Article Surfing Archive

Do we understand the advertising and how the market works? When you go to the supermarket to by shampoo, what dictates what we buy? There are over 50 different choices, which one do you buy? You don't have time to process all the information, analyze ingredients, or figure the cost per ounce. Why do we make the decision we do.

Does it just feel right? Is it a past commercial you saw, the color combination on the bottle, the one your mother bought, the one on sale, or did you pick the one that felt right. Many times we really don't know why we buy. For most of us we buy on emotion and figure out later (logically) why we bought it. When you ask someone why they bought a BMW, you will hear things like, top quality car, high resale value, performance. Now think about it ' do you really think that is why they bought that car? We are not aware and cannot articulate why we buy.

Eighty percent of all new products or services fail within six months. Think about it. Only 2 out of 10 products make it in today's market. We know companies spend billions of dollars on research. They talk to consumers and they like the idea and the product and say they will buy ' but they don't. In one study, consumers were shown a kitchen appliance and 60% of them said they were very likely to buy a kitchen appliance in the next three months. Here is the challenge, only 12 percent actually bought the appliance. What happened? When they were asked why they did not buy, they could not explain it. Brain has separate structures for processing logical and emotional reasoning

Even in blind taste tests people say they like A over B, but when the see the actual product their opinions change. All consumers know the store brand and the national brands are identical, (medication) however when their symptoms are severe they buy the more expensive national brand. We know when we see a product for $9.99 it is the same as $10.00, but our mind still is programmed to accept the lower price, even if it is a penny. In an interesting study, the researchers found that our companionship at a restaurant would affect how the food tasted. When the subjects ate with someone they did not like it dropped how they rated the food they ate. Months later when they dined again with someone they liked, the rated the food much better. Again, 95% of the reasons we buy involve a subconscious decision.

There are two levels of the mind. There is the conscious (logical) and the subconscious (emotional). Thoughts in your head can dictate things that happen in your body. For example, if you are afraid of snakes or spiders, one look and your body does the rest. Your body reacts to your thoughts. The bottom line is your thoughts control your emotions and your emotions control your actions. Change your thoughts and you will change the future. Just the smell of perfume can trigger emotions and then action. Emotions contribute to all our decision making. Always take into account what emotional triggers could happen during your persuasive presentation.