Imagine that I owned a store next to your office, where you would occasionally drop in to buy candy. Imagine I were to tell you that you could buy some candy today for full price, but that you could come back tomorrow and all the candy would be 75% off, chances are you’d wait until the next day to buy that candy (unless you were seriously craving some Hershey’s Kisses!). After all, you can save a lot of money that way, so it seems like the rational thing to do. However, the entire story changes when the dates matter. Imagine I told you that candy would be cheap tomorrow, February 15, because it’s the day after Valentine’s Day. If you were standing in the store on February 14 because you hadn’t already gotten your partner a gift, you’d gladly pay full price. While it seems technically irrational, it’s a matter of understanding the emotional needs of a consumer. A person isn’t necessarily always driven by the lowest price —there are so many competing factors that brand managers need to take into consideration when they try to comprehending consumer behavior. Luxury brand managers are able to do this with expert finesse. People will often irrationally spend money on impractical items simply because of the prestige that comes with owning such a product. Think of a wedding ring. People are willing to pay so much for diamonds because of the symbolic representation of what a big, beautiful ring implies. Of course, that doesn’t mean that you have to be a luxury brand to be able to capitalize on human emotions. People purchase Nike shoes because they feel inspired by the brand, the brand’s image, and the brand’s commitment to improving individuals through athleticism. Or, a person may choose Coke over Pepsi because of the element of nostalgia that comes with purchasing a Coke. [quote]The good news is that by tapping into consumer behaviors, you can also learn to influence their purchasing habits.[/quote]The team at our Florida marketing agency sees this as the entire rationale behind marketing —how can we convince people to spend their dollars with us? The best way to know where to start is to explore differentiation, which means creating and defining a distinguishing characteristic about your business and highlighting it. Brands with a defined point of view tend to see more success than competitors. Think about any brand you love and think about why you choose it over alternatives: it might be that it’s cheaper, it tastes better, it’s more convenient, or it simply looks more interesting. Emphasizing what sets your business apart from others is the best starting point to build a bigger strategy for your brand. From there, you can design marketing campaigns around that distinguishing feature. Taking into account these human emotional behaviors, you can create a campaign that’s aspirational, inspirational or just funny —these are all types of things that might encourage a person to use your item or service over a lower-priced competitor. For more information as to how you can use customer insights to create a marketing strategy, contact our Florida ad agency for a consultation.