Businesses who aren’t invested in the financial markets can sometimes think they’re safe from fluctuations and economic uncertainty – some even think they’re safe from a market crash, portraying a ‘chin up and tough it out’ mentality. They know their industry, they know their customers, and they know their competitors. They’re confident with their current strategies and don’t think they’ll need to make too many amendments in the event of an uncertain economy.
However, every business, in one way or another, is affected by these movements – but it’s not all bad news! Marketing professionals can utilise the chaos and mayhem caused by these markets to help maintain their company’s sales, profits, and even overcome their competition.
How can they do this? First, let’s examine the psychological impact financial markets have on consumers.
Psychological effects on consumer behaviour
We, as consumers, like to spend. We spend using cash and we spend using credit. However, during uncertain economic times, with banks’ interest rates being pushed down, unemployment rates rising and Wall Street gurus speculating on market crashes, there’s a lot of negative information being released to the public via local news sources. This information being circulated causes doubt and uncertainty, ultimately ruining consumer confidence.
As every marketing professional knows, there are three stages of consumer spending: they first spend on what they need, then on what they think they need but really
Markets were being mercenary and taking risky actions which led to error. Markets put responsibility on bankers and Wall Street executives to prevent such errors. However, there was more to what caused the financial crisis. Rapacity was crucial in the financial crisis. Because markets made their way to places they shouldn’t have been, consumers now need to find a way to cut off
In the early 1980’s the conservative government headed by Margaret Thatcher, began to liberalise the financial industry. This promoted more competition between firms to attract customers, and offer credit facilities to a wider range of consumers. Companies used aggressive marketing to attract customers, but the amount of different products available on the market to customers made it confusing, and many took on loans and credit cards without fully understanding the product they were buying, or the interest rates they would have to pay. This resulted in a wider range of consumers having access to buying goods on
Hoyer, W. D., MacInnis, D. J., & Pieters, R. (2012). Consumer Behavior, 6e, 6th Edition.
Business leaders are not only uncertain about the economy and policy, but also tax and regulatory issues. Uncertainty causes doubt, which creates real suffering. For example, the implementation of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act commonly referred to as the Affordable Care Act or Obamacare was signed into law March of 2010. Since the enactment, it has impacted every American and employer in the country because it has been the biggest ever regulation of it’s sector to impact the economy. Proverbs 16:12 conditions “kings detest wrongdoing, for a throne is established through righteousness” (NIV). Social influence for good or bad is exemplified in Proverbs because when a king follows God’s ways, he will be king for a long time, and an evil king will be dethroned. Therefore, in my opinion, the most logical way to prepare for business uncertainties of the future is to most importantly follow the life and walks of our Father and savior, Jesus Christ. As well as prepare for multiple outcomes, use analytical techniques, rely on predictable elements of the situation, remain agile and strive to responds quickly, and cultivate your reputation an business leader for extreme
As a country, Americans love to shop. Whether in malls, grocery stores, on the Internet, or elsewhere, the culture of buying is deeply ingrained in American culture. Fueled largely by advertising and the current credit system, America’s consumer culture is depleting our planet’s finite natural resources and polluting our environment. Consumerism has instilled in Americans an artificial, ongoing, and insatiable desire for mass-produced and marketed products, and the money with which to buy them, with little regard to their actual usefulness or necessity. This constant desire to acquire more possessions is poisoning the planet, as it can never be sated and thus results in the never-ending exploitation of the Earth’s natural resources, and
When I think about American consumerism the words money and capitalism come to mind. The big TV news channels come to mind for example CNN or FOX News. Social media also comes to mind like Twitter or Facebook because of all the ads I see on there from franchises or big companies. Donald Trump as a big corporate owner comes to mind and not Trump as a politician. Anything dealing with money comes to mind. Everything we see, hear, and eat deals with American Consumerism.
Through the arrival of American consumerism as early as the 1600s through interactions between Native Americans and Europeans America has always grown to be a trade nation. In modern consumerism consumers tend to purchase never wondering the ethical matter of their products. Since Europeans arrived on American soil and the transactions that lead to different cultural assimilation between the Europeans and Native Americans through clothing, jewelry, and weapons. As time progress the colonist boycott British products due to the high taxes that were placed imports from Britain. In each case different cases show American consumerism affected different groups of people from assimilation to British culture through the Native Americans to the free
It has become too easy, everyday low prices, any size soda for a buck, ten for ten, five dollar foot long, sixty percent off the entire store, thirty percent off when approved for a credit card; inevitably, the bank is bone dry. The power is off, the house is cold, and the Sheriff is knocking on the door with a lovely writ of possession, ready to seize the occupied land. Consumerism can be just as attractive to society as drugs are to an addict, but consumerism is the easiest way to blow away money, savings, and destroy any financial security.
Consumerism is damaging to our society, in our North American society consumerism is often portrayed to be a negative aspect of people’s lives. However, one can also argue positive effects that result from consumerism, or emphasize on the negative effects of consumerism and how it can be a constraining force in one’s own life. Consumerism is an idea of an economic policy that the market is shaped by the choice of the consumer and continues to emerge to shape the world’s mass markets. Some of the negative effects of consumerism that many critics may argue and that will be further emphasized on are the overexploitation of consumerism which has lead to economic poverty, and increase
Consumerism is a description of society’s lifestyle in which many people embrace to achieve their goals by acquiring goods that they clearly do not need (Stearns, 7). The idea that the market is shaped by the choice of the consumers’ needs and wants can be defined as a consumer sovereignty (Goodwin, Nelson, Ackerman, Weisskopf, 2). This belief is based on the assumption that the consumer knows what it wants. Contrary to this logic, marketers convince us that the consumer does not know what they want. The consumer has to be told what they want or be persuaded by advertising items in a matter that demonstrates the reason a product makes their life easier or will improve their life instantly. As one of the most successful entrepreneurs,
Understanding consumer buying behavior entails marketing, relationships, and consumer behavior. Consumer behavior comprises all the consumer decisions and activities connected with the choosing, buying, using and disposing of goods and services. Marketers must pay very close attention to consumer behavior that occurs before the purchase and after the particular product has been used. Studying consumer habits is one of the steps in marketing search and analysis. In addition to other basic principles of consumer buying habits, marketers also need to study the decision and actions of real people. Until recent history the study of consumer behavior was focused on generalized consumer decisions. With
Figure 3: Lush label states "Fresh Handmade Cosmetics" and "Bring back 5 Pots and Get a Fresh Face Mask Free"
I moved through the process of selecting the right gym to join quite quickly as I was very motivated to get started. I took into consideration that this purchase posed physical and social problems and considered those when making my decision.
In India there are various resources and people are more prone to use variety of products for their consumption. The process of consumption in the post liberalized era has started dominating the consumer community particularly in the women section. There are numerous products are available in the market for the consumption and this situation has created for consumers. The multiple products with similar utility have created a competitive situation in the market. People at one side are unable to decide what to buy and on the other side they remain faithful to some products in particular. Thus, consumer behavior is one of the significant areas to be studied. The globalization and liberalization operation of businesses have given an opportunity to the customers/ consumers to select one out of various similar products available in the market. The global trend in the market have affected the consumer 's behavior to a great extent, whether it is a case of seller operating in international, regional, local level or a case of consumers involved in purchasing consumable/ industrial products. Due to globalization of business and liberalized policies of the government the auto industry has witnessed a major selling prospect. Many multinational companies have entered to fray, turning the market place into a virtual battlefield.
have gone to dinner at a restaurant and felt that the food and service were excellent.