Customer Markets

Customer Markets Demographic Trends

Customers are the most important aspect to any successful organization. Companies center value delivery network systems on serving target customers and creating long term relationships. There are five types of customer markets in which a company may choose to target. These markets are Consumer Markets, Business Markets, Reseller Markets, Government Markets, and International Markets. Sellers take each marketplace into consideration when pursuing specific audiences. Firms examine these audiences and choose according to which area the product offering may be successful. Properly segmenting customers by important demographic data is an essential foundation for a sound marketing strategy. Demographic trends reveal developments and changes in human population. More specifically, demographic trends relate to changes in a population’s age, gender, geographical location, marital status, educational attainment, employment status, household income, race, religion, and health.

Consumer markets consist of individuals and households that buy goods and services for personal consumption. The changing age structure of the population is the single most important demographic trend in the United States and can affect consumer markets. As people age, tastes in food, clothes, furniture, and recreation change. Consumers buying habits are also shaped by their stage in the family life cycle. Life stage changes such as, marriage, having children, purchasing a home, divorce, children going to college, changes in personal income, moving out of the house, and retirement, are all demographic factors that effect consumer spending. To combat the issues these events bring about, marketers develop products and marketing plans to target consumers at each

stage of the life cycle. As the population ages, marketers who previously allocated a certain product to one popular age group, change their strategies to fit other age groups that are more lucrative....