Customer Value Analysis

The concept of Marketing has been applied by various organizations around the world. It has had a vast history of development where many scholars agree that the origins of modern marketing lie around the time of the eighteenth-century industrial revolution.(Elvy, 1991; Evans & Berman, 1994, Jefkins, 1985; Lancaster & Reynolds, 2002; Mercer, 1992). Customer Value, on the other hand, has had a more recent presence in the business world. These two core concepts have allowed organizations to understand better the relationship between themselves and customers, understanding what customers look for when purchasing goods and services.

There are some widely accepted definitions including: “Marketing is the human activity directed at satisfying needs

While the term Customer Value also varies between people as to how it is defined. There are definitions of Customer Value that capture the essence of benefits and cost/sacrifice. Zeithaml defines it as: “…from the customer’s perspective, customer value is what they ‘get’ relative to what they ‘give up’.” This definition ties in with the ‘Customer Values’ set out by Smith and Colgate. These look at the three benefits as ‘Functional/Instrumental Value Benefits, Experimental/Hedonic Value benefits and Symbolic/Expressive Value benefits’ (Smith, J.B. & Colgate, M., 2007). These benefits are interconnected with the word ‘get’ in Zeithaml’s (1988) definition of customer value, while the phrase ‘give up.’ are interchangeable with the ‘Cost and Sacrifices’ as per the ‘Types of Values’ (Smith, J.B. & Colgate, M., 2007). These three types of values and Cost/Sacrifices include the aspects of ‘Correct/Accurate Attributes, Appropriate Performances and Appropriate Outcomes/Consequences’ encompassed by Functional/Instrumental value (Smith, J.B. & Colgate, M., 2007)., while Experimental/Hedonic Values (Smith, J.B. & Colgate, M., 2007) look at the emotional sector of value, with it encompassing: ‘Sensory Value, Emotional Value, Social-Relational Value and Epistemic Value.’ (Smith, J.B. & Colgate, M., 2007). This looks the higher levels of benefits, where rather than considering whether or not physical utility has been achieved, but rather if a sense of goal or achievement has been fulfilled. Self-Identity/Worth, Personal Meanings, Self-Expression, Social Meaning and Conditional meaning are part of the Symbolic/Expressive Values benefits (Smith, J.B. & Colgate, M., 2007). These benefits look at the need to feel good about ourselves and as well ensure that our tastes and values are reflected as part of our identity. Furthermore, they include the benefit to reflect prestige, images, and statuses, contributing