How Does Marketing Develop New Desires About Products?

Marketing Strategies

Marketing strategies are built around trying to find the best way to advertise a product or service. These products or services need to be advertised to get them to be recognized by the average consumer and to become desired. Without desire, selling a product or service is nearly impossible.

Why Do People Buy?

Products and services are marketed as solutions to problems, with the problem usually being the reason that a person feels he needs a product. Consumers buy food because they need to eat, clothing because they need to cover themselves and houses because they need shelter. However, buying is much more based on want and desire than pure need. Marketing helps to create a desire in the consumer by exposing him to a vast array of reasons to buy products. They are marketed as something to "help" the purchaser live a better life in a variety of ways.

Pavlov's Dogs---Classical Conditioning

Classical conditioning was demonstrated by Pavlov and his work with dogs. He discovered that if he rang a bell every time his dogs were going to eat, then eventually just ringing the bell would make the dogs salivate.
This classic conditioning technique is used in marketing all over the globe and for all types of things. When something is repeated over and over again as truth, it becomes a form of truth to those who hear it. If something is stated to be superior and necessary to living well, it will become that in the minds of those who hear it over and over again.

Self-Improvement

Many marketing strategies point out, in a non-transparent way, people's imperfections. By telling them that a particular product will make them more desirable, smarter, more likable and more beautiful, they are telling the consumer that they are imperfect and then implying that this product will bring them closer to perfection. Repeating this process over and over again with the product spurs a desire in the consumer to become more "perfect," and because advertisements have claimed that the product can offer them that, it becomes sought after.

Operant Conditioning---Cause and Effect

Marketing can also accomplish a "cause and effect" type of circumstance. When people are rewarded for something they do they are more likely to repeat the process. Marketing knows this. Many times a strategy will begin with giving away something for free. If the manufacturer is confident in its product it will give one or part of one away, then give the consumer a coupon for the first one they buy.
This encourages habitual behavior by introducing a cause and effect into the purchase. Giving it away provides a reward of the product itself. Then giving a coupon gets the person to buy it, but at a discounted price (getting the product and saving money are the rewards). This instills the desire for the product at a later date.

Through Vicarious Learning

People don't have to experience the cause and effect personally to learn from it; they also can learn from observing others. This is the language of commercials and printed advertisement. Seeing others enjoy the benefits of a product (whether real or simply portrayed) can make consumers desire that product.

Peer Pressure

Peer pressure is another form of vicarious learning. People learn by hearing the experiences of others. If a marketing campaign shows an attractive woman talking about her "experiences" with a product, this instills confidence in the product with the consumer. This confidence is then passed on by repeating what that person heard to their peers. Wanting to feel like they are "in the know," they pass this on to their peers until a fad or trend is started. This behavior creates a desire for a product.

References

• University of Southern California

Resources

• All Business