Dear colleagues
Micro approaches emphasize the relationship of the individual consumer with companies or products. The meso approaches study marketing systems as a set of interrelated elements (e.g. consumers, products, companies, etc.). Macro approaches study the interaction of marketing systems with society.
In all these decades of consumer behavior research, micro approaches have dominated among scholars and researchers. Comparatively the scientific and academic publications with meso and macro approaches have been very few. I would like to know your opinion on the future of meso and macro approaches.
https://books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=&id=TzrfBQAAQBAJ&oi=fnd&pg=PP1&dq=macro+approaches+in+consumer+behavior&ots=LoUDcWVfSu&sig=y7D5BmMDoIZ2f5hAMOHmCzSTHBY
https://books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=&id=B81RYQsx2l0C&oi=fnd&pg=PR12&dq=macro+approaches+in+consumer+behavior&ots=m_RDBy2K7K&sig=eoFNJMbYbLTu4svLwOq1xYXbszg
Hi, Jorge,
I am a social work professor, so my comments do not directly relate to marketing. Nonetheless, we utilize the same framework in social work - micro, mezzo, and macro. From my perspective, the problem with the over-emphasis on micro is largely a function of neoliberal and libertarian neglect of the social commons. Every human decision is simply not bounded by individualized factors.
Dollar Stores in the U.S. are geographically dispersed in low income neighborhoods because consumers in those neighborhoods need to purchase small quantities of household items in order to smooth consumption. I, as an upper middle class and tenured faculty, have the luxury of purchasing virtually any quantity of any product when it is on sale. I have, for example, three months worth of coffee stashed in my supply cabinet at this moment - all purchased while on sale. Mezzo and macro factors matter.
Another example of the mezzo and macro emphasis is in the creation of food deserts in U. A. metropolitan areas. Clearly, the lack of availability of produce and other healthy foodstuffs in low income neighborhoods is a macro factor influencing consumption.
So my answer to your question is simply this - I believe the mezzo and macro approaches to marketing may be a rich and rewarding perspective. Just imagine the return on investment to the company and product that markets directly to consumers effectively excluded from the mainstream marketing! After all, isn't the alternative finance sector an excellent example of meeting a need no one else is meeting at a large profit?
Dear Peter
Thanks for your time. What an interesting reflection! Even more so from an academic of another discipline. Thinking different from the mainstream is a challenge and demands great effort , even sacrifice, but it can generate great ideas and strategies and surprising results.
Regards,
Jorge
I believe Macro, Meso and Micro are levels of analysis more than approaches. So, back the story of marketing stages, it starts with simple exchange process (direct connection between the seller and individual consumer), then the mass production after the industrial revolution (undifferentiated, mass marketing and economies of scale) and after this marketing back to customization. Marketers now are searching for loyalty and satisfaction of the individual customers. Moreover, they use techniques from other disciplines to understand what is going on in the individual consumer’s mind (e.g., micromarketing) and know his/her purchasing, attitudes and behavioral history (e.g., marketing intelligence). So, all indicators, I believe, imply to more and more focus on micro level in consumer research, as the black box is still in the individual consumer’s brain.
However, there are several good works on micro level, such as Gaski and his colleagues:
Gaski, J and Etzel, M, 2005, "National aggregate consumer sentiment toward marketing: a thirty-year retrospective and analysis", Journal of Consumer Research, vol.26, no.5, pp.481-495
Gaski, J 2008, “The Index of Consumer Sentiment toward Marketing: Validation, Updated Results, and Demographic Analysis”, Journal of Consumer Policy, vol.31, no.2, pp.195-216
Regarding the meso-level, I believe it will attract many researchers to work on more than macro level. Today, we have the international or global consumer who is exposed to international marketing programs and know much about the products and brands. Therefore, segmentation based on geography, countries, nationalities and civilization will not be helpful. Accordingly, as macro level analysis consumers based on nations, countries, civilization and so forth, it will not be appropriate to study the groups of consumers. Today, with wide spread of social medias, global connection and belonging to the communities more than countries; cross-border segments of consumers will increase which can be analyzed using meso-level.
Thank you dear Izzudin. Very interesting your criterion.
Regards,
Jorge
Very interesting question + thoughts. From a company perspective I'd attribute the focus on micro approaches to a certain shortsightedness + knowledge gap within the companies which led to lack of demand for other approaches: It's hard enought to understand the consumers attitudes etc towards one brand. Which is why suppliers (i.e. market researchers) focussed quite some time on going deep on micro approaches (e.g. improving / validating methods like conjoint, etc.) Understanding the whole system (i.e. meso approaches) appeared on the companies' radar only in the last 10 years (my guess). Often these are research methods trying to uncover the "rules of the category", so still not fully interrelated (neglecting consumer-to-consumer interactions). As for macro approaches: hardly interesting from a single company perspective - but might be for industry associations with lobbying interests. Maybe ESOMAR can help here as for the current status in market research.
Dear Anja
Thank you very much for your time and answer. Very interesting that you have approached the organizational perspective.
Regards,
Jorge
You might want to look at Journal of Macromarketing. I can also recomend papers by R. Layton and C. Schultz that you can find on RG. Hope this gives you insight into this very interesting topic.
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