he simplicity of that statement belies the complexity of determining "what" a customer wants. Fortunately, research has provided some guidelines that give indications of how consumers make their buying decisions.
Marketing theorists, for instance, will always refer to the outside motivations of the "4 P's" (product, price, place, and promotion), which is, in actuality, a major part of the equation. However, a company can have the "4-ps" in place and do everything "right" and still fail. About the only truism that can be derived from this is the well-known assertion that there is no guarantee that using the 4-ps will make a success, but not using them is almost certain disaster. In other words, there is no guaranteed ticket to success. The chewing gum magnate Wrigley was quoted as saying "I know I probably waste half of my advertising dollar. The hell of it is, I don't know which half" (A & E, 1998).
Wrigley and other businessmen (Ray Kroc (McDonald's), Harlan Sanders (Kentucky Fried Chicken) and Bill Gates (Microsoft) -- share an awareness that the consumer's personality plays a great role in the process, and no amount of research or study will ever determine specifically what affects the "buy" decision.
What is known, (or observed) is that th
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