Why people [really] buy?

Here's [my] take ...

At the most basic level, a prospect would buy your product to
satisfy a need. The intensity of that need has been often been
ranked using Maslow’s hierarchy of needs after a theory in
psychology proposed by Abraham Maslow in his 1943 paper “A Theory
of Human Motivation”. Although his theory has been criticized, it
is still considered a fundamental teaching of developmental
psychology.

You may recall that Maslow ranked human needs from physiological to
safety to love and belong to esteem, and the highest being self
actualization. The idea is that humans would seek to satisfy their
physiological needs such as for food and water before thinking
about their safety. In the same sense, we would seek for physical
safety before self esteem.

According to Eugene Schwartz in his seminal work, “Breakthrough
Advertising”, every product performs a certain “role” in the
prospect’s life. This role is closely tied to the “desire of your
prospect to act out a certain role in his life.” The copywriter
must keep this in mind when crafting his copy and portray the
product as an instrument to help achieve this role and a means of
providing acknowledgment that the roles have already been
achieved.

Schwartz goes on to explain that every product should be advertised
using these two motivations—a desire to fulfill a need and a method
to fulfill the need that would place the buyer in new position with
respect to his peers. The second motivation can be considered
metaphysical in the sense that it cannot be easily measured and can
all be in the mind of the prospect—how he feels other people feels
about him now he owns your product.

This can best be illustrated if we look at a practical example. The
average buyer buys a car for its function of transportation and
safety. The affluent are no longer just thinking about such “basic”
needs but are thinking of how the vehicle makes them look, such as
sophisticated, modern or accomplished. The car now becomes a status
symbol. Using Maslow’s model, they are seeking the higher levels of
self-esteem and self actualization.

Schwartz goes on to classify these roles into character roles and
achievement roles. Character roles would include words such as
“young”, “charming”, “intelligent”, “progressive” and “informed”.
Returning to the car purchase example, many luxury cars have more
capability than can be legally used on normal city streets and
highways. The ability to go 200 mph may never be used, but it gives
the owner the title of “successful”.

This is the same reason why some people would never shop in a
discount store even if it carries the exact brand of a more upscale
store. They are afraid that people would identify them as “low
class” or “poor” when seen in such places.

Achievement roles would include such terms as “executive”, “college
graduate”, “home owner”, “good mother”, “community leader” and
“career woman”. There is no way that these achievements can be seen
from just looking at someone which makes them more likely to be
displayed. For example, it is very common to see women of
accomplishment, such as politicians and CEOs, wearing pearl
necklaces with matching earrings. This almost always says, “I’m a
woman of no small means and status.”

Americans are more likely to own a garage full of stuff that they
would never use again than residents of a third world country. This
is the way that they express their achievements by the things they
own. Possessions now have a meta-purpose that go far above function
and may not even be related to their function, except to define how
the possessor stands out from the crowd.

How the copywriter uses this fact of human psychology would
determine to a great extent the success of the sales message. To
simply write about the problems the product solves and the function
the product would perform would be to fail to tap into the ulterior
motivation for buying—that of status and defined achievement which
owning the product implies. This fact applies most sharply to a
crowded market where the only difference between your product and
that of your competitor may be the role your product offers the
buyer.

What does it mean to own your product apart from what it does? How
would his peers look at him now he owns your product? What does it
say about your customer’s taste, achievement, status and character
by owning your product?

These are all questions that the copywriter must answer in his copy
and thus create a particular role for your prospect in the
advertisement.

One caveat though as you seek to highlight this role is that you
must be careful not to invent a role that is foreign to the
product. Products would have a role that comes through their
function, a history of their use and often from the very role that
the customer gives to them.

For example, if your product was the first in the marketplace then
you may have the advantage of saying that the product is the most
reliable and others are trying to copy the “genuine”. But it’s a
stretch to say that people would think you more successful if you
brushed with a certain toothpaste because no one can determine by
just looking what toothpaste you use.

In essence there are many product that already have a ‘built-in’
appeal to them such a luxury car, diamond-studded watch and exotic
vacations. But for most products the copywriter has to build on a
shallow foundation and make a sturdy prestige sculpture. Building
in this foundation takes a creativity and inventiveness that cannot
stray too far from the idea the prospect already has about the
product in his mind.

In summary, people buy products to solve problems AND products
which make them look good while solving them.

-Ray Edwards