The irrational consumer is in each of us. According to research by the Max Planck Institute, up to 95% of the decisions we make result from unconscious processes, and Daniel Kahneman writes in his book “Thinking Traps – On Thinking Slow and Fast” that 85% of the time a person functions on autopilot. It is no better when shopping. We think that we are analytical consumers, but when you look at the research, it turns out that this is not necessarily true.
As humans, we sometimes like to take shortcuts. Turn iran telegram data into a street that will avoid traffic jams, run cross-country through a meadow and thus reduce the distance left to run, or judge a book by its title and cover.
When we start to judge by shortcuts, then heuristics, or mental shortcuts, start to play a very important role, thanks to which the data processing process is significantly shortened. Heuristics can be very misleading and thus lead us towards creating incorrect assumptions, so-called cognitive errors.
Marketing is also based on the use of top 10 pharmaceutical companies in india’s healthcare horizon heuristics, creating communication that encourages decision-making based on certain assumptions that do not necessarily have to be true.
Irrational consumer – am I buying the product or the idea of it?
The 4th Marketing Law by Al Ries and Jack Trout tells us that “Marketing is not a battle of products, it is a battle of perception” (full list of marketing laws – click here: 22 Marketing Laws ) – in other words, marketing is a specific way of perceiving reality by the consumer. Sometimes surprisingly far from rational perspective.
And now an example:
Do you sometimes eat butter? Or maybe you india phone list belong to the group of people who think that butter is unhealthy and that is why you india phone list eat margarine? Or maybe you think that only butter is really healthy and margarine is pure fake and chemicals?
Today I will not even try to decide that. For a few years I did not eat butter, because for me butter was synonymous with fat clogging my arteries. That is why I poured linseed oil or olive oil on every sandwich. Recently, however, I sometimes eat a fresh roll with butter and I admit that it is a truly phenomenal sensory experience. Delicious.
So for now I will not evangelize you for eating or not eating butter. Let this be a matter of your choice.
What I want to tell you, however, has to do with butter, margarine and their perception.
The irrational consumer – packaging as a mental shortcut.
What is a stick of butter wrapped in? I’ll give you a hint: in a characteristic shiny and colorful foil. Every consumer is able to spot butter on a store, refrigerated shelf thanks to this packaging. I believe that you too can easily, even now, imagine seeing such a stick of butter.
Later, when the butter lands in our refrigerators and when we start spreading it on sandwiches, we wonder who in the 21st century packs butter in such an archaic form. Why didn’t they put the butter in a convenient plastic package with a lid. Why do I have to smear myself and half the kitchen with grease every time because of an awkward package?
Exactly, why?
Because the perception of real butter begins with this foil packaging. Butter in a convenient plastic box is not butter, it’s… margarine. And when you want butter, you don’t want margarine.
On the other hand, a stick of margarine in foil is not margarine, it’s a vile fraud and scam.
The irrational consumer – marketing heuristics.
There are many examples of such marketing heuristics. Marketers, knowing about these mechanisms, use them intentionally.
That’s why you won’t buy mineral water in a package that looks like windshield washer fluid, and that’s why you won’t voluntarily drink water from a petrol can, even if someone tells you it’s clean and has never held fuel. For each of us, this packaging has been appropriated by the category of “fuel,” not food.