Why do consumers stay loyal to certain brand names, buy items they do not need, or upgrade belongings that function perfectly well? Marketers hope to answer these questions and more as they constantly strive to better understand consumer behavior.

A marketer is involved in one of the activities that takes a product or service from the producer to the consumer. Marketers necessarily focus on the buyer, relying on numerical analysis of consumer interests and satisfaction. Demographics and the condition of the economy must also be mathematically interpreted. In fact, marketing can only be deemed successful when a response to the product can be numerically measured.

Effective marketers help businesses improve or remediate the item they are selling and get the word to consumers. Financial, marketing, and stake-holder scorecards are developed to allow marketers to do this. These scorecards

Marketers pitched the singing California Raisins to the California Raisin Advisory Board in 1986. After the television advertisements aired, sales soared. The Raisins eventually appeared on tote bags, bedding, videos, and bookmarks and had their own television special.

are created using mathematical techniques of data collection and interpretation, flow-charting, regression analysis, measurement, and decisionmaking theory and statistics. Computer modeling makes many sophisticated techniques available to marketers, who should have a good understanding of mathematics.

As the economy adjusts itself to the effects of globalization and technology, marketing techniques must be more innovative than ever for businesses to succeed in a highly competitive market. The forces of deregulation and privatization make the marketplace even more cutthroat. Products and services must give the company an edge over others in some way: higher quality or better service, lower prices, improvement or innovation, higher market share, customization or entrance into high growth markets. A marketer who aggressively performs marketing research and adjusts strategies accordingly will have success at predicting consumer behavior.

See Also

Consumer Data.

Bibliography

Bayne, Kim M. The Internet Marketing Plan. New York: John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 1997.

Hayes, Bob E. Measuring Customer Satisfaction: Development and Use of Questionnaires. Milwaukee, WI: ASQC Quality Press, 1992.

Kotler, Philip. Kotler on Marketing: How to Create, Win and Dominate Markets. New York: Free Press, 1999.

Nash, Edward L. The Direct Marketing Handbook. New York: McGraw-Hill Book Company, 1984.