Discuss the managerial approach to marketing

In the attempt to comprehend and spot what customers want or need, marketing managers should delve into and recognize consumer composition. Understanding the relationships between wants and needs and executing practices will most likely conceptualize the goals of the organization. Technological advances and a varying market forms diverse dynamic that means an outlook in organizational wants.

Maslow’s Theory of Needs and its Application to Marketing The Maslow’s hierarchy of needs basically reflects fundamental human wants and stresses on a range of impetus that result to outcomes.The hierarchy of needs is presented in a pyramid, where Physiological needs are at the bottom, followed by Safety, Social, Ego, and Self Actualization at the top (Maslow, 1987). The behavior of consumers is exemplified by satisfying initial desires and progressively moving up after fulfilling the earlier wants. Physiological needs are the fundamental human needs like sleep, food, and water. Safety includes the desire for job, physical, and financial security. Well being and health are also included in safety.

Safety need is met by insurance, income, and employment (Bruce, Pepitone & Ebrary, 1999).Social need is seeking companionship, belonging, and love. Romantic and friendships relations assist fulfill this need. The fourth need is ego and includes self-esteem, prestige, and success. Self-actualization is the point at which one maximizes their potential once all the other wants have been satisfied.

For instance, the target consumers for minivans are families with many children. Car manufacturing industries endeavor to mark this cluster of consumers by fulfilling their fundamental desire to own a car that fits many children.The want is very fundamental but often companies endeavor to surpass the fundamental need. For example, fuel economy, style, safety, and entertainment are addressed all together.

Therefore, marketers are as well fulfilling other essentials that will render the good more attractive. More appeal implies that more people will be willing to purchase the product. Safety features in the car can be seen as social want, whereas style, price, and fuel economy can be seen as ego desire. Companies sell products that they feel will have an added advantage to the consumer.This is to mean that it would in fact be valuable to obtain a specific kind of car because it satisfies the needs as well as the wants like chrome wheels, entertainment and interior preference. Corporations need leaders who can understand the significance of how products or services mirror dynamics in the worldwide marketplace.

Such leaders will make decisions on production and practices that will consequently influence how the remaining market works and competes. Forceful market practices may give an advantage to an adjusting market.Company leaders can establish dynamics that result to much required change in manufacturing practices towards a better sustainable result. The environment in which we live in will affect the practices of all people.

Leaders are accountable and very capable of ushering in novel products and practices. The Consumer Behavior Model (or Industrial Model) and the Marketing Effort CBM provides a detailed analysis of the behavior of consumers. The behavior of consumers should mirror a varying needs system. Fundamental human wants of shelter and food may assume priority over services or products of less importance to instantaneous survival needs.Importantly, understanding how wants build upon each other can provide an advantage to people’s consumption.

The question of who the consumers are is tackled by splitting the general population to smaller and more elaborate partitioned markets (Chandrasekar, 2010). Marketing managers use segmentation variables, which could be geographic, demographic, or psychographic. Geographic would mean that preferences vary in accordance to city, country, or state. Demographic implies that tastes vary with respect to family size, age, and income level. Psychographic means that preferences vary in accordance to a consumer’s personality and lifestyle.The question of why consumers purchase addresses the incentive factor.

Maslow’s hierarchy of needs comes in handy here by depicting needs level commensurate with importance. Typically, marketing managers endeavor to fulfill the needs of consumers by coming up with products they deem will fill that space. Based on the kind of consumer, managers modify their goods to that specific consumer. The question of how consumers make buying decisions is tackled by the information collected concerning the specific product. A consumer is assumed to look for substitute products that offer the preferred benefit.Looking for the substitute comes from information from precedent readings, experiences, and conversations.

Consumers could also gather information externally through articles, advertisements, or websites. As soon as the consumer assesses the information and chooses to consume the good, an appraisal is carried out. This post-buy behavior examines if the good served its aim and achieved to the expectation. The chances are very high that the consumer will make another purchase of the same product if the product served the aim that the consumer had intended (Little & Marandi, 2003).

Consumers may purchase products from outlet stores, large merchant stores like K-Mart and Wal-Mart, and online sites like Zappos and Amazon. Based on the need or want and the kind of good, buyers have wide range of places to obtain their preferred goods. The decisions of marketing managers are also influenced by the time when customers purchase products. For instance, marketing managers would reap fewer benefits if they sold heavy clothes during summer. This would mean that the kind of clothes consumers buy depends on the season. In addition, a majority of consumers go shopping especially on weekends.

This would mean that retail outlets should use this opportunity to maximize their sales. Product/Service Overview Water Works, a novel concept, combines water and color to come up with bottled water, which is a more attractive choice for users. Customers further accessorize or convey their identity by selecting the color of water they desire to take. Company’s Target Market: an Application of the Concepts The product (Water Works) partitions the market on the basis of age-young adults (18 to 34 years), teenagers (13 to 17 years), and children (0 to 12 years). These age brackets form the highest proportions of bottled water customers.

Sensitization is high for Americans to practice healthier lifestyles. Different programs have been established to encourage the importance of taking water, especially for children. A good example is the Let’s Move initiative, which is lead by Michelle Obama. Statistics indicate that obesity is high in children between age 6 and 11, accounting for 15.

8 percent of all cases (Hutt & Speh, 2012). With the awareness Americans have concerning living healthier lifestyles, this will be a good platform for Water Works to launch bottled water to children.Moreover, family dynamics have changed drastically in U. S.

With a greater number of single parents and working mothers, young people are assuming a more vigorous role in choosing groceries (Chandrasekar, 2010). In America alone, 43 percent of young males and 57 percent of young females do food shopping weekly. With new technology, young people are becoming more self-sufficient and making decisions that potentially influence the spending habits of their parents. Reports indicate that young consumers between 13 and 18 years are close to 0. 5 billion, and spent more than 160 billion dollars on goods like movies, clothing, and food.

Young people have proven worth opponents. A study carried out by ORC requested adults to select their preferred drink from seven alternatives. Further division of outcomes by age factor, ORC found out that people between ages 18 to 34 are more prone than people with over 35 years to choose bottled water. Generally, bottled water turned out to be the most preferred option for all the segmented age brackets. Young adults comprise of a section of college children, which enables the organization to further partition this age bracket (Blythe & Zimmerman, 2005).

College students fall within the demography of young adults and have considerable disposable incomes. Company’s Competition: an Application of the Concepts Presently the United States bottled water industry generates revenues of close to 17 billion dollars, and is projected to compel the industry up to revenues of 18 billion by 2015. The market of unflavored bottled water accounts for close to 89. 6 percent of total market value, rendering it the largest in the bottled water industry in America. The fiercest competitors are Coco-Cola, Nestle, and PepsiCo, which jointly account for 56.

2 percent of the American market capacity (Saxena, 2009). Not to cite the intense argument that tapped water is regarded as more healthy and the proposition that there is no significant difference between tap water and bottled water. Given the latest advances in quality of products, entry to the market looks promising. In addition, the fact that plastics are been recycled reduces the cost of manufacturing bottled water. Moreover, advances in technology have made operating expenses like seeking retailers, manufacturing, distribution, and packing within reach (Bruggen & Wierenga, 2000).

Conclusion Managers and leaders of corporations have the capacity to exploit the outlook of holistic wants in the manner in which we make use of sustainable products and resources. By getting to the target consumers, the sustainability culture can reach the general population via their purchasing power as well as the power of assessment making procedure. In the end, all decisions by consumers influence the worldwide market. The manner in which we consume products presently will influence how future generations will perceive the products.

In addition, company leaders who hold buying power and consequently the preference of corporate practices will reach societal practices. Appreciating leaders and consumers perspectives will link the breach between such observances. Exploiting the concept of consumer trends and needs will enforce marketing strategies, as well as improve the market value. Continued analysis and education on the complexities of marketing administration will only assist executives in their pursuit to fulfill the needs of consumers.