"Consumer behavior is the process a consumer uses to make purchase decisions, as well as to use and dispose of purchased goods or services" (Hawkins, Best, Coney 2004). Consumer behavior also includes factors that influence purchase decisions and product use.
"This model of the Marketing Mix was first introduced by Neil Borden when he published his 1964 article, "The Concept of the Marketing Mix." "Borden had first started using the phrase in 1949 and claimed that it came to him while reading a book by James Culliton on the activities of a business executive" (netmba.com, 2009). The 4 P's that the Marketing Mix consists of are product, place, promotion, and price.
The term product refers to tangible, physical products, as well as to services. A lot of thought and preliminary research goes into the type of product a company will manufacture, including product specifications, design, and production of the unit.
Market Street
Deutsch: Klassischer Marketing-Mix Franzika eines ...
English: Representation of a Marketing-Mix with th...The biggest concern for a business is that they are able to introduce their product at the appropriate time, when the consumer's needs are greatest. A product will generally go through a life cycle, much like a human life cycle, consisting of four different stages: introduction, growth, maturity, and decline.
Place represents the location where a product can be purchased. Place is also an important part of marketing. The product or service needs to be accessible to customers, especially its target market. Often times there are no need for an actual store location, as many very successful companies offer just online services or products. In these instances, products or services are much more convenient and cheaper to the customer because of the lower overhead costs.
Often times we think of marketing as just the promotion or sales part, but the other 3 factors are often times just as important,