Consumer Behaviour

When in a purchasing situation, the mental faculties of a consumer are said to reside in one or both of two separate “systems”. System 1 is a subconscious (meaning automatic) stimulus response and impulse oriented system. This relies strictly on immediate and automatic decisions made without the interaction of critical thinking. System 2 is conscious, rational process and logic oriented thinking and this is the executive control system. System 2 is the controlling agent of system 1 and this is where decisions are made and control is exercised. The executive control system is developed, maintained and functions much like a muscle in the human body. And like a muscle, this system draws its energy from glucose in the blood stream. The very act of making decision has shown in studies to draw heavily on this resource and as a result will deplete it over time. So what is the result? […]

Years ago, between the ages of 16 and 20, I had a part-time job in a sports shop. It would have been an ideal job for someone like me, who is so keen on sport, were it not for the fact that each week a tempting new product would come into the shop. It was my duty to spend some time getting familiar with it, and that process often led to strong consumer desires of my own. Most of the money I earned went back to the shop! But, even all that time ago, I did learn some things about consumer behaviour. One of the things I recall the shop’s owner telling me was that some customers, “just need to be told.” Over the years his experience had shown him that sometimes people didn’t want equivocal advice, they wanted someone they could trust to make the decision for them. More […]

It’s often said that if you’re thinking of buying something it’s a good idea to ask people you know what they would recommend. And I agree. But it’s also a very bad idea too. It’s a good idea because getting a recommendation is easy to do and it gives some degree of experience to factor in to a purchase that will otherwise be based on whatever the company or shop selling it wants you to focus on. On the other hand, people tend to eulogise about products they’ve bought recently in a way that has always made me a little suspicious that they’re simply justifying a decision they’ve taken. Psychologically speaking that’s a healthy thing for them to do; who wants to be riddled with doubt each time you buy something (even though you’ll never know whether the other options would have served you better!). Recent research looking at brain […]

I deliberated long and hard before deciding to write this article. For the most part the areas of consumer behaviour that interest me are those relating to how the consumer mind works. I judge that telling you about these insights from neuroscience and social psychology are no different from giving you a map or photographs of points you’ll need to pass on a journey: I hope I make your job easier and help you to do it better, by giving you more understanding of the consumer mind. So, for example, in my EBook, The Secret of Selling: How to Sell to Your Customer’s Unconscious Mind, I reveal the studies that have triggered different mental associations in consumers’ minds, and caused them to spend more. In one case, people spent up to three times as much on a product, just because of the type of music that was playing. Is this manipulating […]