“This is obviously marketing !” — This is the reaction of most ordinary consumers when they see a marketing campaign.This article rethinks: Why do ordinary consumers dislike marketing and how to reduce this aversion.Recently, I saw the incident with Alipay's "Sesame Credit". Alipay circles such as "Campus Diary" only allow women to speak, and only men with a Sesame Credit score of 750 or above can comment. This was originally a very small feature, but it immediately aroused a lot of disgust:
"For marketing purposes, Alipay can do anything!"
"Alipay should just focus on financial management and payment, why is it engaging in social marketing? It's vulgar!"
"Haha, this is obviously a marketing trick."
Many marketers cannot understand why ordinary consumers are so disgusted with most marketing activities - "Marketing does not kill people or set fires. You don't lose anything by watching an advertisement. Why do you hate me?"Yes, for example, if an advertisement is added after an article in a public account , many people will start to criticize the author for being paid to write the article. But so what? It seems that he will not harm the interests of the readers by taking the money, but why are people so disgusted?Even in an advertising copywriting book I read before, there was a joke in which an advertiser made fun of himself:Before getting married, a man said to his fiancée: "Before getting married, I need to tell you the truth. Actually, my family conditions are not good. My uncle is a thief, my sister is a prostitute, I have a cousin who is a murderer, and my father was prosecuted for domestic violence..."The fiancée generously said, "Dear, it doesn't matter. I really love you. Is there anything else you haven't told me honestly?"The fiancé hesitated for a long time, swallowed his saliva and said, "Actually...actually, I have a younger brother who works in advertising."Why do people hate most marketing activities (such as advertising)?People hate this kind of behavior not because it is really harmful or immoral (otherwise you would see that there are far more people complaining about advertisements than about murderers), but because most advertisements and other marketing behaviors tend to arouse a typical feeling of disgust in people - "psychological resistance."For example, when you were a child, your classmates were all watching TV at home during the summer vacation, and you had finished your homework and were watching TV. As a result, your angry parents directly unplugged the power cord. At this time, what you felt inside was "psychological resistance."Then your parents come to you every day and tell you over and over again to "study hard" and "work hard and don't play around". You get tired of listening to them, and even as soon as your parents start to speak, you want to leave the dinner table and run to your bedroom and lock yourself in.Think about it, isn’t this feeling very similar to the feeling of constantly listening to the “Respect Your Parents, Nootropics” commercial? Is running to the bedroom alone similar to the behavior of changing the channel directly after seeing the commercial?In short, everyone wants to control their own lives and wants a certain degree of freedom. Whether it is some marketing activities, the nagging of your parents when you were a child, or even putting you in prison, they are all depriving you of your freedom in a way that you feel is unreasonable, causing you to have psychological resistance.(Picture: Imagine the feeling of scrolling through your Moments and seeing this ad)Is there any way to reduce this kind of "psychological resistance"?Of course there is. As long as we understand the nature of a phenomenon sufficiently, we will be able to find a suitable method.In fact, the psychological resistance caused by advertising and marketing is called the "advertising avoidance" phenomenon. A large number of studies have found that by solving the following four problems through various strategies, you can reduce advertising avoidance and make consumers less disgusted with your advertising:
Perceived obstacles to goal
Perceived ad clutter
Legitimacy of reasons
Perceiving control intentions
Here are the specific solutions:1. Perceive obstacles to your goalWhy are advertisements and marketing sometimes annoying and cause consumers to have psychological resistance?This is because the sudden appearance of advertisements often hinders what we originally wanted to do in the current scenario. For example, you are browsing Weibo, wanting to keep seeing various funny jokes, but you end up seeing a Weibo post from a XX phone saying "The flagship of the year, grand debut", which hinders you from achieving the goal you want to achieve now, so of course you will feel disgusted.What should I do then? Many people’s first reaction is to make the advertisement more thoughtful and more appealing.But in fact, as long as something blocks the goal we want to achieve in the current situation, we will feel disgusted even if it is something we like and love.For example, we often see in gangster movies that a gangster tycoon is particularly fond of beautiful women. But if the boss was talking to someone on the phone and a beautiful woman by the swimming pool tried to chat him up, he would be very annoyed and would kick the beautiful woman away.For example, imagine that you are concentrating on playing a game at home, and the game is in full swing, and your mother suddenly comes over and brings you a plate of your favorite fruit. At this time, do you really feel grateful or annoyed?In fact, many people will be annoyed - even if fruit is something you like to eat, but its appearance hinders your current goal (winning the game), you will be annoyed.Think about it carefully, doesn’t this feeling resemble the feeling you get when you see certain marketing?(For example, when you open Alipay, you originally expect to complete a task such as financial management, but a social-related marketing campaign suddenly pops up. Even if you like this campaign, you will feel annoyed because it hinders your goal of opening Alipay.)So how to solve it?In fact, the most important method is to make your marketing activities more like the tasks that users need to complete in this scenario, thereby reducing target obstacles.This means that you need to design your marketing campaigns based on the tasks that users perform in the context. (The following is a simple example):(1) Weibo scenarioIf you place an ad on Weibo, you need to ask: What do users want to do in the Weibo environment?Maybe they want to watch interesting jokes, so you should make the advertisement appear in the form of jokes.The reason why Durex and other companies’ marketing campaigns on Weibo did not cause resentment but instead attracted users’ attention is because of this reason—this was the task that users originally wanted to complete on Weibo.For example, in the 2012 Olympics, when Liu Xiang fell due to injury, Durex immediately said:“The fastest man is not the best. The one who perseveres to the end is the truly powerful man.” (No obstacles to the user’s goals in the Weibo environment)(2) WeChat Moments scenarioWhy is the same Weibo joke marketing not so popular in WeChat Moments?This is because the task that users need to complete in the circle of friends is not to read jokes, but to understand the dynamics of others. (Remember what I said before, even if it is something that users like, if it is not presented in the right context, it will hinder the user’s goal – just like the beautiful woman who suddenly appears when the boss is on the phone)Therefore, many successful advertisements in the circle of friends that do not cause offence are more like a friend’s words (for example, using an anthropomorphic tone).(Picture: A movie WeChat Moments ad , like a friend talking to you. This is what users have to do in the WeChat Moments scenario, and it does not hinder the user's goal)If you violate this point, it will easily cause resentment (because you are blocking other people's goals, if not resentment, who else would you be resentful of).(3) News client information flow advertisingFor example, if you want to place information flow ads in a news client, how should you reduce disgust?It’s very simple, just ask yourself: What tasks might the user want to complete in the news client scenario?Of course, to understand what is happening in the world.So the ads you design should naturally have this feature: like a news message, tell users what is happening in the world.For example, in the information flow advertising research group formed last week, there was a case in which Feidai, a company, had tried this.Using the same information flow advertising in Tencent News client, which one do you think will have a higher click-through rate and less user dislike?Article 1: Need money urgently? Feidai’s loan limit is up to 300,000 yuan, without collateral!Article 2: The Wall Street Journal published a full-page report saying Feidai is popular in the United States!Of course it’s the second one - the second one is more like a news that tells you what’s happening in the world, which is what users have to do in the news client itself.And if Feidai advertises on the Alipay APP (of course Alipay will definitely not agree), who would be less objectionable?Of course it is the first one, because the first one is more like the user’s goal in the Alipay environment, and there is less obstacle to perceiving the goal.(4) Focus Elevator AdvertisingLet’s assume another scenario. With Focus Media’s elevator advertising, what kind of feeling will the advertising have and how users will be less disgusted?Many people have tried to write heartfelt copy for targeted advertising, but the results have been average - nonsense, who would read a sentimental story or a joke on a wall? This is not a task we are likely to accomplish by ourselves when we look at a wall.So what idea should Focus Media follow for its elevator advertising?You just need to ask this question: Since ancient times, when users look at a wall, what information do they expect?Of course, I see more notifications on the wall. (Think about the feeling of revealing the imperial edict in ancient times)Therefore, many successful advertisements on Focus Media give people a subconscious sense of notification.For example, "For high-end decoration, use marble tiles instead of marble" - it seems to inform you that there is such a product.For example, a more straightforward photo I took a few days ago in a residential elevator:Now you understand: in any scenario, users always have a goal they want to achieve in that scenario. If your ad hinders this goal, even if they like you very much, they will be disgusted. (Just like a person who likes delicious food may be disgusted by the delicious food offered to him while playing games.)What you need to do is to make the advertisement more in line with the task that the user wants to complete in this scenario.Following this line of thought, you can find a way to reduce ad aversion in almost any scenario -TV ads make people feel like they are in a TV program; pre-movie ads make people feel like trailers; ads for influencers selling products should preferably show the influencers’ own experiences using the product (because people come to you just to see your experience); Baidu search ads make the title look like an answer…Now you understand why Alipay’s “Ant Credit Score” marketing is so offensive to people, right? Because many consumers go to Alipay for financial management and money transfers, if you jump out of a social-related marketing at this time, people will naturally be disgusted.And if this activity appears on Momo or even Huajiao Live , users may even praise it (because this is like a task completed by the users themselves on Momo, without creating any obstacles to their goals).In short, don’t bother users with things they don’t want to do in the current scenario, as this will really annoy them.2. Perceived ad clutterNow, please assume that you are an ordinary user. In the following two video interstitial advertising scenarios, decide which one you dislike more:
The 60-second ad at the beginning of an iQiyi video (without membership);
I was watching a TV series and at the 29th minute, a 5-second ad suddenly appeared (I didn’t buy a membership);
I tried it on my own team, and most people found the second option more offensive.But why? It’s clear that both types of ads hinder the user’s goal (as mentioned earlier), and the first ad is obviously longer?This is because although both types of ads interfere with users, the first type of ad is more certain (every time we open a video, we know there will be ads; this is a certain and default event).When a person faces a more certain event, he will be less likely to feel a "loss of control" and will be less disgusted.For example, suppose you are an elementary school student and you are also worried about being beaten. Which of the following two expressions makes you more uneasy?
You wait! After school on Thursday, I will find Big Bear from the next class to beat you up!
You wait! I'll find some people to beat you up in the next week!
Most of the time it's the latter, because the latter is less certain for you. As for the former, you already know the time (Thursday after school), location (near the classroom), strength comparison (Big Bear VS you), and severity (survey how severely Big Bear's beatings usually are) of the beatings you will receive, which actually increases your sense of control.Therefore, the same principle applies to marketing: if you must advertise to interfere with consumers' goals, then you should do so in a predictable and deterministic way so that consumers can anticipate your advertising.For example, like Xiaoma Song, every time the official account advertises, it will announce the advertisement in advance:(What’s even more valuable is that the advertising method and location are similar every time)Or there are more straightforward ones, which you will not easily feel disgusted with (because you have formed a sense of certainty and have expected it to be an advertisement before watching it):Another example is a well-known shampoo advertisement, which also bluntly talked about my advertising:"Actually, when I first heard about shooting a shampoo commercial, I refused at first..."There are also a lot of TV program sponsorships, and each time the list of sponsors is announced to everyone at a fixed time and at a fixed point.Some marketing activities or advertisements often appear when users least expect them, and are more likely to cause offence.For example, if Alipay’s startup page displayed advertisements every day, users would not be disgusted; but if they suddenly discovered a marketing campaign while using the service, they would easily be disgusted.This is also the reason why the WeChat business circle of friends is so disgusting: they turn your circle of friends into chocolate, and you never know whether the next one will be an advertisement.Therefore, in order to reduce disgust, one question that needs to be clarified is: before users watch it, have they anticipated the presence of advertisements?3. Legitimacy of reasonsAs mentioned before, the appearance of advertisements will essentially reduce people’s sense of control and make them feel disturbed, so we make advertisements similar to the goals in the user scenario (reducing perceived goal obstacles) and we make advertisements appear in a predictable form (increasing certainty). But even so, this disturbance still exists in reality. How to solve it?An important approach is to make sure that there are legitimate reasons for disturbing users.Think about how it feels when you cut in line. What would you say to others so that they would forgive you for cutting in line? (Essentially, your queue-jumping also interferes with others and reduces their sense of control)Of course, you have to find a reason. Studies have found that even a seemingly unreliable reason can increase the success rate of queue jumping , such as "Can I use the copier first, because I have something to copy." (Nonsense, who uses the copier to copy something?)But it works.In order to reduce users' aversion to your advertisements, you can also try to provide some legitimate reasons to reduce the feeling that you are bothering me because you are in a hurry to sell something!Generally speaking, there are some common ways to provide legitimate reasons:(1) Reciprocity: Watching the ad is your reward for our free product.For example, I saw a video website that said:"My dear readers, our programmers are still waiting for the advertising fees to pay their salaries and buy lunch boxes."It’s like telling you: We developed the product for you, and in return, you should also watch the ad.After all, one should be grateful for what one has received and should be grateful for what one has received. Since you have used someone else's products, you should also take a good look at the advertisements.(2) Relevant to you: Watch the ad because the information is useful to youIf the advertisement is designed so that users feel that it appears to meet a certain need of mine, rather than because "you are eager to sell something", it will reduce the disgust.For example, between the two ads below, which one do you think reduces disgust?"China's leading mobile loan APP!""It's hard to get a loan from a Beijing bank? Borrow 100,000 yuan with interest as low as 0.1%!"It is obvious that there is little objection later because we started from the problems encountered by users and had "legitimate reasons".(3) Values marketing: Watch the ad and join me in supporting the right thingImagine you are interrupted while playing a game and you are upset, but you hear this reason:"Only caring about yourself? When you were a child, your mother took you to see the doctor. Now that you've grown up, your mother caught a cold in the hospital and you didn't even go to see her?"Your anger at being interrupted may disappear immediately.The same goes for advertising: you’re going to disturb users anyway, and if you provide a reason that “contributes to a better world,” users may be more likely to accept the disturbance.For example, during the Greek economic crisis, an organization wanted to post an advertisement on Twitter to call on people to donate to Greece. Under normal circumstances, people might be disgusted.Then they did this activity:A software has been developed to calculate how many English words in the social information posted by Twitter users are derived from Greek roots. By posting a tweet through this plug-in, you can donate to out-of-school children: for every word derived from Greek roots in the content posted, 0.1 euros will be donated to Greek schools, just like charging copyright fees for downloading genuine games and songs.In this way, the donation is equivalent to paying copyright fees to Greece, which is of course justified! (Borrowed from the idea that Westerners have a strong sense of copyright)Similarly, in order to make people pay attention to the "Zhima Credit" score, Alipay should not let people understand that this is an activity designed to "lay out Ali's financial strategy", but should let people bind it with a legitimate reason, such as:"We always envy the United States for having a sound credit system, but such a credit system does not appear out of thin air. So we accumulate and display Sesame Credit scores and become the founder of China's credit system."In short, provide users with legitimate reasons (it can’t be just to sell things), and they will be less averse to marketing.4. Perceiving control intentionsIf users think that you are doing something intentionally to manipulate their choices, they will be more likely to develop psychological resistance and thus dislike your marketing behavior.For example, the same mobile phone limited sale, which of the following is more offensive:
Lei Jun : "The production capacity of Xiaomi Mix is really not enough, Mi fans, I'm sorry!"
Lei Jun: "The reason why Xiaomi Mix is limited for purchase is because it helps to increase the sense of participation of Mi fans. Didn't Ali write a book called "Sense of Participation" before?"
Everyone knows that the latter is of course more disgusting. Why?As mentioned before, the essence of psychological resistance is "unreasonable deprivation of the sense of control." If you make users feel that you are using starvation marketing, they will feel that they are being controlled by others and become disgusted.Therefore, another important way for advertising and marketing to reduce disgust is: don’t let them feel that you are consciously manipulating their choices.In addition to "making users think that you are forced to do something", an important popular technique in recent years is "reverse marketing" - not blindly saying good things about yourself, but admitting your shortcomings and letting users make their own choices.For example, many people question the inapplicability of convertibles. Instead of refuting, it is better to admit it, so Minicooper said:So, to reduce perceived manipulation intentions, it is not the traditional over-commitment approach that is important:
"No matter how beautiful the words are, it is not excessive to praise this phone."
“Subvert your experience!”
"Respect your parents, Melatonin" (users feel that you are manipulating my behavior)
Instead, we proactively put the facts in front of users and give them the opportunity to make independent judgments.ConclusionThere is nothing wrong with marketing. Without marketing, various innovative products may remain in the factory and find it difficult to be truly accepted by users and change their lives. But most users do hate marketing, and there are a number of ways you can reduce that hate:
Reduce perceived goal barriers and make content consistent with user scenario goals
Improve the certainty of advertising and give users clear expectations
Find a good reason, not just to sell products
Reduce the intention of manipulation and let consumers make their own judgment
Mobile application product promotion service: APP promotion service Qinggua Media advertising
This article was compiled and published by @李叫兽( Qinggua Media ). Please indicate the author information and source when reprinting!
