Consumer Decision-Making Styles of Gen Y Consumers in Malaysia

• Explain demographics, Geographic’s, psychographics and why companies use these methods to segment the market effectively

Demographic Segmentation fragments the market into categories according to different demographic factors, usually with regards to the wants and needs of multiple consumer groups. The

They have a very clear strategy for the pursuit of their goal and vision. The market segmentation as well as the identification of target markets is the important element of each marketing strategy at which they are the basis for determining any particular of the marketing mix, which is product, pricing, place and promotion. Market segmentation reveals the company's market segment opportunities. The company has to evaluate the various segments and decide how many and which segments it can serve the best. In evaluating different market segments, a company must consider of three factors, that is, segment size and growth, segment structural attractiveness and also company’s objectives and resources. (Armstrong & Kotler, 2005)

In order to market the product into the market successfully, marketers need to have some marketing strategy to enter the desired market and make profit. Market segmentation is the process of dividing a market into subsets of consumers with common needs or characteristics (Schiffman et al., 2011). Understanding the market size and segmentation is valuable, but the keys to effective targeting is to know just how valuable specific consumer groups are, and being able to quantify the impact of consumer trends ( Berry, 1999).

When making a consumer decision-making there are several influences that can affect, motivation, attitude, lifestyles, learning, and perception. A person behavior is a key point since it shows the person within their cycle. As we change daily as family our cycle changes as well. In the US, we have different socials classes, and each of them shows different values, behavior, and way of seen life in

These choices are highly influenced by outer circumstances such as personal budget, origin and people`s past experiences. Each individual has unique conditions what their influences are to decide what to buy and how they want to express themselves. According to a well-known theorist Douglas Kellner our current environment

The world continues to develop as technological developments overpower consumers every day. Compared to twenty years ago, consumers now surf the internet, watch television on demand and use mobile phones to view a variety of marketing content instantly. With this in mind, in a consumer behaviour context marketers are in a position to cater to the needs of the consumers’ and can target the consumers’ needs through the use of technology. More so, a consumer is exposed to many facets even when sometimes they are unaware of this. Technology affects the way consumers make decisions because there are many choices exposed to them. Certain consumers may have different psychographic, geographic and demographic behaviours. Marketers cannot make one product or service and cater to all of their needs.

The market is divided into different segments based on the variables of family size, family life cycle, income, gender, age, religion, generation, occupation, social class and nationality.

Topic: Hipster Consumer Behavior Theoretical Foundation: Indicate what consumer behavior theory or concepts have been used to explain this aspect of consumer behavior. Provide examples of the research hypotheses that have been developed. If possible, identify possible areas where theories are concepts may seem to be in conflict

A market segment is a group of consumers sharing similar wants and needs. Fashion companies use different features and consumer responses to segment customer markets (Easey, 2011). They divide the market segment by family size and age variables. Demographic variables help them to differentiate and measure customer needs (Czinkota and Ronkainen, 2012). For instance, Primark segments the market in Western Europe because customers there have different tastes and preferences from those in other parts of Europe (Bradley, 2014).

As every customer has unique needs and expectations towards certain products, the ultimate goal of market segmentation is to organize customers into groups which allows targeting of customers with similar needs of and response to the products. The key is to minimize differentiation within each segment

In the area of sociocultural, marketers look at culture, religion ad rae, nationality, and class. This helps to understand the person background and how to better modify a proudct to attract more consumers. Affective and cognitive segmentation explains the knowegle, attitude, and involvment of the sonumer. It tell us if the consumer falls into the niche and prestige market, or the mass market. Behavioral segmentation uses media, newspapers, and situations to explain how the consumer is purchasing th product. Whether it is through cash or loans, and if because it is from brand loyality. Finally, the last approah is a combination of the others and tell us the personailty type the marekters are working with and how to get them in the door and persude them to purchase. When looking at each market, these segmentations are used, but in different ways.

Market segmentation is an approach used by a company to select their target market and provide data for a marketing plan. “Market segmentation consist of a two-step process; naming broad product markets and segmenting these broad products-markets in order to select target markets and develop suitable marketing mixes” (Perreault, Cannon, & McCarthy, 2014, p.97). There are 4 categories pertaining to market segmentation; behavioral, geographic, demographic, and behavioral.

‘Market segmentation represents an effort to identify and catergorise groups of customers and countries according to common characteristics’ (Keegan and Green 2016, p.228). For any business, it is crucial that they segment their market accordingly or they will risk forgoing sales opportunities. Fahy and Jobber (2015) identify the objective of market segmentation as distinguishing groups of customers with similar requirements so

Organisation realises that if they are not able to understand the overall details of their customers, it results in the loss of sales and customers. Currently, we are in the era of customer – oriented market, manufacturers and organisations are looking to identify ways to create products which will enable them to compete against their competitors. Market segmentation is very vital for the business and marketers, as it enables them to classify the customers based on behavioural, psychographic and profile etc.