Buying Behaviors

Once we have established the who of marketing, we need to determine the where, what, when, how and why of it. Several questions require answers:

1. Where do the buyers want to buy?
2. When do they buy?
3. What do they buy?
4. How do they buy?
5. Why do they buy?

1. Where do the buyers want to buy?

"Where" determines channels of distribution. You must place your goods where people want to buy them, where they expect to find them. Similarly, middlemen are determined by where the dealers want to buy. If a retailer want to buy from a distributor, then you probably should use one If the dealer wants to deal directly with suppliers, then you be prepared to sell direct. Where is one of the easiest questions to answer.

2. When do they buy?

"When" answers two main questions: when to promote and when to have goods available. Timely promotion is one of the keys to its effectiveness. You must promote when your market is about ready to make a buying decision. To do otherwise falls on deaf ears or blind eyes.

But when can refer to other dimensions that calendar progressions. It may refer to the customer's stage in life cycle: "you may plan to sell to the Young and Married" or to the "Senior Citizen" markets.

The concept of demand triggers is a helpful one. Think a moment of how many items you buy because of some event: a birthday, a wedding, a holiday, a promotion, an anniversary, an accident, whatever. Try to identify the event that will trigger the demand for your concept.

3. What do they buy?

"What" do people want to buy? Confidentially, you may answer, "My product!" However, keep in mind that people don't buy products, they buy benefits. Now what is it that your target market really wants to buy? Safety? Lower costs? Comfort? Status? Fun? What is it?

What other things do they want to buy with your product? Often, a purchase is a package of things of which your product may be only one item. A person decides to go on a vacation; perhaps 100 items will be sold to fulfill that decision. Understand just what people are buying when they buy your concept.

4. How do they buy?

How do people go about buying your concept? Do they take it with them or is delivery needed? If it's available as a computer service, are you providing a beta version for trail viewing? Do they spend a lot of time shopping or is it an impulse purchase? How and where naturally overlap and work in conjunction in affecting the distribution problems for a new venture.

5. Why do they buy?

"Why" will people buy from you? Sounds easy enough, right? It's not! The determination of buying motives is perhaps one the most difficult tasks in marketing. People give the obvious reasons for why they buy things - lower costs, better products, certain features, service. The real reasons are usually hidden. Motivation is not as apparent as it might seem.