This document summarizes the key differences between consumer markets and business markets. Consumer markets refer to markets where individuals purchase products for personal use, while business markets involve organizations purchasing goods and services to manufacture other products or provide services. The document outlines characteristics like demographic profiles, decision processes, types of buyers and products that distinguish these two markets. Consumer markets have many geographically dispersed customers making independent choices, while business markets have fewer concentrated customers purchasing in larger volumes through more complex decision cycles.
2. Consumer Markets
Consumer markets refers to the markets where people purchase
products for consumption and are not meant for further sale.
Each time a consumer purchase a commodity for his own usage he is
participating in a consumer market.
In consumer market purchasers make their own decisions to
purchase the products and these products can be used for personal use
or can be shared with others.
3. Primarily there are four types of consumer markets :
Food and beverages products
Retail products
Consumer products
Transportation products
Marketing plays an important role in consumer markets by
influencing customer’s preferences and purchasing decisions .
Brand loyalty of consumer plays a significant role in consumer
markets.
4. Characteristics of Consumer Markets
Demographic Characteristics
• Characteristics of consumer markets based on demographics include
differences in gender, age, ethnic background, income, occupation,
education, household size, religion, generation, nationality and even
social class.
• Companies often identify these demographic characteristics through
market research surveys.
• Companies can then target their advertising towards these
demographic groups. For example, a new cell phone may be targeted
toward 18 to 24-year-olds with incomes between 25,000 and 50,000.
5. Psychographic Characteristics
• Consumer market characteristics can also be psychographic in nature.
Psychographic characteristics of consumers include interests,
activities ,opinions, values and attitudes.
• Opinions and attitudes can be both specific or general.
• A company may better understand consumer opinions and attitudes
after conducting a focus group, and can use that information to
advertising or marketing campaigns.
6. Behavioralistic Characteristics
Behavioralistic characteristics can also be understood through marketing
research. Behavioralistic characteristics of consumer markets include
product usage rates, brand loyalty, user status or how long they have
been a customer.
• Companies like to know how often their consumers visit their
restaurants, stores or use their products.
• Company marketing departments usually try to distinguish between
heavy, medium and light users, whom they can then target with
advertising.
7. Geographic Characteristics
• Consumer markets also have different geographic characteristics.
These geographic characteristics are often based on market size,
region, population density and even climate.
• A small retailer may find opportunities in a small market in which
larger competitors have no interest.
• Companies that sell woolen clothes will likely sell more products
in winter climates.
8. Business market
Business market refers to all those organizations that purchase
goods or services for the purpose of utilization in the manufacturing
of other products or services.
The wholesaling & retailing firms are also included in the category
of business market.
.
9. Characteristics of Business Market
Market Structure & Demand
• There are relatively large types of business buyer.
• It should also be noted that demand for the business markets and
business products also tends to fluctuate, which only implies that the
demand for business market products can change relatively quickly
than the demand for consumer goods or services.
10. Nature of buying unit
• This is the other characteristic that distinguishes the difference
between consumer markets and business markets.
• Participants in the business purchase tend to buy more and there
are more participants On the other hand, participants in the
consumer purchase are often less.
11. Decisions process
• The decisions revolving around the business market are somewhat
complex than decisions made by the consumer markets. This is
primarily because of the intensive process that involves technical
and economic considerations
12. Types of Business Markets
Business-to-Business Market
The business-to-business market has a focus on products, goods and
services that are typically sold to other businesses, rather than direct to
consumers. It includes :
Industrial Market
Industrial markets are typically defined by the sale of industrial or
production products, good and services to other business industries.
These are raw materials like steel, glass, wood etc.
13. Financial Services
Financial services can include banking, insurance, commercial
credit and lending, tax planning, investments etc
Government Markets
In most countries, government organizations are a major buyer of
goods and services.
15. Consumer Market Business Market
• Many customers,
geographically dispersed.
• Smaller Amounts of money
involved.
• Shorter decision cycles
• More reliance on mass
marketing
• Less rigid Product standard
• Fewer customers often
geographically concentrated.
• Larger amount of money
involved.
• Longer decision cycles
• More reliance on personal
selling
•More rigid product standard.