Set (marketing)

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Set. Group used by consumers to limit external search and alternative evaluation. Most consumers are looking for ways to limit the amount of external search to some manageable level. One way to do this is to restrict the number of products, brands, or retail outlets about which to gather information. Hence, the concept of sets of options to be pursued is useful. The set of brands or retail outlets, if the latter is the focus over brand, to which the consumer has reasonable access–whether he or she is aware of them or not–is called the universal set. With the advent of catalogs and now the Internet, this set of alternatives may be quite large. All the brands or retail outlets of which a person has front-of-mind awareness are part of what is called the retrieval set. This may still be a set of options that the consumer deems as too great in number. The most useful set is made up of those outlets or brands of which the consumer has front-of-mind awareness and that the consumer accepts as the group from among which a choice will likely be made. This was originally called the evoked set. Today, the terms relevant set and consideration set are used to represent essentially the same concept. Currently, "consideration set" is the most commonly used phrase when referring to this group. Marketers encourage consumers to include their brands or outlets in any search. Also, attempts are made to persuade consumers to limit the number of brands or outlets about which they seek information. The fewer alternatives the consumer investigates, the more likely that he or she will settle upon the marketer’s product or brand or outlet, assuming that it is among the few. Suppose your parents offer to help you buy a new computer. Which brands come to mind immediately that you would consider purchasing? This is your consideration set of personal computers.

As the search proceeds and the consumer's information base grows, brands or outlets may be eliminated or new ones added to the set. Obviously, the ideal situation for a marketer is to position him- or herself as the sole choice for the consumer to consider. The outlet or brand name then becomes synonymous with the product category itself. To work toward this objective, marketers must be familiar with the sources consumers use to find reliable information and make sure that their brands are favorably represented there.