Businesses use a variety of tactics to persuade consumers to buy their products or services, but there is a science behind persuasion that goes beyond simple advertising techniques.
Understanding the psychology behind what motivates consumer decisions can give businesses a significant advantage. Therefore, this article will explore the science of persuasion and how it can be used to create more compelling and successful marketing campaigns.
The Psychology of Decision-Making
Decision-making is a complex process that involves a variety of factors, many of which are unconscious and emotional. Consumers also make decisions without even realising they are doing so, such as when choosing a certain brand simply because they have always used it and haven’t thought to try anything else.
Regardless of whether the consumer is conscious of their decision-making, marketers can uncover their motives, putting them in a position to persuade.
Before exploring some of the factors that affect decision making, it’s important to review the stages customers go through when making a purchase decision.
The Stages of Consumer Decision Making
While the specific details can vary from person to person and situation to situation, the following is a general framework that illustrates how people think through purchases:
- Need recognition: The consumer recognises a need or a desire for a particular product or service. This need can be triggered by internal factors, such as personal desires or problems, or external factors, such as advertisements or recommendations.
- Information search: Once the need is recognised, consumers actively seek information to gather options and evaluate alternatives. They may engage in both internal search (reflecting on personal experiences and knowledge) and external search (seeking information from various sources like friends, family, and online reviews).
- Evaluation of alternatives: Consumers evaluate the available options based on a range of criteria, such as price, quality, features, brand reputation, and personal preferences. They may engage in a process of comparing and contrasting different products or services to determine which one best satisfies their needs.
- Purchase decision: After evaluating the alternatives, the consumer decides which product or service to purchase. At this stage, they may also consider the potential risks associated with the purchase.
- Post-purchase evaluation: Once the purchase is made, consumers assess their level of satisfaction with the chosen product or service. They compare their expectations with the actual experience and evaluate whether the purchase met their needs and fulfilled their expectations. Positive experiences can lead to customer satisfaction, while negative experiences may result in dissatisfaction or post-purchase regret.
- Post-purchase behaviour: Consumers’ post-purchase behaviour can vary depending on their satisfaction level. Satisfied customers are more likely to become loyal and engage in positive word-of-mouth, while dissatisfied customers may seek remedies, such as returns, exchanges, or negative feedback.
Aligning Persuasive Messaging with Decision Stages
Let us consider a couple of examples of how one may provide the right messaging to customers at the right stage.
As mentioned, advertising is one factor involved in need recognition. Ads can make customers recognise a need they didn’t know they had, or draw attention to a likely need. A simple example would be advertising cold beverages during hot weather, reminding customers of the potential discomfort of the heat and the relief a refreshing drink would bring.
At the information search and the evaluation of alternatives stages, brands can shape customer perceptions and leave a strong impression so that they stand out among competitors. Appealing to emotion and values is important here.
Influences on Decision Making
As mentioned, the decision-making process is influenced by various internal and external factors, including personal preferences, previous experiences, social influences, cultural factors, marketing messages, and situational factors.
Consumers may also employ different decision-making strategies, such as rational decision-making, emotional decision-making, or a combination of both, depending on the context and the product or service being considered. (It has historically been assumed that emotion is not an important factor in B2B marketing, but it is just as relevant as with B2C.)
Cognitive Biases
It’s also important to be aware of cognitive biases, which everyone is susceptible to. Cognitive biases are systematic errors in thinking that affect decision-making (in many cases acting as mental shortcuts). Marketers can use these biases to nudge consumers towards specific choices.
There are a broad range of cognitive biases, but let us consider a couple of examples, starting with loss aversion – the tendency to strongly prefer avoiding losses over acquiring gains of equal value.
This bias can influence decision-making when consumers are presented with options involving risk or uncertainty. For example, they may be more likely to stick with their current service provider rather than switching to a potentially better option due to the fear of losing what they already have.
Marketers can address this bias by emphasising the potential losses consumers might incur by not choosing their product or service, thus encouraging them to take action to avoid those perceived losses.
Another example is confirmation bias, the tendency to seek, interpret, and favour information that confirms one’s existing beliefs or preconceptions while disregarding or downplaying contradictory evidence. Marketers can strategically target consumers who already hold certain beliefs or preferences, providing them with information that aligns with those beliefs and further solidifies their conviction in the brand or product.
Consumer Motivations
When using any form of persuasion, it’s important to be aware of the types of motivations that customers have when purchasing as this helps inform both the broad and finer details of a campaign.
Motivations may be intrinsic, such as personal satisfaction. For example, someone may buy a high-end camera because they have a genuine passion for photography. With intrinsic motivations, the customer is motivated based on the benefits the product or service offers in and of itself.
Extrinsic factors include rewards and incentives, affordability, and any other motivation that is not based on the product/service’s intrinsic utility. For example, a customer may buy something in order to enhance their social status or help them gain recognition from others.
Customers’ motivations can also be a combination of both intrinsic and extrinsic factors. While the specific motivations can vary greatly depending on individual preferences, needs, and circumstances, doing thorough research will reveal the target audience’s common pain points and thus, their motives for purchasing.
Robert Cialdini’s 6 Principles of Persuasion
Robert Cialdini, a renowned psychologist and marketing expert, identified six principles of persuasion that are commonly used in marketing. They are reciprocity, commitment and consistency, social proof, authority, liking, and scarcity. Let us take a closer look at each.
Reciprocity
Reciprocity is the concept that people are more likely to do something for someone else if they feel that person has done something for them. This principle can be used by offering free samples, discounts, or other incentives to encourage people to try a product or service.
In essence, by offering something for free, businesses create a sense of obligation in the recipient and increase the likelihood that they will reciprocate by making a purchase.
Consistency
Consistency refers to the idea that people are more likely to follow through on a behaviour if they have committed in some way – in other words, their decisions remain consistent with previous actions.
Businesses can leverage this principle by encouraging people to make small commitments that lead to larger ones, such as offering a free trial in order to encourage purchase.
Social Proof
Social proof is the idea that people are more likely to do something if they see others doing it. We see this in action all the time – such as highlighting customer reviews or testimonials, or by showing how many people have already purchased a product.
The latter works because, when people see that a product is popular, they are more likely to want to try it for themselves, hence the use of phrases like “best-seller”. Influencer marketing is also founded on the principle of social proof, as well as authority.
Authority
People are more likely to follow the advice or recommendations of someone who is seen as an expert or authority figure. In addition, the association with authority increases the perceived value of the product or service.
This principle may be leveraged by highlighting the credentials or experience of the people behind a product /service or through endorsements from experts or celebrities.
For many businesses, their content strategy primarily serves to increase their perceived authority.
Liking
Liking refers to the idea that people are more likely to do something for someone they like or admire. Businesses can use this principle by creating a relatable brand persona that shares the audience’s values and, again, by using endorsements.
Scarcity
Finally, the scarcity principle states that people are more likely to want something if they believe it is rare or hard to obtain. Creating a sense of urgency (i.e., time-limited offers) or by limiting the availability of a product or service are both common scarcity tactics.
The Ethics of Persuasion in Marketing
While the principles of persuasion can be powerful, it’s important to note the ethical considerations involved.
Businesses must be transparent and truthful in their marketing messages; in fact, in some industries such as Health Tech and Financial Services, the demonstration of truthfulness is required by law.
Providing accurate information and highlighting the genuine benefits of their products or services allows businesses to create effective campaigns that are impactful yet ethical.
The use of data for persuasive purposes also requires careful consideration, especially when it comes to behavioral and psychographic segmentation. While these techniques can provide valuable insights, concerns arise when these insights are used to exploit vulnerable populations.
For example, consider the context of online gambling. Online gambling platforms could use sophisticated segmentation techniques to identify users who exhibit signs of excessive gambling or addictive tendencies.
By analysing their behavioral data, such as frequent visits to gambling websites, high spending patterns, or prolonged sessions, marketers can target these vulnerable individuals with personalised offers, incentives, and tailored messages that entice them to continue gambling.
While personalised offers in themselves may not be inherently unethical, exploiting vulnerable individuals in this context can have severe consequences, such as exacerbating addictions, increasing financial losses, and negatively impacting mental health. It is crucial for marketers targeting populations that may be susceptible to such types of risks to adopt responsible practices.
Finally, marketers must ensure that their persuasive strategies respect consumer autonomy and privacy. Transparency and informed consent are essential, allowing consumers to understand how their data is being collected, analysed, and used.
Conclusion
The power of persuasion in marketing lies in understanding the psychology behind consumer decisions. While consumer psychology is an extensive subject, this article has covered some fundamentals that any marketer can start using – the stages of decision-making, factors that influence decisions, and some principles of persuasion to use when developing marketing strategies and assets.
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