The psychology of buying

By M.Farouk Radwan, MSc.

The psychology of buying

Why do we buy certain items all of a sudden without previous planning?
Why do some people long for certain products?
Why do some people spend fortunes buying a small decorative item??

People buy things to fulfill certain psychological needs through the purchase. People usually don't buy brands because they like them but they buy them because they like how these brands affect their image and status.

In this article i will tell you more about the psychology of buying.

Why we buy?

When it comes to buying Each person is considered a special case however most people's buying behavior can fall under any of these categories:

  • Emotional need: Some people go shopping to escape from bad moods,others buy brands to attract attention, a third group buys expensive cars to improve their perceived status while a fourth group might buy certain clothes to appeal to the other sex. So most people buy emotional needs and not just the products and this explains the additional amount of money paid for the brand
  • Wanting to be: Some people buy brands when they see cool people in the advertisements because they want to be as cool as them. People unconsciously associate a certain personality with the brand based upon the ads they saw and if this personality appealed to them they buy the brand thinking that this action will bring them closer to this personality. One of the reasons men buy Axe is because they unconsciously think that this will make them as attractive as the male models they saw in the ads
  • We follow the crowd: According to social proof theory things become more appealing when they are desired by others. This lets people sometimes buy products that they don't need just because of their perceived attractiveness. In my book How to make someone fall in love with you i said that another research shown that a person was found to be much more attractive when members of the opposite sex were seen smiling to him!!
  • We like the sellers!!: A research has shown that people prefer to shop from those who smile often!! this means that a bad tempered store owner might drive buyers away
  • Means to reach their goals: The guy who bought the Ferrari might have done so in order to attract a potential partner, the woman who bought a cooking book might have done so to keep her husband and the guy who bought a blackberry might have done so to get closer to his friends

2knowmysef is not a complicated medical website nor a boring online encyclopedia but rather a place where you will find simple, to the point and effective information that is backed by psychology and presented in a simple way that you can understand and apply. If you think that this is some kind of marketing hype then see what other visitors say about 2knowmyself.The book How to make someone fall in love with you was released by 2knowmyself.com; the book will dramatically increase your chance of letting someone fall in love with you.

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