A short take on the psychology of marketing
By Justine Beaulieu
The world of marketing is a captivating fusion of science and art, where understanding human behaviour lies at the heart of success. Delving into the psychology of marketing reveals a world of intricacies and subtle influence that underpin consumer decision making. Navigating this world successfully is the make or break in today’s ever changing business landscape.
What is the psychology of marketing?
While the exact definition is loose it can be summarised as a range of psychological principles that give marketers the tools to understand and influence consumers. At its core marketing psychology looks for patterns in human behaviour and relates this to their purchasing behaviour.
There are four main principles and patterns that marketers use in their brand strategy:
Scarcity - Otherwise known as ‘get it before it’s gone!’. If a product is in limited supply or otherwise exclusive it becomes more attractive. Ever noticed the clock counting down as you book airline or concert tickets? These big ticket items put the pressure on you to just do it before it’s too late.
Reciprocity - If you’re familiar with ‘you scratch my back I scratch yours’ then you are familiar with reciprocity. Here there needs to be some perceived trade off of equally valuable goods and the exchange needs to be immediate. Something as simple as entering your email for a discount code is reciprocity at play.
Social proof - If it works for them, it will work for me. This adage is the driving force behind customer reviews and word of mouth.
Loss aversion - We fear losing something more than we are averse to spending more. Minimum spends for shipping play on this principle, we feel better knowing we gained additional product that would be lost to shipping costs otherwise.
Studying these patterns can help identify customers motivations and core needs, this allows messaging to be targeted and specific based on carefully curated target consumer data. It can also help marketers craft compelling messages that are far more persuasive than product centred ones alone.
Marketers go far beyond messaging when incorporating consumer behaviour into organisational strategy and this is best showcased by a trip to the grocery store. Have you ever noticed that you never seem to leave with what was originally on your list? That is completely by design. Here’s some of the ways you’re primed to spend the moment you walk through the doors:
Physical design - Bread, butter, and onions is all that’s on the list for today. However each of these essential categories are located on opposite ends of the store and as you walk through you notice rows of inviting aisles. It makes sense to weave through them while you’re here, just in case you forgot something you might need.
Sensory overload - Bright colours of fresh cut flowers and produce greet you as soon as you walk in. Even if you skirt this section you’ll be hit by the smell of fresh baked bread from the bakery. If you listen carefully you’ll notice that the music playing is calm and docile, encouraging you to walk a bit slower and browse. Regardless of the chaos that might be surrounding you at 4pm on a Sunday the sensory stimuli is calming and captivating.
Impulse stands - As you wait in line to check out (there never seems to be enough cashiers!) your will power might be ebbing slightly. Your eye is drawn to the racks of chocolate bars, magazines, and sweets. As the minutes tick by you’re entering the golden zone where your ability to spend rationally is diminished.
Don’t fault yourself for falling victim to the scenario outlined above, it is one that has been thoroughly researched and trialed through decades of past and present shoppers. It has been designed by marketers who understand your purchasing behaviour better than you do. You have the ability to keep them on their toes however your propensity for online shopping has caused them to shake the dust off their old models and start anew.
And so as consumer behaviour evolves so to with it our modern marketing strategy must become more sophisticated and subtle. Technology has always been a dramatic shaping force in the way we buy and this evolution presents a remarkable journey that shapes our purchasing behaviour today.
Consumer Behavior - Then and Now
Get ready to dust off your time machine and step into a marketing strategy meeting in the 1970’s. Here you’ll be planning print ads, designing billboards, even writing scripts for radio and TV spots. Ads from previous decades typically tended to be straightforward and dense, communicating as much product value as a 8.5X11 letterhead or 30 second commercial slot would allow. But here in this pivotal decade we began to see a move towards emotional branding with a consumer centric approach.
Technology was also evolving, in 1972 the first wireless phone was invented and the personal computer followed in 1975. Television channels were also growing in number, meaning a previously captive audience could now turn off an ad or switch to another channel. Maximising ROI now meant understanding the customer they were trying to reach and which avenues are best suited to reaching them.
Marketing has come a long way since then as have consumers as a whole. Nowadays one quick search about any possible product will find video tutorials and countless reviews quantified and collated to be as relevant to you as possible.
Informed customers
This means that modern consumers are savvy and well informed. They research and compare both product and company with everything else on the worldwide marketplace. Canadians in particular more so than their global counterparts are using search engines and customer reviews specifically before handing over their cold hard cash.
E-commerce
Proliferation of product information isn’t the only gift the internet has given us, the rise of e-commerce has also had its hand in shaping buying behaviour as we know it. With the same ease that customers can now research their next buy, they can also order it to be delivered that same evening all from the same device. With 20-38% of Canadian’s shopping on their smartphones weekly, you could say that the explosive rise of E-commerce has changed the retail and corporate landscape as we know it and in turn it has also changed us as consumers.
Customers now expect a completely seamless shopping experience on physical and online channels, one where they can place an order in the morning, have it arrive that evening, and return to a store the next day if it’s not to their liking. They also expect an experience that is hyper personalised to them across all channels. That is because consumer allegiance is experiencing a paradigm shift towards higher brand loyalty than ever before.
Accelerated brand loyalty
As more products become commoditized and easily accessible consumers begin to look beyond form and function alone, instead they look for meaning in what they buy seeing the brands as an extension of themselves. Businesses need to recognize this power of tapping into human emotions, desires, and cognitive biases, to move beyond merely selling a product into creating narratives that resonate with consumers on a profound level.
While this concept is not new, the post pandemic shift in brand loyalty is. And what a change it’s been, the Brand Keys most recent consumer loyalty index saw a 91% shift across factors that shape consumer brand loyalty. A deeper pattern disruption is at play here, showing consumer behaviour leaving “rational purchasing values” and trending towards emotion based ones instead.
The future of marketing psychology
Consumers are now more than ever before looking for brands that both support and enhance their sense of self. Brands are now faced with the difficult task yet monumental opportunity of becoming a part of their customers identity in a far more meaningful way. This means companies must make their values apparent in the new dawn of consumer behaviour.
As technology continues to reshape the landscape of commerce, understanding the interplay between consumer behaviour and tech is important for any company aiming to thrive. Navigating this dynamic successfully can spell the difference between a company’s success and its downfall in the fiercely competitive market of today and the future.
