Decoding Market Psychology: Marketing Strategy

Revenue Is "Mandatory" Business Basic: Often, Businesses architect demand. Then they supply. Right from .com bubble to beauty pageant victories to swine flu (supplies including vaccines) to COVID (supplies as disinfection chamber, masks, dispensers, etc.) to now depression, they all revolve around revenue focused business too.

Need, Want, & Demand Reality: Marketing aims to “create” or cater to (for already existing gaps) ‘needs, wants, and demands,’ grading their offering and identifying target market on “Maslow’s Theory of Hierarchy of Needs.” It is a pyramid. Pic (by J. Finkelstein (GFDL, Oct. 2006, Wikimedia) attached. 

Let us focus on “creating” requirements scenario for relevance. Usually, “need” is a tough nut as a long-term strategy, so “wants” are projected as “needs” and a “demand” is created. 

'Want to Need' Loop Created: 

We will stick to high end market for an urban connotation. The revenue generators here naturally are the highest end products/services of a company/organization or an industry. For example, car or phone, or allied medical services (like cosmetic surgery, psychiatry, dietary consulting, skin care, etc.), or a whole industry like glamor. In industry, the wants will overlap. For example, if you are partying frequently, grooming, fashion, accessories, tech, mobility, etc. several “wants” need to be addressed. If you are not invited, you may “need” (which is actually “want”) psychiatrist visit, meds, positivity bringing tools, like going to gym, having health supplements, etc. 

Marketing Strategy for Lead Conversion to Sale.

a) Narrative Setting: Back to mechanics, with luxury products/services, marketing narrative targets the peak of the need hierarchy pyramid or at least top two segments. That is, work aggressively on “ego boost” of a customer. So, understand that the outlay involved in product/service acquisition is directly proportional to the bereavement impact (ref: party example above).

Ego can very much make or break a life, especially of men. While brands use ego boost to “inspire” others to “try” make themselves eligible to own it, but with the psychological involvement, it can have a very destructive impact, if gone wrong. The good part is that such misfires are minority proportions. 

Pilot Test: Next step. A “pilot test” (on a small sized but accurate target market) is conducted to check market reaction.

If the market responds positively and you have sustained returning customers, the pilot test is successful. 

Promotional Campaign: 

Now, a very subtle marketing campaign is launched that starts attaching ego boost to the ownership of their product or service. If you own it, then it is a semblance or the trophy of your success. Or it defines your success. Else you are a failure! This marketing perception of triggering “arrogance” is called “snob appeal.” So, the perception creation is called creating snob appeal and the objects are called objects of “snob appeal.” 

Market Influencing: With the help of the media and influencers (as coteries or close networks in some industries) a situation is created leading to demand by the customers. 

Psychiatry/Psychology Industry Example: Let us understand with say psychiatry as a hypothetical example.

If we go creative & 'imaginary,' a marketing way forward ‘can’ be: a buzz is created to convince prospective customers with fat pockets that they lead an extremely hectic & competing life, 'creating' stress. Or high-end households have stress due to their demanding lifestyle, like showing up socially (Page-3 parties for example). Now, psychology is worked on as a concerning mental health situation. Common symptoms are projected as serious (although they are projected with a disclaimer of “may,” which the target market overlooks. That is disclaimer/fine print designing). The solution offered is say, anger management, etc. 

Personal Reach Out for Relationship Building: Now, brands compete to practice the arrogance through “exclusive” advertising or marketing reach out.

Regular media advertising of snob appeal items is a big no, unless it’s a launch. The selected customers or target markets are primarily connected with personally to give the impression that only ‘they’ qualify to own this product/service/industry, and the brand is at the service of those select few “only.” Now, those who “want” and are unable to own the offering despite trying, may suffer emotionally because the snob appeal roots to esteem. 

Men are Soft Target:

Usually, men are target markets of snob appeal because working on their ego is a bit inexpensive and revenue generation capacity and promptness of reaction is way faster than all-consuming women directly. Women too are often reached out through their men. Like, if their women can afford it or not. Are the men worthy enablers for their woman or family? This marketing brewing model may continue for years at times because every transaction reaps heavy profit to cut down on rush. Snob appeal is direct money or pure trade niche. Every deal is precious and does not depend on volume of transactions as such. 

Reacting to Market Opportunity:

When Time is ripe, the offerings are vigorously pushed in the market. For example, currently it is a suitable time to push psychological help services with a pandemic (COVID-19) already on. People, especially high-end market, could be in a slightly emotional, mentally, socially, and financially vulnerable frame. More the peripheral driven lifestyle, the worse time it is with all the locking down or deceleration. High maintenance living can become a challenge after a point, with all the restrictions. And the emotional dip due to backdrop of trauma (like feeling of rejection over time) can climax in such situations. It is easy to “make” customers feel that they “need” psychological help. It can even be projected as a “growing or widespread” disease to catalyze the market growth (just an imaginary scenario as an example). Since there is not much clinical measure of psychological help as such, except for subjective prescriptions of consultants, “convincing” target market of its inner weakness is easier. Effectively, most customers will normally seek help. But some introverts or internally weak may opt for unpleasant culminations as solutions. 

Real Life Need Reinforcement:

Markets are cruel spaces if you see. One entity’s loss is another’s gain. So, say, create a narrative and media propaganda of overlapping situations, as most dying today are suffering either from pandemic or depression! Though cruel, but these examples and propaganda can help create conducive conditions for high end psychiatry market to thrive. A real-life story as an example, reinforces the “created” need. With its pros and cons. 

Disclaimer: This write up is just to explain fundamental market mechanics to a layperson. All names, examples, situations, etc. are hypothetical and bear no resemblance to any entity in any space.

                                                              -Rakhi Sinha, Founder & CEO, The Syntax Systems, India