9 Keys To Psychology Applied To Marketing And Advertising
Psychology is a discipline that is applied in many areas: sports, school or business.
Within this last context we find Psychology applied to Marketing which is key to understanding how the human mind works and is essential to persuading consumers to purchase our products or services.
Keys to Psychology applied to Marketing and Advertising
Any good Marketing strategy cannot forget how consumers think, what needs they have and what their motivations are. For this reason, Psychology is a basic pillar in the world of Marketing and Advertising.
In the following lines you can find 9 keys to Psychology applied to Marketing and Advertising
1. Emotional marketing
Emotional intelligence is one of the great paradigms of current Psychology , since emotions affect our well-being and our behavior in a decisive way. Most people think that the decisions we make are based on a rational analysis of the alternatives presented to us, an idea that psychologist Antonio Damasio, in his book, “Descartes’ Error,” states that he does not share.
For Damasio, “emotions are crucial in almost all the decisions we make, since these, which are associated with previous experiences, set values for the options we are considering.” In other words, emotions create preferences that lead us to opt for one option or another.
Emotional Marketing is applied in branding in strategies to build customer loyalty, in commercial stories, etc.
2. Classical and instrumental conditioning
Classical and instrumental conditioning are two key concepts to understand behavioral psychology, and they are present in our learning, our behavior and, of course, in the world of Marketing.
Classical conditioning, popularized by John Watson with the help of Ivan Pavlov, can be observed in the advertising world when Pleasant situations or attributes that are not necessarily linked to the characteristics of a product are highlighted or service. It is not strange to come across similar products from different brands that provoke different emotional experiences for users through branding.
Now, when the real characteristics of the product and service are explained, the instrumental or operant conditioning model is used. That is, when a product really presents differences in quality compared to its competitors, instrumental conditioning is effective. For example, letting them try the product or giving a sample of it.
3. Motivation
Motivation is an intrinsic force that guides us and allows us to maintain behaviors aimed at achieving a goal or satisfying a need. Many psychologists have been interested in the study of motivation, since it is a basic principle in the behavior of human beings. Motivation also affects decision making.
For this reason it is applied in the field of Marketing, since Understanding and influencing motivation will result in greater acquisition of products and services by consumers. For example, if we detect through a survey that a user is motivated to buy a vehicle, there is a greater probability that he or she will be able to buy one of our products if we are dedicated to the automotive sector. This technique is widely used today. An example of this is the use of “cookies”, which allow us to track the habits and concerns of potential clients.
4. Zeigarnik Effect: creating expectations and suspense
The Zeigarnik effect is closely related to expectations, and owes its name to Bluma Zeigarnik, a psychologist from the Gestalt School, who realized that unfinished tasks tend to generate discomfort and intrusive thoughts in us. In the world of Marketing, the Zeigarnik Effect is a technique used to attract customers, which is used in different situations. For example, in movie trailers.
It is common to see in some television series a small summary of the next chapter at the end of the program , to create suspense and provoke the need to know how the scenes that have previously been shown to us conclude. This is called “cliffhangers” and is based on the Zeigarnik effect.
The Psychology of persuasion is one of the key elements of marketing This branch of social psychology aims to study human behavior to understand the reasons that make people modify their behaviors under external influence. Although it is often confused with manipulation, persuasion is an art that consists of convincing people to act in a certain way.
There are a series of elements that are essential for effective persuasive communication. For example, reciprocity, scarcity, authority, consistency, friendliness and credibility.
6. Neuromarketing
Neuromarketing is a discipline that studies the mind, brain and consumer behavior and how to influence it to achieve more sales. Therefore, it brings scientific advances in Psychology and Neuroscience closer to the discipline of Marketing. In this sense, it is worth highlighting the research carried out by “tracking” the movements that the eyes make when looking at a product. These types of studies are very useful when designing packaging, and are used to ensure that the most attractive aspects of the product are presented clearly in an image that, in turn, is associated with the brand.
Understanding how attention, perception or memory works and how these processes affect people, their tastes, personality and needs, allows us to carry out more effective Marketing. There are many applications of Neuromarketing, as you can see in our articles:
7. Cognitive dissonance
Cognitive dissonance is a concept closely linked to social psychology Psychologist Leon Festinger proposed this theory, which explains how people try to maintain their internal consistency. That is, we all have a strong inner need that pushes us to ensure that our beliefs, attitudes and behavior are consistent with each other. When this does not happen, discomfort and disharmony appear, something we strive to avoid.
Cognitive dissonance is very present in Marketing, which explains why we often choose products that we don’t really need and make purchases that are not always coherent. In fact, any consumer who does not feel satisfied with the product they have just obtained or knows how useful it will be experiences cognitive dissonance. It may happen that, when choosing a purchase, we question the whys and seek explanations to justify our action. Human beings are like that, and cognitive dissonance is present in many of the decisions we make and how we behave.
Research focused on the world of Psychology applied to marketing shows that the simple fact of having the name of a brand very consolidated in memory It increases the likelihood of using it when deciding what to buy in most contexts. That is why in advertising there is a lot of emphasis on presenting the logo very clearly and/or the brand name is sometimes repeated more frequently than would be normal in any conversation. What is intended is for potential buyers or consumers to think about a product or brand in hundredths of a second just by seeing something related to a specific industry or economic sector.
9. Social proof
Social proof can be summed up as the idea of “if everyone shows interest in this product or service, there will be something good about it.” Human beings are very predisposed to be influenced by what others do or say, and when we see that they behave in a way through which we can infer their intentions, we put ourselves in their shoes and begin to see things a little more. like them, with exceptions (for example, in the face of very controversial issues in which there is high polarization).
Therefore, this principle of psychology has been used by many marketing professionals. creating the appearance of a shortage of a product in the face of what appears to be a high demand, thus turning a fiction into reality and making what they offer attract more attention from their potential clients.
