Changing equation of buyer behavior changing marketing communication and technology

Introduction:

Market places are new battle ground for marketers and technology innovators to woo

consumers and attract towards product attributes in unique ways. Wide arrays of information

available increased buying power and availability of multiple choices has paved unique path for

marketing as well as communication in new borne interactive market place.

To understand this shift in the traditional ways of selling products invites us to dig deep into the

basics of marketing, to understand the basic change in consumer’s thought process envisaged

by upcoming trends.

Researches done over the period of time has proved that structure of purchasing funnel is

changing drastically after inclusion of catalyst called Internet, mobile and social media.

Consumer Decision Journey

With introduction of technology and varied media, the way consumers are taking a decision to

buy any product has seen a change in its procedure.

Following are the few observations noted by researchers,

1) Pattern of research about products are changing influenced by technology and

internet

2) Growth in consumer knowledge due to media vehicles

3) Shift in consumer approach from being passive (letting advertise give product

insights) to active (researching yourself about product from varied resources)

4) Consideration has moved from traditional funnel to keeping more elaborate choices

before considering a brand to be purchased. I.e. more research & evaluation about

all the available brands through many sources available.1

5) Finally at the point of decision to make purchase, many consumers are still not sure

about which brand to buy, that decision is made inside the store or online where

various other factors (such as retail environment/offers) play an important part.

2

(D1)

1David Court, Dave Elzinga, Susan Mulder, and Ole Jørgen Vetvik. (2009). The consumer decision journey. McKinsey Quarterly . 9 (1), Interactive

module. 2 David Court, Dave Elzinga, Susan Mulder, and Ole Jørgen Vetvik. (2009). The consumer decision journey. McKinsey Quarterly . 9 (1), 3

Communication

Challenge in front of marketers lies on moving beyond traditional push and pull strategies. To

make an effort and deliver message on each stage of buying decision cycle, aligned with the

psychology of an individual at that stage along with the mediums through which that message

is being consumed and finally making the communication stand out from the crowd.

To manage and perform all these activities demands marketers to understand communication

from the basics after which it gets easier to align communication efforts with the stage of

consumer in buying decision stage.

Few observations made are as follows:

1) This type of communication can be defined with ‘Time-Distance-Form’ format, wherein a

consumer can actually relate with product or service in real time, touchable distance or

visibility and form or shape that is recognizable. This initializes direct connect between an

entity and the consumer; giving a chance to establish a strong and direct way of

communication. This situation occurs only in store or a personal sale setup. This kind of

communication can never be absolute since no technology can replace consumer’s

preference to come and experience the product in real time and then purchase it. Yes

augmented reality, holograms, interactive modules can generate curiosity (eg. Car purchase)

but final acceptance and purchase shall come only after REAL COMMUNICATION. Consumer

touch points in this scenario are in-store communication/setup/sales coordinator etc

2) Interim as defined in dictionary means ‘for short period’ in communication’s context we can

define it for a brief period of generation or technological revolution. Certain time period had

impact of the existing consumers to be influenced and make the buying decision. Let’s

understand an example; a common acceptance of fast food (MAcD) in developed countries

for certain time period was effect of an interim communication between the societies which

accepted these products and gave it huge response all over. This happened due to

developed interaction between consumers in that time period which was conducive to the

product and affected in its flourish. This kind of phenomenon change from time to time,

marketers needs to be ahead of their time to understand them and device strategies

accordingly.

Consumer touch points

The brands most likely to convert digitally jaded consumers into purchasers offer the

strongest array of digital experiences. These successful players seem to be pulling away

from less robust digital brands and gaining further momentum as they build up positive

word of mouth on social media.

In current scenario, online purchase is going through such phase where the digital service

has got societal acceptance in past couple of years; hence asking marketers to shift gears.

As the human interaction with information and decision making is naturally explained; each

human being who comes up with a thought or initiates willingness to perform certain

activity, needs acceptance or appreciation from its counterparts on various bases for

confirmation. Similar thought process is observed in buyer behavior, when a consumer

decides to buy a product they start collecting information as they go ahead in decision

making funnel, since the introduction of the newest technology and media, focus has shifted

to online forums and social media3. An individual looks for other user’s point of view while

choosing a product and that is where decisions are being altered the most.

More the number of touch points before the actual purchase on digital platform more the

chances of deal making or breaking! Following are observations to counter this situation,

a) Creating brand awareness among digitally savvy consumer base

b) To serve customers digitally during the purchase cycle

c) Generating an online experience as good as offline one (or better than that)

d) Tracking consumer comments on social media and other forums about their

experiences and try to improve it continuously.

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3 Jacques Bughin. (FEBRUARY 2015). Brand success in an era of Digital Darwinism. McKinsey Quarterly . A (1), 1-6.

4 Eric Hazan and Nicola wagner. (2012). The need of different approach to reach consumers. McKinsey iConsumer

2012. Insight 1 (A), 4.

Using Technology and media

For product categories such as consumer electronics and mobile/digital goods, 60% consumers report

that they research these products online before buying and nearly 25% of them purchase online.5

While deciding to align marketing strategy, marketers face arduous task of which touch point to cater

and till what extent? To answer this ‘how consumer is making the decision?’ is the first question to

answer. This understanding shall bring into light a brand strategy, needed most at the consideration,

evaluation or the final purchase.

The purpose behind gaining such insights is to target consumer attitudes and preferences. Today where

funding and revenue earning through advertising are critical to evaluate effectiveness one need not

waste time and money by advertising at wrong place and wrong time. When consumer is becoming

digitally superior they want more information at the right time to make decision and buy the product.

In digital buying scenario, products having strong initial consideration phase but are failing to make it till

final consideration and closure; need to change the tone of messaging, in store positioning and

packaging of the product can also be some of the repositioning solutions. In short tone of messaging at

each stage of purchase decision should of different tone and application. With content management

systems and online targeting engines marketers can make thousands of variations in an advertisement

making it compatible to varied gadgets, past behavior of consumer and real time location to mention of

the many.

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5 Eric Hazan and Nicola wagner. (2012). The need of different approach to reach consumers. McKinsey iConsumer

2012. Insight 1 (A), 3-4. 6 Roxane Divol, David Edelman, and Hugo Sarrazin. (April 2012). Demystifying social media. McKinsey Quarterly. A

(1), 1-6.

The observations state, the purpose behind social and digital channel is to monitor, respond, amplify

and lead the consumer behavior and cash on the opportunities when purchasing journey is in process.

‘If Facebook users constituted a country, it would be the world’s third largest, behind China and India’7

When we discuss the status and application of social media and technology in purchasing decision we

can experience a simple situation taking in to account Facebook ecosystem and a consumers journey

before buying a product we see trends as below,

a) A buying trigger from Faecbook post or advertise

b) Review of products from available comments from forums, groups etc

c) Felicitating the purchase by directly contacting ecommerce websites, who are displaying

their offers and product availability on facebook.

Understanding all the above trends and factors affecting consumer habits and change in purchasing

cycle gives way to formulate a strategy on how to align content and marketing communication

according to the stages of buyer behavior. Forming a perception and establishing strong validation

points for it can help the product to penetrate in consumer’s psyche initiating the product purchasing

cycle. And hence consumer touch points should be addressed with targeted content malleable enough

to adapt in different formats.

7 Roxane Divol, David Edelman, and Hugo Sarrazin. (April 2012). Demystifying social media. McKinsey Quarterly. A

(1), 1-6