The Effects of Advertising on our Buying Power

Advertising has an incredible power when done right to win over consumers and convince them to buy a particular product. However, in today’s world we are bombarded with advertising around every corner- it’s inescapable. The average person has a concentration span of 8 seconds. You need to create advertising that is going to be captivating and engaging, and more importantly, it is going to make an impact within 8 seconds.

 

The main goal of advertising is to sell- sell your product, sell your service and even sell yourself. There are four factors that influence how people spend and what they choose to spend their money on. It is important to consider these factors when constructing advertising to make the most of your advertising budget.

 

#1: Emotional Responses

We make most of our daily decisions unconsciously, which means we choose things based on emotion rather than logic. Products are more relatable when they are paired up with emotions and expressions. When the company shares the same values as the consumer, they are more likely to be attracted to that product. Working together with a charity can help your product look more attractive- “we’ll donate 20 Rand to [insert charity here] for every packet you buy!”

 

#2: Target Insecurities

As much as we do not admit it or realise it, we all have insecurities. Studies have shown that we as humans feel more pain from losing something than the pleasure we experience from gaining something new. For this reason, advertising tends to focus more on how a product can help us avoid something bad rather than simply acquiring something new. Similarly, in overcoming fear, advertising focuses on helping the consumer fight through their fears rather than running away from them.

 

#3: Instinct

As humans we have many instinctual reactions. When it comes to buying products, we tend to want fast gratification, even if that means paying a higher price for something because it may not be available to us at a later stage.

Things like scents, colours, sex appeal, the opportunity to compare products, and our own memories push us to make instinctual choices. The smell of a clothing store could reminds us of a time in our childhood and we feel compelled to buy a jacket on the off chance that we’ll feel the same way we did as a child. Colour has the strong ability to elicit emotions in us and can prompt us to buy a product based on the way the colour makes us feel. Red is often used in advertising a sale because it creates excitement and we are more likely to make purchases.

 

#4: Planning

Although not directly related to your own advertising, the way a store is laid out also contributes to how consumers buy. More often than not stores are arranged to make consumers buy more than they intended. As a consumer, if you walk into a store without a definite list of what you need, you’ll more than likely over-spend and walk out with products you didn’t intend to buy.

 

We may not realise it but advertising has become a large part of our daily lives and it affects the decisions we make in a various facets of our lives, whether we think about it or not.