Myra went into a store, where she intended to buy just a handful of items. To her surprise, she ended up leaving with a whole lot of other stuff that she didn't plan to get. Like many other people, she fell victim to experts in consumer psychology. They are the ones who know how people's thoughts, outlooks, and feelings affect how they shop. These experts are good at utilizing this knowledge to separate consumers from their money.
Marketers use all kinds of psychological techniques. One of the oldest and most obvious is "odd pricing." When shoppers see something priced at $199, they unconsciously associate it more with $100 than $200. The 1 in 199 is more significant to them than the last 9. They may also think that, if a burger costs $99, they are saving money by not paying $100.
Another use of consumer psychology is "hunger marketing." This occurs when producers release new products in limited editions, amounts, or for a limited time. If the product has been eagerly awaited, such as a new iPhone, providing fewer for sale can result in great demand for it. People are willing to stand in line for days to ensure they get an item before it is sold out. In reality, however, often everyone can buy one sooner or later because the producers will increase the supply in the end.
Since the Internet came along, there has been huge growth in so-called viral marketing. Companies have become very good at using social media to promote their products. The psychological effect of having a great many Facebook "likes" can be very beneficial for sales. If, for instance, enough people online say a new skin cream is working, its reputation will spread quickly among friends, acquaintances and family. Their word is trusted more than mainstream advertising. Attractive pictures on Instagram can work wonders as well. They may show a thrilling lifestyle and motivate people to go to the same place, or buy the same thing.
Consumer psychology works in many other ways as well, such as celebrity endorsements and product placement in movies and TV shows. In advertising and marketing, psychological strategies like these obviously succeed. Even if Myra were fully aware of them, she would probably still fall for them sometimes. That is the power of consumer psychology.
Myra 走進一家商店，她打算在那裡只買幾件物品。令她感到驚訝的是，她最後離開時買了很多其他原本沒有打算購買的東西。像其他許多人一樣，她成為消費心理學專家的受害者。他們知道人們的想法、觀點和感受會如何影響購物行為。這些專家擅長利用這種知識把消費者的錢賺走。
行銷人員使用各種心理學技巧。最古早又最明顯的其中一種是「畸零定價」。當購物者看到商品的定價是 199 元時，他們不自覺地把它當成 100 元而不是 200 元。對他們來說，199 的 1 比最後的 9 更重要。他們可能也認為，如果一個漢堡定價 99 元，就會因為百元有找而省到錢。
消費心理學另一個運用是「飢餓行銷」。這種情形發生在製造商以限量版、限量或限時販售新的產品的時候。如果這項產品是被引頸期盼著，就像新的 iPhone 手機，提供較少的供貨量可以造成很大的需求量。人們願意排隊好幾天，以確保商品完售之前他們能買到。然而，實際上，通常每個人遲早都可以買得到，因為廠商最終會增加供貨量。
自從有網路之後，所謂的病毒式行銷就呈現大幅成長的趨勢。廠商已經非常擅長使用社群媒體來宣傳他們的產品。在臉書上很多人按「讚」的心理效應對銷售來說非常有益。例如，假使網路上有夠多的人說一款新的護膚霜有效，它的口碑就會在親朋好友之間迅速流傳開來。親友的話比主流的廣告更可信。在 IG 上吸引人的照片也有同樣的奇效。它們能夠展現令人興奮的生活方式，並激發人們去同一地方或購買相同的物品。
消費心理學也透過許多其他的方式可發揮作用，例如名人代言和電影、電視節目中的置入性行銷。在廣告和行銷方面，像這樣的心理策略顯然都會奏效。即使 Myra 完全清楚這些手法，她有時候還是可能會落入圈套。
