Marketing To A Particular Group
By Jim Byrd
The question is do you think that as a marketer it is ok to target a market because of it's elemental makeup?
No, I would say that the consumer is not being exploited, because, in a sense, the marketers are focusing on a particular segment or a target market niche. We must remember that marketing is the activity that delivers messages about products that are created especially for the needs of a segment of people. First came the need/demand, then the product was developed, the marketing message came last. Marketing is the activity that delivers messages about products that were created especially for the needs of a segment of people. First came the need, or market demand, then the product was developed and then the marketing message focus came last. These marketing messages are derived via marketing research, which is a systematic analysis of data that reveals specific marketing situations surrounding a smaller subculture or segment of consumers. Most of the content of the marketing message is centered on the core values of that particular subculture.
The same can be said about marketing to the senior citizen’s population. This can be said because of the growing numbers of senior citizens within all communities throughout the planet. Without a doubt, there is a need to tap that specific market. So with this, we can say that demand due to prefiguration of demographics dictates that the marketer use those numbers to their advantage, (Meiners, Norbert H.; Seeberger, Bernd, 2010)
With this kind of information in hand, marketers can target consumers based on the predominated core values or sentiments with the general notion of persuading those consumers towards a purchasing behavior. There are other factors that guide the marketing campaigns of marketing managers when it comes to focusing its efforts on a particular subculture, and that is first, the beliefs and attitudes about a particular brand name product as it relates to that subculture group. Next, other intervening factors such as the attitudes of others, example, social risk, what will others within the subculture think if I wear that kind of shirt, this is a common example of a group norm. The marketers know that by researching into these psychological processes and other factors relating to the norms of prominent subcultures, they can effectively serve these consumers and perhaps capture an underserved niche, (Kotler, and Keller, 2011).
Now, on the other hand, there are non-targeted groups and how this type of marketing might affect them. One study showed that non-targeted consumers tend to prompt critical or negative responses. Due to this fact, these type of ads must be placed in media that will be seen hopefully by only the target group.
Reference:
Meiners, Norbert H.; Seeberger, Bernd. 2010 Marketing to senior citizens: challenges and opportunities. The Free Library(September, 22), http://www.thefreelibrary.com/Marketing to senior citizens: challenges and opportunities.-a0272670905 (accessed May 05 2015)
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