Getting Consumers’ Attention

with Compelling Stimuli

Consumers can be motivated by marketing stimuli, such as product, price, place,

or promotion. However, sometimes your stimuli may need to go a little deeper to

gain a response, such as psychological, personal, social, or cultural stimuli.

 Just because a consumer is exposed to any old stimulus doesn’t guarantee

that she’ll pay attention — after all, a consumer can’t pay attention to all the

stimuli she’s exposed to! For this reason, positioning (see Chapter 16) is key

when it comes to consumer perception. You have to use the stimuli that con-

sumers in your target market will notice and respond to. The stimuli that will

work depend on what your consumers need and what they want. (Chapter 5

talks all about perception and stimuli you can use.)

To determine which stimuli to use and how to get your desired response, you

really have to dig into the makeup of your targeted consumer and her indi-

vidual behavior. The consumer you’re targeting in one culture may not have

the same needs as another consumer in another culture. The same goes for

consumers in different household structures.

Marketing research can show you what motivates your consumer and can

assist you in deciding what stimuli to use. To find out what it is that triggers a

response from the consumers that you’re targeting, you have to take the time

to do the following:

 ✓ Ask your consumers questions to elicit the information you need.

 ✓ Study your competitors to determine what they’re doing.

 ✓ Delve into the consumption patterns of the consumers you’re targeting.

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