Week 5

HonB 200 Reflection
Week 5
Dan Cushing

Over the past five weeks, there have been many new marketing concepts presented to our class through discussions and video posts. While there are many important concepts that have been presented, the most important include Marketing Mix, Consumer Buying Process, 4 Degrees of Competition, SWOT Analysis, and Market Segmentation.

The most fundamental idea in marketing is the idea of the Marketing Mix. The Marketing Mix is made up of Price, Product, Promotion, and Place. By combining the 4 P's, a business can influence consumer behavior to buy their product.

Price:

  • The monetary value that a company is willing to sell it's product for
  • Buyer must give up this amount of money to purchase good
  • Most flexible
  • Indicator of quality (High price; high quality, low price; low quality)
Product:
    Image result for Coke ad
  • Tangible good or service
  • Includes brand, packaging, extra services
  • Purchased due to their benefits
Promotion:
  • How companies inform the market about product
  • Advertisement
Place:
  • Making product available to consumers (Convenience)
  • Physical distribution of product
The Consumer Buying Process refers to the multiple steps taken in typically a Business to Consumer transaction. When a consumer decides that there is a problem large enough to warrant a purchase, the consumer follows the five step process in order to order the good.

1. Problem Recognition
The consumer recognizes that there is a problem that can be potentially solved by an existing product in the market.

Image result for purchase cartoon2. Information Search
The person begins to look for all available options that could potentially solve their problem.

3. Evaluation of Alternatives
The person evaluates all available options while weighing the pros and cons of each potential purchase. Some factors such as cost and unique benefits of the product may be considered.

4. Purchase Decision
The consumer gives up money to receive the product that was deemed by them as the best fit for their need.

5. Post Purchase Behavior
The consumer evaluates the product to determine whether it was a good purchase or a bad purchase. If the purchase is deemed to be poor, the consumer may experience Buyer's Remorse which is regret of a purchase.

The 4 Degrees of Competition refers to an Economics concept. The markets that a business can operate can be broken down into four distinct market structures. These structures are determined by various factors including number of sellers, price influence, and barriers of entry.

Perfect Competition:
In this market structure there are a large number of sellers, low to no price influence by sellers, and low barriers of entry. Sell a near identical product.

 Monopolistic Competition:
There are a large number of sellers but the sellers use product differentiation to distinguish themselves. This results in some influence over price due to unique versions of products. Businesses aim for this market.

 Oligopoly:
Image result for monopolyOnly a handful of sellers that control market. There are typically high barriers of entry. The few sellers will actually operate in ways that benefit all sellers rather than competing (i.e. everyone raising prices).

 Monopoly:
One seller controlling vast majority of market. The seller has great influence over purchasing price. Very little motivation to innovate due to no existing competition. Governments will often break up monopolies because they are hurtful for the people in the long run.

Another concept introduced to us is an analysis tool to measure your company's potential in a market. This tool is called SWOT Analysis and it allows an organization to determine both internal and external factors that could either help or hurt the company. It is an acronym for Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats.

Strengths:
Something in the company they should maintain (beneficial to company).

Image result for SWOT analysisWeaknesses:
Something the company should try to change or improve on (hurtful to company).

Opportunities:
Things in the market that should be used to gain an advantage

Threats:
Things in the market that should be avoided or minimized to avoid potential issues.



In the most recent week of class, we were introduced to the idea of Market Segmentation. Market Segmentation is the idea that companies should break down a market into groups of similar people in order to target who they can satisfy rather than trying to satisfy all. The company will create a Target Market that they will then tailor their company towards in order to gain an advantage in that particular segment. The company can also advertise specifically towards those people. This is all in hopes of creating a loyal customer base that is satisfied with your tailored product. Market Segmentation is usually in four separate ways.

 Demographic Segmentation:
Gender, Income, Ethnicity, Education

Image result for target marketGeographic Segmentation:
Location, Region, Zip Code

Psychographic Segmentation:
Interests, Activities, Lifestyle

Behavioral Segmentation:
Actual behavior

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