Consumers unintentionally adopt mechanisms that produce responses, thus, causing marketers to ask what influences consumers to purchase specific products or services. Consumer research refers to the action of incorporating elements for science and economics to understand why people buy, why people react to products and services in this manner and what patterns are formed.
Here are some tools to enlighten us on the importance of Consumer Research.
- Creates interpersonal relationships between the business and the customer
Customers want to feel valued, appreciated and understood by an organisation. If products and services are not marketed effectively to consumers, sales will decline as there would be a loss of interest. Therefore, the importance of consumer research and the understanding of consumer behaviour is vital as this creates better engagement and builds relationships.
- Competitors are benefiting from this research
Various organisations infiltrate consumer research as a means of strategy. For instance, Apple uses “The Wheel of Consumer” which requires the adoption of three steps. Affect and Cognition, Consumer Behaviour and Consumer Environment. This wheel enables the organisation to use psychology to unpick consumer behaviour. Additionally, an individual or an organisation can revise this concept to facilitate strategic planning and input unique marketing techniques to gain a new and wider audience.
- Generates higher revenues
Essentially, by understanding customer needs and behaviour we can discover patterns. These patterns can then be used as an incentive for organisations to create specific advertisements that can be placed in areas such as social media to market to a vast audience. The more exposure an organisation has, the higher the chances of revenue being generated.
Overall, it is important to understand what causes an individual to purchase whether it is hedonistic or utilitarian as this will give an insight to what type of person is most likely to purchase a specific product or service.
