Debate on a Target Market Overview Paper Example

A target market refers to the group of consumers who are likely to buy a companys products or services. Knowing your target market is very important for a marketer because that is the group of people you need to focus your marketing efforts (De Mooij, 2010). To find out who your falls into your target market you need to consider a number of things. First, you need to understand the specific problem your product or service solves. Then you need to ask yourself who are the people who are most likely to have this problem. In this second part, you can also look at the situations in which they use it and understand whether they are businesses, individuals or families. Finally, you need to understand whether you have different groups with different needs in your target market. It is possible for you to have more than one target market based on how they use a product or service. A target market can be divided by the demographics, geographical location, buying power or psychographics.

Mission statements are mostly the result of much consideration and discussions. Mission statements are crucial to the success of any marketing organization. They act like blueprints which govern the organization's commitments and intentions although the level varies depending on the organization (Wilson, Zeithaml, Bitner & Gremler, 2012). A well-developed mission statement shows what the organization believes in and what it expects others to view the organization. The mission statement greatly impacts the image and goodwill of the company. Therefore, an organization must make a strong connection by fulfilling these promises. For instance, if an organizations slogan talks about customer service excellence then the customer service that customers experience should be aligned with this promise. An example is Targets brand promise of Expect more. Pay less. This is a good illustration of setting the right expectations. The customers know what to expect, and the employees understand what is expected of them. They might not always get it right because man is to error. However, the customer knows that a promise has been made. It is important to tie your brand promise to your customer service mission and wait to see the amazing results.

Consumer behavior refers to the study of how consumers buy and use goods and services to satisfy their needs and wants. In marketing it is important to understand what makes consumers spend on a specific good or service. When you determine these in marketing you will be able to establish which goods or services are required in the marketplace and how best they should be packaged. According to De Mooij all the marketing decisions are regarded on assumptions and knowledge of consumer behavior. Consumer behavior is a complex process but it is important for all marketers to understand it.

Statement of Position

Pro: People are the age that they think they are. We have had a number of basic changes in the consumer lifestyles and the way people define family. These transformations imply that people are and can become accustomed to different products irrespective of their chronological age (Solomon, 2014). For example, today a good number of aging baby boomers do not consider themselves as approaching middle age and therefore they form a very large number of the growing market for the age defeating products. This also applies to the other age groups because with the improvement in medicine, technology and income have brought a new meaning of age. In regards to marketing, the marketing of a product or service can be tailored to suit different age groups through advertising and positioning. An example is marketing to active adults and cruise line advertising which entails a broad range of activities and locations previously termed as the youth market.

On the contrary, with the postponement in child bearing and child rearing in some of the generations, activities that were considered of as belonging to the middle age can now be redesigned and marketed to this group too. Some of the generations have opted to travel around the world prior to settling down with children. All these change create a lot of marketing opportunities to entrepreneurs and businesses. And due to this marketing has taken a complete new turn with the new perception of age, rather than the previously physical definition of age.

Con: Age and cohorts are more significant than age differences. People will go through life as part of a group and encounter it through cohort experiences and relate to others within their identifiable group (Solomon, 2014). Marketing to cohorts broadens the capability of marketers to capitalize on shared emotions, trends, experiences, and fad that have made long-term impressions on the cohort. Technological advancements have come up in the past few years and changed the succeeding generations on the expectations and potential that one needs to market to the cohorts. Individuals in a given cohort will get information for purchase decisions from influencers in their cohort. Marketers must recognize these influencers and come up with messages that give a review of their products and gain favor with them.

References

De Mooij, M. (2010). Consumer behavior and culture: Consequences for global marketing and advertising. Sage.

Solomon, M. R. (2014). Consumer behavior: Buying, having, and being (Vol. 10). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall.

Wilson, A., Zeithaml, V. A., Bitner, M. J., & Gremler, D. D. (2012). Services marketing: Integrating customer focus across the firm. McGraw Hill.