The Point-Of-Purchase has always been a war zone. From the ancient by-lanes of Delhi’s bazaars to modern high street malls to e-com portals to local markets, thousands of products & brands are continuously vying for the consumers’ attention & money, every minute, every hour, every day, on every media! It is also the final battleground for all your marketing efforts to either bear fruit or fizzle out.
Naturally, brands are always under pressure to create cluttering-breaking consumer activations, attention-grabbing Point-Of-Purchase material, and eye-catching packaging to win on this front. However, what makes a human being, standing in front of a shelf full of products flanked by rows upon rows of other comparable products or flicking through millions of SKUs on a digital platform, pick your brand up?
To enhance purchases at the point of sale, seasoned brands often implement measures like playing fast, pacey music to help nudge quicker purchase decisions, sensorial marketing especially for food, beverages, perfumes etc., stocking products on shelves at eye-level for better pick-ups and running lightning flash sales online. But if we take a closer look, purchase decisions are very often guided by deep unconscious, often irrational, cognitive biases.
Let us take a glance at a few biases that may be shaping consumer behaviour and how brands can build around them to script success for themselves:
Confirmation bias
As consumers most of us seek out and interpret information that confirms our pre-existing beliefs or expectations, which often come from age-old practices and traditions.
For example, India has a culture of natural remedies and Ayurveda is an age-old tradition trusted by generations. Ayurvedic products and remedies are perceived to have zero side-effects as against allopathic medicines. That is why we are seeing a surge in consumption of Ayurvedic products, especially in curative, preventative and personal care segments.
Reinforcing confirmation bias often helps build relatability with the audience and gives brands a better chance. However, cultural, sensorial and category relevance must be kept in mind when doing so.
Loss aversion
No one wants to lose. This bias is deeply ingrained into human beings, and we often tend to prefer avoiding losses over getting equivalent gains.
For example, a lot of people are aware of the generic medicine stores and the fact that the same molecules that they have been prescribed are available at the generic store at a much lesser price. Yet, when it comes to getting their prescription filled, patients tend to stick to their existing medical stores and more expensive brands. This is primarily because of lower priced medicines often being perceived as inferior in quality and hence, despite significant savings, the patients do not want to take a chance with their health and well-being.
The way around loss aversion is to show to your audience that loss feared by then are non-existent. And the potential gains outweigh any loss-anxiety that they may be feeling.
Bandwagon effect
Often people tend to adopt beliefs or behaviours because of their perceived popularity.
For example, social media is awash with imagery of health-conscious and fit men and women, making others feel left out. Hence, there is a burgeoning interest in the health, fitness, and supplements category. And although not everyone exercises regularly, taking supplements like vitamins and proteins helps them feel they are doing ‘something at least’ to stay healthy. This is clearly seen as the consumption of protein and vitamin supplements have been steadily growing.
Bandwagon effect can be capitalized by brands through creating contextual conversations around the popular trends and themes that people are gravitating towards and helping them evolve into their new mindset and selves.
Framing effect
People also make many decisions just based on information presented to them, instead of looking into the facts.
For example, widespread vaccine hesitancy is being seen across the world post-covid19 as certain adverse events resulting from the vaccine have surfaced on social media. This has been fueled further by AstraZeneca admitting to ‘rare side effects’ of the vaccine. Although statistically insignificant, these sporadic events have made a lot of people believe that all vaccines are unsafe, and hence should be avoided. This sentiment is affecting uptake of several other adult vaccines and more worryingly, the uptake of paediatric vaccines as well, which is not a good development.
The ideal way to tackle framing bias is to educate the audience with facts to allay their fears and showcase as vividly as possible the pros and cons, so they may take an informed decision.
Addressing biases for success
Understanding human behaviour is at the core of modern marketing. In selling, apart from other logistical and physical challenges, brands also need to speak to a hyperconnected, time-poor consumer with limited budgets and still make it count. To ensure success, it becomes even more crucial for them to gauge the real ‘why’ of the audience. Hence, by keeping behavioural biases at the centre and communicating benefits, designing activations, and formulating incentives around them, a brand is much more likely to ensure a better ROI on retail marketing expenditure and more revenues.
This article is penned by Atin Roy, Senior Vice President – Health & Wellness, Ogilvy.
Disclaimer: The article features the opinion of the author and does not necessarily reflect the stance of the publication.
Source: Social Samosa
