The aim of consumer education is to teach people the skills, attitudes and knowledge needed to live in a society based on consumption. It is an essential component of general education, which should support consumers when trying to organize their daily, lives in a sustainable way. Many people are just not aware of how to behave as a consumer, but also do not know how and to what extent can influence the economy, environment and society through their individual consumer habits.
The goal is to help Consumer Classroom teachers to educate young people so they face the future. This program prepares them giving them the skills they need to practice a conscious consumption and understand their role in the economic system, to create a better society in which they live.
Consumer Behavior analysis for decision making
"Interacting with the consumer is not an abstract, temporary performance. It is above all, a practical and continuous overcoming problem with strategy and policy. The present time brings many questions; businesses and consumers go through a stage of reflections and maturation (Apple, 2010)".
In this article we will explain that consumer behavior is influenced by external factors and that is what a company should do in this situation. The environment in which companies compete has long characterized by instability and turbulence. Therefore, strategic planning, marketing has become one of the most important activities carried out by companies intending to survive and succeed in the market.
One of the stages that make up the strategic marketing planning is strategic market analysis. In this context, we must place the consumer behavior and that the latter, try to know the individual in his role as consumers and their buying decision process (Perreau, 2010). The knowledge of consumers, together with other relevant market information, provides marketers the information needed to design strategies and policies that affect the company's position in the market. In short, the marketing strategy to design and implement a business will depend on the knowledge you have about consumers, hence the importance of this subject.
A systematic reading of organizations, is obtained by positioning and formal and informal authority with the Departments of Consumer Services, defines such departments as parts created to act operationally as direct channels of communication, facilitating dialogue with customers, consumers and institutions. This definition hides and confuses with its simplicity, the real potential for the competitiveness and vitality of enterprises to medium and long term (KAPFERER, 2008).
The aim of consumer education is to teach people the skills, attitudes and knowledge needed to live in a society based on consumption. It is an essential component of general education, which should support consumers when trying to organize their daily, lives in a sustainable way. Many people are just not aware of how to behave as a consumer, but also do not know how and to what extent can influence the economy, environment and society through their individual consumer habits.
The goal is to help Consumer Classroom teachers to educate young people so they face the future. This program prepares them giving them the skills they need to practice a conscious consumption and understand their role in the economic system, to create a better society in which they live (Dewey, 1999).
Culture for the New Marketing
The success of consumer-oriented policy is closely related to the corporate culture, an effective commitment of management, and the degree of market evolution.
One of the paradigms of traditional marketing is, who decides the time to know the opinion of the consumer about the product is the manufacturer, in a one-way hand through regular market research.
Referring to Stan Rapp proposed marketing "one to one", the author wonders why the employer resists that, and use of customer services that provide daily monitoring on consumers. Responds that an explanation is given, because those departments innovate managerially with the essence of its mission. Show trends that occur from the bottom up, unlike usual in companies in which power is exercised from the top down.
These Service Centers, representing the interests of consumers, propose changes not only for products but also the dynamics of the company, who passes to hear about itself, without filters or euphemisms. Working with the uncertainties and subjectivity of each human element in the time of need "him" because until now companies despite having modernized their speeches, they still look like the center of the universe. These are strategic sectors to prevent dissatisfaction and problems become costly and exhausting lawsuits, and image resources (Armstrong, 2009).
The great mission with these departments is not tell consumers how wonderful are the products, but the company does need to be improved to satisfy the consumer.
Cultural Factors
Are engaged in the broadest and deepest influence on consumer behavior.
Culture: The fundamental determinant of desires and behavior of people. It is defined as the set of values, ideas, attitudes and symbols that take individuals to communicate, interpret and interact as members of a society. This culture determines the basic values that influence consumer behavior.
Subculture: We can distinguish four types of subculture nationality, religious groups, racial groups and geographic areas, reflecting different specific cultures, attitudes and different styles
Social Class: All societies have a social stratification. Social classes are divisions in society, relatively homogeneous and permanent, hierarchically ordered and whose members share values, interests and similar behaviors. The main division of social classes is based on three types: high, medium and low. Today, the middle class is growing in size: economic conditions have limited the growth of the upper classes and much of society access to higher levels of education
Cultural Answers
Then addresses the internal world of the companies. Paradoxically, the more bureaucratic and conservative is a company, more need to have a service, while most resistant to it.
Concerning the dynamic process of the companies identified four cultural responses, these almost relation to the consumer:
1. Characterize the response of Confrontation, where companies are the demands of consumers as persecutory, position themselves as victims, and assume the charge for the poor quality. They are suggested to take the first step if they are to remain on the market, for which shall:
a. -Opening doors to consumers through service departments, strategically and operationally structured properly.
b. - Decrease intransigence, self-sufficiency and self-reference, going to listen to what consumers say.
c. - Considering what consumer are requested, since the demands are often fair.
d. - Stop dreaming eliminate conflicts. Through dialogue, will begin a process of mutual modification.
2. The Cultural Response Handling manifested by not entering frontal collision is gentle and seductive. Your advertising is respect for the consumer, but it has its real domestic counterpart. Even riding a department attention, but are unwilling to no effective action. They always deny the existence of a conflict of interest (Zulzke, 1991).
3. In the cultural Passive, the concerns of the company are not aimed at the problem of the consumer, are structured depending on the channel, and consider that consumer awareness is going to affect them, showing a heightened self- centeredness and self-esteem.
4. The leaders of a company culture Active Adaptation know the financial and emotional costs of the processes of changes, are sensitive, and capture "the direction of the winds". They departments consumer service function as oxygenators, for the case that culture could be intoxicated by narcissistic paradigms quality, superiority or arrogance.
When a company decides to create an area of customer service, in addition to the hierarchical location, informal power structure will validate or not their work, which will manifest in the time, spent by business to consumer affairs in the access to information necessary to the function, autonomy being granted and the budget at their disposal information.
Social Factors
Reference Groups: These are groups that have a direct or indirect impact on the attitudes and behaviors of a person influence. Those who have a direct influence Memberships are called Groups, which can be Primary (family, friends, neighbors, coworkers, etc.) and Secondary (religious). There are also groups of aspiration, to which a person belongs but would like to belong and Dissociative Groups (whose values or behaviors rejects the person).
The Family: We can distinguish two families throughout the lifecycle of the consumer. The Family Guidance, formed by parents, which each acquires an orientation toward religion, politics, economics, Parenthood and Family, formed by the spouse and children. This latter type of family is the most important consumer organization in our society. The involvement of the husband or wife varies widely depending on the different product categories (Gerth., 2004).
Roles and Status: People throughout his life involved in several groups where his personal position is classified into roles and status. This role is the set of activities that a person is expected to perform in relation to the people around you and brings with it a status that reflects consideration that society grants.
Personal Factor
Age and Life Cycle Phase: People buy different goods and services throughout their lives because, for example, like people in clothing, furniture and leisure are related to their age. Consumption is also influenced by the stage of the family life cycle.
Occupation: The consumption patterns of a person are also influenced by their occupation. Marketers try to identify the occupational groups that have an interest, above average in their products and services.
Economic Circumstances: The choice of products is greatly affected by the economic conditions, which, in turn, are determined by, disposable income (level, stability and seasonality), savings and resources, credit power and attitude about saving versus spending.
Lifestyle: People who come from the same culture, social class and profession may, however, have very different life styles. The lifestyle is to reflect a profile on the way of being and acting of a person in the world.
Personality and self-concept: What we understand the distinctive personality psychological characteristics that make a person responds to your environment relatively consistent and enduring. Is usually described in terms such as selfconfidence, dominance, sociability, ... In marketing, a concept related to the personality is used, the self-concept. We all have an image of ourselves. Marketing specialists must develop brand images that fit the self-images of their target markets (Rivera, 2010).
Strategy and Policy
The company which is willing to deal with political seriousness of consumer satisfaction, should reflect on the following:
a. - Definition and consensus of the Directorate to address a strategy in this regard. This implies that the consumer must be a figure "present as value" within the company.
b. - The policies should be consistent with the strategy.
c. - Consistency between communication and personal position of leaders.
d. - Provision to prevent paradigms and make changes. The consumer suggests and demands according to their perceptions and needs, technological limits unknown manufacturer.
e. - Hierarchical rigidity and customer satisfaction strategy, are mutually exclusive. When the company culture is routed to the customer, the fields of power and inner strength of the company are inevitably altered. The customer demands are not negotiable internally, other new variables such as intuition, emotion and creativity are incorporated, and the role of the head is redefined as functional leader.
f. - Adopt policies for recovery of consumers is not simple, nor cheap. However open a direct channel, adjust products and services to consumers, is the most intelligent and safe for long-term profit way.
It is essential to understand that, with the creation of an area of attention a new element is introduced into the power relations, altering the previous balance.
Strategic functions Ark Care.
Basically there are five:
a. - As Ombudsman is the representative consumer.
b. - As Innovator has reference to a critical and intelligent consumer, and the impact of their actions will be given to the extent that their sensitivity and ability to anticipate exceeding the expectations of the average consumer.
c. - As Shutter Signals emitted by spokespersons of the silent segments, to shoot the research and analysis necessary to confirm or reject hypothesis conflicts.
d. - As Change Agent processes and internal awareness rising, helping to shape an evolving culture, accompanying the market.
e. - As Auditor, monitoring what consumers perceive about the actions of the company.
In conclusion, the recent marketing literature based on environmental psychology (Macheleit & Mantel, 2001) suggests that environmental factors, even before the development of the service they can influence consumer evaluations (Walker, 1995). Later, in the meeting itself or service development, the consumer is involved in situations that stimulate to feel emotions, positive or negative, do these influential in their assessment of satisfaction or dissatisfaction. In shopping centers, for example, the environment influences consumer evaluation provoking emotional reactions (Alier, Sierra, & Falces, 2000). According to Price, Arnold and Deibler (1995), service development has the potential to evoke a variety of emotional responses (anger, regret, peace, joy, euphoria, confidence); therefore, by means like an affective approach, you can determine the emotions of consumers when they interact with the service provider. In sum, understanding the role of emotions in the evaluation process is particularly important for studying service encounters (Lemmink & Mattsson, 1998)
Finally it should be noted that this guidance and the work involved an exercise in application, make sense only if the solutions to the problems identified are provided to prevent future problems. She finally says, who likes to define the departments of customer service, and modern sectors of negotiation in organizational structures.
Bibliography
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Dewey, J. (1999). Progressive Perspectives. Monograph series, 1 (2).
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KAPFERER, J.-N. (2008). THE NEW STRATEGIC BRAND MANAGEMENT . London: Kogan.
Lemmink, & Mattsson. (1998). Warmth During Non-productive Retail Encounters: The Hidden Side of Productivity . International Journal of Research in Marketing , 15 (5), 505-517.
Macheleit, & Mantel. (2001). motional Response and Shopping Satisfaction. Moderating Effects of Shopper Attributions . Journal of Business Research , 54, 97-106.
Perreau, F. (28 de 11 de 2010). The consumer factor. Recuperado el 20 de 02 de 2015, de The 4 factors influencing consumer behavior: http://theconsumerfactor.com/en/4-factors-influencing-consumer- behavior/
Walker. (1995). Service Encounter Satisfaction. Journal of Services Marketing , 9 (1), 5-15.
Zülzke, M. L. (1991). ABRIENDO LA EMPRESA AL CONSUMIDOR . Digital Revista, 7-9.
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- Quote paper
- Carlos Sempertegui (Author), Consumer Behavior analysis. How does decision making work?, Munich, GRIN Verlag, https://www.hausarbeiten.de/document/1484984
