Currently, one of the biggest goals of marketing is to guide consumers in the assimilation to apology. To achieve success in this process, it is necessary to understand what influences your customers to close or not close a deal.
Studies show that during the process of 5 As consumers are affected by three types of influence, this trio is known as POE Zone and they are:
- External Influence: It comes from sources that are not part of the consumer's daily life. It is triggered by brands through advertisements and other forms of marketing . This format of influence is fully controllable by companies.
- Influence of Others: It also appears in an external environment, traditionally, it comes from a close contact network (friends, family, co-workers). They can be influenced by word of mouth advertising, social networks and review sites. Great influencers like young, women e netizens. This type of influence is poorly controlled by companies.
- Own Influence: It results from past experiences and interactions with different brands, from the individual preference for the chosen brands.
It is important to note that these three sources of influence are always intertwined, since consumers are affected first by external influence. If a brand manages to develop external influence well, consequently, it will be followed by the influence of others and, finally, these two sources will shape its own influence.
Certainly, each consumer is influenced to a different extent by each model. Despite individual variations, today's consumers rely more on the influence of others than on their own or external influence.
Throughout the 5As , consumers are more open to influence during the argumentation (research) and action (purchase) stage.
Since, the level of experience of consumers also determines their path, we have a different way of traveling. When they are new customers, consumers go through the 5 steps (Assimilation, Attraction, Arguition, Action, Apology). As they gain experience they start to skip the attraction stage and finally, when they are experienced they usually have their own strongest influence and skip most of the 5 As stages.
How to use this knowledge in your company's favor?
The POE zone is a tool that helps marketers to optimize their work. By identifying the importance of influences and which are strongest in your target audience, it is easier to decide which activities to focus on, for example:
- External influence: You can focus more on communication activities and marketing campaigns.
- Influence of others: They must invest in community marketing activities and encourage advocacy among loyal consumers.
- Own Influence: Should focus on developing the after-sales experience
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