24 Jan Marketing Terms and Phrases
Here are a few terms you may have read or heard about, but were unsure what they meant.
Altruism
A motivational state that has the ultimate goal of impacting another’s welfare. Important emerging area for marketers because of global warming, environmental and humanitarian concerns. It provides a basis for understanding such motvations underpinning buyer behaviour. Examples include Mt Franklin’s Pink Ribbon Donations, niche marketing of ‘green’ cleaners and beers, RSPCA’s pet food.
Brand Equity
The positive differential effect that knowing a brand name has on buyer response. The importance of equity lies in the fact that consumer perception of quality m,ay lie in their perception of the brand, not necessarily the product itself. The benefit t marketers are consumers willingness to try other products under the same brand.
Buyer Centre
Pertains to organisational buyers and includes all the people involved in the buying process. This means users, influencers, deciders, buyers, and gatekeepers. These people have complex relationships with each other, the tasks of the organisation, the structures, technology and processes. It is important for marketers to consider those involved to best position a product as a problem-solving solution to be successful in this context.
Double Jeopardy
An empirical generalisation showing that smaller brands have lower loyalty. The best way to increase brand loyalty is to increase market share. Minor brands have less loyalty and purchasers buy less often. In contrast, major brands have higher loyalty and purchases made more often.
Repertoire Buying
Means you have two or three brands you use and will choose from. Loyalty to one brand is rare.
Positioning
To stress an aspect of the brand or product. In terms of branding, positioning is competitive. This requires a competitor analysis to do well. This must fit with segmentation principles and the target market.
Segmentation
Dividing the customer base or targeted customer into niche segments so that their needs can be better understood and served, and more profitably. The bases of segmentation can be geographic, demographic, psychographic, user benefit, user situation, or a hybrid of these.
For example, if I am drinking at home after work, I might choose VB because I have a thirst and have worked hard all day (user benefit). If I am going to a party on Saturday, I might take Crown Lager (user situation, which would be more celebratory and of higher perceived quality to impress my friends.
Self Image
How one sees oneself.
Ideal Self Image
How one would like to see oneself. How one would like to be.
Social Self Image
How others see one.
Ideal Social Self Image
How one would like others to see one.
Stimulus Generalisation
According to classical conditioning this occurs when repitiion causes an individual to generalise. For example, the sound of bells caused Pavlov’s dogs to salivate. Marketers use this at times when piggybacking from a market leader e.g. Palsonic sounds like Panasonic. To overcome this requires some brand loyalty and stimulation discrimination. Companies achieve this by educating the market about the differences between their brand.
Reinforcement
An incident that will increase the likelihood of a specific response e.g. hearing good feedback about a new restaurant.
Reinforcement Schedules
Schedules to encourage patronage which may occur on a variable (unpredictable), fixed (tenth coffee is free) or continuous cycle (get a free drink with every burger). The most powerful of these have been shown to be variable. Poker machines are powerful reinforcing behaviour due to the unpredictability of the result coupled with the rewards of louder music, flashing and visual stimulation, which occur when the player wins each time.
Shaping
Reinforcement used before sale to funnel people through stages in the process. One example is loss-leading activities such as Big W, which offers free prints in its stores with the projections that consumers will then go on to purchase other items when inside.
Involvement
The amount of time, energy, concern, discernment given to a product or service and its selection. Usually the higher the risk, the higher the involvement (such as buying a house or car). Low involvement generally means the consumer is apathetic and undiscerning (chocolate bar, sticky tape, etc).
Informational and Transformational
Products and services can be marketed in informational or transformational characteristcs. Informational is using products fact, features, benefits. Transformational addresses sensory, social approval, emotional outcomes. Both high and low involvement products can use either, depending on the positioning strategy and product. A Low involvement Product sold Informationally includes Napisan. Transformationally is Coke (youth, fun, freedom).
A High involvement product sold informationally are most home loans. Transformationally are Club Med holidays.
Heuristics
Unconscious rules of thumb or shortcuts that help a consumer in their information search and learning. These may include what is important to us as a basic standard, brands to use or avoid, and otherwise methods of reducing a potentially vast array of options into a smaller subset from which we can decide.
Firmagraphics
Similar to demographics but pertaining to businesses. Marketers would use firmagraphics to segment a customer base into geographic, industry, user benefit, and other segmentation variables.
Are there any other terms you would like explained? Post them below. Thanks