5 Powerful Consumer Behavior Theories For Marketers
Study of Consumer Behavior is the base for gaining insightful marketing knowledge
In the quest for going viral or paid advertising, marketers these days are losing the real essence of great marketing campaigns i.e. Knowledge of consumer behavior.
By definition, Consumer behavior in relevance to marketing is about understanding how consumers will spend their money and why they spend their money or why they buy whatever they buy.
It relates directly to emotional & logical reasoning that a consumer puts in while making a purchase decision.
Why Understanding Consumer Behavior Is Important For Marketers?
Asking why consumer behavior knowledge is crucial for marketers is like asking why the body needs water — to survive, perform better, & achieve our goals.
The knowledge of consumer behavior helps a marketer to form marketing campaigns that can attract an audience, derive their engagement, & sell the intended products or services effectively to maximum customers possible.
With the extensive knowledge about consumer behavior, you can get answers to questions like:
- What primary factors shape consumers’ buying decisions?
- On what metrics do they evaluate & compare different brands/products/services?
- What kind of marketing content do they consume most positively?
- How big a role does the budget or reviews play in decision making?
- Do the cultural, social, political, seasonal, etc. factors influence their behavior?
And there’s an endless hub of answers or reasonings that you can explore through studying consumer behavior.
As you already know how, why, & where consumers will spend their money then you can create marketing campaigns that will generate maximum revenue & positive outcomes.
5 Most Important Consumer Behavior Theories For Marketers
The Motivation-Need Theory — “Need fulfillment”
If you are a true marketer then you must be aware of Maslow & his “Hierarchy of Needs” which outlined that people make any purchase to satisfy one of their 5 needs.
Here’s a representation of the 5 needs in Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs.
For marketers, the theory explains that marketing campaigns should highlight how their product/service fits somewhere in the hierarchy of needs.
The close you are to the base needs, the more growth & success opportunities you will have as they are instant & important needs for consumers.
For example — Nike doesn’t focus on selling shoes; instead, it sells comfort, flexibility, & Style (Physiological, Safety).
The Psychoanalytic Theory — “Desires & Emotions”
Developed by Sigmund Freud (A neurologist, not a marketer), This consumer behavior theory is all about understanding a human’s behavior in terms of desires, urges, & other subconscious factors.
Later applied into marketing by Edward Bernays, the theory states that even consumers can’t fully understand their motivations to make purchases as these motivations are triggered by the subconscious.
The theory outlines that consumer decisions are influenced hugely by their emotions, desires, feelings, aspirations, fears, etc. and not just their income, age, country, etc.
So, marketers must create campaigns that appeal to the emotions & desires of consumers as they respond comparatively better to such marketing messages.
Brands like Airbnb, Coca-Cola, Adidas, Nike, etc. have been creating campaigns about passion, belonging, anger, faith, fear, trust, and many more emotional attributes.
Pavlovian Theory — “Conditioned Responses”
A human behavior theory that was created by Ivan Pavlov after experimenting on a Dog. Isn’t that weirdly unique in itself?
The theory talks about shaping consumer behavior through conditioning responses (teaching a process or correlation of two or more variables).
Pavlov’s theory talks about “How the dog salivates when he sees food, he found that if he rang bell prior to feeding the dog a few times, the dog would start associating bell ring with food time. So, every time the bell will ring, it will cause the dog to salivate.”
So, he conditioned the dog’s response to salivate for food when the bell rings even if there was food or not.
Marketers can use this theory to condition positive responses, ideas, change consumer habits, or create brand recall through marketing & advertising for brand building & strengthening.
Like if I mention words like Athletic clothing, running, inspiring, motivation, etc., you will associate it with Nike or action camera & adventure sports with GoPro, and many more.
Veblenian Social-Psychological Model — “Social Creatures”
Developed by economist Thorstein Veblen, this consumer behavior theory states that “Humans are social creatures” i.e. consumer decisions are highly influenced by social groups & cultures.
It states that consumers make purchases or investments into brands/products/services influenced by social trends & group behavior.
Marketers should understand the social & cultural influence on their target consumers’ behavior. So, that will help marketers to formulate more targeted & effective marketing campaigns.
Like gifts around Christmas is a cultural & social influence that can be leveraged to increase sales.
Hawkins Stern Impulse Buying Theory — “Catch The Eye”
Hawkins Stern had a different idea of consumer behavior i.e. impulse behavior where consumers tend to make impulse purchases alongside rational actions & behavior.
It was suggested that people don’t always follow a pattern or static behavior rather they often tend to make purchases impulsively without much inspection & evaluation.
The theory was divided into 4 sections depending upon different impulsive factors:
- Impulse Purchase — Buying a product without much thought like buying candy at the checkout counter
- Reminded Impulse Buys — Displaying a support (collective) product with a popular product like buying a cookie with coffee
- Suggested Impulse Buys — Suggesting additional purchases with a product like insurance with an expensive smartphone
- Planned Impulse Buys — Being aware of what they want to buy but not sure about actual deal or plan or combo to buy
Although, given that it is about impulse buying, it is highly unlikely that this theory will be applicable to expensive or high-stake products/services.
Still, it is important for marketers, as with the right marketing and product placement, they can increase the average order value, increase collective sales, & generate higher income.
Implications For Marketers
It is evident that marketing has evolved a lot in recent years with the influx of digital media & the internet along with influence from ever-changing consumer interests & demands.
But these consumer behavior theories for marketing are still highly relevant, impactful, and true to their nature.
So, understanding these theories and applying their methodologies into marketing campaigns can lead to ultimate success & brand growth.
“Study of consumer behavior can help you understand why your marketing campaigns fail” — Atul Jakhar
