Marketing tricks in stores. The smartest marketing tricks to increase sales

Have you ever wondered why you bought another “robe with mother-of-pearl buttons” that you will never wear at “only half price”? Or why you definitely need to spend half your salary on new version smartphone, “like people’s”, although you are generally more comfortable with the old one? Today, on the heels of publications for professional marketers, we are sharing with you ten marketing “hooks” that we fall for again and again in the ocean of the consumer market.

1. Priming effect

Have you ever played a game where one person says a word and the other person immediately responds with the first association that comes to mind? Recently, games such as Alias ​​have become popular. As a rule, the use of such stable associations in the game as: “Tula …” - gingerbread, “last …” - bell works flawlessly.

It's kind of like programming. You receive one signal and it affects how you respond to the subsequent signal. Psychology Today magazine cites a study of two groups of people reading the words “yellow” followed by either “sky” or “banana.” Because people have a semantic connection between a fruit and its color, the yellow-banana group recognizes the word banana faster than the yellow-sky group recognizes sky.

How does marketing apply this? For example, using this method to select the background of an Internet site can help site visitors remember key information about a brand—and perhaps even influence their purchasing behavior.

This has been tested previously. In a study conducted by Naomi Mandel and Eric Johnson, researchers changed the background and design of a website to see how it might affect consumers' product choices. Participants were asked to choose between two products of the same category (for example, between Toyota and Lexus). The researchers found:

"..visitors who were programmed for money (in the background of the website there was green color and dollars) looked at the price information longer than those who were programmed to be safe (the background was red-orange with a flame image). Similarly, consumers who were primed for comfort when choosing a sofa took longer to view information about the comfort of the sofa (the site was designed in blue color with the image of light clouds) than those who would be programmed for money (green background with dollars).”

2. Reciprocity

In Dr. Robert Cialdini's book Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion, the concept of "reciprocity" is presented in a very simple formula - if someone does something for you, you will naturally want to do something for you. the answer for him.

If you've ever received chewing gum along with your bill at a cafe or restaurant, you've been a victim of reciprocity. According to Cialdini, when waiters bring a customer a check without chewing gum, this will certainly affect the tip amount as a reflection of the perception of the quality of service. With one piece of gum, tips increase by 3.3%. Two mints? Tips can increase up to 20%!

There are many ways to take advantage of reciprocity in marketing. At the same time, the seller should not go broke by giving you valuables for free. A bonus can be anything - from a branded T-shirt to an exclusive book, free desktop wallpaper, or a collection of tips on some issue. Even something as simple as a handwritten card or note can be the key to establishing reciprocity. It is enough for the seller to give you a free and, most likely, unnecessary thing before asking for something more tangible in return.

3. Social influence

Most are already familiar with this concept, but it is too important to be ignored. If you're not familiar with it, the concept of informational social influence (or social proof) is where people tend to accept the beliefs or actions of the group of people they like or trust the most. In other words, it's a "me too" effect. Or the “dance floor” effect - few people want to be the first on the dance floor when the dancing first starts, but as soon as the first few people start dancing, the rest immediately join in.

The simplest way to use social influence is to use social media buttons under posts on blogs and websites. The number of reposts speaks for itself, forcing a new reader to do the same, and the presence of friends in the readers of a page or blog creates an irresistible desire to “join”.

4. Lure effect

The most common use of this effect is in a pricing model - one price option is intentionally included to encourage you to choose the most expensive option.

In Dan Arley's famous TED talk "Are we really in control of our own decisions?" (Dan Arley, “Are we in control of our own decisions?”) he gives an example of an advertisement from The Economist magazine outlining subscription package options for that magazine. Here's what they suggested:

• Online subscription: $59
• Print subscription: $125
• Online and print subscriptions: $125

Crazy, isn't it? You can get just the print version of the magazine and the online+print package for the same price. Why are they offering this?

Dan Arley also asked this question, but when he contacted The Economist, he, of course, did not receive a direct answer.

So he decided to conduct his own study involving one hundred students. He gave them the price packages described above and asked which one they would like to buy. When all three options were presented to the students, the students chose the combined subscription - this was the best deal, wasn't it? But when he eliminated the "pointless" option (a $125 print subscription), students preferred the cheapest option.

It turned out that middle option was not so useless - it gave students a starting point in order to evaluate how “good” he was combined option and convinced them to pay more for this option.

So, to achieve his goal, the seller can add a third option to the two main options, thereby increasing the chances of purchasing the product that he himself is primarily interested in selling...

5. Limited

Have you ever bought plane tickets or booked a hotel online and seen a warning message saying “only 3 seats left at this price”? Yes, that is what a deficit is (another concept Dr. Cialdini uses). This principle of psychology goes back to the simple formula of supply and demand: the rarer the opportunity, content or product, the more valuable it is.

In 1975, Stephen Worchel, Jerry Lee, and Akanbi Adewole conducted a study to see how scarcity affects our perceptions. They asked people to rate chocolate chip cookies. One jar contained ten pieces of cookies, and the other only two.

6. Anchor effect

Have you ever wondered why it's so hard to resist sales at your favorite clothing store?

This is often due to the anchoring effect—people make decisions based on the first piece of information they receive. So if my favorite store usually sells jeans for $50 but has them on sale for $35, I'll be thrilled. I'll be thinking, "I'm getting a crazy deal on these jeans!" And most likely I will buy them. But if my friend usually buys $20 jeans, he won't be as impressed by this discount.

The anchoring effect is the most important move for marketers: they must set the anchor clearly - indicate the initial sale price, and then indicate the actual sale price next to it and indicate the percentage of savings (preferably in a bright and catchy way).

7. Baader-Meinhof phenomenon, or frequency illusion

Has it ever happened to you that, having heard about something for the first time, you then begin to see it everywhere in the world? Everyday life? You can thank the Baader-Meinhof phenomenon for this. This kind of thing starts happening after you encounter something for the first time, and then you start noticing it appearing around you. Suddenly you see advertisements for this product every time you watch TV. And when you go to a store, walk along the counter, you accidentally discover the same item. And ALL your friends already have this product.

Strange, isn't it? This phenomenon, which also has another name - frequency illusion, is caused by two processes:

“First, selective attention dies when you are startled by a new word, thing, or idea. You then unconsciously keep an eye out for that object and end up finding it surprisingly often. The second process is confirmation, which convinces you that each new appearance of a product in your life is further evidence of your impression that the thing has acquired overnight omnipresence.”

For marketers, this phenomenon is extremely important. Once you start to notice their brand, they want to help you see it “around the world.” And they start sending you targeted messages by e-mail, issue targeted advertising so that you can once again make sure that you will no longer be able to escape their unobtrusive attention...

8. Verbal effect

According to a study conducted by a team of scientists at the University of Ontario, people are more likely to remember the gist of what someone said rather than specific details. So, when you attend a training session on how to blog better for your business, you're more likely to remember details like "Send your article to someone to edit before publishing" rather than "Send to a Google Doc three working days before publication to colleagues so that they can make edits to your work. Remember to make corrections in “edit mode” so you know what you missed!”

Scientists call this the “verbatim effect,” and it can have a huge impact on how content is perceived. People are known to spend a small amount of time reading online, and on some sites they don't spend more than 15 seconds.

This is why marketers focus on short and catchy headlines. If the title clearly reflects the content of the article, then you will remember the essence of the article much faster, and later you will easily remember its title so that you can find it again on Google.

9. Clustering (grouping)

People have limited short-term memory space. Most of us can only remember seven pieces of information at a time (plus or minus two pieces in a given situation).

To deal with this problem, most people tend to group similar pieces of information together. For example, if you had a shopping list of random items, you tend to mentally group the items into certain categories (dairy, meat, etc.) so that you can better remember what was on the list.

This is why marketers pay so much attention to content clustering. Grouping similar topics together—under numbered lists or with various sizes headers - allow us to better remember information.

The term IoT received its rebirth at the suggestion of Cisco analysts.

Cisco analysts calculated that in the period from 2008 to 2009, the number of devices connected to the global network exceeded the population of the Earth - thus, the “Internet of People” became the “Internet of Things.”

In the summer of 2013, Cisco launched a counter of devices connected to the Internet, Connections Counter, where you could see their number in real time. Thus, according to the corporation's analysts, at the end of July 2013, 10.3 billion connections were recorded. Interestingly, the forecasts of analytical agencies and vendors for the number of connected devices differ several times - from 3.8 billion to 16 billion in 2014 (Gartner and ABI Research, respectively) and from 25 billion to 50 billion by 2020 (Gartner and Ericsson respectively). It is clear that forecasts are a thankless task, and all numbers will be adjusted, but still, the tendency of individual analysts to inflate prospects should sooner or later be fundamentally criticized.

But why is everyone talking about the Internet of Things now? It would seem that individual components and technologies were developed a long time ago. For example, the concept " smart home”, which is often mentioned in the context of the Internet of Things, has been around for many years.

Traditional product " smart House"Until recently, it was available only to wealthy clients - the budget of one project started from tens of thousands of dollars and ended in millions. Just remember Bill Gates' home in Medina, Washington.

However, dramatic changes are taking place before our eyes. At the beginning of October, many representatives of companies installing smart home systems attended the Automation 2.0 conference in Moscow. As one of the leaders of the Russian KNX club (a communication bus standard used for building automation) rightly noted, either these companies will take part in the new technological revolution of the Internet of Things, or they will simply be washed away from the market by a wave.

The same applies to telemetry in connection with the Internet of Things. It is believed that telemetry first appeared in the 19th century. But the most famous news about telemetry came with rocket and space technology. At Open Innovations 2015, one of the respected professionals who represented very large corporation, said that nothing has changed in the Internet of Things; devices previously transmitted telemetry data via their bus. Of course, he was lying when he said that he saw no difference between a proprietary bus and the Internet of Things.

Marketing ploy

Quite often you hear from irritated specialists with extensive experience that the Internet of Things is just a marketing ploy, an artificial term that unites incompatible things.

Their irritation is understandable, since companies that do not fit into the new trends of the Internet of Things will also be washed away from the market by the wave.

Perhaps this is true, and the Internet of Things is just a marketing term. But it allows us to discuss the future, and completely different companies can agree to collaborate to change the world for the better – precisely through conversations about the Internet of Things as a concept. Overall this is new driving force, which is fundamentally transforming many industries.

IoT Trends

So what changes have happened lately? What allowed us to talk about the Internet of Things?

The main changes are:

• Constant reduction in the cost of electronic components;
• Ubiquitous wireless networks;
• Availability of cloud computing.

What other trends are worth mentioning in this context?

• Further penetration of the Internet;
• Height bandwidth channels;
• Development of machine-to-machine communication (M2M) technologies;
• Start of transition to IPv6;
• Mastering software-defined networks;
• Reducing the cost of data processing;
• A steady trend towards the “mobilization” of networks, devices, programs and applications;
• Increasing the number of startup projects related to hardware;
• Released by leading manufacturers of Internet-connected electronics;
• All large companies focused on creating ecosystems around their own products;
• Many companies provide software to integrate your products and services;
• Interest in the Industrial Internet of Things (IoT) sector among various enterprises is increasing;
• ...as well as to the smart home sector (Connected Home, Connected Home Services, Connected Devices) of different segments of society;
• Growth in sales and available fleet of smartphones and tablets;
• The number of applications for

Stores and shopping centers use a lot of tricks to attract customers and persuade them to spend money. How not to fall for their tricks, read our article.

Thoughtful logistics

Previous price

How to behave in

Manufacturers and sellers of goods use not only direct arguments - quality and price - in the battle for the buyer. Very often they use marketing gimmicks, because of which we behave unreasonably at counters and shop windows and only later, already at home, do we realize that we have made expensive or simply unnecessary purchases. Let's figure out what spells the masters of marketing and merchandising bewitch us with.

Red price

Marketers have done a good job of ensuring that the color red is ingrained in our minds as a symbol of discounts. Now these bright price tags attract people, even in cases where prices have not actually been reduced. Sometimes the previous price is indicated on the price tag, however, as a rule, it is impossible to check whether it was exactly that. Very often, before reducing or freezing prices, they are deliberately raised first. In most countries, there is no law that would force sellers to answer the question about the previous “discount” price truthfully.

Path in the labyrinth

Have you noticed that in a modern supermarket, daily goods are located far from the entrance, and even laid out in such a way that they are not immediately visible? As a result, in search of bread, milk and eggs, we wander through a labyrinth of shelves from which attractive but unnecessary things stare at us. As a result, we bring many of them to the checkout. But even there, an additional portion of small things awaits us, which we can throw into the basket while we wait for our turn.

Consumer basket

It was invented to supply customers with huge carts back in the 30s of the 20th century. A chocolate, a pack of tea or a bar of soap seems so lonely in them. And we unconsciously begin to select a “company” for them, so as not to feel uncomfortable at the checkout. Sometimes the floor in a store is deliberately made uneven so that an empty cart rattles on it, and we want to stop attracting attention by loading it. It is much wiser in such cases to simply take a small basket, but cunning sellers usually arrange them so that they are not conspicuous. In addition, there are usually much fewer baskets on the sales floor.

The magic of smell

Marketing gimmicks in stores are sometimes aimed not at sight, but at our sense of smell. Everyone knows that the smell of fresh baked goods can enchant anyone. And if you go to the store hungry, you will take away a whole bunch of expensive goodies. To more actively whet the appetite of customers, supermarkets often create culinary departments where food is prepared and heated for sale.

Impact of sound

Do you think music is played in stores so that salespeople don’t get bored? In fact, the soundtrack sets the pace for your shopping experience. Melodies whose rhythm is slower than our heartbeat make us stop at the shelves, relax and take a closer look at the products. And energetic music is played when customers are in a hurry, rushing to buy groceries dinner n, in the evening. Its rhythm makes you speed up and buy without thinking.

There are more subtle tricks that also operate beyond the boundaries of consciousness. For example, an experiment showed that people begin to buy wine more actively when French music is played in the department.

Shopping euphoria

When you think about how we are deceived in stores, you begin to notice small parts, which at a quick glance do not seem significant. Have you noticed that shopping centers have no windows? That on the walls inside you will never find such a simple accessory as a clock? All this is done to make you forget about time and fall into the soft but tenacious clutches of shopping euphoria. This special state in which the buyer ceases to control purchases is called Gruen transfer, or “Gruen transfer.” The name immortalizes the name of the Austrian architect who invented and first implemented modern concept indoor shopping center. And now most malls use the same techniques.

At the entrance you find yourself in a spacious free space- it is necessary for you to get used to changes in temperature and lighting and feel comfortable. And nearby, a perfume boutique is already attracting with its smells.

Stores are organized by product type. Moreover, next to the more expensive ones there are cheaper ones. Oddly enough, in a shopping center, retail outlets with goods at more than high prices. If they were in a free-standing store, a buyer who wants to save money simply would not go there. And when everything is nearby, you can get acquainted with the assortment without effort, as if at the same time. Well, once you have crossed the threshold, there is a high probability that you will impulsively decide to fork out the cash. Again, the most popular stores are hidden in the depths of the shopping arcades, so that while searching for them you will pay attention to other products.

The entertainment options of a large shopping center make you stay longer. And when you go to have a bite to eat, you will have to dine at a not very comfortable table on open space food court. “No need to sit around, let’s eat and go shopping!” - marketers tell us.

Thoughtful logistics

In large supermarkets, the layout of the entrance, exit and shelves forces us to walk, constantly turning left. At the end of the turn, our gaze falls on the middle of the right rack, where the most expensive goods or products that are approaching their expiration date are already prepared. Naturally, things that people want to sell are laid out at eye level for a person of average height.

Previous price - smaller quantity

This trick was invented not by sellers, but by manufacturers. Previously, you bought buckwheat in a kilogram bag, but now cereals of the same brand are packaged in 900 grams. At the same time, the design of the pack and the price do not change, and out of habit, you throw the product into the basket without looking, buying 100 grams less than you think. The same system works with laundry detergents and other popular consumer products.

How to behave in stores so as not to fall for tricks

1. The main rule: be clearly aware of what goods you are going to the store for. The best thing to do is write a list and follow it strictly.
2. Use small baskets instead of carts if you don't intend to buy a lot.
3. Remember that many companies make more money by selling related products. When you buy shoes, don’t let them force you to wear socks or care products that are exorbitantly expensive. When buying tea, do not give in to the impulsive desire to respond to the seller’s offer and buy expensive sweets in addition.
4. Read all the information on the price tags. Often profitable price is offered only to customers with discount cards, and the one they sell to you is printed in smaller font. The bet is that at the checkout you will not want to refuse the purchase and will pay more, and if you are offered a discount, most likely you will immediately agree.
5. Remember that 1.99 rubles is rounded two, not one.

The main task of marketing is to stimulate the level of consumption, modern marketing- ruthless, today there are a huge number of tricks and tricks that force consumers to buy what they did not plan, emptying their pockets to the last coin.

Let's look at 7 effective marketing tricks to increase sales.

Price perception

Correct placement of goods depending on price category, allows you to influence the buyer’s perception of price. If first he sees a product for $1000, which seems very expensive to him, and then a product for $200, then the price of the latter product will seem acceptable to him compared to the first.

Fear of extremes

Buying the cheapest goods, each person experiences a feeling of awareness of his own “poverty”, which is extremely unpleasant for him. However, no less unpleasant is the feeling of disappointment when purchasing the most expensive product, the quality of which turns out to be of average level. Therefore, according to consumer psychology, the buyer most often purchases goods at average price between the cheapest product and the most expensive. Knowing this fact, modern marketers quite successfully carry out big number promotions, offering a product whose price is usually above average at a promotional “average” price.

Feeling valued

In the category of goods whose value is difficult to assess, the winner most often is the product whose price is significantly lower than the competing product.

First of all, this concerns electronic technology and various home appliances. When choosing a bread machine, 80% of consumers will choose a stove priced at $269, and only 20% of consumers will decide to buy a more expensive bread machine priced at $439.

We choose what attracts our attention

Numerous experiments have repeatedly confirmed the fact that the best-selling products are those that in some way stand out from the rest - are highlighted, highlighted with a label or a bright label, their names are emphasized in the price list, etc.

Impulse purchases

Under the influence of emotions, fatigue and other factors, we make impulsive, thoughtless purchases. Shopping in good mood- a person purchases more goods than planned under the influence of emotions, which is why pleasant music is always playing in supermarkets, it smells delicious, there is a lot of light and friendly staff.

In a state of fatigue, a person visiting a supermarket after the end of the working day strives first of all to satisfy needs, for example, to quench hunger or thirst, which is why coffee or snack machines are so often installed at the entrance to the supermarket, offering goods at a price that is an order of magnitude higher, than, for example, inside the market itself.

Magic number 9

One of the most famous marketing tricks is setting the price at $1.99 instead of the equivalent price of $2. In this way, marketers create a discount effect and consumers tend to purchase something they absolutely do not need, just because there is a special offer.

Sense of justice

The consumer does not know the price of the goods he purchases. In order to understand what a product is worth, he looks for clues given to him by manufacturers and marketers. To confirm this, we can cite the example of an experiment by psychology professor Dan Ariely, who decided to hold a poetry evening for two different groups of students.

One group was informed that the evening was free of charge; the other group, on the contrary, was informed that everyone who came to the seminar would be paid. At the beginning of the evening, the first group was informed that they did not have to pay for the evening, and it would be completely free for them. The second group was told that none of them would be paid. Students from the first group gladly stayed at the free poetry evening, while students from the second group almost all left, considering what happened to be unfair. Students from both groups simply did not know the real cost of such an evening. The consumer is also not a mathematician, which is why marketers skillfully advise him.

In addition to the tricks listed above, marketing tricks such as “buy three for the price of one”, “50% discount”, “buy two and get a third free”, etc. are also often used. Thanks to the competent and coordinated work of marketers, today it is possible to sell absolutely any product at the desired price.

KOLORO specialists, marketing and branding professionals, will help you develop a marketing strategy for your company and draw up a “cunning plan” to win over consumers.

Share your unique “marketing recipes” in the comments.

The author does not sell any of the products listed below and is in no way affiliated with the manufacturers or their competitors. He chose goods from a class of similar ones only because they were closer and more accessible on the shelf and attracted the attention of more neighboring ones. The principle is important. There are plenty of similar marketing ploys. All judgments, in particular, are relative specific products and brands, evaluative. The author does not like the deception of customers in stores.

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Let's start with milk. This is a regular “liter” carton of milk:

Care check: there are 900 grams. There are several nearby for 950. But the package is perceived as a liter.

Physics knowledge test. There is similar kefir nearby. Volume is measured in milliliters, mass in grams. The density of kefir is higher than the density of water. That is, 900 grams of kefir 3.2% fat is approximately 874.5 milliliters.

“Now without asbestos”

Unscrupulous marketers may indicate something extremely obvious on a product that competitors forgot to write. Here is a cholesterol-free oil that exploits the biological illiteracy of the buyer:

And without nuclear waste. It's strange that this is not indicated on the label.

Biochemistry test: in vegetable oil There simply cannot be cholesterol. But I need to write. You can write "without metal shavings or sand."

Another example is soy-free sausages. Very roughly speaking, if you don’t make them from meat, then there are only two options left - soy texture or fat emulsion. So, on those without texture, it is quite logical to write that they are soy-free. The fact is that the buyer may decide that this statement is identical to the statement “from normal meat.”

Mimicry or outright deception of the buyer

You can masquerade as a well-known class of goods. For example, there is margarine and there is butter. It is enough to design margarine as butter and not write either the word “butter” or the word “margarine” on it.

First, evaluate the coloring. Just poured oil, right? Secondly, pay attention to the name - you will only guess it on the third try (it’s on the price tag). The gender of the name is very important. Thirdly, the price tag itself. Relatively recently, standards changed, and the price tag was forced to indicate the type of product - in in this case It's not an oil, it's a spread. But somehow there was no law obliging us to keep butter and margarine on separate shelves.

Here's another special example mimicry: a product of one’s own is shuffled into a pile of chocolates trademark store (if it were not a private label, it would have been placed separately):

A confectionery bar without adding cocoa in a shelf with chocolate on the left and right.

We carefully read the composition

Let's move on to deft movements with components.

Caviar. The word “delicacy” does not oblige you to anything. Well, maybe someone likes potatoes more than caviar, right? There is still caviar inside. And they probably forgot the capelin on the lid by accident.

"No preservatives" - but lemon acid in the composition. The fact is that this thing is both a flavoring additive, an acidity regulator, and a rather strong preservative. If it is included in the class of acidity regulators, then preservatives magically disappear from the composition. Miracle!

I was always incredibly curious about these young bulls at this price. Well, I found out.

It seems that “based on” means “straight from them.” Of course, I’m no expert, but judging by the components, there are few buds there, but there is the well-known Sodium Laureth Sulfate and some elegantly named Aqua.

Sodium lauryl sulfate is a strong cleaning property, which, according to the wiki, can also be a strong allergen. AND finishing touch- it seems that vitamin B6 stimulates hair growth, and not the product itself - well, judging by the packaging. There is no need to prove this about vitamins. So what if the rest are not signed?

Here are the good old crab sticks. And even though they are not made from crab (which everyone seems to already know), the manufacturer still honestly warns on the packaging that they are made from fish:

Imitation crab meat. Just an established name.

Read the footnotes carefully

What else can you find:

• Apple juice . They write the composition on the label, but do not write the mass fractions. As a result, 5% is poured apple juice natural, then water, sometimes sugar syrup, sweeteners and aroma, fragrance;
• Tomato juice. According to the technology, it is made from tomato paste. Neither mass fraction nor % dry matter in tomato paste on the label tomato juice almost no one writes;
• Fruit juice. The base is 5% apple juice, followed by coloring, sweetener and the desired flavor.
• Fruit juice with pulp. Same as fruit juice, just a little applesauce, read the %;
• Sausages. Some manufacturers honestly indicate the composition, but do not indicate the mass fractions. Maybe there is 80% soy protein, and the meat is added in the form of broth?

Note: To check how much fruit you need for juice, buy fresh fruit and squeeze the juice out of it, weigh the juice. Usually the juice yield is no more than 20-40%, and it is generally impossible to obtain juice from some fruits, for example, bananas.

Also think about how much real natural juice can cost and what you buy for pennies.