Market psychology

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The market psychology or consumer psychology attempts to explain human behavior in markets and to predict. Market psychology is therefore part of business psychology and thus to applied and practical psychology . This is particularly evident in the fact that the concepts and theories developed have a high level of application benefit. An example of this are the positioning models that are frequently used, especially in business administration . One of the sub-disciplines of market psychology is advertising psychology .

According to Salcher (1995), market psychology as an applied science is "the analysis that goes beyond the mere description of behavior and leads to the explanation of causes and the disclosure of only partially conscious wishes, ideas and needs." Here, the customer often gets the ambivalent equalized structure of the Product, which - according to Feigenbaum (1968) - results in a receptive buyer-purchase interaction. The understanding of the acceptance of the purchase model is based on this.

Tasks of market psychology

  • Declaration of behavior, for example why a consumer buys this product or not
  • Analysis of motives and needs, whereby gaps in needs can also be identified that suggest the development of new products (market niches)
  • Analysis of subjective opinions, ideas and stereotypes that can primarily affect image strategies
  • Working out consumer types or target group segments
  • Predicting consumer reactions, e.g. buying behavior

There is already a close connection between psychological market research and motivational research . Because market psychology tries to uncover particularly deeper, not openly articulated motive and need structures that have an impact on the behavior of the consumer. In Wiswede (1995), market psychology is accordingly also a part of business psychology . For market psychology in the broad sense includes the psychology of selling , trading psychology , consumer psychology , advertising psychology and market research .

Kurt Lewin aptly described the high practical relevance of market psychology in 1944: “Many psychologists working today in an applied field are keenly aware of the need for close cooperation between theoretical and applied psychology. This can be accomplished in psychology, as it has been accomplished in physics, if the theorist does not look toward applied problems with high eyebrow aversion or with a fear of social problems, and if the applied psychologist realizes that there is nothing as practical as a good theory. "

The history of market psychology

A real history of market psychology, i.e. a real development process, can hardly be determined. Rather, one can assume a point in time when market psychology was conceptually defined. In 1956, Bernt Spiegel coined what lies behind the term “market psychology” with the following motto: “The reality in market psychology is not the objective nature of a product, but only the consumer perception and experience.” In 1949 he founded the institute in Mannheim for advertising psychological research methods, the first psychologically oriented market research institute in Germany, as the industry information service Context writes. It was there in 1961, for example, that the psychological market model with the now widely applied niche theory (market niche) was created . The then BMW board member Paul G. Hahnemann was enthusiastic about the niche theory and the research in the context of the “structure of opinion distribution in the social field” , so that they were put to practical use at BMW. The result was the sporty mid-range BMW 1600/1800 - also known as the "new class". With this success for BMW, Paul G. Hahnemann had a new nickname: Niche Paule. The Spiegel Institute Mannheim, IFM MANNHEIM and Sinus Sociovision emerged from what was then the Institute for Advertising Psychological Research Methods, all of which are still based in the greater Mannheim area.

Further developments and findings from the 1960s onwards were:

  • Analysis of products, brands, manufacturers and advertising as objects of opinion in the social field
  • Differentiation and positioning of group-specific consumer ideas and images
  • Change from applied general psychology to theoretically independent, practical market psychology
  • Questions about psychological factors that determine the consumer's experience and behavior
  • Questions about the image positions of competing offers
  • Investigation of motives, images and market situations

Methods of market psychology

An important distinction between the methods of market psychology is the comparison of “questioning” and “observation” (Salcher, 1995).

survey

The questioning tries to get statements from people about certain facts, especially about unobservable facts. The person provides information about different content, for example:

  • Attitudes and opinions,
  • Knowledge and experience,
  • concrete behavior,
  • Motives for certain behaviors,
  • Wishes,
  • Fears,
  • Planning.

While specific behaviors are relatively easy to grasp, the other information can be distorted by undesirable, high subjectivity on the part of the respondent or by rationalization (advancing perfectly applicable arguments when the actual motivation (s) is not disclosed).

observation

In market psychology, observation is the method of choice, especially in areas where the survey reaches its limits. During observation, facts are recorded that can be perceived both with human senses and with technical sensors, at the point in time at which they occur. The great advantage here is that things can be recorded that the person himself is not aware of. These include habitualized patterns of behavior or actions, such as internalized driving, in which, for example, people no longer actively consider engaging and disengaging the clutch. The observation can be carried out both with and without the knowledge of the person.

With all approaches, both quantitative and qualitative data are collected and processed according to the question. Interestingly, at the moment it is the case that over 90% of the primary data from market research in Germany come from quantitative and almost 10% from qualitative studies, so there is a clear focus on quantitative data. However, the importance and usefulness of qualitative data in practice should not be underestimated. The behavior and experience of a person as a consumer, which is shaped by many conscious and unconscious influences, is best possible through the implementation of focus groups , qualitative usability studies or depth psychological interviews . Such methods help in the development of creative and new ideas, as attitudes and expectations of people can be recorded, with which one can better understand the (psychologically) complex behavior of people.

Market psychology within business administration

As early as 1958, Bernt Spiegel defined market psychology as “the psychological laws of demand and supply and their relationship to one another”. Market psychology is therefore primarily interested in the behavior and experience of a person as a consumer in the situation of supply and demand, less in his behavior and experience as such. Rosenstiel and Ewald (1979): "The subject of market psychology (is) the experience and behavior of people in the market, ie in their role as supplier and customer." Today's business administration makes use of theories and methods of market psychology for some issues. Since psychological strategies and tactics play a role especially at the interface between commercial economy and private consumption (gift giving), i.e. in retail , retail psychology as a branch of commercial management studies deals with the behavior and experience of suppliers and consumers in retail and with their own Motivations. Successful marketing is also understood as an interplay of the “ marketing mix ” (product, price, place and promotion), for which the findings of market psychology can be helpful. Some examples:

  • “Price”: Establishing the willingness of customers to pay, for example using the Van Westendorp method → Information on how to set the price
  • "Promotion": Advertising effectiveness tests → Findings about the effect of advertising measures on the customer can influence the design of the advertising measures
  • "Place": Point-of-Sale (POS) studies → Observing customers when buying on the shelf provides insights into the best position for a product on the shelf

literature

  • Georg Felser: Advertising and consumer psychology. 3. Edition. Spectrum, 2007.
  • Klaus Moser: Market and Advertising Psychology: A Textbook. Hogrefe Publishing House, 2002.
  • Gabriele Naderer, Eva Balzer: Qualitative market research in theory and practice: Fundamentals, methods and applications. Gabler, 2007.
  • Gerhard Raab, Fritz Unger: Market Psychology: Basics and Application. 2nd Edition. Gabler Verlag, 2005.
  • Lutz von Rosenstiel, Peter Neumann: Introduction to market and advertising psychology. 2nd Edition. Scientific Book Society, 1991.
  • EF Salcher: Psychological Market Research. 2nd Edition. de Gruyter, Berlin 1995.
  • Hans-Otto Schenk: Psychology in Commerce. 2nd Edition. Oldenbourg, Munich / Vienna 2007, ISBN 978-3-486-58379-3 .
  • Bernt Spiegel: Advertising psychological research methods. Berlin 1958.
  • Bernt Spiegel: The structure of the distribution of opinions in the social field. The psychological market model. Stuttgart 1961.
  • Günter Wiswede: Introduction to Business Psychology . 4th edition. UTB, Stuttgart 2007.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ G. Felser: Advertising and Consumer Psychology. Spectrum, Heidelberg 2001.