One of the first things you learn or know about marketing is the four Ps (4 Ps), a fundamental element in marketing. In fact, marketing process revolves round the four Ps (product, price, place, and promotion). Today, the list has been stretched to eight to include positioning, packaging, performance and people. However, there is a less discussed but very important concept. This is Four As (4 As) of marketing. This concept may not have gained ground like the 8 Ps because it is still new to the marketing world, but it is equally important as a marketing development concept.
What Are the 4 As of Marketing?
The 4 As of marketing is basically a customer-oriented marketing approach that focuses on four elements that are very important from the customer’s point of view. The 4 As stands for;
Acceptability
Affordability
Accessibility
Awareness
The core objective of 4 As is to give businesses better insight into customers’ perceptions. It is eventually the customer who takes different roles such as user, payer, and selector. The 4 As marketing concept posits that these four elements are mandatory for the success of a product that can offer value to customers, society, as well as businesses.
Now, let us look at the 4 As closely:
Acceptability
Acceptability means how much or to what extent does a product or service meets expectations of the customers in a given market/niche. Are the customers satisfied? Did it fulfill their expectations or not? Sometimes, a product may even exceed the customers’ expectorations. Acceptability is further categorized into two dimensions.
Functional Acceptability
Functional acceptability addresses the objective traits of a given product or service. It may include the performance, features or facts about the product. For example, were the customers expecting these features? Will these features make the product more distinctive and attractive?
Read also: Autochek unveils Africa’s first brand new cars loan marketplace
Psychological acceptability
Psychological acceptability addresses the ‘subjective’ traits of any product/service that are perceived differently by the customers. Psychological acceptability describes how a customer perceives a product or brand from a societal point of view. Bentley, Rolls Royce, Mercedes, and BMW are luxury cars brands. They are generally regarded as a symbol of eliteness because it is not easy to own and maintain any of these luxury cars from these companies.
Affordability
Affordability means the willingness and ability of a customer to pay for a certain product or service. Again, there are two dimensions to affordability.
Psychological Affordability
Psychological affordability refers to the willingness of a customer to pay for a particular product or service. That is, a customer is in a position to make the purchase but is he/she willing to do it? This depends on how the customer perceives that specific product. Will that product make him feel good? Or will it have any impact on his/her societal acceptance or even a source of appreciation or acceptance?
Economical Affordability
Economic affordability refers to a customer’s financial ability to buy a specific product. Does the customer you are targeting have enough financial resources to buy your product?
Affordability is important because it is helpful for businesses to create a product or service that is not only valuable but is cost-effective as well.
Accessibility
Accessibility in 4 As of marketing means the level of ease with which a product or service is accessible for the customers. Accessibility here basically addresses customers’ convenience and accessibility. Here are two further dimensions of accessibility
Customer Convenience
Customer convenience means how easy it is for a customer to obtain or get a product or service. Human psychology is pretty simple; customers always prefer the most accessible options. “An arm’s length of desire” is exactly what a former chairman of Coca-Cola while explaining the importance of making the product readily available to the potential customer.
Customer Availability
Availability here means whether the specific company has enough stock of a product to meet customers/market demand. If a customer wants a product at any given time while the company is out of stock, it will lead to customer dissatisfaction and force them to look for alternatives.
Awareness
Awareness speaks of existing and potential customers of a product or service. It focuses on things like;
Informing customers/ and potential customers about the benefits and features of a product
Persuading potential customers to make the purchase, and
Maintaining a trustable relation with the existing customers.
Benefits of 4 As of Marketing Framework
Enables True Customer Centricity
4 As of marketing framework is more of a measurable approach. It helps businesses to develop a marketing mix that is more measurable rather than just a blind traditional marketing effort. This framework does not focus on when and where you can sell your products. Instead, it helps businesses understand why people buy a certain product and what can affect the success of that product or service.
It Improves Marketing Productivity and Accountability
The 4 As framework is also advantageous because it helps in determining the productivity of a marketing effort and keeps accountability; the results are highly measurable. That means, with the help of 4 As framework, a business can easily evaluate which marketing activity is productive and which isn’t.
Holistic View of Business Success
Another good thing about 4 As framework is that it includes or addresses every aspect of a firm from a marketing perspective. When a firm channelizes all its activities towards customer-driven and easily measurable objectives, it gives more freedom to its management and brings more productivity.
Last line
4 As marketing concept gives vivid managerial prescriptions for the brand as it offers a protective shield to businesses by helping them prevent marketing failures, and ultimately conserving capital and human resources, a necessary and strategic marker of brand successes.
