There are 5 different types of consumers. Do you want to know what they are? Then don’t miss this post.
It does not matter what channel you are using to transmit your sales message: Facebook, Email Marketing , Magazine Ads, flyers …
What we must take into account is that during the sale process the consumer can have different forms .
From a nine-year-old girl who begs her parents to buy her a new doll, to a senior manager in the technology sector who invests hundreds of thousands in a new server.
The term “consumer” can be divided, in summary form, into two types of consuming entities:
- Organizational consumer
- Personal consumer
The organizational consumer refers to companies that buy from other companies. These are the so-called B2B (Business to Business) markets .
For its part, the personal consumer buys goods for their use or for the use of their friends, family or acquaintances.
For this reason, Kotler and other marketing specialists classify personal consumers into five different profiles.
Before analyzing each of these profiles, we must remember that a person can be classified in more than one profile , occupying more than one role in their purchasing process.
The 5 types of Consumers in the buying process
1. Initiator
At first, the Initiator is found, this type of consumer is the one who is going to suggest the idea of buying a product or service.
In a family it may be a child who saw a commercial for a new toy on TV.
This child will ask the parents for the new toy, beginning a purchasing process.
2. Influential
Another classification would be the Influencer, who within the purchasing process would be the person whose point of view influences the purchase decision .
In the toy example, it could be a teacher, a pediatrician, or even someone in the family influencing the parents.
3. Decision maker
The third ranking among consumers would be the Decider.
This would be the person who decides to make the purchase as such, in addition to deciding where and how to buy.
In our example, this person would be one of the parents of the child, who is the one who gives the final word in aspects related to their children.
4. Buyer
This would be the person who actually makes the purchase itself. In our example, it could be the father, who buys the toy on his way home.
It could also be the mother who buys it from the cell phone or the grandparents who buy it in an offer to give it to her birthday grandson.
5. User
Finally, the last classification would be the so-called User, who is the one who consumes or uses the product or service .
In our example the user would be the child. You should note that the child assumed a new role, went from being “initiator” to “user”.
In the same way, both mother and father could have occupied more than one role throughout the process, everything will depend on the situation.
conclusion
Knowing clearly who are the people who occupy the roles in the day of purchase of your products or services, is what makes all the difference for the success of your marketing actions .
There is no use creating an attractive message for the end user, if that same message does not make any sense to the buyer.
In the same way that a strategy focused solely on the buyer, it can be a waste in case it is against the values of the influencer.
When you go to create a sales strategy, know exactly who you want to communicate with .
This is because sometimes the true consumer is not the one who actually makes the purchase of your product or service.
How are you? Did you like to know the different types of consumers? Then do not miss our infographic on the client’s day .
