Impulse Buying: Branding Factors Influencing It

75% of Americans admit to making impulsive purchases. If you are surprised by this number, you don’t realise how powerful this tendency affects people.

Are unplanned purchases a psychological issue or well-thought marketing? How is branding related to impulsive purchases? Find the answers to these questions below.

If you dive deeper into the way people shop, you will be surprised by many things.

Why do some brands skyrocket their sales while others can’t attract customers to make an impulse purchase? Moreover, it can happen even with brands selling the same goods.

And when you ask for the reason why one brand is booming and the others aren’t, the answer will be the proper marketing.

This is the driving force that influences consumer behaviour, and voila – they make a purchase.

This article will have a more detailed look at the phenomenon of impulse buying, the effect of UI/UX design, visit here and consider external and in-store factors that make the most significant impact. Let’s get started.

What will I learn? show

What causes impulse buying behaviour? Factors to consider

Here is what makes people make arbitrary decisions about spending their money on specific products or services.

These factors can be divided into several groups. Some factors depend on the buyers themselves, and some deal with the situation and atmosphere that leads to purchasing.

Internal factors

Customer personality traits

This factor plays a significant role while forming buying behaviour. The basic set of traits that defines the consumer behaviour patterns is called OCEAN.

It includes openness to new experiences, conscientiousness, extroversion, agreeableness, and neuroticism. Let’s look at each factor in detail.

Openness to new experiences defines how willing the person is to try new things. It also affects vulnerability and creative thinking.
Conscientiousness regulates impulsivity. It is also an instrument of self-control to behave in socially appropriate ways.
Extroversion is the way a person communicates with others.
Agreeableness stands for getting along with others.
Neuroticism defines how emotionally stable, insecure, nervous, and anxious the person is.

If the person is impulsive in general, they are more likely to make impulsive decisions as well. Most scientists agree that such behaviour has a solid basis hidden in combining the personality traits mentioned above.

Emotions

We all realise that buying something doesn’t equate to happiness or success. However, marketing aims to make us feel not only the need for a product. It increases the need for emotions and feelings the sellers claim this product can give.

The sellers need to realise the unique needs of their customers and what emotions they desire to receive after the purchase. That’s why you shouldn’t underestimate the importance of a detailed market and customer analysis in advance.

Most brands aim to provide personalised services. This focus is the most advantageous to increase the sales number by motivating impulsivity.

Sociodemographic factors

Age, gender, ethnicity, and status have a more negligible impact than the previous factors. Still, the brands shouldn’t omit them while developing impulse purchase marketing.

Some scientists claim that older people are less willing to make unexpected purchases. The income level defines sensitivity to the price, and the more affluent target buyers are, the more beneficial it is for a brand.

While developing your brand concept and strategy, don’t avoid these factors. You need to have a clear vision of what your customers buy and how they buy.

It is a stereotype that if you target a women’s audience, impulse buying is the best strategy. The stats disprove it stating that 23% of men and only 11% of women make an impulse purchase over $1,000. So, it works great for both genders.

Teenagers have a different impulse buying psychology, which plays into the sellers’ hands. They often purchase to impress others and show off their status or uniqueness.

It is easier to affect their mood states and convince them into making a purchase. Despite having a relatively low-income level, they can save their pocket money to make the desired purchase.

Situational factors

We can also call them external factors because the customers can’t influence them.

Impulse buying statistics reveal that it is easier to manipulate buyers into purchasing in large shopping malls because of the loud music and lights.

People often feel overwhelmed with a wide choice and don’t have enough time to look at every item in detail.

Price

No secret that the sales period is associated with fever for new things, especially among women, especially if a discount is over 25%.

Everybody remembers buying a bunch of stuff on sale and never using it. Such things dust in the garage or attic until you throw them away.

If you try to recall why you bought them, you only remember that it was a bargain. Surprisingly, it can influence even the most disciplined shoppers.

Studies reveal that most customers are ready to overpay for interactions with well-known brands with a solid reputation.

Brands that pay attention to details and all the interaction steps make a more effective and trusted impression on future buyers.

All the marketing today is built around enhancing customer experience and promoting added values of products and services. Friendly and informal ones replace manipulative and convincing methods.

Here are the things to consider while analysing the brand concept and marketing approach.

Brand image

Let’s take a vivid example of iPhones. Beyond any doubt, these smartphones are more desirable than any others, despite being considerably pricier.

They have almost the same functionality and perform the same tasks. But customers are ready to pay more for the brand name.

Such smartphones show the status and play a more important role than a gadget to make calls. Moreover, Apple has a well-developed relationship path that converts customers into returning ones.

Most customers look forward to new releases and features. They consider new products intelligent and innovative. The communication between sales staff and customers is clear, and it helps build an emotional relationship.

Colour pattern

93% of customers claim they consider visuals while purchasing. It is introductory psychology we all know from school.

In marketing, colour is a significant factor that is associated with a particular quality or emotion.

Red is related to excitement and passion, and blue helps build trust and calm down. Green means growth, freshness, and orange stand for vibrance and cheerfulness.

Market researches show that the most compelling impulse buying colours are red, orange, black, and royal blue.

Customers with higher self-control respond to pastel colours such as pink, lilac, and sky blue. You can build a unique colour pattern for your brand to attract buyers with specific shopping behaviour patterns.

Store atmosphere

Many brands turn their stores into more than just places to buy something. They realise the significance of spending quality time with their customers.

They often offer free Wi-Fi, the ability to test the product, music, places to sit, charge your phone, buffets, and even places for children.

A store with a nice interior and relaxed environment creates positive vibes and motivates consumers to visit it and make an unintended purchase.

Colourful displays and attractive setups that change with every season are an excellent way to motivate people.

Think of a typical IKEA store, and it has much more purposes than simply selling. Its atmosphere makes you feel like a perfect home, and you unintentionally want to buy many things here to recreate this atmosphere.

Visual merchandising introduces the product values and qualities to the customers.

It creates a better store image and draws the customers’ attention to a particular product or a group of products. The way the products are placed affects the consumers’ decisions and contributes significantly towards uncontrolled buying.

Product characteristics

The USP (unique selling proposition) is the brainstorm for marketers, but it influences more customers than any other usual feature.

The feeling that you buy an above-average product gives it a more considerable value. Every product has a highlight that distinguishes it from others in the same line, series, etc.

User-friendly app or website

With the fast-paced digitalisation of shopping, It is impossible to imagine a high-level brand without their custom app or website.

Internet dictates new rules for controlling customer behaviour. Very often, it is the central point in the sales channel.

If you consider developing your own software and plan to boost sales, you need to prioritise usability.

The UI/UX designer has to pay close attention to the user behaviour patterns. Adding the following categories will help you motivate customers:

Recently viewed products
Customers also buy
New products
Sales and limited offers
Personalised discounts
Top selling products.

This prolongs the user’s stay on the website and lets them make more interactions. Don’t forget to attract the user’s attention to the buttons and the key product characteristics.

Enable writing product reviews and ratings. This will build trust between you and your audience.

A typical mistake is to overwhelm the website with text. The more minimalistic the interface is, the more influential the purchase will be.

All the steps in the customer journey should be well-defined and logical. Ensure that the order form is straightforward and involves only necessary fields.

Images should be the central part of your website. Navigability and aesthetics should be the main qualities of an efficient and selling application or website.

This is the most powerful tool to promote your brand and build a solid reputation.

Influencer marketing is the game-changer, and the companies who have tried this strategy feel all the benefits. From the point of view of psychology, it has an explanation.

This phenomenon is built around the personal experience of trusted people. It can be family, friends, and a new category – influencers.

This approach helps you get closer contact with your audience. They can see real emotions and experiences with the product, which will serve as powerful marketing stimuli.

The most challenging task for brands is finding reputable bloggers with a relevant and active target audience interested in a particular product.

Interestingly, a social factor has the most considerable effect on impulse buys in the fashion and beauty spheres.

To sum up

Numerous factors influence impulse buying, but those we mentioned in this article are among the most common triggers that cause uncontrolled purchases.

Branding and marketing approaches play a crucial role in affecting customers. If you consider the needs of your customers and deliver a product that meets them, it will result in efficient sales and increased business income.

We don’t consider impulse buying a negative phenomenon. It lets us experience pleasant emotions and brings new experiences. However, it becomes a critical point of concern when it seems to affect you and your bank account negatively.

Therefore, you should understand these factors and find ways to monitor their influence on your shopping experience.

Impulse Buying: Branding Factors Influencing It