Consumer Behaviour Psychology

Consumer behaviours are often complex, involving many factors that contribute to the decision-making process. By understanding the psychology behind this process, marketers can tailor advertising to their target audience on a more personal level, while ensuring their products meet their consumer’s needs.

Before making a purchase, consumers move through a series of stages: recognising a problem, searching for information, evaluating the alternatives and finally making the purchase. A number of psychological factors influence consumer decisions at each of these stages.

Emotional Triggers

A consumer will make decisions based on how they are feeling. In fact, around 86% of our purchase decisions are influenced by our emotions as we aim to meet a subconscious need or desire. For example, positive emotions can lead to spontaneous purchases and impulse buys while negative emotions such as fear can lead to safety purchases or sticking to familiar brands. Advertisers can use emotional triggers to create a strong connection with their brand.

Social Influence And Culture

As a consumer, our choices are heavily influenced by our culture and by other people such as our friends and family. Traditions, societal norms and shared beliefs are an important part of a consumer’s choice to buy and ‘fit in’ with social expectations. If we are uncertain about a choice, we are more likely to go with a product that has been given social proof by people we trust. Marketers can use influential celebrities or customer reviews to help reassure consumers and create this sense of trust.

Consumer Cognitive Biases

Learned biases can affect our judgements on a subconscious level, influencing our shopping habits, brand loyalty and consumer behaviour. We are often presented with so much choice and information when deciding on a product that our brains often take short-cuts to make the process faster. During heuristic decision making, consumers usually agree that higher-priced items are often perceived as having higher quality, thereby lowering the risk of bad decision. Customers also tend to stick with familiar or popular brands when feeling indecisive.

Ethical Considerations

Research shows a consumer will prioritise their decisions based on a company’s ethical standing, and this is especially true with millennials and generation Z. Consumers are now considering other criteria such as human rights, environmental approaches and sustainable practices when choosing a brand and businesses have realised that demonstrating these desirable values helps to foster trust and life-long customers. A phenomenon known as conspicuous ethics has become more prominent in recent decades, where the consumer is willing to pay more for a product for the feeling of superior ethical responsibility.

Nowadays, it is very easy for the consumer to gain access to information and values about a brand or product. Businesses must continually adapt to evolving needs as their customers become more discerning and their decision-making priorities change.