As a marketer, it's your ultimate goal to make every consumer happy with your product once they get it home. But did you know that the specific amount of personal happiness that a consumer feels at the time of potential purchase has a surprising impact not only on whether they buy but how they'll feel about the product down the line?
Science has taken a fascinating look at this phenomenon. Use these cutting-edge strategies to build upon their research and ensure that consumer joy has a positive effect on your profit margin.
Use nostalgia to your advantage.
A study from the Journal of Consumer Research found that being reminded of good childhood memories weakens a person's desire to hang onto their money. Therefore, if a consumer sees a product that brings back genuine joy because they relate it to a fun experience from the past — like a retro-patterned blouse that looks like one they wore in high school — they'll typically buy it instantly.
Really put some effort in knowing your demographic for a new product: package the product with design elements that harken back to the '80s, for example, if your target demographic was growing up at that time.
Limit display numbers.
Research from the University of Maryland found that scarcity creates a specific sense of primitive desire and arousal in the brain that can cause a person to focus only on that sought-after object.
This means that if a consumer thinks a product is rare and special, he or she is less likely to comparison shop, as it's much more exciting to obtain a scare product. Ask your vendors to limit the number of certain products on display to just a few if you want it to fly off the shelves.
Place a clear emphasis on personal product benefits.
Researchers from Johns Hopkins report that consumers are willing to wait in line for, and spend more, to buy a hit product if they think that product will provide them with richer rewards in their lives; for instance, a household product that will be so easy and effective to use it will give them more personal time.
Focus your marketing might on how your product is so unique and of such high quality that it will make a difference in how well your customers live.
Focus on the theory of "general happiness."
A study from the Society for Consumer Psychology found that people who focus on a narrow time frame when it comes to happiness are less likely to be pleased with a product they consume.
For instance, you're looking to boost your mood by watching a movie, but if you don't like it, you feel worse and won't be as likely to watch the same kind of movie again. If consumers see a product as part of a general goal of happiness, however — like a man who buys a suit for an anniversary date with his beloved wife — that consumer forms a positive overall impression of that product because it will always remind them of the positive experience they associate it with long-term (i.e., that man's happy marriage).
Use large life experiences as an advertising premise to ensure your consumers think fondly of your product for years to come — they'll rebuy it.
Be scrupulous.
Consumers are happy when the companies they purchase from are trustworthy. Don't mislead them with false advertising; make quality products and respect their intelligence at all times. These elements are the key to earning trust and satisfaction.
