The article talks about how the study of Behavioral Economics is having an influence on marketing by helping to explain some of the behaviors of people when it comes to choosing between brands, in particular the irrational price perceptions of "running a sale" and what it does to our assignment of value. This is very interesting but I'll hold my comments on that until I've read some more.
But in general anything that we as marketers can do to blend our art with some scientific rational or solid study of behavior is something worth investigating.
Then I read the first comment. I'll quote it here:
"I like the fact that it goes against the marketing stuff I was taught at University that seemed to suggest that people go into a supermarket, stare at 3 brands of baked beans and then construct a price vs quality diagram in their head to decide what to buy."
It struck me. I do stare at 3 brands of baked beans and then construct something like a price vs. quality comparison in my head to help me decide...when it comes to baked beans. I don't buy a lot of baked beans and I have little brand preference. Also, there is a paradox of choice because there is usually much more than 3 brands to choose from! It can be paralyzing, so I rely on the on the most comparable, mathematical dimension of marketing...price.
Not so for other products that I normally buy. I will only ever buy one brand of ketchup. I don't care what the price is in respect to the others. I guess I can chock that one up to strong brand affinity – I was raised with the brand and it's almost always the brand served when I'm at a restaurant.
But when it comes to commodities I don't have a strong affinity for, like beans, I do take a more analytical and "rational" approach.
So it seems to me that we may not be looking at a binary decision. Perhaps buying decisions are more complex. They probably involve brand, personality type, experiential design, graphic design, where the person is on the adoption curve, age, sex and a whole host of variables. This may not be comforting to marketing people...but it should be!
If different people approach a brand differently for a whole host of reasons, it means that we need an array of tactics. Then we have to engage people in a dialog about the product, on their terms, not ours. This means designing campaigns with multiple tactics and a strategy designed to engage people so that we as marketers can learn more about the people (the individuals) we market to as they learn more about our brands. If you measure each tactic, you can show ROI and that's one solid way of justifying marketing spend.
Let me know what you think.
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3 comments:
Thanks for posting that interesting, though a little challenging to read, article (your summary was helpful). There are so many factors that can influence purchase decisions, and many of them can be disguised or never identified.
Wine-bottle label design is fascinating, in this respect, and I wonder if there are other consumer products that face a similar volume of factors. What do you think?
I think that I might hide out and watch you buy your next can of baked beans.
Seriously, though, interesting post. It's difficult to get into the minds of individual folks and try to market to them, which is why so much advertising (to me) seems so bland and catch-all.
As you know, I'm notoriously skeptical about all kinds of marketing ploys, even though clearly some types are effective on me than others (word of mouth by people I think of as highly research-driven being the most effective).
Yes indeed Arah. Wine bottles are fascinating, especially for someone like me who knows so little about wine. I have to admit that when I buy wine I go first by the label (does it look like something interesting) then I read the awards and reviews the nice people at the liquor store put out for people like me, then I look at the price point. It is certainly a constellation of factors for me when wine is involved.
JaeRan, you are invited to join me next time I go baked bean shopping. BTW, how people act in a store is very interesting. That's why when I've taught interface design in the past, I like to bring my class to Ikea. Ikea has done a lot to subconsciously direct how people shop in their store - the layout, signage and pricing and placement is very intentional (going beyond what other stores do). The store seems designed for "novice users" and "power users." The problem is that if you are a novice user the store directs you through it and I'm pretty sure that's why some people love shopping there and others just hate it.
Again, everyone is different. Some people do a lot of research, so go by testimonials from friends or trusted sources, some by their own experience, some go by the label design and some just wing it.
Thank you both for your comments.
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