Posts in Consumer Behavior

How Bath & Body Works screwed up their pricing

Cognitive Bias Consumer Behavior Consumer Marketing Spending money

Women love Bath & Body works. 

Whenever I visit one of my friends who also happen to be a girl, I find Bath and Body works soup, lotions, candles, body mist, etc. all over the place. Men, on the other hand, like Dettol for some reason. They want to be germ-free I guess. Us, women, we want to experience that sweet scent, the tenderness that comes with it and the relaxation that gets diffused when lighting a strongly scented smell at the end of a long day.

Don’t get me wrong. I am in love with their products too. 

Just pass by the mall and you will find women buying tons of Bath & Body works products. I am one of them. 
I was extremely delighted when they started selling those products online. 
Do you know what I loved the most about the online shop? 

I knew I could buy tons and tons of products and I wouldn’t have to carry them around in the mall. I mean, if you buy candles, lotions, etc., they things really carry some weight. I like to think of my self as strong, but let’s just keep it to mentally strong.

The downside of online shopping though is that I won’t be able to smell every single scent and decide what to buy. Still, the good news is… I already know what I love. 

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There is no doubt, most women love Bath & Body works… But, but, where is the but?

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What happened when I learned my blog was featured in the top 100 Dubai blogs?

Cognitive Bias Consumer Behavior

My blog was recently featured in the “Top 100 Dubai blogs” list by feedspot. When I first learned about it, I was very excited since my blog is quite new. It went live on May 2019 so that’s just a few months ago.

I was thrilled and so I started sharing this news with others.

– First, I was working late at the office, so I told my colleague who I barely knew.
– Then, I told my close friends on WhatsApp.
– Then I shared it on my blog’s social accounts pages.
– The next day I was having a conversation with my partner at work and so I shared the news with her.
– She then shared the news with the workgroup on Whatsapp.
– After that, people at work started telling other people.
– And then the next day, I shared it again on my personal social accounts pages.
– Then my friend shared it on her facebook page.

In this process, not only did I share the news, but others, both close and not too close to me started sharing the news — offline and online. Ironically it was shared more offline than online. Not surprising to me though, I know why, thanks to Jonah Berger.

“Research by the Keller Fay Group finds that only 7 percent of word of mouth happens online.” — Jonah Berger

I started wondering, what in this news made me and others have the urge to share it with others… I mean from a consumer behavior perspective.

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Are credit cards a blessing or a curse?

Consumer Behavior Spending money 2 Comments

The moment you start getting your first paycheck and setting up your bank account, you find yourself bombarded with credit card salesmen trying to make you sign-up for one. 

For the most part, they are free, so you say, “why not?” 

But then again, you find yourself approached by some other banks who want you to sign-up for their credit cards as well. 

“With our credit card, you get miles, you get free access to airport lounges, you get special discounts and offers, you get to pay now for specific merchants and install the payment in 6 months with 0% interest rate, you get, you get… and then you get some more.”

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How exactly hard is it to say “No”?

Consumer Behavior Self development

A few weeks ago, a colleague mentioned two things he likes about me. One of them is my ability to say, “No.” 

My response? 

Flattered. If you know me, you would know how much I like compliments, but then again, which girl doesn’t? 
Although flattered, I wasn’t really sure if that was a good thing, of course in other people’s opinions, not mine. I know I do say “No” when I want to say “No” and it does come easily to me. Perhaps it’s because I like to put myself first. Some people call that “selfish”, but if my well-being is “selfish” then be it. 

While I know I can say “No”, I witness a lot of people who say “No” with all their body and heart, but yet, still do whatever someone else has asked them to do. In some negotiations, from the bottom of their hearts, they don’t want to do it, yet they do. 

The scenario below may sound familiar.

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The reason I bought ice-cream, chocolate, and honey I didn’t want

Cognitive Bias Consumer Behavior Consumer Marketing Sales skills Spending money

Just to be clear, I love ice-cream, chocolate and honey. 

– Ice-cream makes a good day beautiful
– Chocolate is practically an addiction to me
– … And I use honey either for my avocado smoothie or my morning oatmeal

That doesn’t negate the fact that I have bought those items when I didn’t need them at the time.
Sometimes it’s just about maintaining a healthy diet and staying slim. 

In an earlier blog post when I started the #savingmode journey, I spoke about how I bought ice-cream even though I didn’t want to. Well, I wanted the red-velvet ice-cream, but it wasn’t there. I just bought ice-cream because I was given so many samples to try. It wasn’t a calorie justified decision. 

I didn’t know why though I bought the ice-cream anyway.

But now I do.

I also didn’t know why I bought the peanut milk chocolate at the supermarket, even though I promised myself to only get dark chocolate to stay, well, “healthy”. 

I didn’t know why did I buy two jars of honey while I was on a tour in Georgia. I mean I am not having any home-made breakfast while I am on vacation.

Why did I make those purchases even though at the time I didn’t really want to? 

I just found out.

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This is how we get tricked into buying expensive “stuff”

Cognitive Bias Consumer Behavior Consumer Marketing 1 Comment

…

The principle that Sharon used in her letter with her parents is called “human perception, the contrast principle”, where the order of how things are presented to us affects our perception on the way we see things and the difference between them. 

Example,

You hold a glass of water at room temperature after holding a hot glass, you will perceive it colder than it actually is. 

You hold a glass of water at room temperature after holding a cold glass, you will perceive it hotter than it actually is.

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It basically explains every time we got intrigued to buy products/ services just because they say it has been reduced from AED 1,299 to AED 899. We think we got a good deal because we have “saved” so much money in this deal. Our brain has set the baseline for the produce as AED 1,299, the higher price, and so we place a high value on the product. When we see AED 899, we immediately think we just saved AED 400. In reality, though, we actually just spent AED 899. Whether or not we had this budgeted for our purchase is not the primary influencer in making us think it’s a good deal… or making us buy the product. 

Perhaps your budget was only AED 700. You would be thinking, “Technically speaking, that “great” deal is AED 199 more than my budget, but then again I just saved AED 400.” 

In this scenario, you didn’t save AED400. You just spent AED 199 more than my budget. 

Our thinking process deceives us into thinking it’s a good deal. 

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Ok, maybe I could be confusing you here… so to set the ground clear, let’s answer this question:

How do marketers trick us into buying expensive products?

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4 Marketing tricks Uber used to convince me to take 2 more rides

Cognitive Bias Consumer Behavior Consumer Marketing 1 Comment

I received a promotional e-mail from Uber… and right away, I was able to spot the cognitive biases and marketing “tricks” used to influence me to - take an action. 

For a second I stopped and thought, “Oh wow… I am just starting to get my hands dirty into those biases and I am right away spotting them as I see them.” It was proud of myself for a moment. 

Moving on. 

When I first read it, I was tempted to take Uber more often, but then again I drive my own car, so using Uber on a daily basis isn’t really my thing, unless the car is in service.

Let’s find out about those tricks, shall we?

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Which one of us doesn’t like free stuff?

Consumer Behavior Consumer Marketing Sales skills Spending money

I broke one of my necklaces, so I had to go to the mall to fix it. 

I was somewhat dreading that trip - as simple as it was. I dropped it off and left. 

On my pursuit of spending less, I try as much as I can to avoid the mall visit… I ignore the sale text messages and pretend I have never received them. 

Ring, ring. I get a phone call. My necklace is ready for collection. I once again went to the mall. This time though I didn’t leave right away. I thought, well, let me have a look. That’s what we do right? Some of us at least. 

Wandering around and checking all those sale signs, trying to not get influenced, by the buy 2 get the 3rd for free promotions, I stumbled upon ladies representing one of the make-up brands, Gosh. They try to talk to me and I think they are trying to sell me something. Perhaps even let me try something for free… of course, so I can buy it once I like it. I tell them I am not looking for something. 

They look at me and give me a bag… and tell me “This is yours.” I say, “What?” They tell me, “This is yours.” I am confused…

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10 Psychology Tricks that Make You Buy more at the Supermarket

Cognitive Bias Consumer Behavior Spending money

Supermarket Psychology: Product Placement is not Random

Supermarkets. Pretty standard, right?
It’s the one place everyone has been to and goes to on a weekly basis. Except, this isn’t the point. The point is, whichever supermarket you visit, it still has the same old basic arrangement of products. Try recalling the supermarket’s layout. So the veggies and fruits are placed at the entrance, meats, and cheeses at the back (always at the back), and let us not forget candy is at the cashier no matter what. Do you think it’s just a coincidence that all supermarkets happen to have the same design?

How many times have you bought goods you didn’t intend on buying when you first stepped into the store?

The arrangements of products inside a supermarket are not random; they are mainly categorized and organized in this way to indulge you into buying more. They are carefully designed psychological tactics to play with our shopping experience.

Why don’t we find out about some tricks? Shall we?

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