H. J. Heinz, Co

The company I am researching is the H. J. Heinz Company. This company has many products that they produce. They produce products from ketchup to baby food to Weight Watchers food. (H. J. Heinz, Company, 2011) Some of the most complex and challenging decisions facing a company is making decisions involving the distribution channels.

Each company needs to start with a product line. This is a group of products that are closely related because they function in a similar manner, are sold to the same customer group, are marketed through the same types of outlets, or fall within given price ranges. (CTU-Online, 2012) Some things that companies must decide on are the number of items in the product line, whether or not to stretch the line, or whether to fill the product line.

A company's product mix can be described by the number of different product lines the company carries, the total number of items within the product lines, the different versions offered of each product, and the consistency of the mix.

The reason marketers like to study consumer behavior is to help them make decisions about promoting their goods and services. They can get inside knowledge of the consumers' personalities, habits, and shopping patterns. Marketing executives can usually forecast how and what customers will buy. This will allow them to advertise their goods successfully.

A reference group is where an individual finds people who share the same values, beliefs, and attitudes. A person's main reference group is usually their family. Marketers usually target families by showing their products in a situation that families would identify with.

Another segment that marketers use to seek potential buyers is their social class. Their income level is a major part of social class, but education, hobbies, and consumption habits also identify job status. Marketers believe affluent people have more disposable income so they tend to target them for their brands. (Armstrong, 2011)

Culture and subculture is important to marketers. A subculture is a subset of a larger culture. A culture is the set of beliefs, values, and customs that guide a group of people. (CTU-Online, 2012) A person may be part of a particular culture, and may also be part of a subculture.

There are many different segments that H. J. Heinz, Company would market to. The first segment that comes to light is the Kids &