Introducing to Psychology

The International Commerce Review - ECR Journal


The International Commerce Review is named the journal chosen for the study: ECR Journal. This journal's editors are prolific and well-known international business school experts focused on the fields of supply chain management, retail, and marketing. The ECR journal keeps readers aware of decisions with the latest research news and reflections of senior consumer goods practitioners. The online journal was published in the month of April 2011. Nader Tavassoli wrote the basic scrutiny article under the title, So You Think You Know Your Customers?.



Differences Between a Shopper and a Customer


Differences are clearly articulated between a shopper and a customer. The traditional approaches to the segmentation of customers using the class, age, personality, and sex are argued as being inadequate in establishing customer's policies. Nadar further argues that data collected about a customer can only be relevant if it is easier to distinguish between varying goals and tasks in their hierarchy needs (Tavassoli, 2011).



Target Population Group


The target population group in the study were consumers that had been drawn from different backgrounds and of varying characteristics. The author of the article opted to use naturalistic observation in capturing the behavior of shoppers and consumers. The method was appropriate to avoid altering their behavior especially when they realize they are being watched. One of the effective ways of generating new insights and great growth opportunities is therefore through profoundly scrutinizing the collection goals in the market. Championing a holistic approach to understanding the market and the consumers may not be an idea that was first conceived by this scholar, but his approach brought outstanding revelations necessary for boosting business success.



Popular Media Focus


An article that featured in the New York Times in 2002 under the finance section addressed the same issue researched in the ECR journal. Newspapers are proven to be a source of knowledge for entrepreneurs due to brevity and the clarity of research facts presented. The article emphasized on the need to understand the unique customer's characteristics in order to come up with sound marketing plans to engage them in an effective and efficient manner. Much focus was placed on the need to underscore segmentation because of the various benefits that accrue. In identifying potential customers, businesses need to realize the varying needs of other targeted businesses or consumers depending on the segmentation approach to be adopted. The well-researched newspaper article summarily provided important consumers' facts in a compressed manner that is easy to grasp.



Geographical and Demographic Differences


Another unique analysis in the understanding of customers is presented through the focus of geographical and demographic differences. Businesses should not target customers over long distances if the ones within its locality are not effectively served because prospects could lie within. There was also the emphasis on the traditional approach of focusing on characteristics such as age, gender, religion, education, and personality ("The New York Times: A Sponsored Archive," 2017). The personality or other psychographic traits like the emotional behavior were considered in analyses such as the aversiveness and the impulsivity of customers. Segments contributed by lifestyle traits like recreations and hobbies were also considered as a vital for the understanding of the consumers' behaviors. The article, therefore, came out as being effective in profoundly analyzing the consumer behavior through utilizing naturalistic observation and correlational design in supporting the need for having segmentations.



Comparing the Two Articles


The two articles, one in the journal and the other in the New York Times had a number of similarities. They were both aiming at understanding customers more in order to continue satisfying their fine tuned needs that eventually contribute to the realization of organizational profit goals. A business that fails to be connected with the needs of the customers through making unrealistic policies will, therefore, exit the market. A major difference that came out in the arguments presented were the views on the focus of traditional approaches. Nadar did not believe that businesses should be over emphasizing on factors such as age, sex, and gender. The focus was rather on the varying goals and tasks, two aspects that override the others. The newspaper article, on the other hand, seemed to emphasize the need to consider all the possible factors that may affect the consumer behavior.



The consumers encountering each of these approaches will get the same value although there are a number of factors to be considered. A consumer reading the newspaper article will benefit more if it is the first time to venture into business. However, readers who have done business before will understand the importance of coming up with general and compressed rules, to sum up all the factors in the segmentation process that affect the manner in which customers are understood. In this case, Nadar's article comes out as efficient, emphasizing on the key factors to address that encompasses several minor aspects to be considered. Nadar's views are therefore not effective for the audiences that cannot engage in the sophisticated and compressed reasoning. The newspaper's article may have overwhelming facts that may be too many to factor in when understanding the needs of the consumers. Using the popular media, however, comes out as more effective in reaching the audience who rarely visit online journals.



Reliability of Peer-Reviewed Articles


Professors always emphasize the need to use peer-reviewed articles and professional publications because of the rigorous scientific treatments that they are subjected to. The reviewing process and the professionalism of the authors minimize the chances of errors and deliver reliable information to inform the audience in making sound decisions. Psychology is applicable in so many aspects, even in the understanding of the consumer behavior. Although it is common and readily available to examine the issues at hand, reliance on common sense or experience is weaker in coming up with solutions to problems because of the limitations in experience and possible biases.



Conclusively, reliance on popular media and the scholarly academic materials will continue to be dictated by the level of education of the readers. Both tools have succeeded in passing the information across although the popular media may end up making mistakes that go unnoticed. On the other hand, peer-reviewed articles have lesser room for error given the prowess of the authors and the reviews. All research in the academic institution should, therefore, discourage researches that are based on the facts in the popular media. The stand is however not meant to criticize this media that is essential in spreading information to the largest portion of the population. However, it is advisable to review the articles for possible factual errors that might mislead the readers or even researchers who might wish to use the articles to get research ideas.



References


Tavassoli, N. (2011). SO YOU THINK YOU KNOW YOUR CUSTOMERS? International Commerce Review: ECR Journal, 13.


The New York Times: A Sponsored Archive. (2017). Nytimes.com. Retrieved 14 September 2017, from http://www.nytimes.com/ref/open/finance/OPEN-SEGMENT AUDIENCE.html?mcubz=0

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