Six Biases That Impact Your Members’ Buying Decisions
By Wes Sovis
When we think of a consumer’s buying experience, we typically think of the old-fashioned sales funnel. It’s simple, it’s clean, and it looks great in our marketing reports, so we continue to use it.
But we know that consumers rarely travel neatly from the top of the funnel (awareness) to the middle (influence) to the bottom (conversion). As consumers ourselves, we know that we do our research online before we make a purchase to confirm the product’s value or service. Our prospective customers have the same habits to do research and verify as we do.
So, how can associations influence the buying and decision-making process of our members? A little company called Google knows more about the consumer journey than most entities, based on billions of data points and over a decade as the most prominent online search company in human history. Not a bad place to start.
Google’s Research on Consumer Buying Habits
Google recently identified six biases that influence consumer buying habits. The study that identified these biases consisted of 310,000 buying scenarios across a range of industries and is well worth a read. (Download)
We’re going to instead focus on the outcomes of this study rather than the study itself. Most importantly, we want to look at the six biases that can help associations convert prospects into customers more effectively.
- Category heuristics: Short descriptions of key product specifications can simplify purchase decisions.
- Power of now: The longer you have to wait for a product, the weaker the proposition becomes.
- Social proof: Recommendations and reviews from others can be very persuasive.
- Scarcity bias: As stock or availability of a product decreases, the more desirable it becomes.
- Authority bias: Being swayed by an expert or trusted source.
- Power of free: A free gift with a purchase, even if unrelated, can be a powerful motivator.
The power of these biases lies within their simplicity. By simply making your membership checkout process more simple (Power of Now) or posting member testimonials on your membership sign-up page (Social Proof), you may be able to make your current marketing initiatives more effective without any significant increases in investment.
What Does This Mean for Associations?
These biases represent opportunities to increase sales by marketing your calls-to-action more effectively. When done correctly, employing these biases throughout each part of a marketing campaign or consumer journey, your marketing team can reduce marketing costs and increase conversions.
Let’s put together a few examples of how your association can accomplish this:
Social Proof and Authority Bias: You’ve probably seen social media posts from colleagues where they’re posting something along the lines of “I’m attending!” with a slick look graphic after registering for an event. More and more, event organizers are utilizing the social proof and authority biases to a) extend awareness of the event to others on social media b) using your colleague’s reputation and trustworthiness to convey to other users there’s value in attending the event.
Power of Now: In our world of ubiquitous webinars, more and more associations are repacking the live version of these events into recordings. The value- add here is that your members can purchase the recorded webinar and watch it right away or when it’s convenient for them. No friction, no waiting — it’s a powerful offer to consumers if the content is valuable.
Scarcity: Sometimes, less is more. By limiting the number of attendees able to attend an event, organizers insert a level of urgency into consumers’ decision-making process. Additionally, smaller events have a sense of exclusivity that can be marketed with the category heuristics bias in mind.
When you’re organizing your next marketing campaign for an online event, membership renewals, or certification pathway, keep these six biases in mind. Thinking of ways to make your value proposition more effective by influencing your consumers’ buying decisions can greatly impact your campaign and your revenue.
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