“Any money is not a pity”: how sellers make us buy unnecessary

It’s very simple: just evoke certain emotions in us, use hypnotic words and pleasant pictures in advertising, slightly change the color, lighting and music in the store, and we are ready to make an (unnecessary) purchase.

David Lewis, an American neuropsychologist and founder of the independent research consulting firm Mindlab International, talks about such methods of manipulation and ways to counter them. He was one of the first to apply the methods of neuroscience in the study of the mental activity of buyers, for which he was called the «father of neuromarketing.» Here are some interesting facts from his book «Neuromarketing in action».

Products that bring us closer to the ideal

To evoke a sense of inferiority and show a saving way out is a method that advertisers have been using for a long time. “Tell people that the world is dangerous, that they don’t have enough of this particular car, and in general their teeth are not white enough, and then offer a magic tool — your product, and you will leave them no choice,” says American marketer Jona Sachs.

Marketers turn expensive services of dentists, cosmetologists and plastic surgeons from an unpleasant necessity into our need and strongest desire. It is enough to imagine these procedures as a way to change the appearance for the better and increase self-esteem, and a person will not spare money for a panacea.

However, in recent years, selling through inferiority has been supplanted by another method: marketing of the future is a message that makes the buyer a hero, reminds him of how great his potential is.

We treat shopping as fun

Often we do not just go shopping, but we want to pass the time, dispel boredom or get rid of loneliness, we hope to have fun and enjoy.

That is why shopping centers almost everywhere have turned into shopping and entertainment centers (with pleasant lighting, music and decor), and there are so many retail shops in airports: a person waiting for his flight will certainly go into one of them. As a rule, the passenger needs communication with a friendly seller more than the purchase itself, but still buys an unnecessary thing in gratitude for the attention paid to him.

During such a walk, we feel ourselves engaged in an interesting game in which the purchase of numerous souvenirs is not a thoughtless waste of money, but an obligatory ritual and an additional source of fun.

Bargaining increases the value of the product

The buyer, whom the seller meets and agrees to bargain, experiences an emotional and physical uplift, his brain is in an excited state. And after the transaction, he appreciates his acquisition much more than if he received it without much effort.

This phenomenon is called «attribution error»: we often transfer our emotional state from the situation that caused it to the object that is nearby. Some sellers are aware of this mechanism, so they specifically create circumstances in which a person experiences excitement, strong feelings. Feeling joy and pride from a small victory over the seller, the consumer attributes his high spirits to the desire to have this product, even if before that he doubted the need to purchase.

Pose of the purchaser

Modern experiments and observations of psychologists have made it possible to determine exactly how movements and postures affect the mood of the buyer. Here are just three tricks (of course, there are many more) that help sell:

1. Encouraging the consumer to nod frequently will significantly increase their desire to buy the product.

For example, arrange the product line vertically instead of horizontally. If he has to turn his head to the sides, the purchase will become less likely. The unconscious connection between nods and positive emotions goes back to infancy. Charles Darwin watched children raise and lower their heads in search of their mother’s breasts and shake their heads from side to side when they were full. This also explains why, in most cultures, nodding means agreement and turning the head from side to side means disagreement.

2. Consumers who lean back relaxed in an easy chair are more flexible in their negotiation than those who sit in an uncomfortable chair.

Even a relatively small change in posture can affect how much attention consumers pay to a story about the product being offered and how well they remember the words addressed to them. In one study, participants listened to information by turning their heads to the right or left. Those who listened with their heads turned to the right paid more attention to what was said and remembered what was said more accurately than those who turned their heads to the left.¹.

3. Simple manipulation of the postures of strength and weakness is enough to significantly change the psychological state of a person

Recall that the poses of strength are legs wide apart, hands on the belt, and the poses of weakness are arms crossed on the chest, head bowed. For example, if a character in a television ad adopts a power pose, they will be perceived as overconfident, even aggressive. But someone who took a pose of weakness will be considered more relaxed and friendly.².

1. J. Ackerman et al. «Incidental haptic sensations influence social judgments and decisions», Science, 328(5986), 2010.

2. D. Carney et al. «Power posing: Brief nonverbal displays affect neuroendocrine levels and risk tolerance», Psychological Science, 21(1), 2010.