Fourteen Lectures on Consumer Psychology

Chapter 11 Don't Ignore the Consumer's Imagination
"Buy a silk belt, any color" can be boring, "Look at these silk belts, rose red for a girl, soft lilac for a married woman, and lavender for an old woman The warm ivory color of people” can make people feel friendly, and the images of chocolate and other delicate snacks can make people feel happy, while noisy animals and crawling insects can easily make people feel disgusted... These are all because of consumption. The image in the mind of the buyer, and the rational use of the image will increase the probability of successful sales.

the nature of imagery

Salesmen can use the following two methods to influence the psychological activities of consumers: one is external verbal stimulation, such as words and words.The second is to use a stimulating factor that can directly act on consumers' psychology.Like using Aladdin's lamp, salesmen summon magical servants and let them enter the hearts of consumers to induce consumers to buy goods.

The summoned magic servant has an official name called image, and there are many such servants living in the hearts of consumers.An image is defined as a mental picture of an object that people imprint in their minds when they are stimulated by it.There are both advantages and disadvantages to using imagery to represent this concept, because it is generally believed that only what can be seen can be an image, so mental images should also be visible.In fact, the things we encounter on a daily basis create detailed images of them in our minds.When you hear something, you can also picture its sound in your mind.Different tastes can be expressed in different shapes in the mind, and the graphics of the sense of smell in the mind are also diverse.Therefore, almost all sensations have their own shape in the brain.

To explain the power of imagery, we must go back to brain organization.Any impressive feeling and memory will leave a permanent imprint on the brain.If you want to recall the past memory, you only need to walk backwards along the neural circuit that originally imprinted the memory, and you can recall the past situation.

The method often used to restore a memory is to stimulate the brain nerves to make a different pathway to connect to this memory than the original memory pathway.Generally speaking, after the brain nerves are stimulated, the brain will simultaneously generate many paths connecting that memory.Of course, these paths are interrelated.Because one after another life experiences are stored in the brain one imprint after another.So if an object (an item) triggers a memory, it acts like dominoes that trigger the next memory.

This is why a salesman can make consumers recall past experiences with products in the form of images in their minds.For example, hearing "Wrigley", consumers immediately think of chewing gum, because Wrigley's chewing gum is a name that consumers are familiar with.Here are a few basic features of imagery that salespeople can use to promote sales.

Imagery features

1. Imagery is diverse, as colorful as feeling.

2. Certain types of imagery are much more numerous than other types of imagery.In terms of quantity, visual imagery is the most.Psychological experiments have shown that many people use visual imagery freely, compared to other types of imagery.The second largest number is auditory imagery.None of the other types of imagery were as common as these two.But with difficulty, some people can reproduce certain taste and smell imagery.Of course, if the first impression is weak, it will be very difficult to recall the complete image.This can be confirmed by trying to recall an image of coffee (it's easy to recall what coffee looks like, but it's harder to recall the taste and aroma of coffee).

This is by no means to say that ordinary people cannot experience other images besides visual images and auditory images.Rather, in many sales, salesmen can consider first arousing consumers' visual images (which have a great possibility of realization) to promote sales.He can do this by psychological means.If he wants consumers to know about the beautiful apples from the Hood Valley, it is easier to evoke the image of the apple in the consumer's mind than to evoke the taste, touch and smell of apples in the consumer.

The main reason for this to happen is that the basis for the generation of images in the minds of consumers is the original perceptual experience.Consumers are more likely to see apples than other senses.After a period of contact, other forms of images of the product will also be produced in the minds of consumers. At this time, the salesman can evoke any other images he wants in the minds of consumers.When advertising apples from the Hood Valley, the salesman has to work very hard to elicit the taste and smell sensations that produce a pleasant sensation in the consumer.

3. Some images are concrete, while others are abstract.There are some images that are so real that it is difficult to distinguish them from the original sensations and perceptions.Such extremely real images are called hallucinations.But not all images can be so clear, some images are very abstract, they may stay in the mind for a very short time, or the outline is blurred and difficult to distinguish.Sometimes people try to recall the voice and appearance of an old friend they haven't seen for a long time because of a few similar words, but they find it very difficult in the end. This is the case.

After understanding these characteristics of imagery, it is not difficult to find that if a salesman wants to use imagery to promote sales, he must make clear imagery patterns in the minds of consumers.Although he can't know how these images should be in the minds of consumers, he can achieve this goal by the following methods: avoid using adjectives with empty content, and try to use some specific adjectives to describe the product.For example, when marketing women's silk belts, avoid clichés such as: "Buy a silk belt, it's available in any color", etc.

The words used in this sentence are very general, and they are all adjectives without character and direction.However, if some clear descriptive words are used in the advertisement, a clear image can be produced in the minds of consumers.

"Look at these silk sashes, soft to the touch and delicate to frame your figure perfectly. For the teenage girl, we have rose red (pattern); for the married woman, we have the soft touch For an old lady, warm ivory can make you feel like you are in the court of Louis XIV (temperature).”

These few slogans convey the message that the salesman has a variety of belts for everyone—whether she is young or old, fat or thin.After such a few words of advertising, a comprehensive image of the belt will appear in the minds of consumers.

It is very difficult to get this level of clear image in the consumer's mind.The lazy nature of human beings often tempts us to use some words that point to the empty content that we can come up with without thinking about it, so many salesmen tend to use "amazing", "cheap" and "too valuable" to describe the products he sells. commodity.But these common words are not concrete adjectives.They cannot describe the characteristics and essence of a commodity.These words can be used broadly to describe a house, a car, a glove, or an oil stock, and they can be used without any sense of difference.

In addition, the second reason why people tend to use abstract and non-directive words is that the vocabulary is too poor.There is no habit of choosing different words for different objects to describe their nuances.If you want to change this, the method is also very simple: build a comprehensive and detailed vocabulary.When describing a product, gather all the relevant words and choose those that best describe the product's characteristics and bring images to life in the consumer's mind.

4. The images themselves may be accompanied by strong emotions, especially those that are uncommon but vivid.If salesmen can use imagery properly to make consumers feel happy throughout the sales process, it will definitely make sales more effective.Drawing images of eating chocolate and other delicate treats can make people feel happy, and this image is used by many confectionery companies in their chocolate advertisements.In addition, there are also images that make people feel disgusted, such as noisy animals and crawling insects.In addition to these general tendencies, individuals have different likes and dislikes for particular things due to their different life experiences.The salesman needs to study the emotion behind these images and try to use those that bring pleasure.

The Role of Imagery - Empathy

The role of imagery generally occurs in the "transference" stage.Empathy can be defined as: "The process of anthropomorphizing an object in which we can discover ourselves by looking at it." People naturally like to place their imaginary selves in the scene they see, and often do so, It's as simple as drawing a straight line.If a slanted board is not supported by anything, it will feel very uncomfortable if it is still in the frame at a unique angle.People will feel like the slanted board, leaning in the picture at this angle, the body has a feeling of being severely pulled.

Architects will try to exclude the above lines when designing buildings.They know that sharp lines can make a building look sharp.Straight lines can feel too hard, while curves can feel soft.When unsupported thresholds are designed for building entrances, they are often designed with a slight slope rather than parallel to the horizontal plane.Because they know that if the threshold of the entrance is designed to be parallel to the horizontal plane, the observer, through empathy, will have a feeling that he needs to reach out to support the threshold, because the threshold looks like it may fall at any time.He wouldn't feel that way if the door frame sloped upwards.Salesmen also need to pay attention to this empathy in human nature, and must allow some room for it in merchandising, especially in advertising posters and window decoration.

summary
Looking back at the discussion in this lecture, it can be concluded that the salesman has an ally who lives in the mind of the consumer—the image.When consumers feel pleasure, images will appear in their minds because of association.There are as many types of images as there are types of feelings, and visual images are the most numerous of all images, and using them properly will increase the probability of successful sales.The diversity of imagery will make sales go more smoothly, and sometimes salesmen can also strengthen consumers' desire for goods by arousing consumers' multiple image associations.

In order to better arouse the specific image of consumers, we should try our best to use words with clear meaning and less words with vague content when describing the goods.In addition, in order to more easily arouse consumers' images in sales, salesmen must increase their vocabulary, pay attention to the choice of words to describe images, and try to ensure that the selected words can make consumers feel happy.

This lecture discusses part of the influence of imagery on consumers' psychological activities.The following "Desire to Purchase" will discuss the associative function and role of imagery in more detail.

(End of this chapter)