Cognitive and psychological influences are those repetitive routines that our brain performs when we perform tasks such as evaluation, judgment, remembering or making a decision.
Similar to instincts, they evolve to simplify mental processes for each decision. In the field of marketing, these influences are very interesting in order to know which factors take part in the consumer's decision-making process.
Below we present some of these influences:
Table of contents
The drag effect
Zero risk or certainty
Ingroup bias
Confirmation bias
The legacy effect
The "it was not invented here"
The drag effect
It is based on the fact that the acceptance rate of beliefs, ideas or trends increases even more when they have already been adopted by other individuals.
The bandwagon effect means that someone is much more likely to do, say, or believe something if a larger number of other people already do it. This effect is also called groupthink or herd behavior .
This influence is very useful in the area code malaysia list marketing aspect. It makes new users believe that everyone loves your product, and thus makes the process of getting the new user to like your product easier.
This influence can be used to the advertiser's advantage through comments. The comments that a new user finds about a service or product will help them decide to purchase.
User-generated content is very useful, such as Instagram posts from consumers who have purchased your product. Influencers have the same effect .
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Zero risk or certainty
That's exactly it. The human mind tends to choose those options in which there are no risks, where certainty prevails.
This is why many companies offer money-back guarantees and risk-free trials. This sense of zero risk is very attractive to customers, especially when it comes to new products or services they are going to buy.
The fewer risks that are presented to the consumer or potential consumer, the greater the feeling of security in their decision. And this process will become a much easier choice.
An example of this is the messages that often appear on Instagram Stories such as: risk free or money back guarantee or in social media posts that include a photo of the product and some text.
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Ingroup bias
This means that the user prioritizes products and ideas that are popular in their group or in a group they identify with. However, some studies suggest that group identities are flexible and can change over time.
In terms of psychological marketing, you can choose the marketing strategy that best suits you if you find the currents and identify the groups to which your clients and potential clients belong.
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Confirmation bias
This state is the one that haunts the client's mind, interpreting, supporting and demanding information that confirms or amplifies the ideas and conjectures that the user has already formed. This effect becomes even stronger when it is an emotionally charged issue that is closely related to the subject's beliefs. In these cases, instead of looking for new information, the user looks for information that confirms what they already know.
It is easier and less tiring if the brain stays with the user's beliefs than going through a decision-making process and reconstructing its beliefs. Instead, the human brain backs up its beliefs and ensures its decision is the correct one.
This confirmation bias also contributes to overconfidence in user beliefs . When it comes to mobilizing this psychological part of marketing, certain factors must be taken into account:
The beliefs of the target audience must be taken into account.
Share information about your brand that fits these trends or beliefs.
Incorporate these into product or service descriptions.
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The legacy effect
People value things they own more highly simply because they already have them. As advertisers, there are many ways to play with this effect, such as trial versions, coupons, or samples.
All these experiences generate a feeling of belonging that the user finds difficult to shake off.
The most peculiar thing about this effect is that users tend to spend more to keep something that already belongs to them than something they know they do not have, even if there is no feeling of belonging or even if the product itself has only recently been obtained.