Corporate Strategy

Chapter 4:

Anthropology:

According to the world book dictionary anthropology refers to the science of man, which deals with his physical characteristics, with the origin and development of races, and the cultures customs and beliefs of mankind. Anthropology has tended to concentrate on the over-all problems of mankind, particularly through the concept of culture.

Cultural factors appear to be the most influential factors affecting a consumer’s buying behaviour. The cultural factors are inclusive of culture, subculture and social class.

Culture:

Culture as mentioned previously, exerts one of the most influential forces on the consumer’s buying behaviour. Values, perceptions, preferences and behaviours of the young growing children are developed though his/her family and other prominent institutions. Hence, growing children develop the culture of his/her ancestors. These values, perceptions, preferences and behaviours plays a very significant role in the buying process, as it determines what the consumer will or will not purchase. If the marketer understands the influence that culture has on the consumer he/she can facilitate these cultural factors when developing their product. This can also be helpful to the marketer when identifying his/her target market.

Subculture:

Culture can be divided into several subcultures that serve to provide better identification as well as market segmentation. These subcultures include nationalities, racial groups, religions and geographic regions. By understanding these subcultures the marketer can segment the market so as to implement target groups. Target groups can help the marketer to pay individual attention to the particular needs and wants of each target group or segment, making it easier to satisfy those needs and wants.

Social Class:

According to Kotler (2000) social classes are relatively homogeneous and enduring divisions in a society, which are hierarchically ordered and whose members share similar values, interests, and behaviour. Social stratification is an extremely essential determinant of the consumer’s buying behaviour. Social classes are mostly reflected by the consumer’s income level, however there are other indicators inclusively occupation, education and area of residence. Social class affects buyer behaviour as social classes show evident product and brand preferences in different areas such as clothing, automobiles, homes, and leisure activities. For example, the upper class family will prefer to dine in TGI Friday’s restaurant whereas the lower class family will prefer to dine in Kentucky Fried Chicken so as to facilitate his/her income level. When the marketer gains awareness of this he/she can develop different target markets for different products, hence maximising his/her time as well as effectively achieving his/her marketing objective.

Chapter 5:

Economics:

According to the World Book Dictionary economics can be defined as the science of how people produce goods and services, how they distribute them among themselves, and how they use them; political economy. Economics deals with the materials welfare of mankind and such problems as those of capital, labour, wages, prices, tariffs and taxes. Economics is basically the study of the economy or management. Economics is essentially integral in the understanding of consumer buying behaviour and the development of marketing. Since economics determines things such as prices, tariffs and taxes, it would affect consumer buying behaviour and automatically the development of marketing. By understanding the importance of economics in consumer’s buying behaviour, marketers can use it to their advantage when making pricing decisions so as to satisfy their customers at the lowest possible price, thus achieving effective results.

Chapter 6:

Geography:

According to the World Book Dictionary geography refers to the study of the earth’s surface, climate, continents, countries, peoples, industries, and products. Geographical location is an exceptionally fundamental determinant of a consumer’s buying behaviour. Marketers need to understand the importance of geographical location as it aids them in product