What is Marketing Psychology?

2/18/2015

WOW! What a prestigious title for an article! It must have made you stop and take notice because YOU are reading these words right now!

However, there are thousands of people that WON'T take the time to stop and read these words. Your mission (should you decide to accept it) is to find out WHY.

That's all that the words "marketing psychology" mean. Plain and simple. Easy for anyone to understand. Right? Of course, it took me two paragraphs to tell you what "marketing psychology" meant. Therefore, the only difference is that the two words themselves ("marketing psychology) take up LESS ROOM in advertising.

Or... Is it the fact that the words "marketing psychology" sound prestigious?

You decide!

Now, can you begin to understand what marketing psychology is all about? If you said, "It's the art of studying people and why they buy things," you're right! Give yourself 100 points for the day! Applause! Applause!

Now -- try this experiment:

1. Set aside six hours of your time, each week, for the next four weeks.

2. Choose one specific mall or high-traffic shopping center in your area.

3. Visit that one specific mall or high-traffic shopping center once a week. (You might want to break up your six-hour time slot into several different malls or shopping centers. Just make sure you revisit those same places the next week for a total of four times.)

Okay, now here's the fun part: go shopping!

Some men tend to think that when we women say we're "going shopping" we mean "spend money." While some women may do that, most of us mean "window shopping." Just like you men enjoy "going shopping" in the hardware section, women enjoy the same emotion. "Going shopping" does NOT mean that you are going to BUY something. It means you are going to go look and see what's "new." Perhaps you may find a bargain -- but that's second on your list. Your main goal is to "be nosy," right?

Is that a correct assumption? That can be debated. But for the sake of example and train of thought, let's assume it's a true fact that the words "going shopping" normally mean "being nosy." Now that those facts have been established, and after you have completed Steps 1, 2 and 3, answer these questions:

1. Are we correct to assume that everyone that goes to the mall on Sunday between 1 p.m. and 6 p.m. are "nosy" people? (No! Only the people you repeatedly see there during your entire four-week analysis. It is not fair to draw a quick conclusion without first answering the question, "Is there another possibility?")

2. What did you see MORE of: (a) single couples with no children, or (b) single couples with children?

3. What types of people were standing in the checkout line to buy something: (a) single people only, (b) single people with children, (c) single couples with no children, (d) married couples, (e) married people who were shopping without their spouse, (f) older couples, (g) teenagers, or (h) old people with grandchildren?

Now, without acting like the "Secret Agent Man" and giving yourself away, look at WHAT items each one of these groups is buying. I always found that married wives with small children in their buggies normally purchased groceries. Teenage girls seemed to always purchase some type of clothing and teenage boys purchased mostly records and CDs. (Of course, your market analysis may be entirely diferent since we live in separate areas of the country.)

Okay -- you feel like the exercise I have asked you to perform is stupid. Some of you are excited and want to get started because you can clearly see the reason and goal I have presented. But some of you will hear that little voice inside your brain that says, "I'll never learn anything." "That's a stupid waste of time." "Isn't there something else I can do; I hate shopping." "Isn't there a faster way?" "I don't have time for this garbage!" Sound familiar?

If that little voice is talking to you -- CAST IT OUT! Tell it firmly to LEAVE YOU ALONE! This is the point at which you have to "let go" and "fly." If you do NOT free yourself from this inner voice, it will destroy you!

But, the botom line is, "marketing psychology" is simply understanding "why people buy things." There are billions of dollars being made by big authors and highly trained professionals about this very subject. Different authors submit different viewpoints about the subject. In fact, some of them use "big words" in an attempt to shield their meaning from normal, everyday people like us.

There are a lot of people out there who don't want you to know how simple and easy it is to make money at home. What would happen if suddenly everyone left their job and started a business of their own at home? Wendy's and McDonald's wouldn't have any cooks to fry hamburgers. The utility companies would collapse. Crime would run rampant since there would be no police department. The total economy would flop! The world would end! We'd all die! Oh no!

Or -- is that a hypothetical conclusion? In other words, is that only what we THINK would happen? Could there be another possibility?

That, my friends, is the key to understanding "marketing psychology."

And why should you study the subject "marketing psychology"? Because it is the knowledge you need in order to achieve your goal. And, what exactly is your goal? Hopefully, it's:

1. Making honest money so you can become totally self-sufficient and independent.

2. Living a free life away from the corporate mainstream where you are constantly tangled in confusion and "business-mania."

3. Leaving a loved one or child with a thriving company they can take over and do better than you did, which will cause it to grow.

4. Becoming comfortable with the fact that you are supplying a product or service that fills a need in the marketplace and helps people.

5. Achieving a peace and harmony in your life whereas you have developed self-confidence and feel good about yourself.

But, what if those are NOT your goals? Could there be another possibility? I didn't have all those goals in mind when I started my business. Sure, they sound good and I would have loved to have started my business out with those goals in mind. But the reason I started my business was out of necessity. I had to! I was laid off work and couldn't find a job that paid $42,000 per year very easily. My bills could not be paid by working at Wal-Mart. I was desperate -- and needed to make money!

Now -- are you beginning to understand what "marketing psychology" is all about? Do you see how we have looked at different viewpoints of the same subject? Notice how we dug deeper. We would come up with a conclusion, or a set of goals, and then we challenged that conclusion by looking at it from another angle. Once you master this technique, apply it to your everyday life. Apply the skill during meetings, visits to the supermarket or discussions between your children or spouse. Be attentive to challenge every subject with another conclusion. Look for ways to do it.

Sometimes it may be hard. But if you keep practicing, it gets easier.

My boyfriend is one of the hardest people to get to understand this philosophy. He can be driving down the road and he gets upset if someone is tailgating him. I'll say things like, "Perhaps the guy doesn't realize he is tailgating and will notice in a few seconds and quit it," or, "Perhaps the guy is in a hurry to get home for a family gathering or important meeting. Since we are driving ahead of him and we aren't in any hurry, we should give him the benefit of the doubt and assume he is in a hurry and has so much on his mind that he is tailgating us without realizing it. Our goal then should be to get out of his way as quickly as possible without causing a wreck in front of us."

Boy -- does that upset him! He wants to be angry and doesn't want to "give in." He feels that giving the tailgating driver the benefit of the doubt means that he is weak and powerless. Is that true? (Oh, no -- there's another possibility. Will they ever end?)

Now it's time to understand WHY we need to know the skill we have acquired. Is there something in it to help us in our lives right now? How can it help us to achieve the goals we have set for ourselves?

Well -- after you have mastered the skill of being able to look at the different possibilities of almost any subject, you will be able to market your product or service and make money with it. Is that reason enough?

All marketing experts agree that it takes skill to market properly. They also agree that the word "marketing" means "selling a product or service to the types of people that want to buy it." The words sound easy (and they are easy to say), but acquiring the skill to do it takes time. Only performing exercises similar to the ones I have started you out with will help you acquire them.

And, when you learn how to sell your product or service to the types of people that want to buy them, you'll make money. Depending on the product, you'll even make LOTS of money. So isn't it worth learning all you can about "marketing psychology"? Won't making LOTS of money allow you to achieve those good goals you have made for yourself? Sure it will!

Now, you have learned about a secret that not many people know. If you have sincerely read and understood "where I'm coming from" in this article, you are on your way to becoming a millionaire!

Am I a millionaire? Nope! Should you put faith in my words simply because I'm not? Some of you might use that angle to argue with me about my personal viewpoints in these three reports. That's like putting me on trial and examining every possibility you can. That's good! In fact, it's great! I'm glad to see you growing and functioning on your own!

Notice what I just did in the paragraph above. I started out with a sentence that said, "Some of you might use that angle to argue . . ." That immediately made you think I was about to go into some speech and justify my ability to give you sound advice. But instead -- I agreed with you. I applauded you for puting me on trial and examining that possibility. Did that surprise you?

Are you now confused because I didn't end the paragraph the way you thought I would? Since I didn't end it "your way," does that constitute me as crazy? Some of you might think I'm a nut.

But all I'm trying to get you to do is THINK. And to think about things in-depth is to arrive at different possibilities and angles as to why people purchase things and react in the way they do in order to make that purchase. If you think my philosophy is wrong solely based on the knowledge that I'm not a millionaire -- and therefore, I couldn't possibly know what "marketing psychology" is all about -- CHALLENGE ME. Follow my advice and prove me wrong!

This leads us back to where we first began, drawing an unfair quick conclusion without digging deeper into the subject matter.

All in all, my hope for anyone reading these three reports is that you will make honest money and survive the coming end. Technology is advancing so rapidly that Wilbur and Orville Wright now are considered "freak shows." Transistor radios are in the Smithsonian Archives depicted as something old and part of our past. Society is growing in knowledge. Even children know more at five years of age now than we did (anyone over 30) at 16! We have already experienced these facts.

For those of you who see this new world we are facing as a reason why it is important for us to become financially independent, I applaud you. We both agree. Let's hope there are a lot more like us out there. (I have hope and faith that there are.) Although we see continued evidence of a decline in the moral structure of our society, I am one of those optimists that believe there are at least 60% of us who are NOT immoral. I believe there are a lot of good people in the United States. And I believe there is still time for us to work together in achieving financial independence. Let's start by understanding what "marketing psychology" is all about and we'll be one step ahead of the game!t or service and make money with it. Is that reason enough?

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