Who is a consumer? This is a person or group of people who acquire something. This may be the purchase of goods or services for personal consumption, for sale or rental. All customers are different from each other, they can be divided into groups.
Consumer and need concept
Objects of study of marketing:
- need;
- need;
- consumer;
- consumption;
- demand.
Need and need differ quite arbitrarily. In some situations, they are used interchangeably. Need is considered desire, and need is an acute shortage of something. According to the marketing definition, the concept of need is a feeling that arises in the absence of a product or service. Because of this, damage can be caused to human health, lifestyle.
What is need is a conscious understanding of need. It takes physical form according to personality.
Who such a consumer is is a subject who uses material or spiritual goods for his own purposes.
Consumption is a process in which one desires are satisfied through the use of material or spiritual goods.
Demand is a market demand, backed by money.
The rights and obligations of the buyer
The state and social movements regulate the relationship between the buyer and the business entity: seller, manufacturer, performer. The Federal Law on Consumer Rights determined that the buyer has the right:
- For information.
- To safety.
- To choose from.
- To be heard.
- For damages.
- On consumer education.
- To meet basic needs.
In practice, the rights and obligations of the buyer look like this.
For example, a person who has not yet bought a product but accidentally broke it is not required to pay for it. By law, the risk of accidental damage to the product lies with the buyer from the moment the seller transferred the item and received money for it.
Entering the supermarket, a person is not obliged to hand over his belongings to the left-luggage office. Closing the bag in the storage room, a person enters into an agreement with the store on storage of things, which, of course, is not necessary. In addition, if the buyer comes to the store with other goods, the store employees are not entitled to demand the corresponding check.
The Federal Law on Consumer Rights states that only the police have the right to search, as well as search personal items.
For the poisoning of products from the store, only the owners of the outlet are responsible. But in order to prove this, you will need a check and recordings from CCTV cameras.
All goods from the store can be returned in no more than 14 days, not counting the day of purchase. The product must be in good condition, without damage. To return, you must maintain the presentation of the item, have all the seals, labels. There must be a sales receipt or proof of payment.
Classification of needs
The following groups of needs exist .
- Biological. Designed to satisfy hunger, thirst, protect from the cold, allow you to breathe fresh air. This group includes housing, clothing, food, sleep.
- Social connections, communication, caring for a person, attention - this is a social group. It also includes friendship, love, creativity, work.
- The group of spiritual needs includes self-expression, self-affirmation, knowledge of the world, the meaning of existence.
Behavioral symptoms
The main types of consumers:
- Individual type.
- Family.
- Intermediary.
- Representatives of the company.
- Responsible persons.
Individual type consumers purchase goods to use them on their own. They are interested in how useful the purchased product is, whether it is affordable in terms of financial capabilities, its external design, and packaging quality.
Food and non-food products are mainly bought by representatives of the family type.
Intermediaries are the main consumers of products not for personal consumption, but for resale. Representatives of this species are interested in absolute price, profitability, shelf life. The quality of the goods interests them the least.
Purchasers carry out the purchase, subjecting it to a clear formalization. Take into account the price, characteristics of each product, speed of delivery of the product, costs for transportation. They pay attention to the completeness of the range, reputation, the possibility of obtaining a loan.
Officials do not purchase goods or services at their own expense. They use public money, respectively, the process is strictly formalized and bureaucratic.
Traditional classification
Distribution of customers according to the classical classification.
- Goods and services are divided into male and female.
- Age is taken into account.
- Education.
- Social and professional criteria.
- Allocate the reaction rate to new information. The fastest type of buyers are innovators, the next type is the followers who make the product famous, the progressives provide mass marketing, skeptics connect at the saturation stage, conservatives buy the product when it becomes traditional.
- The type of personality is taken into account: sanguine, phlegmatic, choleric, melancholic.
Attitude to new products
People react differently to the appearance of new products. One group buys only proven product categories, the other, on the contrary, is ready to try any new items.
Types of consumers in relation to new products:
- Supernovators.
- Innovators.
- Ordinary buyers.
- Conservatives.
- Superconservatives.
Supernovators are always ready to experiment and take risks. The percentage of the total is 2.5%. As a rule, they have a high social status, they have a large income.
Innovators make purchases carefully, they do not take risks. Their number is 13.5%.
Ordinary consumers of services try not to take risks, they have an active life position. Occupy 1/3 of the total.
Most conservatives are elderly people, people with low incomes, work in prestigious jobs, and do not approve of innovations. Just like ordinary ones, they occupy 33%.
Superconservatives are categorically against change. Deprived of aesthetic flair and creative imagination. At a conscious age, they follow the habits of their youth.
Purpose of using purchased goods
In marketing, there are such types of consumers that differ in the direction of use of items of trade.
- Customized.
- Massive.
- Manufacturers
The target consumer of the first type buys goods exclusively for personal life. Uses wealth, services to ensure the convenience of life. With the help of purchases of various products, she maintains her usual way of life and spiritual culture.
Legal entities or mass buyers make purchases for professional activities. This category does not include trade or production. Purchases are made on behalf of an organization, institution, company, association.
Manufacturing purchases goods solely for trade or manufacture. It can be cooperatives and trading enterprises, as well as enterprises in the service sector.
Psychological characteristics
The buying process, the speed of choice affects the nature of the person. In marketing, there are 4 groups of consumers, divided by psychological characteristics.
- Driven by need. These are low-income people. Their main task is to ensure their daily existence. They do not make purchases with the expectation of a long time.
- Psychologically stable middle-aged people with decent earnings are integrated individuals. They have an education, they know a sense of proportion, participate in charity.
- Extroverts are divided into three types. Workers and retirees are sustainable conservative people. The imitators have average education, they have a good income. The latter are leaders, they have their own business. They occupy a high position in society, have a good income.
- Introverts are young impulsive people, their opinions often change. Active amateurs with a good income and education. Members of society who are interested in the world around us, the future. They realize their goal in the modern world, they have a decent income, they are engaged in personal growth.
Value for money
The choice of a certain group of goods is made depending on the level of your earnings. Low income makes people shop less often, usually low-quality products. On the contrary, people with good income can make purchases very often, experiment with new brands. But as practice shows, the size and scale of purchases do not always depend on the level of income.
There are four types of consumers in relation to price:
- Economical.
- Apathetic.
- Rational.
- Personified.
The first type pays attention exclusively to the price level. He is prone to buying low quality products, pays attention to promotions and discounts. The apathetic type does not pay attention to the price, but only to the company. For him, the main thing is quality and prestige. Consumers of a rational type consider the purchase in terms of price and quality. A person who buys a product, regardless of price or quality, is interested in the image of the product.
Sociability
In specialized stores or a wide area of ββconsultants offer a variety of brand new products, give a try a new product. In order to sell a product, they communicate, make contact in various ways. People react differently to an offer to buy something. Some are silent, others calmly support the conversation, others reply rather rudely, and some can communicate as if with an old friend.
In marketing, there are three types of consumers in relation to price:
- Sandwiched.
- Indifferent.
- Relaxed.
Squeezed people - this is a group of consumers with complexes that hardly come into contact. They require increased attention.
Indifferent - do not pay attention to the representative of the company, do not show interest in communication.
Uninhibited people easily start a dialogue.