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5 Sneaky Tricks Advertisers Use To Get Your Money

Subliminal messages exist for a reason. You see, most of our decisions are made on an unconscious level. This means that our behaviors are influenced by our wishes, interests, and motivations.

Say that you have been scrolling freely thru your Instagram feed and you saw a fast food ad. Days later, you caught yourself craving for a delicious cheeseburger.

Hidden persuasions are the driving force behind advertising. And, these persuasions happen more often than you think!

On that note, here are 5 Sneaky Tricks Advertisers Use To Get Your Money:

ILLUSION OF SCARCITY

Why are people so attracted to items that are limited edition? For starters, scarcity is usually linked to luxurious products. Talk about the limited supply of Yeezys and diamonds!

Scarcity also suggests that people want a product so bad that its supply depleted. I can vividly recall the time I visited a blogshop and saw this long black dress. At the bottom it displayed: “only one piece left”. I really wanted to purchase this dress, but I was contemplating on whether I need another black dress or not. Buying mode kicked in when the fear of missing out (#FOMO) emerged. I wanted to secure the last item left! This goes to show that scarcity technique works so well because it entails that our freedom of choice can be gone is a snap!

POWER OF SOCIAL PROOF

Word of mouth spreads like wildfire! When you want to purchase new products or try new services, you approach others for recommendation. We go to recommended doctors for health advise and to highly-raved hairstylists for a new ‘do. You are more likely to subscribe to something that has gotten a stamp of approval from a person you admire. So much for individuality, huh?

Image Credits: pixabay.com

When my significant other and I go on a date, we usually check out food review websites such as burpple.com and hungrygowhere.com. We tend to eat at places with higher reviews. This illustrates the power of social proofing. According to social proofing, we are more likely to buy something that the majority approves. This is why modern advertisers turn to Facebook and Instagram to get as much “likes” as possible!

ART OF REVERSE PSYCHOLOGY

Let’s face it! There is a reason why some people hide from sales representatives who follow them around. Nobody likes to be told on what to do, especially when they are about to make a purchase. This is where the Art of Reverse Psychology comes in handy.

Advertisers understand that you do not like to be blatantly persuaded. Which is why they try to convince you that you have a choice in the matter. They may say something along the lines of “you are free to try Brand X but…”. Their transparency can hook you into buying the product.

INFLUENCE OF THE DECOY EFFECT

Have you ever experienced shopping around for appliances and seeing the usual price as well as the discounted prices? Well, the discounted price sure is attractive! It makes me wonder how long has the usual price been there? Is the discounted price really a steal?

Dan Ariely, an Ivy-league professor of Psychology and Behavioral economics, did a study on the different price options. As it turns out, a company may include an additional price option just to make you think that you are getting a good deal.

His study included three magazine subscriptions: an online subscription for $59, a print subscription for $125, and a print-and-online subscription for $125. When Ariely offered the three options to the participants, most of them picked the combo option as it seemed like the best deal. However, things changed when only the print or online options remained. Most of them sticked to the cheapest option – the $59 online subscription.

RICHNESS OF ANECDOTES

Customer testimonials are powerful not only because of social proofing, but also because of the richness of anecdotes. Research suggests that stories and individual examples stick to our brains better than statistics. This make sense as stories transport us to a place where we are most likely to believe in something.

Simply watch this heartwarming video by a Thai Insurance company:

If you are more likely to be persuaded by emotional advertisements or stories, you may want to stay vigilant for your budget’s sake!

Sources: 1 & 2

3 Times Color Significantly Affected Your Spending

Whenever you are out to shop, you see wonderful colors from the lightest to the darkest shades. The sale signs are bright red, the shopping bags are shocking yellow, and the labels are resonating the rainbow. Did you know that these colors are strategically placed to influence the way you spend?

Colors can impact one’s spending because the sight of it automatically stimulates you and increases your memories, color-motivated behaviors, and social influences. Here are three situations when color significantly affects your finances:

1. RIGHT SHADE FOR YOUR CAR

Burgundy is a shade of red that is often associated with wine. Cars with this color are usually more expensive that their white counterparts as burgundy exude luxury and refinement. Furthermore, red is a difficult color to see at night when people’s visions are somewhat distorted. Be careful as this may lead to involvements in accidents.

On the other hand, a white colored car has numerous benefits.

But before discussing this, I must acknowledge the existence of the age-old debate of whether white and black are colors. According to the available online resources, white is an achromatic color composed of all the frequencies of the light of the visible spectrum. While black is a color when you are referring to the coloring agents of tangible objects. For example, if you combine the primary colors using paint, you would get a shade of black.

Going back to white as a color for your car…light colored cars have better petroleum mileage because you can stay cooler without the use of air conditioning. Painting your car white can instantly lower the interior heat. Also, it is easier to see by other drivers at night.

2. ATTRACTIVE PACKAGING OF BEAUTY PRODUCTS

You enter Sephora and you see their in-house brand of lipsticks in sleek black tubes. Don’t they look expensive? Even if these lipsticks cost less than other brands they seem more upscale because of the color they come in. In packaging, black signifies sophistication.

Image Credits: pixabay.com (License: CC0 Public Domain)

Another color that can push people to spend more on beauty products especially the anti-aging ones is purple. Purple signifies royalty. This is why people are often convinced that there really are special properties inside the “purple box” and they are willing to pay more for it.

3. APPETITE-ENHANCING COLORS

From the logos to the interior, two colors seem to stay at almost every fast food chains. These two colors are red and yellow. Red and yellow stimulate appetite, which probably explains why your stomach starts to make noises as soon as you see the yellow arches or the red logo. And, you cannot resist spending more inside.

Image Credits: Mike Mozart via Flickr (CC License)

Interestingly, you can combat how colors affect the way you eat by controlling your own plate. Researchers at Cornell University found that when they reduced the contrast in their plates and tables or in their plates and the food itself, people tend to serve themselves less food. For example, to eat less, pair your white plate with your white table-cloth or a blue plate with a blue table-cloth.

Sources: 1,2, 3, & 4

Leverage on modern marketing for your brand

Times have been difficult recently and this resonates with companies trying to keep their costs low. Traditional marketing techniques have been slowly losing its trend due to its time consuming and costly factors. All these things are delivered in print format or in person. On the contrary, Internet marketing transcends outdated form of marketing using the power of online networks and interactive media to reach your marketing objectives. With modern marketing, you can lower costs and accomplish more without catalogs, brochures and any other marketing collateral. You can reach more customers than ever before with its cost efficiency formula.

Spreading the name of your company does not have to be expensive. Owl City SG provides online advertising, marketing and profiling for local companies and businesses. They were nominated this year with “Top 25 Prestige Award 2015” for demonstrating exceptional accomplishment in Business Fields.

Owl City provides excellent Business to Business (B-to-B) services ranging from Profile Portal, E-commerce, Media Advertising and Marketing Consultation.

A recent profound marketing collaboration that Owl City has undertaken involves assisting Central Narcotics Bureau (CNB) on their Drug Awareness Campaign by managing CNB’s “Life Does Not Rewind” FaceBook page. In there, creative marketing techniques such as videos and games contests were showcased with highly creative and engaging content resulting in overwhelming responses from the general public.

Essentially, Owl City’s achievements would not have been made possible without Miri Yeo, the Founder of Owl City SG. Through her sheer determination to pursue her passion of starting up a marketing firm, she stands firm to her beliefs that profit maximization should never be her main goal, rather the importance of advocating an honest reputation when doing business, alongside with maintaining top-notch work quality standards and efficiency.

Fundamentally, over 300 clients who have engaged Owl City SG’s advertising and branding services have left them with positive feedbacks which resulted in significant cost savings in the long run. Owl City SG remains as a prime choice for people who wish to grow and expand their businesses, and customer bases. Its grasp of modern media and advertising is second-to-none.

An example on how Owl City provides a comprehensive services to Yoogane, a Korean restaurant in Singapore:

Yoogane, client of Owl City Singapore

For more information on Owl City SG, refer to the links below:

http://www.owlcitysg.com/ (Business to Business Services)
http://www.owlcity.com.sg/ (Business to Consumers Services)

This article is brought to you by Owl City Singapore.

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