When driving these days, do you look at the prices every time you pass a gas station? Do you notice yourself paying more attention to the prices of everything you buy? You are not alone. Consumers everywhere are more price aware. People who've been indifferent to price increases for years are suddenly amazed at what things now cost. How can marketers cope not just with inflation but with consumer sticker shock?

1.Understand Your Customers. There are at least four ways in which customers can respond to higher gas prices: downgrade from premium to regular; take fewer trips by car, consolidate errands, switch to public transportation; take the same number of trips but reduce the miles driven per trip by, for example, vacationing closer to home; drive more economically and less aggressively to improve miles per gallon; and buy a specific dollar amount of gas rather than filling up every time, even though this may mean more visits to the pump. Some consumers may even trade in (at a loss) the SUV for a hybrid, an example of how price inflation on one product can cause demand shifts in a second, related, category.

2.Invest in Market Research. You must discard your existing customer segmentation assumptions and segment consumers around product usage behavior and price sensitivity. You must get out into the marketplace yourself and talk to consumers directly to understand their pain points and how they are changing attitudes and behaviors in response to price inflation. You must then quantify these shifts and develop product and pricing strategies that balance the need to maintain both profitability and market share.

3.Redefine Value. Customers buying soft drinks can think about price in three ways: the absolute cost per can or bottle, the cost per ounce, and, less common in this category, the monthly consumption cost. Customers short on cash will focus much more on the absolute price. They'll go for the 99 cent soft drink rather than the $1.29 container with 50 percent more volume. To motivate cash-poor consumers, marketers must reverse engineer products and packaging to hit key retail price points. This may mean downsizing package sizes, something the candy industry always does in response to inflation.

4.Use Promotions. If you've always passed through raw material price increases to the end consumer, you don't necessarily need to change that policy. However, lagging competitors in passing on price increases can have the same effect as a temporary price promotion. More customers than usual will be looking out for price promotions, but don't give away the store to those who don't need the discount, and cut prices not across the board but only on items selected as your inflation-busters. For cash poor consumers, these promotions should hit the key price points on small pack sizes. For cash rich consumers, encourage multi-unit purchases ahead of the inevitable next price increase.

5.Unbundle. Customers who previously welcomed the convenience of buying product, options, and services rolled into one may now ask for a detailed price breakdown. Make it easy for your more price-sensitive customers to better cherry-pick the options and services that they truly need by giving them an unbundled menu of options.

6.Monitor Trade Terms. Beware of powerful distributors paying you more slowly than they turn the inventory they buy from you. In an inflationary environment, they're making money on the float by stretching their payables. Manage your inventory on a last-in, first-out basis to insure that increases in your realized selling prices do not trail the increases in your input costs.

7.Increase Relevance. You need to persuade customers to cut back their expenditures on other products, not on yours. In tough times, consumers more than ever need and deserve the occasional treat. So, if you are Haagen Dazs, tell the consumer to substitute private label peas for the name brand but to not forego the comfort of curling up on the sofa with a tub of her favorite ice cream. Strong brands can hold consumer loyalty while increasing retail price points. Weaker brands risk private label and generic substitution.

   最近這些天開車經(jīng)過加油站的時(shí)候，你有沒有注意油價(jià)？你有沒有留意自己買任何東西，都比以前更在意價(jià)格？不是你一個(gè)人這樣的．每個(gè)消費(fèi) 者現(xiàn)在都比以前更關(guān)注商品的價(jià)格．就連之前幾年對價(jià)格上漲沒有感覺的人們也突然對買東西的支出數(shù)額感到吃驚了．那么，市場上的企業(yè)用什么辦法才能不僅應(yīng)對 通貨膨脹問題而且也能照顧到消費(fèi)者的感受呢？

１、要理解顧客．汽油價(jià)格上漲，消費(fèi)者至少 有以下四種反應(yīng)：不再使用優(yōu)質(zhì)油轉(zhuǎn)而購買普通油；減少開車出行，把事情統(tǒng)一起來做，選擇公共交通工具；或者仍舊開車出行但是縮短每次出行的里程，比如說， 在離家近一些的地方渡假，同時(shí)更注重車子的燃油經(jīng)濟(jì)性，這樣每加侖汽油就能跑更多的里程；消費(fèi)者還可以一次性購買一定數(shù)量的汽油，而不是一次又一次地去油 站加油，盡管這樣做要使用油泵．甚至?xí)�有消費(fèi)者寧愿賠錢去把ＳＵＶ型車換成混合動(dòng)力型車，這同時(shí)也是一個(gè)可以說明一種商品價(jià)格的上漲如何引起對其他相關(guān)商 品需求變化的例子．

２、做市場調(diào)查．企業(yè)這個(gè)時(shí)候必須拋開已有的消費(fèi)者細(xì)分的假定并根據(jù) 消費(fèi)者的產(chǎn)品使用行為和對價(jià)格的敏感程度對其重新細(xì)分，企業(yè)必須親自深入市場，直接和消費(fèi)者對話，了解消費(fèi)者的切身利益，以及他們在通貨膨脹的時(shí)候，購買 商品的行為和態(tài)度有什么變化．接下來，企業(yè)必須對消費(fèi)者的這些變化進(jìn)行量化分析并且制定產(chǎn)品和價(jià)格策略來平衡商品需求，以維持盈利和市場份額．

３、重新定義＂價(jià)值＂．購 買軟飲料的消費(fèi)者會(huì)從三個(gè)方面來考慮價(jià)格：首先,一罐或者一瓶飲料的絕對價(jià)格，其次是每盎司飲料的價(jià)格，還有就是比較少見的，每個(gè)月購買飲料的總價(jià)格．現(xiàn) 金短缺的消費(fèi)者會(huì)更在意絕對價(jià)格，他們會(huì)購買定價(jià)０．９９美元的軟飲料卻不會(huì)購買定價(jià)１．２９美元同時(shí)量也增加了一半的飲料．因此，為了刺激現(xiàn)金短缺的消 費(fèi)者，企業(yè)就必須逆向設(shè)計(jì)開發(fā)產(chǎn)品和包裝來配合商品的零售價(jià)格，這樣的措施一般都是縮小包裝規(guī)格，糖果行業(yè)常常會(huì)這么做去應(yīng)對價(jià)格上漲．

４、利用促銷．如 果企業(yè)總是將原材料成本的增加轉(zhuǎn)嫁給最終消費(fèi)者，那么就沒有必要去改變政策．然而，把成本的增加轉(zhuǎn)嫁給消費(fèi)者的速度放慢就會(huì)起到和臨時(shí)價(jià)格促銷一樣的效 果．消費(fèi)者大部分都想要打折商品，都在密切地關(guān)注著價(jià)格促銷活動(dòng)．企業(yè)不需要通過董事局決議降價(jià)，而只需要降低消費(fèi)者購買的具體商品的價(jià)格就可．對于現(xiàn)金 短缺的消費(fèi)者來說，這些促銷活動(dòng)會(huì)使小規(guī)格包裝的商品價(jià)格正好在他們可以接受的水平上，而對于不存在現(xiàn)金短缺的消費(fèi)者來說，則可以在下一次不可避免的價(jià)格 上漲來臨之前，鼓勵(lì)他們購買多種包裝規(guī)格的產(chǎn)品．

５、分別計(jì)價(jià)．漲價(jià)之前，消費(fèi)者為了方便希望有多種選擇，會(huì)把產(chǎn)品和相關(guān)的服務(wù)一起購買，漲價(jià)之后，消費(fèi)者則可能會(huì)需要了解它們各自的價(jià)格．所以，為了讓那些對價(jià)格特別敏感的消費(fèi)者更好地在他們真正需要的多種選擇和服務(wù)之中做出最佳決策，企業(yè)就要提供各種購買選擇的單獨(dú)定價(jià)單．

６、修正交易條款．如果實(shí)力強(qiáng)大的分銷商償付貨款的周期比他們購買產(chǎn)品的周期長的情況出現(xiàn)，企業(yè)要警惕!在通貨膨脹的環(huán)境下，分銷商通過延遲應(yīng)付賬款的時(shí)間而獲利．企業(yè)可以采取后進(jìn)先出法來管理存貨，以保證銷售額的增加不低于存貨成本的增加．

７、強(qiáng)調(diào)商品的實(shí)用性． 企業(yè)要?jiǎng)裾f消費(fèi)者減少在其他商品而不是本企業(yè)商品的開支．在經(jīng)濟(jì)環(huán)境嚴(yán)峻時(shí)期，消費(fèi)者比以前更需要同時(shí)也應(yīng)該得到特殊的待遇．所以，像哈根達(dá)斯，就可以告 訴消費(fèi)者用名牌豌豆代替私人品牌的豌豆，但同時(shí)也告訴消費(fèi)者不要放棄吃著自己最喜歡的冰淇淋蜷在沙發(fā)上的愜意舒適．影響力強(qiáng)的品牌提高零售價(jià)格會(huì)保住消費(fèi) 者的忠誠度，而知名度不高的品牌則會(huì)有被代替的風(fēng)險(xiǎn)．