A conflicted consumer and how to fix it.

As a marketer, it is our responsibility to bridge the gap between an intent to buy and an actual purchase. No matter how much it actually helps your business, you can't build a brand on impulse buys. 

What this article talks about is various conflicts a consumer faces broadly on a daily basis and why your strategies are not translating into actual sales.

Approach-Avoidance

I'm certain that at some point in our shopping escapades we really liked something but it didn't do justice to its the price tag. This type of conflict arises where there are pros and cons to a purchase.

Marketing implications of this is simple you make the pros outweigh the cons. For a high involvement product like a house, car or even a smartphone you appeal to their cognitive behaviour and give out detailed objective specifications making the consumer believe they are making an informed decision. For a low involvement product, you appeal to one's emotions. A classic example of this is a Coke or a Pepsi. Coke has a more family-oriented theme to it whereas Pepsi has more of a youth-cult theme. There is no actual benefit of drinking them but you are made to believe you are going to feel something good owing to their emotional-link.

Approach-Approach

This arises due to comparison. When you have two good products and you are torn between them. A marketer needs to pull you towards their product and not leave it to a random selection. 

The marketing implications of this is pretty interesting.If you are a market leader you need differentiation and create as much room as possible between you and the competition. But if you are a smaller player the wise thing to do is be as close to the leader as possible and follow them to the T. Take the case of Marie biscuits from Parle and Brittania. If kept side by side without their respective company logos you won't be able to make out which is which. 

Avoidance-Avoidance

This is a lose-lose situation for the consumer. No matter if he plans to undertake the purchase or not they stand to lose something. Insurance is a classic example. We want to avoid spending on it but we also want to avoid the situation if we don't. 

Marketing implications of this even though obvious are seldom implemented correctly. You need to make the consumer realize that it is very much a possibility to happen to you with dire consequences following, but this needs to be subtle. No human on this planet would feel comfortable imagining themselves in a calamity. Anti-smoking ad designers can learn something from this.