Page 68 - DMGT408DMGT203_Marketing Management

Unit 3: Consumer Markets and Consumer Buying Behaviour

5. Markets based on status of sellers: On the basis of the status of sellers the markets are Notes
broadly classified into three categories: primary, secondary and terminal markets.

6. Markets based on nature of competition: The most important form of market classification
is based on the nature of competition, i.e., the buyer-seller interaction. The competition in
the market depends upon three main factors:

(a) Substitutability factor
(b) Interdependence factor
(c) Ease of entry factor

Self Assessment

Fill in the Blanks:
1. Sugar, salt, fairness cream and ice cream are examples of products sold in the.......................
market.

2. Future markets and spot markets are market types classified on the basis of.......................
3. On the basis of the status of sellers the markets are broadly classified into three categories:
primary, secondary and....................... markets.

3.2 Types of Customers in Consumer Market

All of us are customers/consumers in some sense or other. Each of us can be a shopper, buyer,
user, purchaser, and/or end-user.

Let us first understand the words customer and consumer to begin with.

Example: Suppose a person bought a HDFC Bank’s automobile loan then he is a
‘consumer’ of HDFC Bank’s products and services. Now, he also could be a potential consumer
or a prospective customer for bank’s other products as well as for competing products and
services in the market.
Therefore, a Customer can be said to be a potential Consumer. Consumer and Customer are
mentioned as synonyms in the thesaurus and across some literature. Therefore, Customer and
Consumer are used interchangeably across this unit. A consumer is anyone who typically engages
in any one or all of the activities mentioned in the definition. Traditionally, consumers have
been defined very strictly in terms of economic goods and services wherein a monetary exchange
is involved. This concept, over a period of time, has been broadened. Some scholars also include
goods and services where a monetary transaction is not involved and thus the users of the
services of voluntary organisations are also thought of as consumers. This means that
organisations such as UNICEF, CRY, or political groups can view their publics as “consumers.”

!

Caution The term consumer is used for both personal consumers and organisational
consumers and represents two different kinds of consuming entities. The personal consumer
buys goods and services for her or his personal use (such as cigarettes), or for household
consumption (such as sugar, furniture), or for just one member of the family (such as a pair
of shoes for the son), or a birthday present for a friend (such as a pen set). In all these
instances, the goods are bought for final use, referred as “end users” or “ultimate
consumers.”

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