theoretical explanation for the cause of the different behaviours, but simply states the stages of a child's understanding.

If a child is incapable of the reasoning of an adult, they are more likely to be swayed by careful marketing where a strong want is created. This want will not be counter-acted by reasoning such as money constraints or practicality, which puts enormous pressure on the parents as a child will be unable to understand why they are not allowed what they want. It is this pressure, which if applied persistently, results in pester power and the purchasing of the desired good, after all don't we all want an easy life?