Consider Consumer Psychology Darrin F. Coe, MAIn your marketing efforts, be they on or offline, it’s wise to consider
psychology of consumer you are targeting. If you’ve done your homework you’ve developed a profile of your ideal customer and how your unique selling point speaks to them. Now, as you begin to develop a marketing strategy, writing ad copy, developing radio copy, and creating web copy, it is an understanding of consumer psychology that will help you speak to consumer.
What is true need your consumer is attempting to gratify? This is question you must answer before writing copy or launching advertising. Maslow, would tell us that there are five needs: 1) basic needs; 2) safety needs; 3) social needs; 4) self esteem needs; and 5) self-fulfillment needs.
Along with this information consider that in “The Ramsey Report” published recently by eMarketer.com, we are told that consumer “empowerment” is one of factors driving continuing boom of online commerce. Consumers perceive themselves to be in consumer driver’s seat when they are online. They can block popups, can spam, and surf away from site that they dislike. They feel as if they are no longer at whim of marketing magicians.
This does not surprise me given that recent research would also indicate that online users tend to suffer from depression, low self-esteem, and loneliness. The internet addresses these issue through empowering them and giving them a perception of control.
Now, as a marketer it is up to you to use this information to speak to needs of your consumer. Consider someone marketing heart-rate monitors. Whether in a retail sporting goods store on online, what need are you really fulfilling by selling heart-rate monitors? You can assume your client has some athletic training; perhaps they are detrained and attempting to recover their fitness? Perhaps they are an average athlete attempting to go to next level of athleticism? Or maybe they are recovering from an illness or injury and are working with a personal trainer?
