| When talking about a small business for sale, it is | | | | that there is no unified, well-defined, tested and |
| very important to understand the buyer and to | | | | universally established theory of buyer behavior. |
| create a customer through this understanding. | | | | What we have today are certain ideas on buyer |
| This is called a buyer behavior study. The time | | | | behavior. Some of these ideas have taken their |
| and effort spent on this relatively new discipline | | | | cue from economics, others from psychology, |
| have been of enormous magnitude. And every | | | | and yet others have drawn cues from several of |
| buyer-study has unfolded some new dimension of | | | | the social sciences simultaneously. Business firms |
| this discipline. The subject has been approached | | | | and professional researchers have studied the |
| and analyzed from different angles and under | | | | subject extensively, contributing a large |
| different premises. | | | | assortment of information on buyer behavior. |
| What motivates the buyer? What induces him to | | | | However, a universally accepted theory of the |
| buy? Why does he buy a specific brand from a | | | | subject has yet to emerge. |
| particular shop? Why does he shift his | | | | The buyer is a riddle. He is a highly complex entity. |
| preferences from one shop to another or from | | | | His needs and desires are innumerable, and they |
| one brand to another? How does he react to a | | | | vary from security needs to aesthetic needs. |
| new product introduced in the market or a piece | | | | These needs and desires are often at different |
| of information addressed to him? What are the | | | | stages of emergence and actualization. Some are |
| stages he travels through before he makes the | | | | latent, some manifest, and others highly dominant. |
| decision to buy? These are some of the | | | | The buyer has his own ways and means of |
| questions that are of perennial interest. It is | | | | meeting these needs. Some of these needs are |
| around these questions that the product and | | | | within his means; he can easily meet them. Some |
| promotion strategies ultimately revolve. | | | | others may be beyond realization. |
| It needs to be emphasized at the very outset | | | | |