Introduction
The current society’s operation in business have been influenced a lot by the fast advancing technology especially communication. This is basically due to the fact that advertisement is now regarded as a very important tool in creating competition within the business circle. Conventional market researchers are now facing a tough time dealing with the issue of online marketing. Online marketing pose a very big threat to conventional methods of doing business. Does it provide a superior alternative to market research? This is a question that calls for assessment of online marketing. With advances in technology within the business world, the expectation is that business shall embrace this technology in a bid to gain a competitive edge over their counterparts who are not as swift in the adoption of technology. It is with this in mind that contextual marketing has been hatched. This has precipitated into very important challenges that market research has to deal with. Contextual marketing can be described as a type of model of promoting business based on the content that clients see or expect to see on the promotional media mostly online. This has been very active due to the increased use of internet. The adverts are placed on sites that users frequent and through this, the clients can virtually get to see and examine what they want. The marketers on the other hand struggle to decrease the irritation that extensive online can have on the users.
Characteristics of Post-Modernity
Contextual Marketing Emergence
In sophisticated use, the operations of contextual marketing in practical application utilize the idea of buyer behaviour. Then modern times held that human behaviour was fixed and founded on certain characteristics that could be determined by a certain pattern (Piercy 2002, p. 352). However, the post-modern concept takes the more dynamic and complex to account for all the possible behaviours that are very hard to comprehend. For instance, a potential client can visit a site to review fuel efficient cars while another on the same site can exclusively visit bio-fuel section. Basically users only visit sites that offer products of their specific interest (Piercy 2002, p. 354).
Contextual marketing is hence a solution to the business that for a number of reasons cannot be able to engage in the increasing digital operations that seem to be lifeblood of success in business. Producers of consumer goods, infrequent service providers and those firms making single products suffer this setback. The innovative firms however are continuously creating adverts that would see them survive on the marketing as they utilize ever-present internet advantage (Piercy 2002, p. 352).
Wining the clients is a very difficult job bearing in mind the competition at market places. A complex strategy of consumer behaviour is making great impact for those businesses that can successfully utilize it (Piercy 2002, p. 352). The Mobil Speedpass for instance has been very successful. This digital wand can be used on a key holder and allows clients buy gas buy passing it in front of a digital reader at the gas stations. This has been very convenient for clients that they opt to travel for more miles just to find a station that has the device (Christensen et al 2005, p. 156).
Consumer behaviour is commonly described as the study of the factors that determine the basis on which clients make decisions to purchase consumer goods. The analysis of such factors attempts to find out why, when, where, how and what individual do or don’t to purchase certain goods. Generally it is very difficult to evaluate how people come to make certain decision though peripherally it appears to be obvious (Mayer et al, 2000, p. 289). For this reason, researchers have affirmed that there are several elements that play part in the overall buyer behaviour and cover a variety of subjects including sociology, psychology, anthropology, and economics among others (Mayer et al 2000, p. 289). The customer needs and requirements are the central determinant of the purchase of goods, however with the current development in technology (communication and diversity of production), people have a variety of choices to pick from and for one to be able to win customers, he/she should produce the products that meet the specific customer demands, affordable and are convenient (Christensen et al 2005, p. 156).
The post-modern era is very dynamic and is bringing about a lot of change to the strongly held presumptions in the modern age. The basic difference between modern and post-modern concept is the dismissal of the idea that the human social characters were based on ‘real’ foundations that are fixed. Post-modern’s view is that human characteristics are built on myths that bring about reality (Holt 2002 p. 71). This dismisses many of the ideas in modern age concerning freedom, personality, and agency as being consistent but arbitrary and transient. Accordingly the persistence of such notions will greatly rely on the unrelenting dominance of the myth in play. Any society that believes the myth then has a very big task of defending the idea and its value constantly against others rather than assume that they are natural (Christensen et al 2005, p. 156).
In the political context, post-modernism provides that every myth has to be accepted since the entire world is made up of these myths and that every one of them has to respect others and tolerate them. From this ideology, not only does the culmination of modernity allow multi-mythical use but it’s inevitable (Christensen et al 2005, p. 156). The prospective alternatives that modernism offered and the pessimism and dissatisfaction that came thereafter ended up in fragmentation of the encounter and the development of numerous, frequently highly incompatible, ideologies, way of life and sham.
The postmodernist stance emerge from numerous main insights into the historical account of modernity and related thoughts and also the circumstances that were at some point underpinned by the experience yet concealed by the modernist beliefs (Christensen et al 2005, p. 156).
The post modern situation is widely covered in literature by many scholars and it’s still increasing in velocity. These contributions draw from a wide base of disciplines and hence the vocabularies are quite numerous and so are the perspectives which are also diverse. There are some very important concepts that have received greatest attention and they include hyper-reality, change in consumption and production, fragmentation, decentring of themes, loss of dedication and contradictory coincidence. Many of these beliefs are directly related to marketing consumption (Cova 2001, p. 495). The hyper-real instances are based in the assumptions that the consumers experience for instance in simulations encountered by clients of the thriving tourism industry, universal studios and virtual parks. When themes are constructed and then seriously believed by producers and clients (Choudhury 2001, p. 18). For instance, comfort and satisfaction that people are promised if they put on branded jeans like denim jeans. If the society is promised that they would feel more attractive or sexy and they believe it, then the jeans would actually produce that feeling. For such reasons, marketing and consuming are trending on the post-modernity despite who is the discussant (theorists, sociologists, or artists) (Bulmer & Buchanan-Oliver 2004, p. 3).
Fragmentation is also critical in post-modern concept. There are several factors that influence fragmentations. Life experiences forms that main factor in the contemporary world in terms of consumption and particularly communication in marketing (Cova 2001, p. 495).
Change in production and consumption emerges from the loss of privileged by the production in culture considering that consumption has become the means through which people describe their self-images and also view others. And marketing is the basic mean that this is reinforced (Cova 2001, p. 495). It’s also through these presentations of self-images via consumption that users start creating ‘the personal” as saleable entity to be tailored and fashioned to be placed and advertises as a product.
Marketing and Post-Modernity
The eventual outcomes of this decentring topic, the most revered matter of modernism is decentred and mistaken with the entity. All these come down the fact that buyers are very central in marketing and more so is their behaviour (Cooper et al 2005, p. 332). Several theories have hence been postulated to address various characters observed in clients. The aim of the theories is to give answers to the following questions about customers; who? How? When? Where? And why do they buy? ) (Bulmer & Buchanan-Oliver 2004, p. 3)
Reference group involves Complex behaviour – this is the situation where a customer buys very expensive brand and inquires for more information prior to real purchasing. It also includes what can be described as consumer tribes that tend to associate themselves with certain products (Cova 2001, p. 495).
Psychological theory includes individualism. It also encompasses habitual buyers who gets used to buying certain goods and regularly purchases them as a habit like newspapers etc (Cooper et al, 2005, p. 332). A buyer in this category develops self-concept and uniqueness. This involves motivation and the idea of ‘the self’. There is also the variety seeking behaviour – this is when the customer develops the habit of shopping around for purposes of making comparisons and experimenting new products (Cova, 2001 p. 495). This kind of client can shop different brands of the product say bread, cosmetics etc.
Maslow’s Theory – this is based on the Hierarchy of human need established by Maslow. This theory explains what motivates people to purchase goods and the analysis is based on the priority or rather the necessity of the products or services to be purchased (Cooper et al 2005, p. 332). In his theory, Abraham Maslow suggests that people will target to meet their primary needs first which include hunger and thirst (this is psychological classification. When these necessities are adequately satisfied, then the individuals can move to the next need of safety like job security and the assurance that they will have regular income (Cova 2001, p. 495). The social needs come next and they are the need to be loved, this is a general human yearning and individuals will work hard to attain this sense of belonging. Self esteem comes next and this is the need to be recognised in terms of status quo and social class. Finally, Self actualization – this is when an individual has achieved the most out of life, a point of life fulfilment (Briand & Bellemare 2006, p. 67).
The theories and behaviours indicated above are basically founded on the modernist ideology of simple and fixed rationality where the behaviour could be justified. The post modernity idea however put in its place a more complex representation that can account for the various behaviours that clients can possible depict. (Cooper et al 2005, p. 335) This stretches to factors that are beyond economics alone. In real world, the practical character of the consumer has been to some degree contrary to them and its still increasing today (Mayer et al 2000, p. 292). With globalisation and technology in place, as soon a certain behaviour is stabilizing in the market and is finding explainability, new invention come in play and destabilize the equilibrium and hence the behaviour of customers to create a competitive room for competition, challengers and niche seekers) (Bulmer & Buchanan-Oliver 2004, p. 3).
The contemporary activities depicted by consumers tend to reveal that consumer behaviour could be more fickle than already explained and hence predictable. This is to mean that the variables applied here are from old concept of modern theory in offering explanation for the consumers’ behaviour (Dittmar & Drury 2000, p. 111). Such variables include attributes like attitude, taste and preferences, social class, income and psychosocial characteristics. After all the psychosocial attributes cannot change in one moment for instance age, social class, peers or family (Briand & Bellemare 2006, p. 67). Attitudes and other values though can be changed; they also take quite some time to do so and not instantly. There is a general assumption on that basis that if and when realised immediately, such characteristics can offer very useful predictions of the consumer actions that would follow) (Bulmer & Buchanan-Oliver 2004, p. 3).
The consumer and need connection has greatly transforms and the way consumers act is no longer driven by their needs. There are some simulations that have developed to very great heights that have never been experienced before by the human society (Dholakia & Firat 2006, p. 149). For each step that man advances to control nature and improve living standards and circumstances, modern technology generated situations and objects that restructured and reorganized these needs (Mayer et al 2000, p. 292). I essence, the human need were and are still more and more determined by necessity and situations created by restructuring of human condition via technology. This is the reason Modernist had devised theories to explain these needs though these theories were mainly materialistic.
Consumption and customer concept in post-modernity has reversed the subject – object relationships in the simple process of utilizing consumer goods. Modernity portrayed consumers as major player in control – understanding the matter – who played on the object of consuming (Dittmar & Drury 2000, p. 109). Post-modernity shows the buyer as consumed and therefore the eventual saleable image. The object acts to determine to greater degree based on innumerable implications founded in a symbolic structure that recognize the sense and purpose of objects. Humans find themselves capable of being part of the determination only via own objectification therefore the influence to use in presenting themselves are marketable (Cooper et al 2005, p. 337). The idea of user being the consumed as the marketable is far more expressed in fashion industries. Clothes, film, automobile, music beauty products and food are all affected by this notion.
Products and the procedures that distinguish products from each other, from sellers, users and distributions have greatly crumbled in post modernity. The products here are likely to be less finished and the processes more and more where the users can get into and offer inputs (Cova 2001, p. 495). Screensaver is a good example. This can be modified by the user to satisfy fad, mood and individual qualities. Modern products in the same category include virtual realities like parks, kitchens and so on.
Consumer as the manufacturer concept is very important in post-modernity as it is quite paradoxical. The consumed customer as the marketable object has been on the other hand liberated to become the maker of the product besides being the user) (Bulmer & Buchanan-Oliver 2004, p. 3). To customise the image of ‘self’ to be marketable, the customer in this case has efficiently interacted with other aspects surrounding production to produce oneself as the product for sale (Briand & Bellemare, 2006, p. 73).
Conclusion
Basically the new trend in the market places identified as post-modern concept necessitates major overhaul in many firm regarding how they do their business. It’s no longer relevant to peripherally assumes that related objects are the same rather its proper that more information should be sought to address the possible complexities. Marketing is not fixed to certain procedure but it is dynamic constantly changing with the change in technology. The relationship between marketing and consumption is described as complex in post modernity and the implications are far-reaching. The current trends in marketing need to be revaluated and abandoned or restructured for efficiency. The factors in question include consumer need, product image, behaviour of the users and quality.
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