Question

Descibe the elements of the marketing mix and how they impact consumer buying behavior.

Answer 1

The marketing mix is a combination of certain elements used for the marketing of a specific product.

Elements of marketing mix are:

Product: Products are produced by organizations to fulfill the demands of consumers. Products can be tangible and intangible. Buyers buy products that are sold in the market in exchange of money.

Price: Price is the amount that a buyer pays for a product. Price depends on the availability of the product and market conditions. If the availability is high, price will be low and vice-versa. Similarly, if there is high demand, and low supply, price will be high. Similarly, if there is low demand and high supply then price will be low.

Place: Place means location where the products are available for sell and purchase. There are two types of market place, physical market and virtual market. In a physical market both the parties can meet each other physically and complete the transaction process. But in the virtual market both buyers and sellers meet online.

4. Promotion: Promotion means making the customers aware of the products by implementing various strategies.

Promotion can be of the following types:

Advertising: Advertising can be done through print media( newspaper, magazine, leaflets, etc.) and electronic media (Television, radio) to inform customers about the existing and upcoming products. Billboards, hoardings, banners can be used in heavy traffic areas to drag the attention of the customers towards the product.

Online advertising can be done to bring the product to the notice of prospective customers.

Word of mouth: Satisfied customers do half of the promotional activities for a company, so it is necessary to satisfy a customer by providing him right product at right price. A happy customer can tell his near and dear ones about the benefits of the product, and they can show their interest to buy the same product.

Elements of marketing mix impacts consumers buying behavior. When a consumer goes to buy a product, he has to think over many things, such as price, quality and brand of the product. A seller needs to understand the psychology of the customer. People like to buy a product which is of good quality, having a good brand name and a low price. Companies should understand people's mind set and plan their product and price accordingly. For example, take the case of baramunda pants or shorts as men's wear, many young people like to wear shorts as casual wear. Companies selling these pants would target young people in their campaign. They will include young people or young celebrities in their ad to attract these customers towards the product. In addition to this, companies need to look around their competitors, at how much price they are selling and what is their quality and durability. Customers do not purchase a product by simply considering it's price and quality. They check the price, quality and compare them with other competitors.

So a product can impact consumer buying behavior in various ways. First of all a product should be good in quality and design (if applicable). It should belong to a good brand and price should be low in comparison to its competitors.

Next, price of a product impacts buying behavior of a consumer. If price is very high then most of the customers will not show interest in buying that product, but some of the customers will purchase if it is a good brand because they know branded products are of high cost. Company can offer various discounts to attract unwilling customers to buy.

Place also impacts buying behavior, if the product is available near by place then customers can show interest to buy. But if the products are available in stores which are far away from customers point, then most of the customers will not prefer to travel distant places to buy the product.

Promotion also influences buying behavior of a consumer. People are getting excited when they see a new product on their TV screen or in newspaper or in hoardings. At that time they have a desire to check the product in the near by store. They visit the store and purchase the product if it fulfills their requirements.