Behind The Curtain of Marketing | KJ'Z Business Corner

Marketers promote products or services to the public. Sometimes, that means that we are the marketers trying to persuade the public to purchase our products or buy into our services.

Effective Marketing Tugs At The Heart

A top way to market is by using people’s emotions. Therefore, larger companies use celebrity marketing. Getting celebrities to endorse a brand's products has proven to be an effective way to promote. However, for those who can not use celebrity marketing, other ways include using humor, nostalgia, and heartwarming concepts to promote products.

How is curiosity used?

Early announcements of “soon-to-be-released” collections or products create mystery that sparks curiosity; however, it only works effectively if consumers already have a sense of emotional attachment to the product industry (the type of item the product is) or brand (the company the product is affiliated with). 

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In-Depth Look:

Marketers (people in charge of promoting or marketing products and/or services) use how the public behaves and thinks to develop their marketing strategy.

Why did Nike partner with Michael Jordan? Why do companies pay social media influencers to promote their products on TikTok? Why were celebrities posting their new Stanley collections? This goes back to the basics: Aristotle’s Logical Triangle. Featuring categories of ethos (ethics), pathos (emotion), and logos (logic), Aristotle’s Logical Triangle has been used for centuries in the art of persuasion.

Marketers use pathos to appeal to people’s emotions. Having one’s favorite celebrities advertise a product has proven to be a great, simple way to accomplish the goal of exciting people. This enables marketers to use a person’s bond with celebrities to promote their products. (Now you understand why celebrities fight hard to maintain a “good image.” Good image leads to endorsements which leads to income.)

Curiosity Turns Profit

Beyond emotion, marketers also use the element of curiosity.

It is human nature to seek answers to the questions that spark our curiosity, and the anticipation of the answer influences one's dopamine levels.

(Dopamine: neurotransmitter and hormone that influences what motivates us and leads us to seeking a reward; AKA THE “FEEL-GOOD” HORMONE).

In simple terms, if a marketer can strike curiosity, then dopamine will enhance the value of getting the reward.

(The things we want in life are often influenced by dopamine levels. Meaning, it is not the item itself that motivates us; it is the anticipation of getting the item that excites us.)

If marketers can get the public curious, then marketers can rely on pull demand (when demand is created by consumers who are seeking the product rather than creating demand by pushing a product on them).

References

Fersula & Kennedy. (2023). The psychology and neuroscience of Curiosity. Psychology Today. https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/brain-reboot/202311/the-psychology-and-neuroscience-of-curiosity