Definition

Marketing psychology is a field of knowledge about human behavior, needs, motivation and decision-making processes. Its cognitive goal is to understand the mechanisms behind the effectiveness of individual activities, while its application goal is to conduct effective sales and marketing activities.

Trivia

1. Marketing psychology largely relies on the assumptions of cognitive-behavioral psychology, which is interested in the interconnection of cognitive processes, thoughts and human actions. 
2. A special element of marketing psychology is the so-called neuromarketing, using measurement tools used during psychophysiological research to optimize the type and intensity of marketing stimuli (visual, sound, smell, tactile).
3. Psychology studies often offer the opportunity to choose a specialization related to marketing psychology. Currently, at some universities it is also possible to choose bachelor's studies entirely devoted to this issue. 

Information 

There are many areas of psychological knowledge that may translate into marketing activities. This list is constantly being expanded as new research and meta-analyses are conducted in areas related to human emotions, behaviors and cognitive processes. Here are some of the most popular psychological concepts used in marketing:

1. Decision paralysis - this a state of avoiding making a decision, resulting from a subjective sense of difficulty associated with it. This experience results from uncertainty about the effects of making one choice or another. To prevent the customer from developing decision paralysis, it is worth including a clear and simple explanation of how the product or service works and the benefits associated with it in the marketing message. It is also worth meeting concerns about the impact of the offered good on their health and well-being (e.g. a jam producer may inform about the lack of added sugar in the product offered, which, in the context of common knowledge about its harmful effects, is important information about the product's impact on health). 
2. Familiarity (principle of similarity, familiarity) - an item previously seen by the consumer will be more likely to be chosen than something seen for the first time. Familiarity does not mean that the product has already been tried. A series of exposures in advertising is enough and it does not even matter whether the overall impression of the recipient was positive or negative. Moreover, pointing out what the seller and the potential customer have in common (e.g. in terms of values) increases the chance of gaining his loyalty. 
3. Social proof - giving the impression that a certain behavior is a common and normal phenomenon significantly increases the chance that the consumer will also decide to take the action promoted in this way (e.g. "Everyone has Mamba - I have it too"). Various trends are formed on the basis of social proof, the most common of which is most visible in the digital space, where you can easily show the number of people interested in a selected campaign or product.
4. Loss aversion - people are less anxious to have new things than to lose what they have. Therefore, a strategy of free trial periods or discounts on the first purchase of a given product turns out to be beneficial - there is a good chance that the customer will prefer to pay for continuing to use the service rather than cancel it. 

Summary

Marketing psychology is a field of science that analyzes human behavior, needs and motivations in the context of marketing activities. It uses various psychological theories and concepts, such as decision paralysis, the familiarity principle, and social proof, to understand what influences the effectiveness of marketing activities. With this knowledge, marketers can create strategies that better respond to customer expectations and preferences, which can lead to improved sales results and increased customer loyalty.

Related entries:

Marketing plan, image creation, brand management, marketing planning, image creation, customer acquisition, sales audit, branding activities, creating a company brand, image creation