The Science of Persuasion: How to Influence Consumer Choice

• Consumer behavior is the study of what influences individuals and organizations to purchase certain products and support certain brands.
• The six universal principles of persuasion are reciprocity, commitment, pack mentality, authority, liking and scarcity.
• Marketing campaigns can influence consumer behaviors because they elicit reactions, utilizing imagery and word associations tied to emotional responses.
• This article is for professionals and entrepreneurs who want to improve their persuasive ability in sales and business relationships.

How do you get a person to buy a product or service? Psychology holds answers to questions that have preoccupied marketing departments for decades, particularly surrounding how to influence people and how people respond to attempts to influence their behaviors.

"Persuasion is no longer just an art; it's an out-and-out science," said Robert Cialdini, professor emeritus of psychology and marketing at Arizona State University, at the 125th Annual Convention of the American Psychological Association. "Indeed, a vast body of scientific evidence now exists on how, when and why people say yes to influence attempts."

What is consumer behavior?

Consumer behavior refers to the study of what causes individuals and organizations to purchase certain products and support certain brands. This area of study focuses primarily on behavior, motivations and psychology.

• Psychological factors: The way a person responds to an ad campaign depends largely on their own perceptions, attitudes and general view of life.
• Personal factors: Audience demographics such as age, culture, profession, age and background play major roles in forming consumers' interests and opinions.
• Social factors: A person's social groups affect how they shop. Their income, education level and social class influence their buying behaviors.

How can marketing affect consumer behavior and decisions?

Marketing can be highly effective in influencing consumer behavior. Here are some of the factors that contribute to that success.

• Audience's emotional response: One of the reasons marketing campaigns are effective is they cause consumers to react to them. The more people react to your marketing campaigns, the more they will talk about them. And the more they discuss your brand and products, the more likely people are to buy them.

• Brand imagery and messaging: Using imagery and word associations is a great way to attract attention to your company brand. For instance, if you are looking to target young people, you may use popular phrases and memes as a part of your campaign. This causes your audience to associate your product with things they already see as hip and trendy.

• Audience's memories: Another major way marketing affects consumer behavior is by evoking emotions such as nostalgia and fear. For instance, if a product is tied to certain brands, thoughts, images or music from your childhood, this may influence your feelings of brand loyalty. On the other hand, if a marketing campaign makes you fearful, you may be influenced to buy the product as a way to relieve anxiety and protect yourself.

Tip: Think of marketing as creating an emotional connection with your customers, as well as displaying your products and services. People often buy based on emotional reactions rather than rational thinking.

What are current consumer behavior trends?

It's easier to know how to influence consumer behavior when you know consumer trends. As businesses evolve, so do consumers' habits and priorities. Customers' tastes 10 years ago were different from their present tastes, and they will be different 10 years from now. When trying to create and enhance your marketing strategy, always keep in mind that consumer behavior trends change.

With that in mind, here are some of the customer behavior trends informing actions in 2021:

Transparency

Over the last few years, customer demand has increased for transparency in the businesses they support. Consumers now boycott and quickly dismiss companies that have questionable practices or are run by CEOs they politically disagree with. Customers are more likely to support companies that align with their personal beliefs and values. Companies need to be transparent about their histories and practices to gain their consumers' trust.

Online buying

The COVID-19 shutdowns forced people to stay inside their homes, leading to an increase in online spending. Even with restrictions being lifted, that trend is likely to continue. Companies need to meet consumers where they are, and now more than ever, that's online. That means launching an intuitive e-commerce site that offers a positive customer experience. When developing strategies to influence customer behavior, brainstorm ways influence consumers both in person and online.

Anonymity

With so much business being done online, many consumers are concerned with the security of their personal information. Consumers are demanding more anonymity; they don't want a company to know too much about them aside from the necessary details for the business exchange. Companies need to meet consumers halfway and accommodate the ones who refuse to provide any information besides what is needed for a transaction. This may make it more difficult to influence a specific person, but showing that your company follows this trend could influence their spending.

Clean and green companies

Climate change is a major fear for many people. Consumers want to do their part to reverse the damage to the planet. They are demanding more environmentally friendly companies and will push that demand further in the future. With an eye toward clean and green practices, consumers are often influenced by companies with sustainable products.

Key takeaway: Consumers' expectations of brands are rising, and companies need to meet those expectations to maintain and improve brand loyalty among their target audience.

6 principles of influence

Cialdini synthesized years of research on social influence into six universal principles for understanding attempts to influence human behavior. Both businesses and consumers can use these principles to better understand the inner workings of purchasing behaviors and to determine which strategies are most likely to succeed.

1. Reciprocity: Humans often feel the need to return a favor or reciprocate kind gestures. For consumers, this might mean offering a free sample or a generous discount, for example.

2. Commitment: Once someone is engaged with something, they are more likely to stick with it. In business, this means cultivating brand loyalty; once someone is using a product or service, they are more likely to commit to paying for it again.

3. Consensus: If more people do something, others are likely to do it as well. When brands can demonstrate their popularity or satisfaction across a wide customer base, other consumers are likely to buy in as well.

4. Authority: People are more likely to listen to an expert than anyone off the street. So, while pack mentality is important, a relevant expert speaking to the effectiveness of a brand's product or service is important to convert new consumers.

5. Liking: People who are similar to the target consumer are more likely to persuade the consumer to buy. People from similar demographics – whether in terms of ethnicity, socioeconomic class, religious inclination or even shared interests – are far more effective at persuading consumers than those they perceive as vastly different.

6. Scarcity: People tend to want what they perceive they cannot have. Making a product or service seem exclusive or as if it will go out of stock if they don't act quickly often makes it more enticing to the consumer and increases the likelihood that they will buy.

Armed with these six principles of influence, companies can more adeptly navigate their potential consumers and convert more to sales. However, Cialdini warned against crossing the line between influence and manipulation, as the latter could spell disaster in the long run.

"People, companies and marketers need to ask themselves whether the principle of influence is inherent in the situation – that is, do they have to manufacture it, or can they simply uncover it?" he said. "No one wants to be a smuggler of influence. Claiming to be an expert when they're not, exploiting power – those eventually will have negative consequences.

"We can focus too heavily on economic factors when seeking to motivate others toward our offerings and ideas," Cialdini added. "We would do well … to consider employing psychological motivators such as those we have covered here."

Business News Daily editorial staff contributed to the writing and reporting in this articles. Source interviews were conducted for a previous version of this article.