Posts by Sherwette

3 Amazing pricing psychology tips to try right now

Consumer Behavior Product Pricing October 18, 2019

If you are starting a new business or introducing a new product into the market, pricing is a topic that is always on top of mind.

You think, “How to price my product?”

In theory, the pricing formula should be straight forward (see below).

Material cost + Labor cost + Overhead cost = Total cost
Total cost + X% of Desired profit = Product cost

Assuming you zeroed on your product price, there are a few pricing psychology principles that you could embed in your pricing strategy.

So, let me ask you a question,

Have you thought about how pricing psychology can influence your consumers’ buying behavior?

What the IKEA effect can teach us about employee engagement

Cognitive Bias Consumer Behavior October 14, 2019 2 Comments

The IKEA effect?

What is that all about?

In some countries, or particularly in the west, IKEA is known as one of the cheapest options to buy furniture. This is not the case in the Middle East though.

And even though it’s known as one of the cheapest places to buy furniture, once you actually buy that piece of furniture, it’s very hard to let go of it.

It’s very hard to let go. You want to take it with you whenever and wherever you move. From one apartment to the next, you pack it and unpack it.

You do that because you have fallen for that IKEA piece of furniture. You have fallen for it even if it was so simple, even if it was so basic, even if all your friends have the same exact one, but perhaps in a different color.

You have fallen for it because IKEA made the best of what is called the “endowment effect”.

Discover how color psychology can increase your conversions

Consumer Behavior Consumer Marketing Product design October 11, 2019

Know your customer.

In different terms, when it comes to product design or marketing, one key element to your success is knowing your customer.

Some call it in the broader level of a customer segment, where basically you know specific statistics about your customer, such as age, demographics, etc.

Those who take a deeper look to empathize with their customers create personas or avatars. A customer avatar is an imaginary representation of your target customer in a specific segment. The avatar or the persona is Amy who in her mid-20s and loves to go swimming every day after work. She is self-aware and motivated to remain healthy because her Grandma died from such and such disease.

Knowing your customers can help you in so many decisions, from what to say and what not to say, what language to use, where to find them and how to trigger them.

One of those decisions is color.

One clever tip to use when pricing your products

Consumer Behavior Consumer Marketing October 5, 2019

If you think discounting the price of your product would increase its attractiveness in the eyes of your customers, think again.

Remember the last time you wanted to book a flight ticket?

You check the flight prices and think of your options. The next day, you check the prices again, and you see the prices have gone up. You regret not taking the decision on the spot, and you tell yourself…

“I could have saved.”

You hesitate again, thinking you could get a better deal. You think tomorrow the prices could change. You wait. You check the prices the next day, and guess what? The prices have gone up again.

“That’s it,” you say. “I am buying my ticket now,” you tell yourself.

You buy the ticket.

Here’s the secret to behavioral change

Consumer Behavior Product design Service design October 1, 2019 1 Comment

If you are creating a product that isn’t a necessity, you are competing on time. With so many distractions, simply, there isn’t enough time to do all the things we want to do.

You are competing to convert customers from what they do now to what you want them to do.

You are competing to convince them to go to Zumba classes instead of the gym. You are competing to influence them to eat gluten-free lactose-free sugar-free muffin instead of the muffin we grew up knowing. You are competing to persuade them to use Uber instead of the taxi. You are competing to have them book airbnb instead of a hotel. You are competing to make them view Instagram stories instead of Snapchat.

But, hey, how can you do that?

Here’s how you can influence your customers to grab their wallets and buy

Consumer Behavior Copywriting Sales skills September 26, 2019 1 Comment

“What’s in it for me?”

If you can answer the “what’s in it for me?” question to your consumers, you are going to get their attention.

The study of consumer behavior breaks down our desires into eight basic needs and wants. Those eight needs get in touch with our biological triggers and if you use one of those needs or a combination of a few, you will be able to answer that question.

Amazing negotiation and persuasion tricks to try right now

Book Reviews Consumer Behavior Sales skills Self development September 20, 2019 3 Comments

One of the top needed skills for the job market in 2019 is negotiation skills, persuasion, and influence.

LinkedIn: The Most In-Demand Hard and Soft Skills of 2019

Forbes: The Skills You Need To Succeed In 2020

… and what a better way to tackle this, than making the best of my favorite subject of consumer behavior?
Consumer behavior is the study of how consumers search for, choose, buy, and use your products or services.

Consumers are people. Whether you influence them to buy your products or services or influence them to buy into your ideas, you can more or less follow the same concepts.

Persuasion and influence could be one of the hardest tasks anyone can be assigned to. Some people are skilled, while others are left dazzled, not sure what could be the next step they can take to improve in that area.

I know. I know because I bet you are a bit like me and face this situation every single day — at work or in social settings. After all, I am a nerd, and well, I did study software engineering. This is quite far from negotiation skills if you ask me.

Read: Learn how consulting changed my life

The good news is negotiation skills, persuasion and influence can be taught. Yes. Some people think that only the born talented are the ones who can exceed in that area, but I beg to differ.

Clever consumer behavior tricks to build trust and close a sale

Consumer Behavior Sales skills Spending money September 16, 2019 1 Comment

Before a consumer grabs her wallet to pull out her credit card, she needs to trust you. She thinks…

Are you credible? Will I regret this?

There are multiple ways to build trust, and showcase your credibility. Today, I will be discussing two techniques, powered by consumer behavior studies.

So, how can you build trust?

Demonstrate that you can fulfill her need.

5 Easy tips to simplify your writing

Consumer Behavior Copywriting Self development September 13, 2019

Use the ‘simplicity’ consumer behavior tip to influence others.

In one of my previous posts, I mentioned the power of simplicity, and how it can boost your business.

Read: 3 Reasons simplicity will boost your business

In fact, it can boost way more than your business. It can help you in every aspect of your life.

Simplicity, especially, when applied in your communication, whether it’s spoken or written, makes others understand you.

When consumers understand what you are trying to say, you are able to influence their thoughts, emotions and ultimately their behavior. If they don’t understand you, then just forget about it.

“Write to the chimpanzee brain. Simply. Directly.” - Eugene Schwartz

… And while it’s always great to know what influences consumer behavior, if you don’t know how to do it, you might as well be as good as those who don’t know anything about the subject.

4 Consumer behavior reasons to hold off an important decision until you feel “better”

Consumer Behavior Self development September 10, 2019

If you are like me, when it comes to making decisions, you would tend to overthink.

Should I choose this or that? Which one is better for me? Do it now or later? Is it the right thing to do? What does my gut feeling tell me? OK, let’s not be emotional here, what do the facts say? What is the probability of X happening? What happens if it didn’t work out? What happens if it did work out?

Too many questions… and not as many answers.

If you are not like me, then lucky you! I am a little jealous.

—

Got an important decision to make?

There are two types of decisions.

1. Life-changing decisions

2. Non-life-changing decisions

So, here is the thing. When it comes to non-life-changing decisions, it’s fine if you slipped. I mean life will go on.

However, when it comes to a life-changing decision, the consequences of a bad decision would hit you hard. Recovery could cost you a lot of time, money and energy. You might want to take your time and hold it off if you are…