How has exposure to the study of marketing and society helped me to Essay

How has exposure to the study of marketing and society helped me to understand how I consume and what influences my decisio - Essay Example The extensive research made into studying marketing and its strategies has helped us; consumers tend to develop more informed decisions. If the marketing department is successful in identifying customer requirements and predicting future customer needs, it should enable the business to not only increase its sales revenue, profitability and market share but also to maintain and improve the image of its products and bring variety and innovations to existing ones to facilitate the consumer at the end of the day. The product itself is probably the most important element in the marketing mix. The product must fulfill a want. Consumers buy products for pleasure, satisfaction or benefits they provide. If it does provide the satisfaction, the good will not be purchased. The level of satisfaction achieved may differ. For example, some products are bought because they satisfy a basic need, like food which stops hunger. Other products like a refrigerator, in addition to keeping food cool, would be expected to be reliable and last a long time. An expensive perfume would give a certain image to the consumer when they used it and it would be expected to be of high quality. Informed and aware customers will pay a price that is worthy of the quality of the product. The design that is the performance, reliability and quality should all be consistent with the product’s brand image. The marketing should be capable of stimulating new wants from the consumers. It must give something very distinctive that makes it appear different to encourage brand loyalty. Competition amongst businesses in an economy in terms of the prices of goods and services being set has also helped consumers make the right buying decisions. Demand is not just what people want to buy but they must also have the money to be able to purchase the product. The market price is determined by the demand and supply of that particular good and various factors affect these such as, change in income, taste and fas hion, advertising and prices of other products. The pricing strategy should be such that it should provide good value for money to consumers. They will not unnecessarily pay a high price for a good of low quality or which serves no purpose. Consumers are in search of best deal for money for example, economy packs, bulk-buying and discounted products. (Titley, 2008) Packaging is another part of marketing mix that influences consumer decisions. Consumers consider suitable packaging because it has to give protection to the product and not allow it to spoil. It also has to allow product to be used easily. It is no good having hair shampoo in a tin that would not allow the liquid to pour out easily. Packaging is also used for promoting the product. It must appeal to the consumer because it is usually the packaging that catches the eye and the product inside! Consumers will prefer to buy products with packaging carrying vital information about its use, storage and its ingredients. Recycla ble packaging is most preferred by the society. Getting the best value for money is what any rational consumer would want. Advertising as part of marketing and promotion will influence consumers to quite an extent. Advertisements which give information to the public are known as informative advertising. It increases consumer choice by making consumers aware of the range of