Consumer Psychology and Marketing Communications Article Analysis
May 4, 2015 PSY/322

Summary For week 1, students are asked to research two peer-reviewed articles related to and concerning consumer related psychology using the University Library, Internet and other applicable sources and prepare a paper responding to the questions below.

Define consumer psychology. Alright, so if we want do define consumer psychology, lets break down both words and their meaning first. Consumer, meaning, “to consume”, or to acquire and buy, use or utilize, is a person, in this case, that has the need or demand for a specific product. If I want to make a sandwich, as a consumer, I will go to a shop that will make me a sandwich or I will buy the necessary ingredients, like a loaf of bread, to make my own sandwich at home. I consume, therefore I need. Psychology can be defined many ways, but for this exercise, psychology is the though or feelings an individual or “consumer “has about buying certain products or how they will react to information when making a decision to buy a product. The psychology involved in this question can be preference of brand or a certain style. It’s up to the advertiser to grab the attention of a prospective consumer and follow on communication to keep them interested.

Describe the psychological concepts discussed and their importance in developing a successful marketing communication message. The concept of psychology in the marketplace arena is to capture a customer’s eye, ears or senses to want a specific product. This can be a steep task if you are trying to convert a long time user of a certain brand name to another. But the key to this concept is to get the initial sale, then try to keep them around. Some people like lots of variety and change, while others, like myself, like a constant. For example, a consumer may want to try numerous brands and types of wine, therefore enjoying the experience of the variety and “unknown”, whereas someone that likes continuity, will always stick to the one they like, almost never deviating, as long as it stays the same. A concept of this is McDonalds Big Mac. The allure of the Big Mac, to me, for example, is not the way it looks, or the way it is advertised and promoted, rather, the fact that I can go to almost any McDonalds worldwide and get a Big Mac and have it be near identical to the one I had before. I prefer a standard, and I like it to stay the same. “If it aint broke, don’t fix it, right?” Now, others, like with the wine tasting, may enjoy the experience of sampling many burgers and respond more to the whiz bang ads, specials, or even who is eating it, like the attractive, half naked model who eats a Carl’s Junior hamburger on TV. The model eating the burger may be enough for certain consumers to want the burger, so that type of advertisement psychologically works for them. I would more likely respond to an ad that showed a menu, and how it has stayed the same, therefore, I can go anytime and my expectations are met. One of the things that drove me nuts for a while was Burger King changing the ingredients to their French Fries. For a very long time, when they went to rice based fries, I stopped going there.

Utilize your articles to explain the relationship between consumer psychology and marketing communications. Looking at the article I chose as my main source of information this week, I really enjoyed reading the story about Consumer Vertigo,