Brand marketing: 15 common consumer psychology and corresponding marketing strategies

There are many kinds of consumer psychology, and many articles on the Internet also provide relevant explanations, but there is no comprehensive integration of consumer psychology. The article integrates common consumer psychology, hoping to help everyone.

In this customer-first era, if sellers want to carve out a new niche in the sales market, they need to fully grasp the consumption psychology of their customers. As the saying goes, "Attacking the heart is better than attacking the city", "Psychological warfare is better than military warfare", it is very important to capture the hearts of consumers.

From branding, positioning to differentiation, from pricing, promotion to integrated marketing, all of them are taking actions targeted at consumers' psychology. Today's marketing will increasingly rely on understanding and catering to consumer psychology, thereby influencing consumers and ultimately achieving product sales. Therefore, consumer psychology is an important part of our marketing tactics execution. How to make good use of the consumer psychology of potential customers is the underlying strategy for our tactical formulation.

For example, in pricing strategies, we will take advantage of consumers’ desire to get a bargain. After launching a new product, many businesses first raise the price of the product by a certain amount, and then use anniversary celebrations, discount activities, membership activities, etc. to make users feel that they are getting a good deal.

There are many kinds of consumer psychology, and many articles on the Internet also provide relevant explanations, but there is no comprehensive integration of consumer psychology. The author has integrated common consumer psychology in the following article, hoping to help everyone.

I divide consumer psychology into more than ten categories: fear psychology, herd psychology, authority psychology, taking advantage psychology, greed psychology, comparison psychology, scarcity psychology, anchoring effect, persuasion psychology, loss psychology, reciprocity psychology, goal approach psychology, middle item psychology, and realism psychology.

1. Fear

People have fears of poverty, obesity, illness, loss of love, old age, death, and danger. When we face these fears, we will seek ways to resolve them. Major businesses also market their products by igniting or amplifying your fear.

The smog in Beijing is very serious. Some mask merchants are peddling fear: before the smog, there were 1,000 cases of lung cancer in Beijing. After the smog, the number increased by 50% every year. XXX masks purify the smog through 10 layers of filtration and prevent it from entering the human body, making it safer and healthier.

Merchants misinterpreted the harmful effects of radiation from electronic products and household appliances on pregnant women and fetuses, and "anti-radiation clothing for pregnant women" became a hot seller. Search for anti-radiation clothing for pregnant women on Taobao, check the product sales, and look at the product details, all of which will tell you about the dangers of radiation and amplify your fear of radiation.

So, how can businesses use fear to market?

There are two steps:

• First, find out the user’s fear points. What are users afraid of? In terms of education, parents are afraid that their children will fall behind others; in terms of women, they are afraid of becoming fat and losing their youth as time goes by; in terms of men, they are afraid of their sexual abilities. These are the most immediate fears. Businesses need to look within these consumer fears.
• Second, give the most direct solution. "Anti-radiation clothing for pregnant women" directly tells consumers that we are targeting pregnant women and can emit radiation. It is simple, direct and crude. For example, the Jingqi flagship store on Tmall has the slogan "Protect against radiation, wear Jingqi".

2. Herd mentality

The herd mentality is also called the herd effect. In economics, the "herd effect" is often used to describe the herd mentality of economic individuals. A flock of sheep is a very disorganized organization. Normally, they rush around blindly together. But once a leading sheep starts moving, the other sheep will follow without thinking, completely ignoring the possibility of a wolf ahead or better grass not far away. Therefore, the "herd effect" is a metaphor for the fact that people have a herd mentality, which can easily lead to blind obedience, and blind obedience often leads to scams or failure.

Consumers tend to follow the crowd in many purchasing decisions. For example: when shopping, they prefer to go to crowded stores; when choosing brands, they tend to prefer those with a high market share; when choosing tourist destinations, they tend to prefer hot cities and hot routes.

For example, the Jingqi flagship store on Tmall that sells "Anti-radiation Clothing for Pregnant Women" has a very good ranking on Taobao due to its large sales volume. Through large sales volume and positive reviews, every person who enters the store has a very high conversion rate.

When Heytea was first launched on the market, it hired a lot of part-time workers to queue up for purchases. Many consumers saw that there were so many people queuing up, and then they also went to buy. This also takes advantage of consumers' herd mentality.

3. Authority psychology

Consumers' respect for authority is often reflected in their consumption patterns in which the emotional component of decision-making far outweighs the rational component. This kind of admiration for authority often leads consumers to choose the products consumed by the authority without reason, and then personify the consumer, thus achieving the best-selling of the product. Common ones are celebrity endorsements, live broadcasts by internet celebrities, community leaders, KOLs, etc.

The most common use of authoritative psychology in our lives is the "Health Column". The health column hires well-known domestic health experts to explain health knowledge and recommend health products. Many middle-aged and elderly people are very willing to buy these products.

Like Jingqi flagship store, he uses your authority psychology in this way:

• In 2011, AC Nielsen, a leading global market research organization, rated Jingqi as one of the top ten radiation-proof maternity wear brands.
• In 2012, Jingqi anti-radiation clothing ranked first on major e-commerce platforms such as JD.com, Dangdang.com and No.1 Store.
• The most popular brand of anti-radiation clothing on Baidu search rankings in 2014.
• Ranked first among the “Top Ten Global Brands” of Anti-Radiation Clothing in 2014.

The display of these data tells consumers that I am the authority on anti-radiation maternity wear and that I am the best brand in the industry. Consumers will buy based on the psychology of authority.

4. The mentality of taking advantage

People who love to take advantage of small bargains have a strong desire for possession psychologically, and this desire for possession will produce a corresponding sense of satisfaction every time they get a small bargain. The desire to take advantage of others exists in our human nature to a greater or lesser extent.

Various businesses have also taken advantage of this mentality of consumers and carried out many corresponding activities, such as: gifts, free trials, discounts, clearance sales, big sales, 50% off, free eggs in pharmacies, etc.

In the e-commerce industry, the following routines are often used:

• Store or product discounts, set coupons, free shipping when the amount reaches a certain amount, etc.
• Large-scale events such as National Day and Double 12, store anniversary events
• Official shopping coupons for full discounts, pay XXX and get XXX for free
• …

These related marketing tactics are all designed to make you feel cheap and give you a sense of getting a bargain. E-commerce needs to reserve more than 40% of price space for promotions in order to satisfy the psychology of customers. In fact, they all want to tell you that it’s on sale now, otherwise it will be gone if you miss it.

5. Greed

• Greed in the stock market. In the stock market, everyone knows to buy low and sell high, but many people are unwilling to stop even after making a 10% or 20% profit, and get stuck when the stock market falls. Not only did he lose 10% of his earnings, but he was left with only 50% of his original capital.
• Greed in life. Slot machines, gambling, free gifts, one person losing money and another picking it up to split the money with you to cheat you, and 1 yuan lottery draws all take advantage of human greed. In the end, you will often find that you are being induced and trapped step by step.

Greed is human nature, greed is the devil. These companies take advantage of consumers' greed and set up corresponding routines to defraud people's money.

As long as you have ever consumed something, you must have fallen into the trap of discounts and free trials offered by various merchants. Although everyone knows that there is no free lunch in the world, when you see something you might need under a sign like "clearance sale, big sale, up to 50% off", you can't help but get excited and agitated, and quickly convince yourself to make extra, excessive or advance consumption that you don't need.

The mentality of taking advantage is somewhat similar to the mentality of greed, but the mentality of greed is an upgraded version of the mentality of taking advantage. Once people fall into the mentality of greed, they are likely to suffer great losses. Buying lottery tickets, speculating in stocks, playing finance, drawing raffles, gambling, playing slot machines, etc., all involve the greedy mentality of trying to get a big return with a small investment.

Recently, Lei Jun held a retweet lottery event on Weibo, which to some extent tapped into people's greed.

6. Comparative psychology

The competitive mentality is also called face mentality and jealousy mentality. The demonstration effect of high consumption by wealthy people and the influence of consumers' own "face consumption" psychology activate consumers' consumption behaviors and lead to mutual comparison. This mentality can easily lead to strange phenomena such as chasing after consumer hotspots, over-consumption due to debt, and even panic buying.

The comparison psychology of customers when purchasing products is based on their identification with their own class, identity and status, and thus they choose people in their class as a reference and thus exhibit consumption behavior. For customers with a competitive mentality, when purchasing products, the psychological factor that the products bring to them far outweighs the practical factor. For customers, comparison is about "possession" - you have it and I have it too.

For example, if you are in the office and a bunch of girls are talking about high-end cosmetics, lipsticks, and bags, and some of them even take them out to show you, but you have nothing, you will be jealous and compare with others, and make purchases that are beyond your means. You will save money with great difficulty just to buy a bag, or even take out loans to buy luxury goods. Just like the young people a long time ago who sold their kidneys to buy iPhones, it was all because of the competitive mentality.

In the marketing process, how can we use the psychology of comparison to achieve marketing?

For example, when selling household appliances, the salesperson can offer customers three types of appliances, priced at 300 yuan, 600 yuan, and 800 yuan. In fact, in actual use, there is no qualitative difference between them, but the salesperson's statement to the customer should reflect the difference: "If you want to buy, buy a decent one. Not only will it be durable, but it will also look classy when placed at home and will not become outdated after a few years of use. If it is too low-grade, your friends will look down on you and you will have to replace it in a few years..."

Making a fuss about the grade of the products being sold is also a means of taking advantage of people's "comparative" psychology.

For example, if customer A gives a discount coupon to customer B, when B comes to activate it, you can take advantage of the comparison mentality and say to customer B: "Your friend A is our VIP customer, so you are also our VIP guest, and you can have the same rights as him. As long as you fill in another 140 yuan, then..."

7. Scarcity

In consumer psychology, people call the change in purchasing behavior caused by “scarcity makes things valuable” the “scarcity effect.”

Xiaomi's hunger marketing, limited quantity (only 100 sets nationwide), limited time (payment within 24 hours), and limited number of people (one person can only buy one) all take advantage of consumers' scarcity psychology.

When selling goods, people often use "one-time big sale" or "clearance sale" to lure customers and encourage them to increase their purchasing behavior.

The most widely used scarcity psychology in marketing is hunger marketing, and a famous case in the marketing industry is Xiaomi’s hunger marketing. Merchants can intentionally reduce production to create a supply-demand imbalance, which can not only maintain the product image but also increase product sales, prices, and profit margins to a certain extent.

Xiaomi mobile phone hunger marketing case (early stage):

The supply of Xiaomi mobile phones is tight, and only twelve thousand people can get a real phone every time it is released. Regarding the tight supply of Xiaomi mobile phones, Lei Jun once said that a large number of high-end customized components are very complicated in the production process and it is difficult to meet the needs of users for the time being. As for the tight supply of Xiaomi mobile phones, we all know that this is just Lei Jun's hunger marketing.

You should know that when Xiaomi mobile phones were first launched on the market, according to the announcement previously issued by Xiaomi Technology, the first batch of users who pre-ordered Xiaomi mobile phones will pay according to the ranking order and complete the payment-shipping-receipt process. The Xiaomi phone is priced at 1999, which does not bring much profit, and this price is just to attract other people's attention. When everyone was paying attention to Xiaomi phones, Xiaomi phones were in short supply again.

At that time, many netizens posted on the Xiaomi forum asking for reservation numbers. It seems that the hunger marketing effect has been achieved. Xiaomi has done a good job of early publicity, and when everyone is interested in buying, Xiaomi announced that the supply of Xiaomi mobile phones is insufficient.

8. Anchoring Effect

The anchoring effect refers to the fact that when people make judgments about someone or something, they are easily influenced by the first impression or the first information, which fixes people's thoughts somewhere like an anchor sinking to the bottom of the sea. As a psychological phenomenon, the anchoring effect is prevalent in all aspects of life. First impressions and preconceptions are its manifestations in social life.

Generally speaking, when people make decisions, their thinking is often influenced by the first information they get, just like an anchor sinking to the bottom of the sea, fixing your thinking somewhere. The psychological effect of using a restrictive word or regulation to guide behavior and achieve behavioral results is called the "anchoring effect."

In terms of marketing, major businesses can conduct marketing through anchoring effects such as comparison and reference.

The anchoring effect in life is used to sell tomatoes:

When you go to the market to buy tomatoes, you will usually ask, "Are the tomatoes sour?" The farmer will tell the buyer with certainty, "The green ones are sour, the red ones are not!" Then, after picking, you pay and leave satisfied.

After a while, all the red tomatoes were bought out and the remaining ones were a little green. Another buyer asked, "Are tomatoes sour?" The farmer answered confidently, "Small tomatoes are sour, but large tomatoes are not."

The big tomatoes were also sold out. Then another buyer came to ask, "Are the tomatoes sour?" The farmer answered confidently, "The ones with hard skin are sour, the ones with soft skin are not sour!"

…

In our perception, tomatoes are divided into two types: sour and non-sour. Vegetable farmers constantly change the "anchor point" based on the characteristics of the remaining tomatoes, using preemptive rhetoric to guide buyers' decisions and complete purchases.

The "anchoring effect" becomes invalid after the "new anchor point" appears, but no matter how it changes, there will always be an "anchor point" that affects your decision-making.

Starbucks large and medium cups:

Whenever we go to a coffee shop or milk tea shop, we are always asked the same question: Do you want a large or medium cup?

Once I blurted out that I wanted a small cup, and the clerk politely replied: Sorry, we don’t have small cups. Do they really not have small cups?

Take the familiar Starbucks for example. Some stores are indeed only equipped with three types of cups: medium, large, and extra large. But not all stores have small cups. As a hidden item, it is obvious that small cups are not "mainstream products", so they are well hidden by the store clerks using the anchoring effect.

This kind of preemptive rhetoric is called "anchoring". By asking "large or medium" instead of directly asking "which cup size do you need", it gives a psychological hint of choice and guides your decision.

Common uses of anchoring effect are:

• Large or medium?
• Do you want this one or that one?
• The high price is crossed out with a discount, and a low price with a purchase limit of 5 pieces is written next to it, which sells better than other products;
• Compare prices with other similar products;
• Compare data with other similar products;
• If you want your product to be high-end, you can put goods next to gemstones;
• …

9. The desire to show off

Showing off is the act of declaring the satisfaction that I or our things are better than others in an ostentatious or even provocative manner. The upgraded form of the self-show-off mentality is the competitive mentality.

People who show off lack a sense of security in life and living. They try to find a sense of life by showing off themselves. People who lack a sense of security generally have too strong self-esteem. However, one's own abilities are always limited. When they think they cannot surpass others, or do not know how to surpass themselves in this group, or lack self-confidence, they will take a special way to highlight their own value.

There are common self-showing psychology in life:

• I have studied abroad, learned some foreign languages, and like to speak a mixture of Chinese and English;
• After having a delicious meal at an internet-famous restaurant, I posted it on WeChat Moments, telling others how hard it was to queue up and how delicious the meal was.

Some people have had some pretty amazing experiences and always want to show off in front of others. In marketing, we can take advantage of users' desire to show off.

Merchants can list the capital that customers can show off. The capital you show off is also the capital that customers can show off. If customers don’t know where to show off, you have to teach them.

Cake shop case:

For example, a cake shop launches a recharge offer, spending 168 yuan and getting 499 yuan for free. What can he get?

1. The top-up amount of 150 yuan can be spent at will;
2. A cake costs 10 yuan, and the price is 49 yuan.
3. Give a birthday cake worth 100 yuan every year for three consecutive years.

So what’s the point of showing off?

"XX has booked my birthday cakes for three consecutive years. They were all priced at over 100 yuan and were free. I am their VIP." Is that it?

Then his friends would not be very envious, and the customer's desire to show off was satisfied. So if you want to make a deal, then as a merchant, you must at least find one point that can make customers brag about it. Without this point, it will be difficult to break through.

When merchants make sales proposals, they need to have a sharing link, or a fission link, to give customers the opportunity to share the benefits they have gained. This not only satisfies the customers' desire to show off, but also makes the customers the focus of the circle, and can also achieve viral fission of the merchants.

Merchants need to learn how to stimulate consumers to show off, such as organizing activities based on the above: giving away 5 discount coupons at the same time, so that you can buy a cake with an original price of 49 yuan for only 29 yuan, and also give away XX gift with a market price of 69 yuan, and the cost price is controlled at around 15 yuan. You can tell the customer to give it to his friend. As long as all five discount coupons are activated, the three-year cake will be extended to five years. At this time…

Taking advantage of consumers' desire to show off and then conducting corresponding activities to achieve fission marketing is something that companies can consider when doing communication.

10. Reciprocity

The principle of reciprocity is to create a sense of indebtedness in others, increase mutual trust, reduce the difficulty of closing deals, and encourage potential customers to buy.

In the book "Influence", the first principle of influence discussed is the "reciprocity principle". The principle of reciprocity states that we should try to repay others in the same way for everything they do for us.

Because of the influence of the principle of reciprocity, we feel obligated to return favors, gifts, invitations, etc. that we receive in the future.

There is also an old saying in our country: "If you eat someone's food, you will be soft-hearted; if you take someone's things, you will feel guilty." This is because the principle of reciprocity can make others feel unnecessary guilt, increase their trust in you, and repay their sense of responsibility.

We can often see the application of the principle of reciprocity in our lives:

• If a friend often helps you and suddenly asks you to borrow 1,000 yuan, you will lend it to him in most cases (except when you have no money);
• If a friend often treats you to a meal, you will definitely find some way to repay him (also treat him to a meal, buy him something);
• Many fake monks will come to your door and give you a small blessing bag for free, wishing you safety, and then take out a small notebook and ask you to make a donation, and you will give 10 or 20 yuan.

These all utilize the principle of reciprocity.

A few years ago, a friend who runs a tea shop asked me how to sell his tea. I gave him an idea based on the principle of reciprocity:

When a customer comes to buy tea, if he buys tea worth 200 yuan per catty, I will give her half a catty of tea worth 500 yuan per catty as a gift; if he buys tea worth 1,000 yuan per catty, I will give him half a catty of tea worth 2,000 yuan per catty as a gift. Customers can drink the good tea slowly after returning home. They can make good tea when they have nothing to do and will become addicted if they drink it more. After drinking tea that costs 500 yuan, I won’t want to drink tea that costs 200 yuan. No matter how expensive the tea he buys is, I will give him half a catty of better quality tea as a gift.

In this way, the same tea buyer can spend 2-3 times more on tea in his store in a year, and the overall annual sales increase by 2-3 times. Later, I suggested that he pack the tea in exquisite small cans and give them away free of charge as samples to customers who purchased them. His tea shop business became even better.

The principle of reciprocity has many applications in marketing:

• When you buy clothes, the salesperson praises you to the skies, and once you are praised, you will often buy the clothes;
• After entering the store, scan the code and follow the official account. The store will give you a small doll for free, and you will buy some additional products.
• Eggs are given away for free in supermarkets, and you will buy extra daily necessities in addition to the eggs;
• Free trials, sample applications, free tastings in supermarkets, etc. are all marketing methods that utilize the principle of reciprocity.

The application of the principle of reciprocity can be applied not only between acquaintances, but also to strangers or people we don’t like very much. As long as the other party gives us a little favor and then makes additional requests, we will find it difficult to refuse and will agree to their requests.

11. Loss Psychology

Loss psychology: People are more sensitive to loss than to gain.

Speaking of the psychology of loss, let me give you the example of “chasing girls”.

A boy had been pursuing a girl, and after failing to confess his love, he drank to drown his sorrows. Then I chased her for several years and never gave up, but still failed to get her.

After we see such things, most of the onlookers will think: This man is so nice, this man is so infatuated, this man loves girls so much...

Is this really the case?

In fact, many times it is just unwillingness, which is called "loss psychology" in marketing. After pursuing the woman for so long, the man feels that he has given a lot and is eager to get the woman's return (to be with him). Especially after pursuing her for a long time, if the man stops pursuing her, he will feel that he has lost a lot, including the time, energy, money, etc. The pain of loss is so great that it serves to numb oneself.

Just imagine, if the girl suddenly agreed one day, could the boy really love her as much as he imagined? The fact is not necessarily.

People's decisions under uncertain conditions seem to depend not on the results themselves but on the "gap between the results and the assumptions." That is to say, when making decisions, people always measure them from their own perspective or reference standards to determine the trade-offs of the decision.

When we buy a certain product, or have a strong desire to own something, we subconsciously think that we already own the product. Once we do not get it for various reasons, we will have a sense of loss, which is very painful.

Gambling example:

For example, if a gambler goes to a casino to gamble and carries 3,000 US dollars with him, and he wins 100 yuan, it may not be a big deal to ask him to leave the casino; but if he loses 100 yuan, it may be difficult to ask him to leave the casino. The "unpleasant feeling" brought to this person by losing 100 yuan is stronger than the "pleasant feeling" brought by winning 100 yuan. As the "amount of value" increases, this "positive and negative feeling" will also escalate. The "feeling" of "disgust with loss" will be much stronger than the "feeling" of "getting value" at a certain stage.

People are “loss averse”. The pain of loss is far greater than the satisfaction of gain!

Therefore, "loss aversion" can cause some gamblers to have a "mentality" of trying their best to avoid losses "at all costs" when they lose money. With this kind of "mentality", they are unable to grasp their gradually lost "rationality" and insist on clinging to the "already lost situation". In the end, they "lose more and more" until they "lose everything".

Other examples:

For example, if you are inviting someone to dinner and have to choose between a familiar restaurant and a newly opened restaurant, most people will choose the familiar restaurant. We pass up opportunities for new food and dining experiences because we’re afraid the new restaurant won’t suit our taste or the service won’t be good.

For example, when a relationship has reached a dead end, it is always difficult for us to say goodbye. Because you have invested too much time, energy and emotion in this relationship, if you let go, all of this will become a loss. But after struggling to hold on, will the losses be recovered? Of course not. Most of the time, the final result is still breakup. The loss will not be reduced. On the contrary, the period of struggling will cause you to lose more.

Another example is a popular saying recently: "You may not succeed if you work hard, but if you don't work hard, you will have it easy." This is also a disguised form of "loss aversion" psychology. When we are afraid that our efforts will be wasted and become "losses" after failure, and therefore choose to live in comfort, it is obvious that we will never achieve success.

Suppose you work very hard and your boss promises to give you a raise, but in the end your boss does not give you a raise. At this time, although you are still the same as before and have not lost anything, you will be very disappointed, very upset, and even very angry. Interestingly, if your boss had not made any promises to you in the first place, you would not have had these negative emotions.

So, how do businesses use the psychology of loss to do marketing?

For example, if you buy a computer for 3999 yuan, in fact, the purchase of the computer, the mouse, and one year of free repairs are all included in the package. The merchant can say "Buy a computer for 3999 yuan, and get a headset, a high-end mouse pad, and one year of free on-site repairs for free." Do not include the price of the headset, on-site repairs, etc. in the 3999 yuan.

• For example: the merchant says "buy XXX for 3,000 yuan and shipping is free" instead of "the total amount is 3,000 yuan, of which you spent 2,995 yuan on XXX and the postage is 5 yuan".
• For example: increase the price of noodles by 1 yuan, and then tell consumers "eat noodles and get a 2 yuan boiled egg for free."

Consumers can easily obtain a product or service at a very low cost or even at no cost, and then use some methods to encourage consumers to keep the product. This is the essence of marketing using the psychology of loss.

12. Goal Approach Psychology

The closer we are to a goal, the more willing we are to achieve it at all costs. This is called the goal proximity effect in psychology. This psychological effect is an upgraded version of the sunk cost effect and is often more difficult to avoid. It is also used more frequently in daily life. For example, every time you install software, the first half is installed very quickly, while the second half is often very slow. This setting is a small application.

There is also a lot of goal-approaching psychology in life. My wife got pregnant in March this year. In the first four or five months of pregnancy, she didn't feel anything about having a baby. But when it came to the eighth and ninth months, my wife wanted to give birth to the baby quickly. At this moment, he regarded having a child as one of his goals, and the closer he got, the more he wanted to accomplish it.

So, how do we use target approach psychology in marketing?

Almost all fitness apps and learning apps have “ daily sign-in” and “daily check-in” functions . Although daily check-ins are a form of instant feedback that can constantly motivate you and allow you to persevere, while also enhancing user stickiness, this effect is mainly in the early stages.

When the clock-in enters the middle and late stages, the effect of reaching the goal will become increasingly important, and you will only hear one voice: "We are halfway to the goal!" "We are almost there to achieve this month's goal!" "Last 5 days!".

Then there is a "temptation function" in the APP for checking in. Sign in for 7 days to receive XX points, which can be used for a lottery; sign in for XX days or more, and you can redeem XXX, etc. While taking advantage of the target approach psychology, it also takes advantage of consumers' desire to get a bargain.

13. Middle Term Psychology

The "golden mean" among the crowd. The middle term effect and the anchoring effect are similar in many aspects. Their most fundamental difference is that the anchoring effect mainly uses the contrast between reference objects to create illusions in people's judgment system, while the middle term effect is more about people's pursuit of a sense of security.

People are afraid of being too unique, and being among a crowd always brings an inexplicable sense of security. This is especially true among the Chinese people who value modesty and restraint. This is why there is a saying that "the first bird to stick its head out gets shot."

On the other hand, the Chinese people’s emphasis on the “golden mean” makes it easier for marketers to take advantage of the middle term effect.

I think everyone must have gone out to a restaurant and ordered food. The most common menu setting is like this: cheap side dishes and cold dishes are placed on the first few pages of the menu, mid-priced dishes are the main part and are placed in the middle, and more expensive dishes are placed at the end. When you first opened this menu, I think you must have looked at all the dishes and then turned back to the middle. Mid-range priced dishes accounted for the vast majority of the dishes ordered. This is actually a simple use of the middle term effect.

You may say that you choose the middle one because you cannot afford the more expensive products, or you do not need the premium services provided by the more expensive products. These are indeed influencing factors, but the subconscious idea of ​​"middle = safety" still has a great impact on your choice behavior at all times.

It's like I asked you: "Choose a number you think is the safest among the six numbers 0.2, 3, 7, 16, 35, and 277." Which one would you choose?

In marketing, especially offline businesses, you can take advantage of the middle item psychology.

For example, a clothing store owner can divide the clothes in the store into three categories: the first category is low-priced, the second category is average-priced, and the third category is high-priced. Then put three pieces of clothing from three different categories together, and in the end you will find that based on the middle item psychology and face psychology, most consumers will choose the second category of clothing to buy.

14. Realism

As the saying goes, "seeing is believing, hearing is not." Realism is a psychology that pays attention to the actual use value of goods. Consumers with this psychological requirement pay more attention to the actual utility and quality of goods or services when purchasing goods, and emphasize economy, durability, and ease of use, but do not pay much attention to the appearance, color, and packaging of the goods.

Consumers with a pragmatic mentality pay more attention to the cost-effectiveness of the product. The functionality of the product must meet their needs, and the price of the product must be within their cognizable and affordable range.

Therefore, when targeting such consumer groups, companies should "seek truth from facts". Any consumer pursues the authenticity of the product information provided by the merchant, so they are very concerned about the authenticity of the product information. When describing their products, merchants should try to highlight words that users like, such as affordable, durable, and sturdy. They can also use examples to dispel customers' doubts.

Therefore, merchants should be realistic in taking product pictures, introducing product functions, shaping product selling points, and providing product after-sales service. Especially for products that are highly recognized by the public, we must be realistic.

For example, when real estate companies sell pre-sale properties, how do they take advantage of users’ pragmatic mentality since the houses are still under construction? The answer is: model house.

The sales consultant takes you to a model house of the size and style you want, so that you can appreciate the final decoration results. This can be regarded as a kind of utilization of the realistic mentality.

You won’t know whether it’s good or not until you use it. When you fall in love, you will know what kind of person the other person is.

15. Persuasion

The consumer psychology described above can actually be regarded as a type of persuasive psychology. The purpose of persuasion psychology is not to persuade others, but to allow consumers to persuade themselves.

Just like consumers buy products, they all have their own reasons for buying. Consumers make purchases for many reasons:

• Some people will buy products, such as cosmetics, if they see that the packaging is particularly beautiful.
• Some people will buy a product when they see that it is selling very well.
• Some people will buy a product if they are impressed by its selling points.
• Some people will choose you when they see that your products are shipped by SF Express and the logistics is particularly fast.
• Some people saw their colleagues bought this kind of mobile phone, and they also wanted to buy it.
• Some people think that the overall decoration of your store is special and are willing to go in and take a look.
• Some people think models are beautiful and hope to be as beautiful, so they buy them to try.
• Some people think your customer service is funny and they enjoy chatting with them, so they buy from you.
• Mr. Wang next door said that your product worked very well and bought it after he was given the link.
• Your brand is well-known, and consumers think you have a brand and are willing to buy from you.
• …

Every time someone buys a product, he or she is influenced by 1…N persuasive psychology. In marketing, we need to convince consumers, which means giving them a reason to buy.

For example, the sales copy of many food products tells you that "you should reward yourself with a big meal before losing weight so that you will have the energy to lose weight." For example, the sales copy in the training industry says, "After three months of training, Xiao Wang couldn't find a job with a monthly salary of 20,000 yuan. He was appreciated by his leader and received a salary increase and promotion."

These all give consumers reasons to buy.

There may be only a few core reasons for consumers to buy, because of the product, because of the brand, etc. But if a store can provide consumers with every reason to buy, won’t consumers convince themselves to buy? The answer is definitely buy it.

As we have seen in Taobao stores, when a consumer searches for relevant keywords, your ranking is at the front, and then after he clicks on the product to enter the page, you display several things: high credibility, high store dynamic score, the product is what you need, the selling point touches your pain point, the product description is professional, the sales volume is high, the user reviews are good, there are also various gifts, limited-time discounts and other activities, free shipping, freight insurance, etc. When you see this kind of thing, most of you will choose it.

This time, a total of 15 points were discussed on consumer psychology. I hope everyone will read these 15 points carefully, and then think of corresponding marketing strategies based on the situation of their own company and products.

Finally, I would like to share two sentences:

• First, people focus on themselves or things related to themselves, and actually don’t care about many things in the outside world.
• Second, the premise of all marketing is based on "good products".

Source: Miao Liwei Talks About Marketing