Why Marketers Need Consumer Behavior

Discuss the Necessity of Consumer Behavior in Marketing

1. What is Marketing?

2. What is its purpose?

3. How does Consumer Behavior fit in?

4. Why should marketers study Consumer Behavior?

According to the American Marketing Association: Marketing is the activity, set of institutions, and processes for creating, communicating, delivering, and exchanging offerings that have value for customers, clients, partners, and society at large.

Although it is composed of several activities, marketing’s core purpose is to generate value for the organization being represented; oftentimes this means money. Companies look at profit margins and the ROI on marketing campaigns to determine whether a marketer has successfully fulfilled the purpose of their work.

According to Consumer Behavior by Michael R. Solomon, consumer behavior “is the study of processes involved when individuals or groups select, purchase, use, or dispose of products, services, ideas, or experiences to satisfy needs or desires”.

Considering their purpose, Marketers should study consumer behavior because it’s easy to become obsessed with increasing profit or improving numbers. Without a human element tying things together, we may miss the mark when attempting to communicate messages, invest in poorly strategized, doomed campaigns, or improperly target audiences all together.

Consumer behavior mixes concepts from psychology and business to paint a bigger picture of consumers and explores how “buying, having, and being” impact consumer wellness. By studying consumer behavior, we broaden our understanding of humanity and culture to allow for stronger, better aligned relationships between marketers and consumers. Ultimately, as Marketers, studying consumer behavior will allow us to make better decisions, do less harm, and increase our ROI – which is the goal.