Consumer Psychology

Consumer Psychology and Marketing Communication Marketing messages are essential components that are needed in order to attract consumers. Consumer psychology must be understood before marketing messages can be expressed. Hence, marketing communication and consumer psychology both have a tying relationship. Consumer psychology can best be defined as the way individuals feel about certain goods and services they purchase. For example, a person’s thoughts, beliefs, feelings and perceptions will influence how they will buy and relate to certain goods and services. A family of five people for example, will probably want to purchase a large vehicle such as a sport utility vehicle for a large family. There are two articles which describe the concepts of consumer psychology and marketing communication, and examples are given to better understand both concepts. Castronovo and Huang explain how “Word-of-Mouth” marketing can be an efficient way to promote certain goods and services. Consumers rely on this form of marketing because they have an opportunity to hear the opinions of other individuals who have previously purchased goods or services. If goods or services are psychologically risky, it is more probable for consumers to rely on “word-of-mouth” marketing. Word-of-mouth marketing is also essential for several social media outlets. Society in the twenty-first century relies heavily on the internet, hence social media such as linked in, facebook and YouTube may be used in order to express “word-of mouth” marketing communication. (Castronovo and Huang, 2012). “Word-of-mouth” marketing includes several other marketing tools which may be used in order to grab consumers’ attention. These marketing tools include brand communities, email marketing, search engine optimization, viral marketing, guerilla marketing, events-based marketing