The Certificate In Business Psychology is a 600 hour course that you study by distance learning. It is available to start at any time.
The course comprises of three Core Modules, plus a further three modules that you select from a range of Elective Modules - this enables you to focus your qualification on areas of particular interest and benefit to you.
Marketing Your Business
Anyone who works in a field of marketing needs to understand the consumer - who their customers are, and what they want. When it comes to manufacturing and selling products, one of the quickest routes to bankruptcy is by accumulating stock and then hoping that the buyers will come. It is imperative to know who you are selling to so that you can meet their needs and demands.
Principles of Marketing Psychology
The consumer is influenced not only by market regulations and finances, but also by demographic factors (such as their location, gender, household size, etc.) and psychological factors (such as information processing, group influences, and personality).
Consumer behaviour can be viewed as a combination of personal characteristics, product characteristics and situational factors.
Knowing your customer is a crucial starting point in selling. You need to think about:
- Who will buy your products - most of your resources should go into targeting this group.
- Who might buy your products - this group might be tempted with appropriate marketing.
- Who definitely won't buy your products - you could waste a lot of time and money targeting people who are totally disinterested otherwise.
Retailers must be able to:
- Satisfy their customer's needs.
- Satisfy their customer's wants.
Customer Needs
Customer need is less complex than wants. In order to satisfy a customer's needs it is usually only really necessary to gather information pertaining to what they bought, and where and when they bought it.
A lot of marketing theory has seen the application of Abraham Maslow's 'hierarchy of needs' (1954) as a way of marrying psychology and marketing. Maslow's needs are based on a hierarchy of human needs where basic physiological needs such as food and sex must first be satisfied before we seek to appease needs for safety, love, esteem, meaning, aesthetics, and ultimately self-actualisation - reaching one's full potential.
This hierarchy of needs is an explanation of motivation. It has been applied with some credibility to the behaviour of employees in workplace situations as well as other areas of life. However, criticisms of the model include the fact that there are many instances where higher needs are met whilst lower physiological needs are not, or where people may value specific types of needs over others based on their personal circumstances and aspirations. It is therefore not really accurate to suggest that needs are hierarchical in nature.
When applied to marketing, proponents of this theory have also often failed to take into account that Maslow was a humanist and, if anything, his theory is more able to explain why people may consume less rather than more goods. It does, however, provide a useful starting point for advertisers because they can focus their campaigns on a need level likely to be shared by members of their target market. It also helps with product positioning in that the product can be presented in a particular way to appeal to the needs of its potential customers.
Others such as Carl Rogers (1961) believed that people only had two fundamental needs - the need for positive regard and the need for self-actualisation. By positive regard, Rogers meant the need to be viewed positively by others. For instance, this is often attained through a loving family or a loving relationship and without fulfilment individuals would be harmed psychologically. This need could also be satisfied through approval from others, and this is an area advertisers have sought to exploit.
The satisfaction of the need for self-actualisation which Rogers also regarded as paramount for good mental health can be achieved through anything which involves actualising our natural talents.
Packard (1957) identified eight needs in consumers which he claimed advertisers promised to fulfil. Through careful application of messages within advertising, merchandisers were able to tune into these needs so that consumer's would be compelled to buy their products.
- Emotional Security - products are marketed as items of security, warmth, and safety.
- Reassurance of Self-worth - products are sold to reassure the purchaser of their role in the world.
- Ego-gratification - advertising includes images of people who recommend a product actually using it.
- Creativity - products which enable the purchaser to take a role in the completed version, e.g. mixing ingredients, allow for fulfilment of creative needs.
- Object of Love - the product is compared to something beautiful and adorable.
- Sense of Power - the owner of the product will have more control.
- Sense of Roots - products used by the family e.g. special occasions, can appeal to a sense of roots.
- Immortality - products can have value from one generation to the next.
Enrol today - focus on improving the performance of your business
You can enrol on the Certificate In Business Psychology today. You study by distance learning - either online or by eLearning - meaning you can study when and where you want to. You are supported and guided in your studies by our expert tutors - all highly qualified with extensive real world experience.
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