Customer Value and Marketing Strategy

Customer value is another critical element of contemporary marketing management which can be defined as the perceived value that a specific product or service has for the customer. It is a complex concept whereby the value that is derived by the customer is compared to the cost incurred in that process. These being benefits and cost are not strictly financial, they include time, effort and other factors such as emotional too. In other words, customer value lies at the heart of the belief of value-in-use and can be broken down into perceived benefits and perceived costs. These are functional benefits, such as the quality and performance of the product, emotional benefits such as the pleasure that is experienced when using the product and finally social benefits, such as the reputation that is likely to be gained from using a certain product. In contrast, perceived cost is not just the price paid but the time needed to acquire the product, the effort required, or any negative feelings a customer would gain from acquiring the product.