The study of consumer behavior is a practice that examines the buying tendencies of consumers. Most of us don’t realize that when a person goes shopping, they don’t necessarily end up buying anything. There are always several stages that we go through before we make that final decision to make a purchase. Many different factors – social, economic and cultural – influence the buying process.
Why You Should Audit Your Brand
If your brand is experiencing a downturn in revenue, and you’re looking for a way to fix the problems, then a brand audit is something that you should be considering for the near future. Today’s ultra-competitive marketplace is loaded with high-level competition. The only way to truly set yourself apart from all the noise is by differentiating yourself through your brand.
The purpose of a brand audit is to find out how your customers view your brand and its overall performance. This process offers a range of benefits. First and foremost, it will enable you to ascertain the positioning of your brand and plan strategies to fix things if they are broken. Also, it will help you to discover what the strengths are, how to build off of them, and illustrates how you can more accurately align your offerings with the desires of your customers. Finally, a brand audit will let you get in touch with the opinions about your brand.
The importance of studying shopper behavior is outlined in the points listed below:
- Reaching Brand Goals: The survival and profitability of a brand in a highly competitive market hinges upon its ability to satisfy customer needs better than its competition. That’s why an understanding of shopper behavior helps in achieving marketing goals.
- Improving Salesperson Performance: Knowledge of consumer behavior is essential for salespeople to perform their jobs and complete their daily tasks. This is in turn necessary for them to meet the needs and wants of their customers effectively. So understanding shopper behavior improves the entire distribution system.
- Developing Effective Marketing: Determining proper prices, promotions and distribution is best achieved through an understanding of buyer behavior. These programs are only relevant when approached through the eyes of the consumer.
- Predicting Market Trends: Consumer behavior is also instrumental in projecting future market trends. Marketing specialists must put themselves in the shopper’s shoes to exploit emerging opportunities and prepare for challenges or threats that they may face within their industry.
- Retaining Customer Loyalty: Marketers who base their strategies on the needs and wants of the consumer are far more likely to have success than those who only follow the latest trends. That’s why an understanding of shopper behavior can enable a brand to better retain its customers.
- Developing Quality Products: Product development is always more successful when it is tackled with the needs and wants of the consumer in mind. The study of shopper behavior should be the base for creating new products if the result is to be triumphant.
- Effective Resource Allocation: The study of consumer behavior ensures that resources will be used in the most efficient and effective manner possible. Shoppers and brands both benefit from this mutual understanding, and each is better off when a consumer-oriented approach is taken.
Conclusion
Branding is a process that should adapt to its surroundings frequently, so performing brand audits often to measure your identity and performance is not only smart, but ultimately a requirement for continued success. A recent article in the Huffington Post sums this up well. “Whether you opt for a full rebrand or just a handful of simple adjustments, it’s important to follow up over the course of the next few months and measure the results of your efforts. Only then will you be able to determine whether the rebrand was successful, or if further adjustments are necessary.”
Topics branding