TABLE OF CONTENTS Marketing is, however unfortunately, associated with inappropriate pressure indeed, even unsavoury or actually criminal tactics to make people buy. While some people trade on the fact that there is one born every minute , this is a small, exceptional area and not what mainstream marketing is about. Not least because most organizations want to do regular business with their customers, they recognize that sales made and found inappropriate by customers tend not to repeat. To build business with customers satisfied customers who may well return for more demands respect for the customer. More than that is involved: the whole mechanism of promotional and sales communication must relate to and use the psychology of how customers assess what is offered to them and make a decision to buy or not, and to buy from one supplier rather than another. Let us consider the implications of this.
It must be recognized that people may be, at any time, at different stages in the buying process, and marketing communication has the challenge of communicating effectively with each. The pyramidal diagram (Figure 10.1) illustrates the different types of buyer. As can be seen the marketer commences with a mass audience, then progresses upwards towards a decreasing but all-important number of customers. Many factors will influence whether a suspect converts to a customer and remains a loyal customer. These issues must be considered in relation to the factors that influence buyer decision making illustrated later in...
