Sales Management: Products and Services. Dr Jae K Shim

the consumer’s mind about the product or service. The product and salesperson remain the same, and it is the buyer’s mind that must be changed. People buy products for what they will do for them, not for the product in and of itself. It is necessary, then, to study the behavior of consumers and to determine why they buy.

      A great deal has been written about consumer behavior in the past, and this vast subject can only be touched upon lightly in this brief chapter. There are also varying theories and philosophies regarding consumer behavior and researchers in this area are not in agreement.

No two customers are identical

      The first thing to recognize about consumer behavior is that no two individuals are exactly the same. People tend to have differing degrees of traits such as optimism, confidence, aggressiveness, conservatism, and so on. Not only do people differ from one another, but also the same person can be different under different circumstances. Changes in the weather, changes in time, and many other physical conditions can attract or distract a person’s attention. How a person feels will influence her behavior. Whether she is happy or unhappy, alert or sleepy, relaxed or tense will greatly affect what she perceives and does. Her use of alcohol, drugs, or medicine can produce changes in her behavior. And such incentives as praise, recognition, and reward usually will elicit a greater degree of response. Under varying conditions such as these, the salesperson should carefully analyze the total selling situation to determine the best approach to use.

Basic kinds of motives

      Although the terminology varies and there is no general agreement on how many basic motives there are, authors in this area generally see the consumer responding to three basic types of motives. The first of these classifications is physiological. These motives are related to the physical needs of the body and include those arising out of sex, hunger, thirst, and the desire for comfort. The second is psychological, motives are largely subjective and include such motives as pride and fear. And the third is sociological. These motives are related to a person’s social status, including motives arising from the urges or needs for conformity, recognition, and prestige.

      Some authors have pointed out that motives can be arranged as a hierarchy, with those needs the consumer regards as most important, and will try to satisfy first, at the top and the others that can wait listed in turn below. The psychologist Abraham Maslow saw five levels of needs, which he listed in ascending order as follows:

      1.Physiological needs.

      2.Need for safety.

      3.Need to belong, to love and be loved.

      4.Desire for esteem and status.

      5.Need for “self-actualization.”

      Maslow interpreted the need for self-actualization as a desire to find and fulfill the true self to the highest degree possible. He realized that this need came later in the hierarchy of needs after the others had been met.

Primary, selective, and patronage motives

      Motives can also be classified as primary, selective, or patronage. A primary motive is related to those particular factors which motivate a person to choose one general type of product or service over another. For example, a person may simultaneously wish to purchase a new shotgun and storm windows. However, she usually doesn’t have a sufficient amount of money to purchase both; consequently she must choose one over the other. In the case of the family person, although she wants to buy a new shotgun, she may decide that it is more important and sensible to buy storm windows for her home. Such considerations as the comfort of other family members, reduced heating bills, and increased value of her home may cause her to choose the storm windows over the shotgun and are referred to a primary buying motives. They relate to the type, kind, or class of product or service that will be purchased. Selective motives, on the other hand, are those that determine the consumer’s choice of a brand. Once she has decided to purchase storm windows, she must next decide on the particular brand. Finally, patronage motives come into play. They involve decisions regarding the particular retailer or dealer from whom the product or service will be purchased.

Product motives

      Consumer choice can also be influenced by the physical qualities or psychological attractiveness of the product. Such factors as design, color, size, quality, package, or price of the product can greatly influence or motivate the purchaser. For example, in designing packages, curved lines and fancy packages are generally thought to appeal to women, while straight lines and more functional packaging is considered more appropriate for products sold to men. With reference to color, red will normally attract more attention than green. And in promoting the cool taste of a cigarette, green and blue colors are frequently used.

      The size of the container can also be an important motivating factor. Many shoppers select a larger size container because they can usually get more for their money by buying in larger quantities and it reduces the numbers of shopping trips. In addition, with our higher standard of living there is an increased emphasis on quality, but at the same time the product must be competitively priced. All of these factors can influence the purchase of a product, and they vary from one person to another. Product motives may also be thought of as economic or rational, as in the considerations of package size and price discussed in the preceding paragraph, or they may be classified as emotional. These classifications will be treated further later in the chapter.

      The type of product being sought also influences consumer behavior. For example, such products as cigarettes, bread, meat, fruits and vegetables, gasoline, and toothpaste are classified as convenience goods. These products are frequently consumed on a daily or weekly basis, are available in many stores which are located near the consumer, are competitively priced, and are generally intensively advertised - particularly national brands.

      Shopping goods, on the other hand, are such items as dresses, sport jackets, appliances, furniture, and automobiles. These products (in comparison with convenience goods) are consumed less frequently, are available in fewer outlets which are generally located further away from the consumer, and have greater variances in quality and price. The unit value of these products is also higher and often represents a sizable investment -- particularly in the case of purchasing an automobile, furniture, or a major appliance. Consequently, the consumer plans these purchases more carefully and will usually compare or do considerable shopping before a final decision is made.

      Specialty goods are products which have very special and unique characteristics. The consumer generally will “go out of her way” to purchase such products, and usually is reluctant to accept substitutes. A certain blend of pipe tobacco, an exceptionally fine camera, pastry products which are made in a special way, and rare woods which are available only from a certain area of the country are examples of products which are classified as specialty goods. In summary, the salesperson should know the particular classification of her product and what effect its characteristics might have on influencing consumer behavior.

      

Indicate whether each of the following statements is true or false

      1.Most products are bought by consumers rather than sold by salespeople.

      2.Salespeople may use the same basic appeal to everyone because most people have the same needs.

      3.Researchers do not agree on how many basic buying motives there are.

      4.Consumer choice is influenced by other factors besides the sales talk.

       Answer

      1.True. Strictly speaking, salespeople do not sell products or services. Rather, the consumer buys them. Therefore, it is necessary to understand consumers and why they buy.

      2.False. People not only differ from one another, but the same person may react differently under different circumstances. Salespeople must