November 17th, 2020 
Target Audience and Competition are the next components to be addressed in the process of developing a Marketing Strategy. To choose an appropriate target market, one must understand how consumers make purchase decisions.
Research
Research and discuss Maslows theory of needs and how it is applied to marketing. Resources MUST include Academic articles and research from scholar based sources.
Define the stages of the consumer behavior model (or industrial model, if appropriate) and apply how the concepts affect the marketing effort. Resources MUST include Academic articles and research from scholar based sources.
Application to Product/Service
Provide a quick overview of selling made to order custom furniture service.
Even though you have “created” a product or service, the applications and research in this section will be real.
o Identify your target market. Provide a specific demographic profile and rationale for this decision. Another source that may help you: The US Census Bureau’s American Fact Finder. Consider the size of the market and its purchasing power. Research is required to back-up yo ur selection and to provide statistics to show that it is a viable market.
o Analyze your competition. Who are they? Who are the biggest players? How large is the market? What are the trends/forecasts in the industry? How does your product/service fit in? IBISWorld in the Library is a good tool for this section; it may be accessed under ADDITIONAL LIBRARY RESOURCES and then scroll down to the database.
The assignment requires the use of ARTICLES from the librarys full-text databases. Articles are found in periodicals. These are not to be confused with eBooks or Reference Books. The most popular databases in marketing are: Academic Search Complete, Business Source Complete, and/or ProQuest Central.
Effective academic and research writing requires a 3rd person voice. This SLP will be written in 3rd person. Do not use any quotations.
Description of How Marketers Can Use Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs
http://smallbusiness.chron.com/description-marketers-can-use-maslows-hierarchy-needs-39333.html
Best Practice: Uncovering Unmet Customer Needs Anthony Ulwick
http://www.marketingjournal.org/best-practice-uncovering-unmet-customer-needs-anthony-ulwick/
3.1 Factors That Influence Consumers Buying Behavior
https://open.lib.umn.edu/principlesmarketing/chapter/3-1-factors-that-influence-consumers-buying-behavior/
US Census: American FactFinder
https://factfinder.census.gov/faces/nav/jsf/pages/index.xhtml
Esri ZIP Lookup- This tool provides demographic and lifestyle information by ZIP code
http://www.esri.com/data/tapestry/zip-lookup
Consumer Expenditure Survey
https://www.bls.gov/cex/
American Time Use Survey
https://www.bls.gov/tus/home.htm
Statistica- The Statistics Portal
https://www.statista.com/outlook/consumer-markets
How to Conduct Competitive Research
https://www.inc.com/guides/2010/05/conducting-competitive-research.html
No less than 12 Academic articles and research from scholar based sources.
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