Traditional Consumer Behavior

Organizations improve marketing by studying traditional consumer behavior.

According to Lars Perner, PhD, Assistant Professor of Clinical Marketing at the University of Southern California, clinical marketing examines the processes consumers use to select, secure, use and dispose of products, services, experiences or ideas. Organizations study traditional consumer behavior to improve marketing success.

Marketing Strategies

By studying traditional consumer behavior, marketers create more effective advertising campaigns. For example, advertisers know that traditionally more women than men watch Lifetime Television; therefore, advertisers select this network to promote cosmetics and other feminine products.

Another marketing strategy takes into consideration the fact that consumers traditionally talk to friends and family about buying experiences. For this reason, marketers may offer initial customer incentives to promote more favorable reviews of a new product.

Public Policy

Traditional consumer behavior evolves over time. Public policy is one factor that influences this process. For example, until the 1960s, the public had traditionally viewed cigarettes as harmless; therefore, tobacco companies were permitted freedom in advertising. In 1964, public perception of cigarettes' impact on health began to change when the U.S. Surgeon General's office published the Advisory Committee Report on Smoking and Health. In time, the public pushed for stricter regulations until tobacco advertising was banned from all media. The knowledge that cigarettes are dangerous led to a change in consumer behavior and, over time, created a new tradition in terms of how the public treated this product.

Social Marketing

Social marketing involves educating a group on the benefits and/or dangers of a particular item, idea or practice. For example, at the onset of a possible H1N1 pandemic in 2009, the United States declared a public health emergency. National and local news outlets quickly and repeatedly urged the public to enforce traditional prevention behaviors such as healthy practices and patient isolation. This was an effective means of quickly spreading information and influencing consumer behavior.

References

• University of Southern California Marshall: Consumer Behavior: The Psychology of Marketing
• "Time"; A Brief History of Cigarette Advertising; Scott Olstad; June 15, 2009
• Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: 2009 H1N1 Flu

Resources

• Consumer Behavior Research in the Advent of the 21st Century