Working With, Not Against, Consumer Psychology

Working With, Not Against, Consumer Psychology

Noah Rue 14/06/2022
Working With, Not Against, Consumer Psychology

Most of today’s consumers aren’t mindlessly following trends.

While fads come and go, there’s more to marketing than the hopes that people will “follow along” with a specific campaign or viral strategy. 

Trends are important, but marketers need to understand that psychology also plays a major role in what drives humans toward certain spending habits. 

If you work in sales or marketing, understanding that psychology is important to creating successful campaigns and predicting what will work and what might flop before it actually comes to fruition. By working with the psychology of consumers instead of against it, you can help your company or client see steady growth and retention.  

So, what does consumer psychology look like, and how can you utilize it? 

How Psychology Impacts Consumers

Teamwork Psychology

No matter how long you’ve worked in sales or marketing, you’re still a consumer. You’re not immune to certain advertisements or trends, and you’ve also undoubtedly made purchases based on psychology — perhaps without realizing it. 

There are specific psychological factors that influence consumer behavior: 

  1. Motivation: what internally drives someone to make a purchase.

  2. Perception: how certain brands or items are viewed.

  3. Learning: what a consumer learns about your brand can influence behavior.

  4. Attitude and belief systems: these are deep-seated feelings that affect all of the above.

Car buying is a perfect example of consumer psychology at work. For many, stereotypes of a sneaky salesman come to mind, trying to raise the price on a car or offer some kind of “lemon” instead of a quality vehicle. That hasn’t been the car buying experience for millions of people, and most car dealerships are quality, high-class establishments. 

Unfortunately, it takes a long time for cultural stereotypes and misconceptions to change. It’s part of consumer psychology. While some perceptions have changed over time thanks to upgrades to car dealerships and online options, it’s still easy for people to be overly cautious or distrusting when they’re trying to buy a vehicle. 

Reading the Room

Consumer behavior tends to shift depending on the state of the world. For the last two years, we’ve been dealing with a global pandemic. We all remember the great “toilet paper shortage” at the onset of COVID-19, and while it might seem ridiculous now, it’s a good example of how people’s perceptions change based on times of crisis

The pandemic, to continue using the same example, changed the way many people will shop forever. We’ve seen a rise in things like: 

  • Automation

  • Online shopping

  • Subscription services/delivery services

  • Increased customer engagement

If you want to keep up with consumer trends, being able to “read the room” in times of turbulence is important. That might mean getting creative with your supply chain or automating more of your services. You might consider using chatbots on your website to provide better customer service, or hiring more people to manage your social media accounts. People’s buying habits will change with the state of the world, so it’s important to have your finger on the pulse of whatever social, environmental, or political event is taking place — whether it’s good or bad. 

Meeting Consumers Where They’re At

Self Regulatory Consumption

In addition to reading where we are in times of crisis, it’s important to understand what consumers have grown to expect. If your marketing efforts don’t line up with what people have become used to and comfortable with, they’ll be ignored. 

Nowadays, that means focusing on things like snappy, relevant content, personal engagement, and marketing for short attention spans. Research has shown that your brand has about 7  seconds to make a lasting impression on a consumer. How are you going to utilize that time? 

By using photos, short videos, easy-to-read content, and not overloading your audience with excessive information, consumers will be more appreciative of your efforts and more likely to keep reading/viewing. Keep your messages short, clear, and to the point. However, make sure the content you create isn’t thin either. You can avoid this by telling strong stories and using different types of visual content to share your message, including:

Your goal should be “snackable” content, rather than trying to deliver your audience a full meal. Short paragraphs, bullet points, stats, and quotes are what people are looking for. When you’re willing to meet your consumers where they’re most comfortable, you’re more likely to retain them as customers. 

There’s more to buying behaviors and habits than most people realize. If you choose to acknowledge consumer psychology and use it as a resource in your marketing strategy, you’ll be one step ahead of your competitors. More importantly, you’ll be ahead of every upcoming trend, instead of following behind. 

Share this article

Leave your comments

Post comment as a guest

0
terms and condition.
  • No comments found

Share this article

Noah Rue

Digital Expert

Noah Rue is a writer, a digital nomad, an ESL teacher, and an all around good dude, if he doesn’t say so himself.

   
Save
Cookies user prefences
We use cookies to ensure you to get the best experience on our website. If you decline the use of cookies, this website may not function as expected.
Accept all
Decline all
Read more
Analytics
Tools used to analyze the data to measure the effectiveness of a website and to understand how it works.
Google Analytics
Accept
Decline