Know-How Exchange : Customer Behavior

I'm not sure I fully understand all of this, but I'll offer an observation nonetheless: It probably depends on the product category, purchase frequency, and the target customer.

If you're selling industrial equipment it's probably different than if you're selling toothpaste. Some categories require a high degree of sales effort; others much less. And some categories are purchased infrequently (and thus don't really depend on customer loyalty), while others are purchased more often.

Some categories are considered purchases (like cars, refrigerators, etc.), others are committee decisions (like which contractor to hire to build your new corporate headquarters), and others are impulse purchases (like whether to purchase the cereal that's on sale at the supermarket this week).

The dynamics are all dependent on the situation and the target audience.

Sales are driven by the message's ability to outline the benefits to the consumer of the product, goods, or service being offered, and by the message's ability to overpower any objections to the purchase that might be present in the mind of the potential buyer.

The ideal buyer has a desire for a specific outcome and needs a solution to a particular problem or point of pain. The product offers a solution to the problem and fulfills the need. The thing that drives all this, the glue that holds it all together is the perception of the receipt of and the promise and delivery of value.

When it's weighed against price paid and the elimination of fear and doubt on the part of the buyer, the concept of the value obtained is one of the primary driving forces behind brand positioning and placement.