Consumer Behavior : Why you need to understand it to better your marketing.

We are all social beings who have a propensity for certain things by default and this is in our biological makeup. As a business owner it is your responsibility to leverage human psychology to take your marketing to a whole other level.

What is consumer behavior?

Consumer behavior is the study of consumers and the steps they use to make a decision on whether to consume a product or service. It is a multifaceted study that involves the emotions, mental and behavioral responses of the consumer.

In this post we shall dive into three facets of consumer behavior which are cognitive fluency, Action paralysis and the Mere exposure effect. Just a side note I might just be extremely overdosed on caffeine at this particular point but oh well. I believe folks who survive without caffeine have such an impressive super power to be honest.

Anyway I digress.

Cognitive Fluency

Remember how as a young child , you would come across a stranger and automatically run or have a sense of fear in relation to them? However after being exposed to the stranger for a certain period of time you found it easier to trust them and interact with them?

Another example is a famous person who is known for acting or something of the sort. They one day decide to start a brand and they sell out almost immediately, this is because you had previously been exposed to them and had already formed a relationship mentally with them.

This is because your frontal cortex is responsible for cognitive fluency .Cognitive fluency is the ease in which your brain processes information. Things that are easy to process are known to be "fluent". The thing is our brains have a tendency to associate the ease of processing with familiarity and preference. Hence why it is important to understand this while marketing your product / service.

In a case where one wants to market their brand they must look at situations from all possible angles and deliver accordingly. I am a huge advocator for inbound marketing which focuses on context and content because it gives you an opportunity to interact with your consumer and create a sense of familiarity. Which in turn has an influence on their buying decisions in the long run reducing the chances of analysis paralysis.

So what exactly is analysis paralysis?

Analysis/Action Paralysis

Lets face it , the more options we have , the harder it is to make a choice. Ladies, I think we can attest to this better than anyone else. We have all used this phrase at some point " I DONT HAVE ANYTHING TO WEAR". While we have a tone of clothes in the closet. This is because of our inability to make a choice in that moment.(action paralysis)

Lets define it , Action paralysis is an individuals process when overanalyzing a situation that in turn can cause decision making to be paralyzed.

Situations can be deemed to be difficult and a choice is not made due to the fear of a potentially larger challenge arising. This is due to a few hypothetical thoughts.

1. Someone might be holding within them the desire of a perfect solution but also the fear of making a choice that is erroneous.

2. One may think that someone else might be in possession of an even better solution and stall their decision through their endless pursuit.

3. For some they make hasty choices through hasty judgment /gut feelings and rendering something "extinct by instinct."

So in general analysis paralysis is when the fear of making an error /forgoing a superior decision outweighs the realistic expectation or potential value of success in a decision they could have made in a timely manner and move forward in life.

This is why some people try and eliminate this paralysis by doing the same thing over and over again. They wear the same shirts , eat the same breakfast each and ever single day and this becomes one less choice they need to make. This due to a mere exposure effect.

What is a mere exposure effect?

Ever found yourself at a new fancy restaurant and the waiter gives you a menu and you gravitate towards what you are used to eating and is a preference for you? Me too .You have no idea how many vanilla lattes I have drank in this life and how many times I have bought the same type of flowers. The question becomes, Why do we do this in the first place? Its because of this effect which is also described as the glow of warmth one feels in the presence of something familiar.

So as you can see friends our brains have a huge impact on the choices we make on a day to day basis . So if you are to market you product online then it is crucial to

1. Create a sense of familiarity to your product/service through showing up consistently and building community and trust.

2. Remove all possibilities of doubt and help decision making for your consumer an easy ordeal.

3. Create an aura that suggests that your brand should be the go to and should be a sense of home to your consumer.

What this does is that it has helped you as the business owner get a client and retain them through understanding human behavior.

That's a wrap besties, Until next post take care of yourselves.