Marketing Education in the US

I am interested to see the differences between the marketing education in the Netherlands compared to the marketing studies in the United States or United Kingdom.

I found interesting study manuals from University in the United States, about the marketing mix. I have learned that we define four different P's ( place, product, price and promotion) but I read in the manual that they define seven different P's. The fifth P represents People, the sixth physical evidence and the seventh P stands for process.

People: Use of appropriate staff is very important for any service, and training them to help represent the company's image. Consumers judge a company or brand by comparing the service based on the way employees interact with the customers.

Process refers to the systems used to assist the organisation in delivering the service. An efficient service will enhance the loyalty towards an company.

Physical Evidence are the expectations that consumers have towards a company, for example if you visit a restaurant you expect it to be clean and friendly environment. Consumers will make perceptions based on their sight of the service and that will have an impact on the loyalty of consumers. Under physical evidence we categorise the uniforms, facilities and the delivery, and the process stands for the whole customer experience.

The last three P's ( process, physical evidence and people) are very similar, but I still think there important to learn. I will do more research about the marketing education in the US so that I can learn more about the differences.

Continue factors of consumer buyer behaviour

Psychological factors

A person’s buying choices are further influenced by four important psychological factors: motivation, perception, learning, beliefs and attitudes.

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A motive or drive is a need that is pressing to direct the person to seek satisfaction. psychologist have developed theories of human motivation. Two of the theories that I have learned during my marketing lesson are the their of Sigmund Freud and Abraham Maslow.

Freud’s theory teaches us that people are largely unconscious of the real psychological forces shaping their behaviour. He sees the person as growing up and repressing many urges. These urges are never eliminated or under control, they emerge in dreams in neurotic and obsessive behaviour.

Maslow has looked at why one person spends so much time and energy on personal safety and another on gaining the esteem of others. Maslow’s answer is that human needs are arranged in a hierarchy, from the most important to the least important needs.

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Perception is the process by which people select, organise and interpret information to form a meaningful picture of the world. Everybody can form different perceptions of the same stimulus because of the three perceptual processes: selective attention, selective distortion and selective retention.

Learning describes changes in an individual’s behaviour through from experience.

A belief is a descriptive thought that a person has about something, for example a product. An attitude describes a person’s relatively consistent opines and feelings toward an object or idea.

Hereby a description of how consumers personal characteristics and primary factors affect their buying decisions.

Consumer Behaviour

Consumer purchases are influenced by cultural, social, personal and psychological characteristics.

Cultural factors
Have the deepest influence on consumers behaviour, the marketeers need to understand the role played by the buyers culture, subculture and social class.

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Culture is the most basic cause of person's want and behaviour , human behaviour is largely learned. Growing up in a society, a child learns basic values, perceptions want and behaviours from the family.

Sub culture is based on common life experiences and situations, sub culture include nationalities, religions, racial groups etc.

Social classes are society's relatively permanent and ordered divisions whose members share similar values, interest and behaviours.

Social factors
A consumer's behaviour is also influenced by social factors, such as family , friends, reference groups, roles and status.

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Some are primary groups with whom there is regular but informal interaction, such as family, friends neighbours and fellow workers.

Reference groups are groups that serve direct or indirect points of comparison or reference in forming a person's attitudes or behaviour.

For example aspirational group, in one which the individual wishes to belong , as when some one idolises a famous person.

A person belongs to many groups but the person's position in each group can be defined in terms of both role and status.

A role consists of the activities that people are expected to perform according to the persons around them. Each role carries a status reflecting the general esteem given by the society.

Personal factors
A buyers decisions are also influenced by such as the buyer's age ,life-cycle stage, occupation, lifestyle and personal characteristics.

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Family life cycle divine the stages which family's pass though a period of time, based on model life ( love, marriage and then children)
Life style is a person's pattern of living as expressed in his or her activities, interest and opinions. The techniques of measuring lifestyles is known as psychographics, divided in three dimensions, known as AIO ( activities, interests and opinions)

1. Activities: stand for work, hobbies, vacation, entertainment, shopping, sports, etc.
   
2. Interests: Family, home, Job, community, fashion, food, etc.
   
3. Opinions: stand for politics, business, economics, education, , future, culture, etc.

Next week.............

Psychological factors, with the theory off Abraham Maslow( hierarchy of needs)