Topics
customer value, consumer needs, core of marketing
Review the activity below or download the PDF student worksheet
- Student Worksheet: What is Customer Value
- Instructor Solutions (Members Only): What is Customer Value? = Solutions
Student Discussion Activity
Introduction
For this task, you need to identify how each of the following consumers perceive value, based on their statements listed below. You will note that the perception of value varies across most of these consumers.
For each consumer statement, in this activity, identify how each of the following consumers perceives value. For example:
- value = low price, or
- value = good service,
- and so on
How Different Consumers Perceive Value
- “I drive a BMW. Why? Because I always want the best, that’s important to me. I usually buy high quality products.”
- “I also drive a BMW, but I don’t really care about the car – I just want to show my family, friends and neighbors how well I’m doing in life.”
- “I like going to McDonald’s – it’s such great value – sure, the food isn’t that great, but you get a lot for your money.”
- “I’m happy to pay $200 for a pair of shoes – because they last for years. I really can’t understand people who buy a $50 pair of shoes every six months.”
- “I always buy my families clothes from either Target or Walmart (discount stores). Look, a shirt’s a shirt – why pay more that you have to!”
- “I won’t shop at those stores; they are very cluttered and too busy. I prefer to shop at specialist clothing stores. They are quieter, they are much nicer to be in, and you can take your time and comfortably try on clothes.”
- “I still shop at the local butchers, rather than going to the big supermarkets. Sure, it’s a bit more expensive, but the butchers are always friendly, you can have a laugh, and they even tell you how to cook the meat if you’re not sure about it.”
- “I switched my loan from one of the big banks to a credit union. It’s going to cost me a little bit more, but I know that I can trust them, I’m not sure about the banks anymore.”
Student Discussion Questions
- What does each person consider to be ‘value’?
- Are there any other ways of thinking about value to customers?
- Which of the views about do you think would be common?
- Given these range of views of what value is, what are some of the implications for marketers?
- To what extent do you agree with this statement: “Providing value to consumers is the cornerstone of success in marketing.”