Products of passive demand: list, characteristics, examples

2024 Author: Howard Calhoun | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 10:16

There are a huge number of different products that are offered to customers. Some products are in high demand and do not need active promotion, while others require special promotion, as the buyer does not think about purchasing them for the time being. Let's talk about what passive demand goods are, what are their specifics and how they should be promoted.

The concept of demand

The basic law of market existence is the law of supply and demand. If there is no demand, then the market does not grow, production slows down and the entire economic system stagnates. Therefore, demand is a subject of constant concern for marketers, they are trying to find tricks and methods to spur demand for all types of goods. Demand is the monetary form of expression of consumer needs. This is the amount of money that they are willing to pay for a certain product in a certain period. Demand strongly depends on the price, if it is excessively high, then the consumer will not purchase the product and demand will begin to fall. However, this is notmeans that a decrease in price always leads to an increase in demand, although in many product categories such a correlation is observed. Therefore, marketers constantly monitor demand. They are working hard to improve it. The biggest problem arises when it is necessary to sell goods of passive demand.

Types of demand

Since many factors affect the purchasing power of the consumer, we can distinguish different types of demand. According to the frequency of occurrence, there is daily, periodic, episodic, potential and emerging demand. At the same time, the purchase decision is influenced by the frequency of the need. Depending on the intentions of the buyer, demand can be divided into stable, impulsive, irregular, negative, negative, alternative and speculative. In all these cases, the consumer has some idea about the product and correlates its qualities with his needs. According to the degree of satisfaction of needs, demand is satisfied, unsatisfied and conditionally satisfied. Depending on what the consumer knows about the product and its ability to satisfy the need, active and passive demand are also distinguished. In the first case, we are talking about goods that are well known to the consumer, with clearly perceived consumer properties. And in the second case, they talk about products of passive demand, about which the consumer either has no idea at all or has very vague knowledge about the use of the product and its properties.

Classifications of goods

A commodity is a product produced for exchange and able to satisfy the needs of the buyer. Since people have a great many needs, there are many and different goods. All goods can be classified according to their purpose. In this case, goods for individual, intermediate and industrial consumption are distinguished, depending on who and for what purpose this product is purchased. In accordance with how the product will be used, there are items of durable and short-term use and disposable. According to the main characteristics, goods can be divided into food and non-food, long-term storage and perishable. There is a classification of goods and the type of demand for them. In this case, products are selected:

• Daily demand. This is what people buy almost daily. Food, detergents, household items. When purchasing such items, people most often act in the usual way, especially without thinking about making a purchase.
• Periodic demand. The purchase is made when the product runs out. For example, light bulbs or stationery. When purchasing, the buyer also usually acts according to the usual scenario, without spending a lot of time comparing and choosing a product.
• Preselection. These are durable goods, often at tangible prices: clothes, shoes, furniture. When buying, the consumer compares goods from different sellers, evaluates the quality of the goods, chooses for a long time.
• Rare demand. This is what people buy infrequently, such as jewelry, fur coats, cars. In this case, the buyer usually spends a lot of time comparing alternatives, choosing and evaluating the product.
• Seasonal demand. These are the products that people remember during certain seasons of the year - skis, swimwear, sunglasses.
• Passive demand. In this case, the buyer does not need the product by itself, it needs to be formed and stimulated.

Product Features

The choice of a product and its demand is influenced by its characteristics. Each product has four fundamental features. These are assortment, quantitative, qualitative and cost characteristics. When choosing a product, the buyer pays attention to the assortment line, if it includes more than three items, then the consumer considers the assortment sufficient and usually makes comparisons within the same brand. For example, a preferred brand of milk offers different types of packaging and a product with different fat content, and the buyer does not have to choose a product of a different brand. Qualitative characteristics are the most difficult to manage, as consumers have different requirements for product characteristics. But usually they pay attention to the physical properties of the product, as well as its packaging, fame, prestige, all this is shaped by marketing. Quantity is a physical evaluation parameter, the buyer looks at the weight of the goods, the number of pieces in the package and correlates them with his needs. And the buyer uses the price parameters, evaluating his capabilitiesat the time of buying. They also distinguish aesthetic, ergonomic and environmental features of goods. It is possible to evaluate the goods and from the point of view of the need for the buyer. In this case, we can talk about goods known and needed, as well as goods of passive demand. They are characterized by varying degrees of awareness of the need to make a purchase. The buyer is aware of the necessary goods and knows how they can satisfy his needs, but in the case of the second goods there is no such clarity. It must be formed with the help of marketing communications.

Features of passive demand goods

Demand can be expressed when the buyer knows what he needs to buy to meet his needs, and hidden or passive. In this case, the consumer usually does not think about meeting some needs and, accordingly, does not pay attention to certain groups of goods. They are called passive goods. Examples of such items, according to the well-known theorist and marketing practitioner F. Kotler, are tombstones, plots in a cemetery, and insurance. The main feature of such goods is that the consumer does not think about purchasing them at all, he does not voluntarily have a need that he could and would like to satisfy with the help of such goods. For example, most people do not tend to think about the risks of fire or flood, which can cause serious damage to their home. And only an insurance agent can actualize the need for security andencourage a person to buy an insurance policy. It is interesting that a person who once made a purchase of a product of passive demand, in the future is much easier to re-purchase and can even become its initiator.

Needs and different types of goods

The consumer makes purchases in an effort to satisfy their needs, to relieve the feeling of discomfort. At the same time, physiological needs are accompanied by a pronounced sense of deficiency, and a person does not need to spend resources on recognizing them. In this connection, the goods with which he can satisfy this need always attract the attention of the buyer. He is ready to find out information about them, compare and evaluate them. But unconscious or unformed needs can be satisfied with special goods, the purchase of which a person usually does not think about. For example, passive demand goods include various technological products. What consumer would buy an energy-saving light bulb if marketers had not told him for a long time and stubbornly about the need to protect the environment and the resources of the Earth? Today, this product has already left the category of passive demand. But this required great effort and expense on the part of the manufacturer of the goods.

Examples

The most problematic in terms of promotion are goods of passive demand. F. Kotler cites examples of goods in his works - these are tombstones, places in cemeteries. But there are also not so radical examples of such goods. For example, who would think about buying a pedometer ifmarketers did not talk about the fact that a person must take a certain number of steps for he alth? This group also includes various know-hows, for example, photography technologies in mobile phones. Manufacturers should talk for a long time in communications about why they are needed so that people begin to feel the need for them.

Product development

Today, most goods are created for a specific need. The consumer may not yet have this need. But it will be formed to sell goods of passive demand. The list of such things is quite long. So, gadget manufacturers, before launching the production of a new device, think over what need can be formed in a person so that he buys a product. For example, the emergence of such a familiar device today as a multicooker was accompanied by thoughtful communication, during which the housewives were explained that they could save time and effort if they used the new device.

Special Product Marketing

Due to the specific characteristics, there are also peculiarities of marketing goods of passive demand. First of all, they consist in the fact that significant efforts are needed to promote such products. It is necessary to build a long, active, and sometimes even aggressive communication so that the consumer begins to think about purchasing. For example, in order to encourage people to buy insurance policies, you need to create real fear in them,which they would like to withdraw by purchasing insurance.

Merchandising

Point-of-sale advertising opportunities are often used to promote special products. This may be a special display, the allocation of special zones for these groups of goods. For example, passive products in a pharmacy are often placed in a “hot” checkout area so that consumers can make an impulse purchase. Small vitamin bars, nutritional supplements, first aid products - a person usually does not think about acquiring all this. But when he sees them, he can make a purchase.