Research Article
Consumer Classification by Customer Type and Marketing Strategies
Published: January 2009 · Vol. 38, No. 3 · pp. 669-693
Full Text
Abstract
Marketing research has always started from the idea that all consumers are different. Corporate marketing management begins with distinguishing among these diverse consumers. This study addresses how to effectively classify consumers and what marketing strategies are appropriate for each classification type. Customer types (Customer Orientation) are classified into achievement-oriented, egocentric, and relationship-oriented types. Marketing approaches that sales personnel can use at the point of contact with customers are categorized into six types of Seller Influence Tactics (SITs). The study examines which tactics, when employed by sales personnel for each customer type, lead customers to perceive the salesperson as highly persuasive, ultimately resulting in increased purchase satisfaction. Research on adaptive selling has been conducted primarily in the United States for 40 years, but domestic research remains very limited. This study proposes criteria for classifying domestic consumer types according to consumer characteristics and furthermore serves as a bridge enabling in-depth research on each type to be conducted. From a practical standpoint, the model presented in this study's results points out that customer data has not been appropriately utilized due to the previous practice of classifying customers based simply on demographic variables, while simultaneously introducing effective customer classification criteria and marketing approaches for each customer type.
