Emotional Vs Rational Purchases - How Social Media Triggers Consumers' Buying Decisions

People do not buy goods & services. They buy relations, stories, and magic.

This quote by Seth Godin describes how we make most of our purchase decisions. We are not only led by rationality alone when deciding about the purchase of a product. But how do emotional vs rational purchases differ from each other? And how does influencer marketing trigger consumers’ buying decisions?

Purchase decisions are impacted by rational as well as emotional motives. Whether a decision is made based on emotional or rational factors, is highly individual and depends on the person making the decision, the product and other circumstances. The graphic below describes the development prior to a purchase by displaying the five steps of the consumer decision-making process.

The consumer’s decision-making behavior © Visual.ly

EMOTIONAL PURCHASES

Neuroscientists emphasize that emotions play a central role in our decision-making-progress: Neuroscientist Antonio Damasio conducted a study which found that people who were unable to generate emotions due to medical conditions had trouble making decisions.

Criteria which impact emotional purchase decisions are highly personal:

• Love/sentiment
• Envy
• Pride
• Entertainment
• Vanity

For emotional purchase decisions, it can be argued that the need does not necessarily have to be present in the first place. It is rather created by external sources, like influencers.

Thus, these purchase decisions are strongly based on impulses as well as recommendations. There is not a long-term need or an urgent circumstance which leads to purchasing a product. The customer does not look for information prior to the purchase and does not evaluate alternatives. The decision is purely based on an emotional input.

Good night Europe, good morning LA %u2600%uFE0F%u2764%uFE0F #breakfast – – w/ @skinnymintcom #skinnymint #morningboooooost

A post shared by Pamela Reif (@pamela_rf) on Sep 29, 2016 at 12:18pm PDT

Product categories which are purchased for purely emotional reasons include those products which we do not really NEED, but are tempted to buy, for example on social media. These include hair vitamins, detox teas and waist slimmers.

We do know that we do not need a special tea which is supposed to slim us down within a few days but which actually (probably) only consists of the exact same tea leaves as regular mint tea sold by supermarkets. Nonetheless, we are influenced in our purchase decision by TV commercials and influencers and are triggered by emotional approaches in particular.

RATIONAL PURCHASES

Rational purchases are those purchases which are mainly based on objective criteria:

• Profit
• Security
• Utility
• Caution
• Health

For these, rational factors outweigh emotional ones. We buy health insurance because we want to ensure getting the best possible treatment in the first place. Our emotional mindset towards the provider is secondary.

These purchases follow the five stages of consumer behavior mentioned before very strictly:

1. An urgent need is recognized (“My car is broken, I need a new one.”)
2. Extensive research (“Which companies/ brands offer the desired product?”)
3. Evaluation of alternatives (“Which brand offers the most value? Which model fits my needs? Which company has the lowest prices?”)
4. Purchase decision (“I will buy a Mercedes-Benz C-Class”)
5. Post-purchase evaluation (Dissonance: “This car does not fit my needs.”/ Delight: “This car offers the best value for money.”)

Continue reading here: Ignoring Engagement On Social Networks Could Be Disastrous For Your Influencer Marketing Campaign!

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