Why People Buy Things They Dont Need: Understanding and Predicting Consumer Behavior

OVERVIEW

Now that we have explored the many facets of why people buy things they don't need and learned how that why drives and directs consumer behavior, we have a final task. We need to look at the strategies that evolve from this investigation. We need to learn how to get people to buy more of the things they don't need. Marketing guru Sergio Zyman says the chief aim of marketing is to sell more things to more people more often for more money. We need to learn how to harness the power of why in our marketing and brand-building strategies.

Marketers that use "why people buy" strategies in their marketing go beyond the purely tactical realm (i.e., price, distribution, advertising, media placement, and so forth) and into a future-oriented, long-term view of the business, the brand, and the marketplace. This future-oriented, strategic realm is where loyal consumer relationships form.

Today's marketing watch-words, emotional branding and emotion marketing, are beginning to scratch the surface of a "why people buy" strategy.

Today's marketing watchwords, emotional branding and emotion marketing, are beginning to scratch the surface of a "why people buy" strategy. With their recognition of the emotional side of marketing and branding, marketers are becoming aware that consumer behavior is not based solely on reason and logic, but driven by the heart and the emotions. Yet the emotional realm is complex, highly individualized, and very personal; it takes a unique approach to get inside of the hearts of the consumer. Left-brain-dominated marketing executives employing left-brain-oriented research strategies to develop left-brain marketing tactics are destined to falter as they are confounded by the emotions of their marketplace. By ignoring why people buy in favor of focusing on who, what, where, when, how, and how much of consumer behavior, the left-brain-oriented marketing companies are forever going to be chasing their market.

Future marketing success is based on marrying the two points of view, the qualitative and the quantitative, the intuitive and the rational, the right brain and the left brain.

"Why people buy"-informed marketing strategies must be supported by strong left-brain-oriented tactics and approaches, but marketing executives informed with "why people buy" insights will be able to anticipate the shifts and turns in their market. They will move just ahead of their customers, knowing where they are going to be next, and what the customers will demand when they get there. Do not misunderstand the strategy. Future marketing success is based on marrying the two points of view, the qualitative and the quantitative, the intuitive and the rational, the right brain and the left brain, the why people buy and the who, what, where, how, and how much.

Here are the basic strategies you can use to capitalize on the knowledge you gained about why people buy.