This article will explain “values marketing” that has an impact on the retail industry.
Table of contents
- What are “values”?
- Values marketing = Sales promotion method that focuses on people’s “values”
- How you understand “values” is important
What are “values”?
“Values” is a word that is often used in a conceptual sense, so the definition may differ from person to person. According to the Kojien, “values” is “a way of thinking about what we value. A way of looking at things that forms the basis of judgments about values such as right and wrong, good and bad.”
Human life is a series of choices. Each choice is connected to the future and shapes one’s life. It is no exaggeration to say that “values” have a great influence on our lives, since it is “values” that influence this choice. It is also said that people’s values have recently changed significantly due to the influence of the new coronavirus.
And, like me, many people are not clearly aware of what their values are. If we deeply understand these values, we may be able to live a happy life.
Translating this to business, understanding a person’s “values” is like having “the means to make that person happy.” What do the people who are the target of your business potentially want and what are they satisfied with? By understanding this, you can achieve your business goals while making that person happy.
Values marketing = Sales promotion method that focuses on people’s “values”
Many of you may have already noticed this from the explanation so far. Values marketing is an effort to increase business profits by understanding the “values” of the people who are the target of business, and working on product/service development, marketing measures, and store measures based on these values. .
The general definition of marketing is “understanding the wants and needs of your target audience and creating a system to sell.”
Until now, in the world of marketing, it has been common to understand people based on their “demographic attributes” such as gender, age, occupation, and income. For example, “Men in their 30s are in the prime of their working lives, so they are interested in business-related products and services.” It analyzes the needs and issues that these segments may have based on gender and age.
Needs analysis using demographic attributes has a certain effect in the era of mass marketing. However, due to the vast amount of information distributed through the Internet and the spread of smartphones, we have entered an age where people’s needs have become extremely diverse and complex. Unlike in the past, consumers are now able to not only receive information, but also to disseminate it through social media, blogs, etc., and to act on it while constantly selecting the information they need. As a result, consumer needs have become increasingly diverse and cannot be grasped by simple segmentation.
For example, it is now becoming common for men to wear makeup. According to a survey by Shiseido, 90% of men who have never used makeup said they would like to try it.
These needs cannot be fully understood through segmentation using demographic attributes alone, so a marketing strategy that focuses on the “values” of each target is now necessary.
How you understand “values” is important
It is not difficult to understand the needs of each segment using demographic attributes. The most common method is to conduct a survey of consumers who use or are interested in your company’s products and services in the assumed segment, and provide statistical data to understand their needs. Recently, it is also possible to obtain rough information through web analysis.
On the other hand, “values” are a troublesome thing because many people are not even aware of them. Furthermore, even within the same segment, each person has a different idea of what they value, making it more difficult to understand their values.
Several companies are conducting research to understand this value. For example, at the 2013 National Conference of the Japanese Society for Artificial Intelligence (27th JSAI2013) held in June 2013, research results on “Construction of a consumer value structure model and typology Societas as social knowledge” were announced. This has become a big topic. “Societas” is a model/database of the “values” unique to the Japanese. It classifies target consumers into 12 types and sets “values” common to each type. We support the realization of values marketing.
In this way, not only research that utilizes values is being actively conducted, but services are also appearing. By utilizing these, you can aim for more accurate marketing measures and store development. Why don’t you all take this opportunity to think about people’s “values”?
