For which segment(s) products are most likely to become part of the extended sell? What are the marketing implications of this?
In Hawkins’ text titled ‘The psychographics of luxury shoppers,’ there are five segments of women consumers as categorized by the Sim-mons market research company. They include career savvy women, upscale mature women, educated working women without kids, single mothers, and active grand mums. According to the demographics, active grand mums and single working mums were ranked the lowest in levels of income (Graham, 2010).
For these two segments (active grand mums and single working mums), products are most likely to become part of the extended sell. One of the reasons is that the women in the segments have minimal purchasing power as compared to those in the other three segments who earn a relatively higher income. If women in the two segments were to be the only pool of consumers for the company’s products, then the stocks of the products would stay for a long time before getting exhausted.
When asked the question regarding their nature of spending, women in the two segments said that they were very careful about how they spend their income. They also showed the least interest in luxuries, such as home decor and driving luxury cars. Active grand mums, in particular, did not express any interest in expensive perfumes. The women in the two segments also said that they were very careful in allocating money for purchasing clothes, as opposed to the women in the other segments who said that they did not mind spending their money in purchasing the most expensive clothes (Hawkins, Mothersbaugh & Best, 2010).
The marketing implication of this is that the Sim-mons company would need to focus more on producing or selling products that are of a modest-quality to make as many women as possible in these two segments afford them. The company may also need to invest more resources in the advertisement of its products and also brand them in a manner that would be appealing to the consumers in these two segments.
The other implication of this is that the company would need to package its products in small quantities due to the anticipated low volumes of sales. Packaging products in large quantities may spell doom for the company because some of the products may expire while still at the shop counters.
Which segments appear to be more motivated by functional concerns versus those motivated by the need to keep up with the latest styles and trends? What are the marketing implications of this?
The segments which appear to be motivated by functional concerns in purchasing are the active grand mums and upscale mature women. One of the reasons for this is that the women in these segments are advanced in age with upscale mature women having a median age of 60 years and active grand mums having a median age of 61 years. The perception of the women in these two segments is that goods have to be purchased only when they are needed. Accordingly, products that do not serve any function are an unnecessary wastage of money. To them, purchasing products in large quantities is not a good idea because people are supposed to purchase only those products which they need in the short run.
Active grand mums and upscale mature women were the least interested in styles and fashions. They also expressed the least interest in expensive perfumes as compared to the others. The women in these two segments also said that they were very careful in spending their money as opposed to those in the other segments who said that they were able to spend their money without thinking or planning on how to spend it.
One of the marketing implications of this is that products targeted at women in these segments would have low sales as compared to those targeted at the women in the other segments. The other marketing implication is that the company would need to improve the functional aspects of its products to attract the consumers in these segments. The company would also need to sell products in small quantities because most women in these two segments only purchase in small quantities as opposed to those in the other segments who purchase in bulk.
On the other hand, career savvy women, single working mums, and educated working women without kids were motivated by styles and fashions. One of the reasons for this is that they are relatively young as compared to the upscale mature women and active grand mums. They were motivated by the latest fashion due to their desire to stay updated at all times, irrespective of their purchasing power. They agreed that they planned to purchase very expensive clothes. They also said that they were spending more than they could afford in purchasing clothes. The single working mums, in particular, said that they could not resist any expensive perfume even though their income was relatively low as compared to that of upscale mature women. Women in these three segments also agreed that they spend money without thinking and especially when purchasing luxurious products.
One of the marketing implications of this is that the company would have to advertise products in a manner that would make them appear as fashionable as possible. The other implication is that the company would need to manufacture its products paying more emphasis on product appearance to attract this pool of consumers. The company would also need to use various channels for advertising the most current products as well as spend more resources in coming up with new fashions for various products (Wright, 2006).
A brief marketing plan for a viable market segment for pet products
The product which I choose from the text is pet products such as food and play items for pet animals. The market segment, which I think is a viable market for pet products, is that of career savvy women. The reason is that these women have a relatively high income. They also expressed more interest in home decor as well as in entertaining visitors at home. They also agreed that they would spend any amount to purchase anything which they wanted.
The core positioning statement for this particular segment would be ‘get the best pet products for healthy pets at the lowest prices possible.’ The best media venues for advertisement would be social and print media. To appeal the segment emotionally, the products would be decorated with cool and bright colors (Noel, 2009).
One way to influence the attitudes of the consumers would be to demystify any myths associated with pets and pet ownership. To achieve this, the company would need to present pets not as animals but as social beings and friends of human beings. This would help in changing the attitudes of those who do not like them and thus create a new set of customers for pet products (Blythe, 2013).
The other strategy to change the attitudes of people towards pets would be to lower the prices of pet products. This would reduce the fears associated with owning and maintaining pets. This is because many people usually think that pet products are very expensive, and thus, they fear to keep pets (Sharma, 2006).
References
Blythe, J.(2013). Consumer behaviour. London: SAGE.
Graham, J. (2010). Critical thinking in consumer behavior: Cases and experiential exercises, (2nd ed.). Boston: Prentice Hall.
Hawkins, D. I., Mothersbaugh, D. L., & Best, R. J. (2010). Consumer behavior: Building marketing strategy, (11th ed.). Boston: McGraw Hill.
Noel, H.(2009). Consumer behaviour. New York, NY: Ingram Publishers.
Sharma, A.(2006). Consumer behaviour, (1st ed.). New Delhi: Global Vision Publishers.
Wright, R.(2006). Consumer behaviour. London: Thompson Learning.