Module 3: Identifying and Understanding Consumers

• WHAT MAKES RETAIL SHOPPERS TICK:

  1. Demographics
  2. Lifestyle
  3. Needs and Desires
  4. Shopping Attitudes and Behavior
  5. Retailer Actions
  6. Environmental Factors
• Demographics: consumer data that is objective, quantifiable, easily identifiable, and measurable.
• Lifestyles: ways in which consumers and families live and spend time/money.
• Social Factors in Lifestyle consists of:

  • Culture
  • Social Class
  • Reference Groups
  • Family Life Cycle
  • Household Life Cycle
  • Time Utilization
• Culture – Distinctive heritage shared by a group of people. It passes on beliefs, norms, and customs.
• Social Class – Informal ranking of people based on income, occupation, education, and other factors.(lower, middle, upper,).
• Reference Groups – Influence people's thoughts and behavior. They may be classified as aspirational, membership, and dissociative.
• Family Life Cycle – How a traditional family moves from bachelorhood to children to solitary retirement. In what of the cycle are the bulk of customers.
• Household Life Cycle – Incorporates the life stages of both family and non-family households.
• Time Utilization -types of activities in which a person is involved and the amount of time allocated
• Family Lifestyle Cycle:

  1. Children
  2. Teenagers
  3. Family
  4. Marriage
  5. Parenting
• Psychological Factors in Lifestyle consists of:

  • Personality
  • Class Consciousness
  • Attitudes (Opinions)
  • Perceived Risk
  • Purchase Importance
• Personality – Sum total of an individual's traits, which make that individual unique.
• Class Consciousness – Extent to which a person desires and pursues social status.
• Attitudes (Opinions) – Positive, neutral, or negative feelings a person has about different topics.
• Perceived Risk – Level of risk a consumer believes exists regarding the purchase of a specific good or service from a given retailer, whether or not the belief is actually correct.
• Special Market Segments:

  • In-Home Shoppers
  • Online Shoppers
  • Out-shoppers
• In-Home Shoppers:

  • Shopping is discretionary, not necessary
  • Convenience is important
  • Active, affluent, well-educated
  • Self-confident, younger, adventuresome
  • Time scarcity is a motivator
• Online Shoppers:

  • Use of Web for decision- making process as well as buying process
  • Convenience is important
  • Above average incomes, well-educated
  • Time scarcity is a motivator
• Outshoppers:

  • Out-of-hometown shopping
  • Young, members of a large family, and new to the community
  • Income and education vary
  • Like to travel, enjoy fine food, are active, and read out-of-town newspapers
• ATTITUDES TOWARDS SHOPPING:

  • Level of shopping enjoyment

  • Shopping time

  • Shifting feelings about retailing

  • Why people buy or not on a shopping trip?

  • Attitudes toward private brands
• REASONS FOR LEAVING AN APPAREL STORE W/OUT BUYING:

  • Cannot find an appealing style
  • Cannot find the right size
  • Nothing fits
  • No sales help is available
  • Cannot get in and out of the store easily
  • Prices are too high
  • In-store experience is stressful
  • Cannot find a good value
• Cross-Shopping - occurs when consumers shop for a product category through more than one retail format during the year or visit multiple retailers on one shopping trip.
• The Consumer Decision Process:

  1. Stimulus
  2. Problem Awareness
  3. Information Search
  4. Evaluation of Alternatives
  5. Purchase
  6. Post-purchase behavior
• Types of Consumer Decisions (Low-High):

  1. Routine
  2. Limited
  3. Extensive
• Types of Impulse Shopping:

  1. Completely unplanned
  2. Partially unplanned
  3. Unplanned substitution
• Buyer Persona

  • A detailed description of someone who represents your target audience.
  • This persona is fictional but based on deep research of your existing or desired audience.
  • Also known as customer persona, audience persona, or marketing persona.