The Science of Persuasion: How to Influence Consumer Choice

What is consumer behavior?

Consumer behavior comprises the actions and decisions individuals make when purchasing specific products or supporting certain brands. This area of study focuses primarily on behavior, motivations and psychology. 

The following three areas significantly affect how consumers respond to marketing efforts and why they buy what they buy:

• Psychological factors: How a person responds to advertising, marketing or PR campaigns depends largely on their perceptions, attitudes and general view of life.
• Personal factors: Audience demographics, such as age, culture, profession and background, play a significant role 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. The following factors contribute to that success:

• Emotional response affects consumer decisions. Marketing campaigns are effective when consumers respond to them. When many people react positively to your marketing campaigns, they’ll talk about them and boost brand recognition. And when broad audience segments discuss your brand and products, more people will likely buy your offerings.
• Brand imagery and messaging affect consumer decisions. Using imagery and word associations is a great way to attract attention to your brand. For example, if you want to target young people, you may use popular phrases and memes as a part of your campaign. Your audience will associate your product with things they already see as hip and trendy.
• Audience memories affect consumer decisions. Successful marketing builds customer loyalty by evoking emotions like nostalgia and fear. For example, if a product is tied to specific 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 to relieve anxiety and protect yourself. 

How to influence consumer decisions through the 6 principles of influence

Robert Cialdini is the Regents’ Professor Emeritus of Psychology and Marketing at Arizona State University. At the 125th Annual Convention of the American Psychological Association, Cialdini synthesized years of research on social influence into six universal principles for understanding attempts to influence human behavior. 

“Persuasion is no longer just an art; it’s an out-and-out science,” Cialdini asserted. “Indeed, a vast body of scientific evidence now exists on how, when and why people say yes to influence attempts.”

Businesses and consumers can use Cialdini’s 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 through a customer loyalty program.
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 uses 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 too. When brands can demonstrate their popularity or satisfaction across a broad customer base, other consumers are more likely to buy in.
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 crucial to converting new consumers.
5. Liking: People who are similar to the target customer 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 of buying.

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 will be different 10 years from now. When creating and enhancing your small business marketing strategy, always remember that consumer behavior trends change.

With that in mind, here are some current customer behavior and tech trends informing actions:

Convenient payments

Today’s consumers want multiple payment options, including PayPal, Venmo, credit or debit cards, and NFC mobile payments, like Apple Pay. Convenience and variety should be top of mind when offering consumers different ways to cover a transaction. 

Another up-and-coming payment trend is the option to “buy now, pay later,” which allows customers to divide their purchase into multiple installments instead of paying for everything upfront. 

Transparency

Over the last few years, customer demand for transparency in the businesses they support has increased. 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 must be transparent about their history and practices to gain consumers’ trust.

Online buying

While local marketing strategies are crucial, accommodating consumers’ ever-growing preference for online shopping is more important than ever. That means launching an intuitive e-commerce site that offers a positive customer experience and combats common e-commerce challenges like lax cybersecurity and delayed order fulfillment. When developing strategies to influence customer behavior, brainstorm ways to influence consumers in person and online.

Anonymity

With so much business conducted online, many consumers are concerned that their personal information will fall into the wrong hands. Some consumers want as much anonymity as possible; they don’t want a company to know too much about them beyond the necessary details for the business exchange. Companies must meet consumers halfway and accommodate those who will provide only limited details. While businesses often strive to deliver personalized marketing efforts, accommodating those who prefer privacy could influence their spending.

Clean and green companies

Consumers are concerned about climate change and want to do their part to reverse the damage to the planet. They like to buy from green businesses and environmentally friendly companies – and this trend is expected to grow. 

Companies with sustainable products attract environmentally conscious consumers. Similarly, more shoppers are seeking organic products and healthier alternatives to what’s currently on the market and are willing to spend the extra money for their (and the planet’s) well-being.

Influencing consumer choice

With a clearer understanding of the psychology behind consumer choices, companies can more adeptly tweak their marketing plans, navigate potential consumers and convert more 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?” Cialdini cautioned. “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.

Cialdini said that focusing on psychological motivators is key. “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.”

Sammi Caramela contributed to this article.