By Sushant Lebaka
How do companies get customers to buy more? Often, businesses use various cognitive and psychological factors to drive revenue and profits and shape consumer behavior in a way that does just that. Some common ones include visual pricing tricks, in which the price ends in “99” rather than rounding up to the nearest round price point or writing “buy-one, get-one free” rather than just saying 50% off. In addition, quiet, slow music and bright colorful entrances encourage shoppers to spend more time in the store and brighten the mood (and thereby encourage greater spending), respectively. While most companies are guilty of a few common tricks, some companies have specialty tactics.
Various Companies and Their Tactics
Ikea is known for its maze-life and confusing layout. This causes customers to walk around the entire store and pass by stuff that they’re not necessarily looking for. This is most definitely intentional and helps maximize product exposure, an effect known as the Gruen effect. This fixed path design causes customers to buy products that they never intended to buy but satisfy temporary pleasures as they’re being aroused by the combination of various stimuli: smell, lights, color, and even taste. The addition of food courts at IKEA stores is intertwined with the Gruen effect. The sensation of smelling and enjoying good food puts people in a good mood, causing them to shift their habits in what and how much they purchase.
The next company I would like to highlight is Nike. For one, it uses the scarcity principle by releasing limited edition products like Air Jordans. It creates a sense of urgency and exclusivity as people want to own something that’s hard to get. In addition, the company has had no shortage of collaborations with world-renowned athletes. Athletes like Tiger Woods and Serena Williams have been using their brand’s products for decades. This feeds into the goals and emotions of their customers who hope to be like their role models. Wearing Nike gives people a heightened sense of privilege and importance that encourages them to follow after the success of their favorite athletes. I think the most notable way Nike appeals to its consumers is its unique emotional branding. The original “Just Do It” campaign’s legacy still remains one of the most iconic company slogans of all time. It encapsulates the spirit of all the athletes they endorse: one of achievement, determination, and action. It tapped into everyone’s aspiration to improve and achieve something. A lot of their ads create emotional connections with the audience, typically involving the protagonist overcoming challenges through hard work and perseverance.
The last company I’ll focus on is Walmart, the world’s largest retailer. Walmart’s most notorious marketing strategy is their use of rollback pricing. In simple terms, it’s a temporary price reduction on select items and a strategy they’ve implemented for decades now.While on paper, they are used to test price elasticity and consumer behavior, they also help drive sales and create a sense of urgency for shoppers to act before the reduction is eliminated. Despite its commitment to low prices, Walmart is still able to remain competitive in a ruthless market. Unlike other grocery stores, Walmart believes in buying in bulk. Walmart also uses popular slogans that emphasize its low prices like “save money, live better,” “the lowest price store,” “everyday low price,” etc.
Takeaways
Now that we know what kind of tactics that companies use to manipulate us consumers into buying more, what do we do with information? Even though psychology is being used against us, we can still take control of how much we spend and what we spend it on by creating a budget, opting to use cash or debit instead of credit, having a shopping list, and more. However, a little splurging sometimes doesn’t hurt anybody.
https://bytrellus.com/business-insights/29-psychological-tricks-to-make-you-buy-more/
https://prajakta.work/behind-the-swoosh-the-psychology-of-nikes-marketing-success
https://portopedro.medium.com/this-is-how-nikes-marketing-changed-in-30-years-using-psychology-c04e63d3ba75
https://www.sellerapp.com/blog/walmart-selling-strategies/
https://www.vox.com/2018/10/17/17989684/ikea-gruen-effect-unplanned-purchases
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