As marketers, we often make the mistake of focusing on changing consumer behaviors. We expend our energy drowning the consumer in tactics that focus on purchase. And, I'm going to tell you why this doesn't work in the long-run.
The role of marketing is to give consumers the necessary stimuli for them to persuade themselves. Sometimes the stimuli is as simple as a brand name, and sometimes it's more complicated, such as in-depth content. Regardless, our aim is to solicit a favorable response when consumers encounter our brand. Our focus should be on changing attitudes.
People process information in two ways - centrally and peripherally. These two routes are described in the Elaboration Likelihood Model, a framework developed in the 1980s. When people give careful considerations to messages, then they're processing information centrally. But when they respond to simple stimuli, then they're processing information peripherally. The route is chosen based on motivation and ability. Consider anti-smoking, many campaigns are ineffective because people don't have the right motivations to stop or they're unable to picture themselves as a non-smoker. In this case, someone is following a peripheral route becuase the campaigns have failed to tap into a mental shortcut to stop the person from glossing over an issue of low concern.
Essentially, part of cracking the consumer code involves understanding how they process information for your category. And, certain segments (based on demographics, educations, or socio-economics) may follow differing paths. Researchers know that big ticket purchases involve centrally processing infomation (i.e. people want lots of details), whereas cheaper commodities (and even charities) involve peripherally processing information (i.e. people respond to simple cues like endorsements, celebrity spokespeople, creative, product layout, product design, etc).
Now you may ask, where do attitudes and the way people process information intersect? When a message opposes the attitude that someone holds, then they're likly to start processing information centrally. This means they start to scrutinize everything. But in time, they may shift their attitude. And once attitudes shift, then so does behavior. But back to the smoking example, the shifts are not sudden. They can be so gradual that they seem glacial. And for that reason, realizing the true effect of marketing takes time, also. Integrated marketing, arguably, can speed up the process.
The role of marketing is to give consumers the necessary stimuli for them to persuade themselves. Sometimes the stimuli is as simple as a brand name, and sometimes it's more complicated, such as in-depth content. Regardless, our aim is to solicit a favorable response when consumers encounter our brand. Our focus should be on changing attitudes.
People process information in two ways - centrally and peripherally. These two routes are described in the Elaboration Likelihood Model, a framework developed in the 1980s. When people give careful considerations to messages, then they're processing information centrally. But when they respond to simple stimuli, then they're processing information peripherally. The route is chosen based on motivation and ability. Consider anti-smoking, many campaigns are ineffective because people don't have the right motivations to stop or they're unable to picture themselves as a non-smoker. In this case, someone is following a peripheral route becuase the campaigns have failed to tap into a mental shortcut to stop the person from glossing over an issue of low concern.
Essentially, part of cracking the consumer code involves understanding how they process information for your category. And, certain segments (based on demographics, educations, or socio-economics) may follow differing paths. Researchers know that big ticket purchases involve centrally processing infomation (i.e. people want lots of details), whereas cheaper commodities (and even charities) involve peripherally processing information (i.e. people respond to simple cues like endorsements, celebrity spokespeople, creative, product layout, product design, etc).
Now you may ask, where do attitudes and the way people process information intersect? When a message opposes the attitude that someone holds, then they're likly to start processing information centrally. This means they start to scrutinize everything. But in time, they may shift their attitude. And once attitudes shift, then so does behavior. But back to the smoking example, the shifts are not sudden. They can be so gradual that they seem glacial. And for that reason, realizing the true effect of marketing takes time, also. Integrated marketing, arguably, can speed up the process.
-Kai D. Wright
Resources:
1. Richard Perloff. The Dynamics of Persuasion. Lawrence Erlbaum Associates. 2003.
1. Richard Perloff. The Dynamics of Persuasion. Lawrence Erlbaum Associates. 2003.
Framework: Elaboration Likelihood Model
