The entire study of customer behavior is dedicated to examining the factors and motives that form purchase decisions, as well as the emotional, mental, and behavioral responses and influences these decisions have.
Customers are motivated by factors such as economics and finances, perception and market pressures, and their attitudes and beliefs—all while making a single purchasing decision.
Considering the various factors affecting a purchasing decision, understanding how to directly influence customer behavior is a marketing priority.
Learning about the psychological tool of persuasion—and how best to use it in your marketing materials—can serve as a powerful pathway to influencing customer behavior, relationships, and sales.
The Psychology of Persuasion
Persuasion, as defined by Psychology Today, refers to people's influence on one another. It's the ability to alter someone's beliefs, decisions, and behaviors through reasoning or appeal.
Persuasion has been a powerful tool of influence for a long time. The ancient philosopher Aristotle published ""three modes of persuasion" in his work about rhetoric. He suggests persuasion can be achieved by appealing to a belief in authority or trustworthiness, appealing to emotions, or appealing to reason and logic.
In modern thought, the science of persuasion has been championed by Psychologist Dr. Robert Cialdini's six principles of persuasion. Those principles are not just about influencing someone to do something. If manipulation is the goal, it can easily backfire in the form of a broken relationship. Instead, they serve to establish trust and common ground between two parties:
- Reciprocity is gift-giving. If someone does something nice for you, naturally you are inclined to do something nice for them.
- Commitment and consistency are about building trust. As humans, we like predictability and being able to rely on someone or something.
- Social proof is feeling affirmed by others. If someone is leading and has already proved something is safe or sound, others are more likely to follow.
- Authority is proving credibility through experience or expertise. As Aristotle demonstrated, people like to receive influence from those they deem credible.
- Liking is building rapport. People are more likely to adhere to a request coming from someone they like or admire.
- Scarcity is being valuable or rare. Naturally, people are motivated by things that are unique and valuable.
Persuasive principles and appeals like those can't guarantee a particular result or outcome. However, they may be helpful when presenting new thoughts or ideas.
How Persuasion Can Shape Customer Behavior
Persuasion techniques can shape customer behavior by serving as ">heuristic pathways (mental shortcuts) to purchase decisions. Since customers are saturated with advertisements, decision factors, and options, they're naturally looking for influences to shortcut the buying process. That's when persuasive marketing techniques can really drive customer behavior.
For instance, if a potential customer is looking for assurance while buying a software subscription, marketing messages that demonstrate authority—such as the number of years in business or having multiple reviews by satisfied customers—can influence the company to make a subscription decision.
Or if a company isn't sure which supplier to go through, having marketing materials that suggest social proof and demonstrate other businesses trust that supplier can help influence the decision, thereby creating a mental shortcut.
However, identifying what a customer is looking to fulfill in a purchase decision is not always straightforward. Compiling voice of the customer (VoC) research can direct you to real data on what a company's employees—as well as the primary decision-maker—think and perceive regarding their experiences with a brand. That data can then be used to link appropriate persuasive techniques with what customers need in order to make a purchase decision.
Yet not all persuasion comes through conscious thought and reason. Neuroscience shows that nonconscious thoughts and emotions play a driving role in customer behavior as well. So VoC research in which customers share their rational thoughts on their behavior may lead to you conclusions that simply aren't accurate. To avoid that pitfall, take into account both conscious thought and subconscious thought or emotion in customer behavior research.
How Marketers Can Employ Persuasion Techniques
To use persuasion techniques in marketing, you must first understand your target demographic. That means creating accurate customer personas and assessing their potential needs and desires.
Simply put, there are too many factors influencing customer behavior for you to waste time looking at the wrong businesses. Luckily, in this digital era, you can collect customer data through numerous platforms, such as websites, point-of-sale systems, social media, surveys, Big Data analytics, and more.
Once you've compiled current customer data, analyze it for trends that pertain to company size, market factors in their industry niche, pain points, and needs. You'll also want to look at the typical decision-maker's job title and role in their organization. Furthermore, delve into the behavior and psychographics of firms. Machine-learning can be used during that process for a wide array of sectors, since it can analyze vast amounts of data and discover trends that might otherwise go unnoticed.
That analysis should provide you with an accurate set of customer personas—detailed fictional or semifictional representations of your target market. Using those personas as a reference point, determine what needs your target market has and which persuasion technique might help them in their purchasing journey.
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Customer behavior and the study of why people make the purchase decisions that they do can be a complicated landscape to navigate in marketing.
The psychological tool of persuasion and the use of established persuasion techniques can help cut through the nuance of customer behavior to influence purchase decisions. That influence shapes customer behavior by helping them form useful mental shortcuts during the buying process.
Persuasion can be a powerful pathway to influence your customers, earn more sales, and build better relationships.
More Resources on Customer Persuasion and Psychology
Marketing Smarts: Rhetoric and the Art of Persuasion
What Are Your Biases and Heuristics?
