10 Reasons Why People Buy Things: Guest Internet Marketing Commentary By Steven Wagenheim
Wednesday, July 11, 2007
EDITOR'S NOTE: PatrickPretty.com occasionally creates space for Internet Marketers to offer Guest Commentaries. This post is by Steven Wagenheim.Everybody is in a rush to create the newest, latest and greatest product since Carter invented liver pills, but so many new marketers fail to sit down and think about just what it is that makes a consumer buy things. Most marketers think it's because they need whatever the thing is. Unfortunately, it is that kind of thinking that gets marketers in trouble. This article is going to focus on the 10 reasons why people like you and me buy things. I'll be listing them in reverse order, just like with those exciting countdown shows.
10. To Relieve Stress - If you don't think that life is stressful then you're either not living or very lucky. The truth is, for most of us, life is very stressful. Therefor, a good portion of our purchases are made to relieve that stress, whether it be a punching bag to put down in the basement or a basketball hoop to tack up to our garage to shoot a few hoops and maybe slam a few dunks. Take a look at your product or service and see how it can help the person relieve stress, maybe by making their job a little easier through automation or some other means.
9. Replacing An Item - Sometimes things will either break down or get old and obsolete. Nothing lasts forever and ultimately needs to be replaced. If you have a product that fits that description, such as computers or any piece of electronics, you can get yourself a customer for life if you provide them with a quality product.
8. Satisfying The Emotions - We're a very emotional species. It doesn't take much to make us happy or sad or what have you. Sometimes we purchase things just because we have an emotional need that needs to be filled. This can take many forms from buying a new dress to make us feel better about our appearance to getting that cowboy hat we always wanted because deep down inside we wished we were John Wayne. The point is, emotions are not logical, so don't expect the purchases to be logical.
7. To Entertain Ourselves - If you think human beings don't like to be entertained, take a look at TV, the movies, the theatre and just about anything else you can think of done outside the home. If it wasn't for entertainment, I think most of us would go crazy from boredom. If you're in this industry, you're sitting on a gold mine.
6. A Purchase We Planned - Believe it or not, every once in a while we actually sit down and decide on a particular date and time we're going to buy that new, whatever. It can be something that we've wanted for a long time that we just didn't have the money for or something that we've been putting off because we've been waiting for the new and improved model. So just because somebody doesn't buy your product today doesn't mean they might not tomorrow.
5. To Relax - Sometimes all we want to do is come home from a hard day at work, sit in our favorite chair and either read a magazine, do the crossword puzzle in the newspaper or just take a nap. Many of our purchases are made for the reasons of relaxation. If your product caters to this need, you have something that is always in demand.
4. To Educate Ourselves - This is a big one. We are constantly striving to educate ourselves. This is why digital info products are so big. People think if they buy one of these self help books that they're going to get the education that they need. So if you're in the digital info market, you have a wide audience to reach.
3. To Improve Our Surroundings - Home and office decoration is huge. Think about all the stuff you have in your house that does nothing but just improve the way it looks. It really doesn't serve any functional purpose, unless of course you've got all those paintings hanging around to scare away the bugs. Marketers who are in the home and office furnishings niche can have customers for a lifetime if they provide quality products and treat them well.
2. To Please Ourselves - There is nothing logical about this at all. Sometimes we just feel low and need a pick-me-up, so we go to the local sweet shop and pick up a Milky Way or Snickers. These purchases are done for no other reason than to make us feel better. If you have a product that fills this need, you have a huge customer base to choose from.
1. To Improve Our Quality Of Life - There is nothing bigger than this my friends. When all is said and done, when we purchase something we want to believe that our lives are going to be better for it. The key here is to promote your product or service in a way that fills this emotional need. How can it improve the quality of somebody's life?
If you are running your own business, you need to look at your product or service and see how many of these emotional triggers your product or service touches off. The more the better, but if you find that you're not hitting any of them, it could explain a major reason why you're not making many sales.
People don't buy things because they need them.
They buy them for the reasons above.
Commit them to memory.
It may mean the difference between success and failure.
To YOUR Success,
Steven Wagenheim
Creator Honest Income Program and My Secret Articles.
Steven Wagenheim's 4-Step Method To Making Money Online
posted by Patrick Pretty @ 3:11 PM,
