The Ten Buying Motives

Customers buy for a reason. No matter how complex some of the reasons they throw at you may seem to be, most of them root from the 10 basic buying motives listed in here. Capitalise on one or a combination of these motives and you will successfully sell to your customers.

Self-preservation

Self-preservation corresponds to people’s basic needs. These are the necessities such as food, clothing, shelter, and all products that relates to their health and safety. From a business perspective, it means products that will help them in their jobs, making their work faster and easier to become more successful and highly effective employees. The question to answer then is how does your product help your customers, either on a personal or business level? How does it fill their basic needs?

Value

With today’s relatively hard economy, getting value for one’s money is everybody’s concern. People don’t feel like buying something that is not worth their money. Most people are willing to pay any price for a good product. You then have to make sure you sell with integrity. That means you won’t give your customers empty promises and false claims about your product. So, how will your product honestly accommodate your possible customer’s needs and expectations?

Sex

Sex means you are appealing to the customer’s femininity or masculinity. This corresponds to your product’s ability to enhance their attractiveness and appeal to the opposite sex. People are naturally vain. They are willing to buy something that would make them a lot more attractive, more lovable, and more likeable than they presently are. What then, is your product’s role in making your customers look better in front of other people?

Dreams

All people have dreams, aspirations, or even fantasies. They all want to realise these dreams, or something close to them. Early on in their lives, they have visions of what they should become, what they should own, and what their lifestyle should be. Dreams come in all shapes and form. It means dreams can be big and high, but they could also be small and simple. Whatever dreams your customer might have, what does your product propose to fulfill them?

Emulation

Quite naturally, customers would like to be like somebody they admire. Be it movie stars, celebrities, and or sporting legends, one thing holds true. They would like to be associated, compared, or even be reminded of them. They would like to have their idols’ looks, their wealth, and their elegance. Some people think that by buying the products their favorite celebrity endorses, most of their qualities are going to rub off on them. So, is a well-known or reputable person endorsing your product? Better yet, how do you associate your product to somebody prominent?

Revenge Motives

Some customers would like to show the world that they are worth something good. This type of buying motive has both a good and a bad side. It is because while you want to bring out the best in them, you do it by evoking their innermost emotions of bitterness, insecurity, plainness, and mediocrity. This type of motivation is a very powerful motive to buy, for the customer. How sensitive are you to this motive? How can your product help your customer in their goal to get even?

Style

As times goes by, the trends change and your customers would like to keep up. They want is to fit in with the people who they consider fashionable. Is your product the “in” thing today? Will owning it means you are in conformity with today’s changing world?

Knowledge

Information is power. This is the reason why self-help books and materials are making raves in the market. Owning them makes a person richer, more skilled, and better informed. Some people are willing to go to greater heights just to know more about their hobbies, the things that fascinates them, or even the everyday things that works around them. Many people are still hungry for learning. If your product satisfies their hunger, you might as well appeal to this buying motive. Is your product going to be helpful in a way to your customer through information dissemination?

Elitism

Who would want to feel high and mighty? People would like to feel important. If a certain product can give a sense of elitism to them, they will buy it. Examples of such products are jewelry, expensive apparels, a fast car, or a big house. Will owing your product give your customers the satisfaction of being one of the best?

Being Liked

People want to feel admired or accepted; this is enough to make them tingle. Nobody would like to be embarrassed by not owning something everybody assumes to be “the thing”. They want to keep up with what their friends own. There are also times they would like to start a trend themselves. They can do it by getting a good product that would make them the subject of admiration or even envy. So, how will your product make somebody acceptable? How can it solicit the admiration of others?