THE TYPES OF CONSUMERS IN THE CONSUMER MARKET AND THE BUSINESS MARKET

A consumer is a person engaged in evaluating, acquiring and using goods and services to satisfy his needs and wants. In other words a consumer is a person who makes a purchase decision having in mind their expectations and needs coupled with the advertisers attempt to influence their decision through advertising. Consumer is the key figure in market and around him all the activities are carried on.
Consumers can be broadly divided in to two classes
1: Personal Consumer: Personal consumer is that consumer who purchases goods and services for his own personal consumption or uses. We can say that consumer is also called the ultimate or final person because when the marketer produces the goods then he hands over the goods to personal consumer for final consumption. For example: Mr. Abu buys shaving cream for his personal use so he is said to be personal consumer. This category of is also called the consumer market.
2: Organizational Consumer: Organizational consumer consists of the government agencies, business organization, non governmental organization (NGO), firms and different types of manufacturing companies who purchase the goods and services in order to run the business. For example: A manufacturing organization let say Liz Couture purchases raw materials in order to produce cloths for people. This category can also be referred to as the business market.
Armstrong, G.Kotler, P. (2005) in his book: Marketing: An introduction says that different types of consumers are combined within several major categories, i.e. The consumer market and the business market.
Amid these two major categories, the consumer market is comprised of individuals and households that purchase “goods and services for personal consumption,” whereas the business market encompasses organizational entities that purchase goods and services for the “use in the production of other products and services or for the purpose of reselling or renting them to others at a profit.”
Business markets possess a smaller amount of large buyers, unlike the consumer market, and whose consuming traits are “more geographically concentrated.” Dependent on the type of buyer and consumer, characteristics through decision processes may differ. For instance, the consumer market’s behavior is “influenced by four key sets of buyer characteristics: cultural, social, personal and psychological.”
Culture, is defined by social class and group wants and behaviors; social, incorporates the factors of influences by family and small groups that determine ideal brands and products; personal adopts the different age groups and lifestyles, and psychological, utilizes motivators and perception of “beliefs and attitudes.”
Additionally, the business market’s behavior is influenced by a buying center that displays “three types of buying situations: straight rebuys, modified rebuys, and new tasks.”
Decitica, a marketing strategy and research firm conducted a study in August 2009 spearheaded by Dr. Val Sriniva entitled "Marketing to the Post-Recession Consumers".
In their research they identified four distinct consumer segments emerging from the recession. These four consumers are the Steadfast Frugalists, the Involuntary Penny-Pinchers, the Pragmatic Spenders and the Apathetic Materialists.
These categories were derived by analyzing the frequency, satisfaction and the self-efficacy associated with a variety of spending, purchase and consumption.
Steadfast Frugalists
Steadfast frugalists are committed to self-restraint, engaging in prudence with unequivocal enthusiasm. They make up about one-fifth of the American consumers, representing all income and age groups. "Marketers will find this group to be the most challenging, as they are the least brand loyal and most likely to discount marketing messages," notes Dr. Srinivas.
Eighty-percent of Steadfast Frugalists say the new behaviors they have adopted will likely stay with them for a long time. This is in contrast to twenty-four percent of Apathetic Materialists who feel this way.
Involuntary Penny-Pinchers
Involuntary Penny-Pinchers, about twenty-nine percent of the population, have been severely affected by the recession. They are mainly made up of households with less than $50,000 in income, with more women than men.
This segment has been forced to embrace thrift like never before. Presently, their actual behaviors do not differ widely from those of Steadfast Frugalists. Where they drastically diverge is in their aversion to expending effort in money-saving strategies. Only seventeen percent find buying store or generic labels to be satisfying, compared to fifty-nine percent of Steadfast Frugalists.
Also, the recession has had a heavy emotional impact on Involuntary Penny-Pinchers; they admit to being more scared (seventy-seven percent), stressed (eighty-one percent) and worried (eighty-seven percent) about the future than other groups.
Pragmatic Spenders
"Pragmatic Spenders are the most attractive group for marketers because of their higher spending power," says Dr. Val Srinivas. "While it is true that they have also curbed their spending, they are the most capable, both psychologically and financially, to willfully resurrect their past spending patterns," he added. This group comprises twenty-nine percent of consumers.
Income has blunted the effects of the recession on this segment. Only twenty-eight percent of Pragmatic Spenders feel the recession has changed what and how they will buy in the future, compared to fifty-five percent of Steadfast Frugalists.
Apathetic Materialists
Apathetic Materialists seem least changed by the recession. They have not embraced the new frugality to the same extent as others and get minimal satisfaction from such behaviors. Only about six percent in this group find price comparison to be satisfying, in contrast to eighty-five percent in the Steadfast Frugalists camp.
The Apathetic Materialists segment has more men (fifty-five percent) and younger consumers (seventy-two percent are below the age of forty). They are the least driven by price: only eight percent admit to being very focused on value compared to thirty percent of Pragmatic Spenders and fifty-two percent of Involuntary Penny-Pinchers.
Brad Tuttle (July 2010) also grouped consumers into ten groups in his research entitled; Bound to Buy: The 10 Types of Consumers Who Inevitably Overspend.These consumers are as follows;
The Preemptive Replacer
This consumer is frequently bored with his possessions, and cares way more about whether something is shiny, new, and impressive than about actual functionality, and is disgusted when an item gets a slight scratch, tear, or stain. Could possibly have an unhealthy fetish involving plastic packaging, crinkly shopping bags, and/or “new car smell.”
Likely purchases: new car (when the old one runs fine), new sneakers (every other month), entire new kitchen or bathroom (because the old one was, oh, a little blah), storage unit (to hold all of the stuff that’s still perfectly good)
The Knee-Jerk Outsourcer
This anti-DIYer believes that her time is absolutely invaluable, and can’t be bothered with tasks deemed even marginally difficult or complicated, no matter what the cost.
Likely purchases: landscaping (a.k.a. somebody to cut your lawn), pre-sliced vegetables, Geek Squad assistance, “baby concierge” services
The Hapless Negotiator
The haggling techniques of this squeamish, extremely non-confrontational individual consist of two phrases: “How much?” and “I’ll take it.” Known to perspire heavily in the presence of car salesmen, antique store clerks, and crotchedy old ladies at yard sales.
Likely purchases: inflated auto insurance, inflated cable/Internet/phone plans, car at anything close to sticker price
The Fine Print Ignoramus
Details, details. Who can be bothered with details? Not the fine-print ignoramus, who accepts too-good-to-be-true offers at face value and never investigates the likelihood of “gotchas.”
Likely purchases: “exploding” mortgage, credit card with “great introductory rates” (that only last six months), heavily subsidized cell phone with absurdly high early termination fee
The Shortsighted Sign-Me-Upper
Closely related to and sometimes overlapping with the fine-print ignoramus, the shortsighted sign-me-upper focuses solely on what he must pay to get his hands on the goods right now, and never considers how much the purchase will cost him down the line—or whether he’ll even want the product down the line.
Likely purchases: timeshare, car lease, store-affiliated credit cards, products on infomercials, QVC, and HSN (especially those with “low monthly payments”)
The Early Adopter (and Constant Upgrader)
If it’s been described with the phrase “the next great,” if it features an Apple logo, and/or if mere possession of one will cause strangers to stop in their tracks and stare, then the early adopter must have it. No matter what your opinion of this consumer, you should thank the early adopter’s pioneering ways, because while his actions may seem brave, forward-thinking, foolhardy, egotistical, or some combination therein, he serves a noble purpose: He pays full price and sometimes purchases clunkers so the rest of us wind up with sound gear for much less money later on.
Likely purchases: iPad, untested hybrid or electric car, endless series of smartphones, Blueray paraphernalia, a bajillion other hot new things by the time you read this
The Impulse Buyer (and Frequent Regretter)
Delayed gratification? By the time this consumer manages to say the phrase—which does have a lot of syllables, come to think of it—she has excitedly scooped up a handful of “must-have” trifles that caught her eye.
Likely purchases: shoes, purses, gag gifts, infomercial products (as gag gifts or otherwise), anything in a store window or near a checkout line
The Whiny Kid Appeaser
Pity this poor soul, whose buttons can be pushed by offspring with multifaceted manipulation skills way beyond their years. Sometimes, a child’s momentary melancholy glance down at the store shelf is all it takes to prod a parent into surrender, albeit with a moral victory via the words, “Just one, OK?”
Likely purchases: toys, DVDs, video games, florescent cereal, yogurt-like products featuring Nickelodeon characters
The Illogical Rationalizer
This well-intentioned but misguided consumer believes that spending money is an excellent means to save money. And while this logic sometimes holds true—for example, it makes sense to pay extra for a product that’s more durable than a cheaper one that’ll have to be replaced often—not spending money is generally an even better way to save. The illogical rationalizer also has a weakness for words such as “deal,” “discount,” and “half off,” and when confronted with questions about the worthiness of a given product at any price may respond defensively by saying, “But I had a coupon!”
Likely purchases: ride-on lawnmower, extended warranty, elaborate home improvement projects, random stuff you’d never otherwise purchase but bought anyway solely because it was “on sale”
The Creature of (Bad) Habit
The “habitual offender,” if you will, faces what is arguably the most difficult challenge in fixing one’s finances. Human beings are comforted by routine and repetition, and if changing one’s habits was easy, no one would have habits that are bad, unhealthy, or costly, at least not for long. The key to stopping bad habits is to stay focused not on what you’re giving up, but on the benefits of what you get from good habits. For instance, by cooking at home rather than eating out all the time, you’ll be healthier, you’ll spend more time together with your family, and you’ll have more money—which will come in handy when your kid gives you that desperately sad look at the toy store. Likely purchases: cigarettes, lottery tickets, Starbucks, fast food


REFERNCES
•Dr. Val Srinivas(2009),Principal Decitica, Marketing to the Post-Recession Consumers

•Brad Tuttle (July 23, 2010), Bound to Buy: The 10 Types of Consumers Who Inevitably Overspend


•Armstrong, G., Kotler, P. (2005). Marketing: An introduction. (7th ed.). [Electronic Version].