Question

How does customer value link to the core concepts of needs, product and exchange?

Why do the marketers of a company need to understand these concepts?

Answer 1

There are five core concepts of customer and marketplace as follows:

a. Needs, wants and demands

Needs are things that satisfies the basic requirement and wants are requirement of specific kind of thing. The core need of the product is to satisfy the requirement of the customer. For example, a soap as a product has a basic quality of hygiene. The basic quality of soft drink is to quench the thirst. The core need of a mobile phone is communicating the message between the two parties. The consumer buys a product to satisfy its basic need.

b. Market offerings

Market offerings are the combination of product, service and experience that are offered in the market to satisfy the needs and wants of the consumer. For example, in a restaurant, consumer buys a burger that satisfies the hunger, serving by the waiter is an example of service and fully air-conditioned restaurant and hygiene is the experience the consumer is gaining.

c. value and satisfaction

When a consumer is buying a product, its not just a purchase of a need. The marketer is makes sure the consumer is getting a value in return. Consumer satisfaction is the priority for the company offering the product to the consumer. For example, when a consumer is buying a laptop for brand, the brand is trying to provide a value for the money to the consumer. After sale service plays a very important role in providing satisfaction to the consumer.

d. exchanges

The product is exchanged within the buyer and seller in exchange of money and value in return.

e. behaviour

Understanding consumer’s behaviour is very important for a marketer and fulfilling the needs as per the expectations.

Ans 2.

As a marketer, one needs to understand the above-mentioned points in order to understand the psyche and buying behaviour of the consumer. The marketer needs to understand what a consumer wants and needs from the product. The marketer should provide an additional value with a basic requirement in the product. For example, a soap is used for the purpose of hygiene, but a marketer can add a benefit of fragrance or a skincare element in the product. The marketer should add offering by not only providing a single product. For example, in a laptop a marketer is offering a laptop as a product, inbuilt windows are part services and a benefit of touchscreen can be an example of experience offered by the marketer to the consumer in the market. The marketer should try to create a value for the money to the consumer. For example, in case a consumer is picking a branded shirt instead of local shirt, the brand should add value to the money the consumer is giving by adding quality in the product or providing after sales service for the product. The exchange of the product and money should be equal, and marketer should provide a value in return. These concepts play an important role for establishing a product as a brand and creating awareness in the market. Understanding and fulfilling the needs of the consumer will enable the marketer to enhance the features of the product in the complete life cycle and will be able to face competition in the market.