A customer is an individual or business that purchases another company's goods or services. Customers are important because they drive revenues; without them, businesses cannot continue to exist. All businesses compete with other companies to attract customers, either by aggressively advertising their products, by lowering prices to expand their customer bases, or by developing unique products and experiences that customers love. Think Apple, Tesla, Google, or TikTok. Show
Businesses often honor the adage "the customer is always right" because happy customers are more likely to award repeat business to companies who meet or exceed their needs. As a result, many companies closely monitor their customer relationships to solicit feedback on methods to improve product lines. Customers are categorized in many ways. Most commonly, customers are classified as external or internal. External customers are dissociated from business operations and are often the parties interested in purchasing the final goods and services produced by a company. Internal customers are individuals or businesses integrated into business operations, often existing as employees or other functional groups within the company. Businesses frequently study their customers' profiles to fine-tune their marketing approaches and tailor their inventory to attract the most customers. Customers are often grouped according to their demographics, such as age, race, gender, ethnicity, income level, and geographic location, which all may help businesses cultivate a snapshot of the "ideal customer" or "customer persona." This information helps companies deepen existing customer relationships and reach untapped consumer populations to increase traffic. Customers are so important that colleges and universities offer consumer behavior courses dedicated to studying their behavioral patterns, choices, and idiosyncrasies. They focus on why people buy and use goods and services and how it impacts companies and economies. Understanding customers enables businesses to create effective marketing and advertising campaigns, deliver products and services that address needs and wants, and retain customers for repeat business. Customer service, which strives to ensure positive experiences, is key to a successful seller/customer dynamic. Loyalty in the form of favorable online reviews, referrals, and future business can be lost or won based on a good or bad customer service experience. In recent years, customer service has evolved to include real-time interactions via instant message chats, texting, and other means of communication. The market is saturated with businesses offering the same or similar products and services. What distinguishes one from another is customer service, which has become the basis of competition for most businesses. This is a key element of Sigma Six. The terms customer and consumer are nearly synonymous and are often used interchangeably. However, there exists a slight difference. Consumers are defined as individuals or businesses that consume or use goods and services. Customers are the purchasers within the economy that buy goods and services, and they can exist as consumers or alone as customers.
Customers differ from purchasing agents, who use corporate capital to buy goods at wholesale for commercial or industrial use.
Customer Purchaser Consumer All these Note: This Question is unanswered, help us to find answer for this one Before understanding consumer behaviour let us first go through few more terminologies: Who is a Consumer?Any individual who purchases goods and services from the market for his/her end-use is called a consumer. In simpler words a consumer is one who consumes goods and services available in the market. Example - Tom might purchase a tricycle for his son or Mike might buy a shirt for himself. In the above examples, both Tom and Mike are consumers. What is Consumer Interest?Every customer shows inclination towards particular products and services. Consumer interest is nothing but willingness of consumers to purchase products and services as per their taste, need and of course pocket. Let us go through the following example: Both Maria and Sandra went to the nearby shopping mall to buy dresses for themselves. The store manager showed them the best dresses available with him. Maria immediately purchased two dresses but Sandra returned home empty handed. The dresses were little too expensive for Sandra and she preferred simple and subtle designs as compared to designer wears available at the store. In the above example Sandra and Maria had similar requirements but there was a huge difference in their taste, mind set and ability to spend. What is Consumer Behaviour?Consumer Behaviour is a branch which deals with the various stages a consumer goes through before purchasing products or services for his end use. Why do you think an individual buys a product?
Why do you think an individual does not buy a product?
When do you think consumers purchase products?
There are infact several factors which influence buying decision of a consumer ranging from psychological, social, economic and so on. The study of consumer behaviour explains as to:
During Christmas, the buying tendencies of consumers increase as compared to other months. In the same way during Valentines week, individuals are often seen purchasing gifts for their partners. Fluctuations in the financial markets and recession decrease the buying capacity of individuals. In a layman’s language consumer behaviour deals with the buying behaviour of individuals. The main catalyst which triggers the buying decision of an individual is need for a particular product/service. Consumers purchase products and services as and when need arises. According to Belch and Belch, whenever need arises; a consumer searches for several information which would help him in his purchase. Following are the sources of information:
Perception also plays an important role in influencing the buying decision of consumers. Buying decisions of consumers also depend on the following factors:
Learn about ‘Consumer Behavior’ with the help of easy to understand, richly illustrated Powerpoint Presentation of 184 Slides. (View Demo Below)
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