Consumer Psychology and Marketing Communications Essay

At any given moment during the day, decisions such as which brand of merchandise to purchase, which color paint to select, or what cable service provider to go with are being made by consumers. The selection and behaviors of the consumers go beyond their personal preferences and has been studied by psychologists for over a century. Knowing what appeals to consumers and what their preferences are is a crucial part of the business’s success. In Exploration relationships between adoption of new consumer products and relationship marketing by Sarabi, Ahmadi, & Moradi , the relationship between a consumer’s demographic variables and product selection discussed. A second article, Scenes of Consumer Psychology by Rachel Bowlby discusses how consumer psychology presents itself in marketing techniques. Consumer Psychology The specialty that examines the influences a person’s thoughts, beliefs, feelings, and perceptions have on their buying habits is known as consumer psychology. A consumer’s demographic information, how they perceive advertisements, brand exposure, and economic status are just a few factors that can affect their decision making process. In order learn more about the behaviors of buyers, consumer psychologists and businesses can conduct surveys; organize focus groups, send out questionnaires, or through direct observation. If a business can identify the buying habits and influences of their regular customers, they are presented with the opportunity to retain their business while make themselves and the customer happy. Psychological concepts discussed In their article, Exploration relationships between adoption of new consumer products and relationship marketing, Sarabi, Ahmadi, & Moradi argue that consumers’ characteristics affect their buying habits. According to Sarabi, Ahmadi & Moradi (2013), â€Å"Empirical research has demonstrated that social-demographic characteristics have significant influence on NPA behavior and suggests that younger, higher income and better educated consumers tend to accept market innovations more quickly† (para. 2). Another factor that influences their likeliness to buy or accept new  products is the image portrayed. For example, if sports fan sees their favorite player endorsing a sports drink, they may be more likely to purchase or try that brand of drink. In the second article, Scenes of consumer psychology by Rachel Bowlby, she discusses the presentation of consumer psychology in marketing. According to Bowlby, there are two types of consumers; romantic and classical. Bowlby states that romantic consumers are those who are influenced by their emotions. Does the product make them happy or feel a certain way? Does it make them feel nostalgic or affluent? The majority of society would be considered romantic consumers. Classical consumers, on the other hand, are those who look for the security and savings. They look for the simplest and most direct way to achieve their goal. When looking for a new cell phone the classical consumer may decide to go with the flip phone that doesn’t allow you to download a bunch of applications. However, the romantic consumer may start with the goal of buying a simple phone but is drawn in by the excitement of all the extras a smart phone may have to offer, even if not needed. Relationship between consumer psychology and marketing What both articles aim to show is that a person’s emotions and environment can influence their buying habits. If a business can identify emotional triggers in their regular customers, then they are able to keep them coming back. Another way a business can retain that business is by offering products that are within their regular customer’s socio-economic status. For example, my family owns a women’s clothing store. We see a wide range of customers for all walks of life. After building our business and customer base, we started to recognize faces and learn a little about them. Through observations and asking the right questions, we were able to determine that a large portion of our customer base was lower-middle class. We also found that we had many romantic-buyers who would see nice things that were affordable. One item that has appealed to our customer base is a brand of jeans that we carry. The name brand jean can cost over $100 per pair in a department store, but they are able to get a similar item for half the cost. Seeing that they were able to afford more and still get quality merchandise has made them more likely to purchase multiple items from us and continue to shop in our store. Conclusion Knowing what is important to customers is a critical component of business ownership. Both articles discussed have shown a relationship between consumers buying trends and how their decisions can be affected by their experience and opinions. Whether a consumer is basing his decision on logic or how the product makes them feel, it is the job of the merchant to learn their customer base to provide products that will make both types of customers happy and coming back for more. REFERENCES Bowlby, R. (1992). Scenes from consumer psychology. Critical Quarterly, 34(4), 51-64. Sarabi, S., Ahmadi, F., & Moradi, M. A. (2013). Exploration relationship between adoption of new consumer products and relationship marketing. Interdisciplinary Journal of Contemporary Research in Business, 5(2), 80-89. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/1426053966?accountid=458