Blog : The Push Theory Psychology To Change Our Consumption Decisions

When it comes to pushing consumers in one direction or the other and getting them to make those decisions that matter most to companies, companies have to spin very thin with its marketing strategy. To do this, they need to understand how consumers' minds work and what makes things work and what doesn't. In this relationship with your potential buyers, understanding the basic rules of consumer psychology and what ends up motivating or holding consumers back can become a determining factor.

And one of the techniques that work when motivating consumers and taking them in the direction that interests them most is the so-called push theory. In the first place, when these mechanisms are used, people are being told what to do. However, it is not done directly. It's not like those ads and messages from brands do this to accomplish this, but preferably the one that points out what interests them.

One of the best examples, as pointed out by FastCompany, is the way hotels convince us not to use clean towels every day. For many years, hotels posted warnings about how washing towels every day impacted the environment. It was a don't waste a towel and don't force us to squander water. The most effective format is the one now used. The message focuses on how many people do it. It is a many of our consumers use their towels again, why don't you do it too.

If it works, it is because the perception of the message changes, as does the vision that one has of the role that the consumer has in it. The consumer doesn't feel like they're being forced to do something or pushing in one direction. He thinks that in the end, it is he who is in control and who is making the decision. The brand has managed to make it do what it wants with a little push.

How your relationship with the environment changes? The use of brands and companies in this technique can achieve very efficient results. Many are already using it, although the technique is not a magic wand and does not work if the consumer is not already somewhat predisposed towards what is being pushed.

For example, with organic products, the push theory can help increase the frequency of purchase within the same trip to the store, but it will not make a consumer not interested in this type of product go out with them in their shopping cart. To increase their presence in the basket, companies should not concentrate on organic products in a single section. If they do, the consumer will only get one of those products, because their brain will feel that they have already met the category.

The theory can be applied to even more terrains and much more from day to day. Schiphol Airport managed to improve the cleanliness of men's public toilets in the late 1990s by sticking the fly image on their cups. Men unconsciously ended up pointing in that direction when they went to the bathroom and cut back on splashes. Ogilvy & Mather designed a campaign in 2011 to protect London shops during an unrest season they painted graffiti on the bars that had faces of babies in the neighborhood.