The Psychology of Luxury: Why People Buy Expensive Things. How Maslow's Pyramid Works and Why It's Helpful in Advertising The Need for Expensive, Prestigious Branded Items

An expensive commodity is not an essential commodity. The highest price segment is therefore the highest because everything in it is not the same as we are used to. They play by their own rules, so let's figure out how to sell expensive goods.

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To sell something, you need to know who will buy it, to be able to seduce the target audience. So, our client is a wealthy person, a business owner, a VIP person, and he:

• knows his own worth, is confident in himself;
• cares about prestige, emphasizes status, a high price for him is a dignity and an argument in favor of a purchase;
• values ​​his time.

If you dig deeper, you can see the true motives behind the purchase. Usually people buy expensive things to:

• emphasize the uniqueness - I'm not like everyone else;
• to make a gift to yourself beloved: I am worthy;
• making a gift to a loved one is a demonstration of my love;
• participate in the competition: I want to be better than the one who does not have it;
• compensate for negative emotions.

Our task is to learn how to sell premium products (branded items, jewelry, luxury cars, elite real estate) to wealthy people. Let's start our conversation about how to sell high-end products with promotional messages.

Selling texts

We now have basic knowledge about the client, but we need words that will hook him. First and foremost in advertising texts - cut them mercilessly. VIP - the client will not waste time on "water". The text should be expensive, but please, without pathos, remove the "curly" words, forget about the superlative. Get rid of "doubts" - confidence in the product should be reflected in the text. Moreover, exclude the cheap cry: “Attention! Only today!" and the words "action", "discount". Eliminate the mass character like “thousands of people have already purchased”, but the phrases “one-of-a-kind”, “handmade” are very attractive for a VIP client. The material should be light and accessible, but overall exude dignity without pathos.

Tell us about the uniqueness of the product - the buyer wants to know what he is paying for. Justify the high price with arguments about quality, good investment, new opportunities, prestige and aesthetics. The essence of the selling text is to convince the client that they need to buy from you. In the case of long-standing premium brands, the seller is relieved of the need to persuade. Chanel, Dior, Porsche, Maserati, Chopard, Rolex - people are ready to overpay for the brand, because in exchange they receive the prestige of the owner, the manufacturer's guarantee and high quality.

Thus, the cost of Rolls-Royce is negotiable - the total amount is determined by the client's desire and the manufacturer's capabilities, but on average, from 25 million rubles. What is on the Rolls-Royce data sheet? "If your car breaks down, your driver knows what to do." That is, if you bought a Rolls-Royce, you should have hired a driver. Now imagine that a Rolls-Royce costs 2 million rubles. How is it? Will the halo of a luxury item remain around him, which does not lose value over the years? Can you be sure it's made with the finest materials and cutting edge technology?

Role in the foreground

The main character in premium sales is not even a product, but a seller, who, by the way, has no right to discord with him. Both personal qualities and appearance are important. Find a confident, non-envious, conflict-free, self-sufficient person.

Basic requirements for a sales assistant in a high-end store: well-groomed skin, nails, hair, a drop of floral / citrus scent, expensive clean shoes. In the luxury segment, the client first buys the seller, then the interior, and only after that he is interested in the price and quality of the product.

Environment

Environment influences decision making. The conditions of purchase should be comfortable, the interior should be expensive, with glossy surfaces, made of rare materials, with dim lights, relaxing music. There should be very few items of the same model in the hall. Remember the classic discounters, where in the trading floor there are all sizes of all models and real chaos. Minimalism and harmony should reign in an expensive boutique, otherwise there will be a discrepancy - expensive things in a modest interior and in a huge amount. The buyer transfers the impression of the interior and furnishings to the product and may doubt its originality, high quality and exclusivity - that is, what he is willing to pay for.

Presentation

Selling high-end merchandise requires a solid approach and the ability to divide VIP customers into emotional and rational types. You can't think like this: once the rich buy, they are easier to part with the money. You need to understand: if a person of a rational type is ready to shell out a large sum, he wants to be sure that it is not in vain. Convince him of this. But with emotional clients it is much easier - they make purchases, including expensive ones, on impulse. Think of the sale as helping you: find a solution to the customer's problem, satisfy his need, in the end, make him happier - he came to you for this.

Determining the needs of the VIP client, competent presentation, skillful handling of objections are important, but they are not enough. The more serious and expensive the product is, the more detailed approach is required for its presentation.

Stick to the principle: one characteristic, one benefit. For example, "This sofa costs X, but the price includes leather processing, with it you will not have to think about how to remove stains from an expensive finish for 20 years." If at the last moment the client hesitated, say that such a purchase is a new status and opportunity. Here are examples of unsuccessful and successful expressions:

• "If you decide ..." vs "When you decide ..."
• "This is a quality thing ..." vs "Quality is determined by the materials used in production, see ..."
• "I'll tell you about ..." vs "Look ...", "Touch ..."
• "We have a cheaper option ..." vs "Let's see more ..."
• "Let's see something dear?" vs "I know what to offer you ..."

Work on bugs

Here are the most common mistakes made in premium selling:

• listen but not hear;
• do not devote time to identifying the needs of the VIP client;
• to build a presentation based on your own preferences, and not his wishes;
• cringing or being offended;
• persuade assertively.

Selling goods in the premium segment, forget about the so-called "Eldorado" - prices like 1,999 rubles. Do not use the "Buy and receive a gift" technique. Show that the purchase will save the VIP client's time - the most valuable resource for him. And don't give the price before the presentation. Forget about other people's reviews - instantly deprive the thing of value. Having something “like everyone else” doesn't work with wealthy customers. They like to stand out.

Arguments in favor of buying for them can only be reviews / neighborhood celebrities or a mention that in such and such a cult film the hero wore exactly such a thing, drove such a car or lived in such a house.

Separately, let's say about discounts - the luxury segment does not recognize them. The discount will not increase the loyalty of the VIP client, but will deprive you of some of the profit. The premium store is also premium, which is not available to the majority. There are only two reasons to make a discount: either for a regular customer, or for a one-time purchase for the amount of three average checks. The discount must be in the form of a number or even percentages - 8%, 12%. Selling expensive products is not easy: fewer people buy them compared to cheap ones. This is where the presentation and advertising campaign decide, but it is important that they are literate.

“In general, consumption is a social competition. With its help, we rise above those around us. If my bottle of wine is more expensive than yours, then I myself am better than you. "

If you had $ 10K to spare, would you spend it on headphones or something?

It is not joke. Headphones for that kind of money do exist, like the Orpheus Sennheiser or the Onkyo Diamond. The question is, is their sound quality really ten times better than their thousand dollar counterpart?

More expensive items are considered to imply better quality, exclusivity, customization, or some extra bonus. But do expensive things always turn out to be better, and what makes people part with their money?

1 /5 Expensive headphones designed for DJs tuned to limit bass and treble

Studies of our perception of the value of goods show that we tend to associate price and value of a product, and sometimes we rate expensive items as better or more efficient, even if in fact they are no different from cheaper counterparts.

One study by scientists at the California Institute of Technology and Stanford University has shown that people not only appreciate the taste of wine better if they are told about its high cost - moreover, if they do an MRI of the brain at that time, it will show that they really enjoy drinking what they think is more expensive.

In another study that looked at the use of a placebo for pain reliever, participants who thought they took pain reliever for $ 2.5 per pill felt more relief than others who were told the pill was only 10 cents.

1 /5 Bespoke luxury cars parked in South West London

Finding the very best

Okay, this is experimentation, but how does price influence our buying decision in real life? Suppose that there is a product and its equivalent is twice as expensive - do buyers really think that the latter will be twice as good?

Michael Norton, a psychologist and professor of business administration at Harvard Business School, answers this question in the affirmative, at least if

talk about consumer experiences. His research shows that we are determined to seek the very best, so-called peak experiences.

Norton notes that a restaurant, dish, or movie that everyone rates the same - a 3 is a safe option, while if we see a range of ratings from 1 to 5, we can expect anything. According to him, "It's curious that people tend to take risks and choose the 1s and 5s because they want the best experience - even at the risk of stumbling upon the bad option."

Norton says that the same mechanism can explain the purchase of very expensive goods or services: “The increase in pleasure with the increase in quality is even accompanied by an additional impulse, and perhaps drinking a bottle of whiskey worth $ 10 thousand will be twice as pleasant as the same bottle for 5 thousand, because this is an extreme, peak experience. "

Many of us are looking for unique opportunities for relaxation, even if they are not the most pleasant options, just to "add to the collection of experiences." Anat Keinan and Ran Kivetz write, "By collecting unforgettable experiences, consumers are satisfied, subjectively propelled forward, and build self-esteem."

1 /5 “When I buy a Ferrari, I become part of a community of exceptional, interesting and passionate people.”

Joshua Cartu is an amateur racer, entrepreneur and passionate Ferrari collector. He says that he collects cars not only out of love for them, but also because it is a pass both to various events and to a certain circle of society.

He says: “The feeling of happiness from the accumulation of material values ​​is fleeting, and each time the reward is less and less. Another thing is that when I buy a Ferrari, I find myself in the society of such refined connoisseurs of the brand as myself. "

Kartu says that one of the strongest impressions in his life was a flight in a MiG fighter in Russia: “We were twice as high as passenger planes fly. The stars in the sky in broad daylight and the curving horizon are incredible sensations. "

Most of us cannot afford to fly a fighter plane or race a Ferrari, but researchers speculate that the desire to build a “collection of sensations” may also explain the craving for more modest entertainment, such as a sleepover in an ice hotel or bacon-flavored ice cream.

Demonstrative consumption

Some people spend a lot of money to demonstrate their success. Kartu says: “You may want to show others that you have achieved everything. It was important to me, because I am from a poor family, and I needed to show everyone that now I am on the same level with them. True, then, after some reflection, the need to make an impression disappeared. "

Economic theory says that the demand for most goods increases as prices fall. In addition, there are so-called "Veblen goods", the demand for which grows with the price, since exclusivity is valued in them.

Norton says: “In general, consumption is social competition. With its help, we rise above those around us. If my bottle of wine is more expensive than yours, then I myself am better than you. " At the same time, he adds that people can emphasize their high status either by standing out among others, or, conversely, trying to be invisible.

1 /5 $ 1.4 million pen in platinum and white gold set with diamonds

Elizabeth Carried-Halkett, professor at the University of Southern California and author of The Sum of Little Things. An ambitious class, ”says wealthy Americans are buying increasingly less visible luxury items — organic products are taking the place of designer handbags.

She says: “Today, material goods mark social status to a lesser extent. We live in an era of abundance, which means that things are no longer as rare and attractive as before. To justify the value of a product, you need some kind of history or some kind of accompanying status. "

Happiness at the expense of others

In the end, everything is simple: people are greedy for luxury goods, because they believe that they will make them happy. Norton, one of the authors of Happy Money. The Science of Buying Happiness, says that the pleasure you get in exchange for money depends much more on how you spent it than how much it took.

He says that spending money on things becomes less enjoyable over time, and suggests spending money on experiences: "Most of us seem to have a hard time getting happy buying things."

However, there is one way - Norton's research proves that we become happier by giving benefits to others:

“It's not that buying things doesn't make us happy - of course, it makes us happy, that's why we buy them. The problem is, it doesn't make us happier in the long run. It's quite another matter when we give them away. "

Prepared by Evgeniya Sidorova

Man is a social being. It is by nature itself that people have friends, mentors and family. To satisfy this need, it is necessary to constantly communicate and get to know new people, take care of loved ones, take care of the less experienced. Communication can take place at work or school, in entertainment venues, in fitness centers, at training seminars, and so on. Through communication, a person learns new things and gets to know himself better. If this need is not met, there is a risk of becoming isolated only on their own interests.

Existential needs were first identified by the philosopher and sociologist E. Fromm.

The need to overcome oneself

Animals are lazy by nature - they need to conserve energy in order to hunt or flee from pursuit. A person is devoid of such problems, but laziness remains his companion. Feeling the need to overcome themselves, people strive to overcome their animal nature and become one step higher. Satisfying this need is easy enough - you need to learn to create. Otherwise, you can lose respect for your life and the fate of other people.

Need for roots

A person needs to feel like part of a kind or social group. In ancient times, expulsion from the tribe was considered the most terrible punishment, because without their roots, a person became nothing. People dream of a big family home, stability and security - this reminds them of childhood, when a person is most closely connected with his relatives. Failure to meet a need leads to loneliness, but at the same time, too much attachment to parents interferes with the acquisition of personal integrity.

Need for self-identification

Despite the desire to belong to a certain social group, a person feels the need for recognition of his own personality. Self-identification implies that an individual has clear ideas about himself, an assessment of his activities and formed principles. Satisfaction of this need makes life easier, since a person clearly knows what he wants. Conversely, copying someone else's behavior can lead to depression and low self-esteem.

The need for self-identification was absent in early societies - then people completely identified themselves with their clan.

The need for a value system

This existential need is considered by many to be the most important. The formation of a value system occurs from an early age and changes throughout life. A person's views are influenced by upbringing, impressions of certain events, communication with other people. The presence of a value system gives meaning to life and explains the path of a person throughout his existence. Without satisfying this need, a person acts aimlessly and often finds himself in a dead end in life.

(lat. existentia- existence) - the needs associated with a person with the meaning of life and the resolution of "eternal" truths in the process of his life self-realization.

By Erich Fromm it is based on a “biological dichotomy between instincts, which a person lacks, and self-consciousness, which is abundant.

Existential conflict a person creates certain mental needs, which are the same for all people. Each person is forced to overcome his fear, his isolation in the world, his helplessness and abandonment and look for new forms of connection with the world in which he wants to find security and peace. Existential needs are rooted in the conditions of human existence. They are common to all people, and their satisfaction is necessary to maintain mental health, just as the satisfaction of natural needs is necessary to maintain a person's physical health (and his life).

But each of existential needs can be satisfied in different ways. These differences in each case depend on his social status. Various ways of satisfying existential needs are manifested in passions such as love, tenderness, striving for justice, independence and truth, in hatred, sadism, masochism, destructiveness, narcissism. "

defines 5 main existential needs human:

From the point of view of such a psychodiagnostic technique as, the gap in behavior between instincts and conscious (social) behavior will give a person excessive baldness of the head in various zones. There is an article on this topic on our website about.

I propose to discuss this interesting question: is it worth buying branded items? There are many discussions on this topic, including here on the website and forum, readers have already touched on it more than once. In this article, I want to express my opinion on this issue, give different arguments, but you will already compare them with your own opinion and draw conclusions.

So, what is the whole point of the question? It's simple. Branded things are more expensive than usual, it is customary to say that buying them, we pay extra for the brand. This is absolutely true, because it costs a lot of money, and if a brand is heard, it means that millions, and maybe billions, have already been invested in it and continue to be invested. And they invest, of course, not just like that, but to earn even more. This explains the fact that branded items are more expensive, and, moreover, the price difference can be 20%, and maybe 20 times, depending on the company's policy, on what part of the cost of production it puts into the brand.

But there is also a downside. Branded items tend to be of better quality. Because there is no point in promoting a brand of low-quality goods, so money will be wasted: no one will buy low-quality branded goods at a high price.

Therefore, if we consider whether it is worth buying branded items from a financial point of view, there are 2 diametrically opposite opinions:

1. You need to buy branded items because they are of better quality and last longer. If you buy cheap things, you end up overpaying due to their poor quality and short service life.
2. You do not need to buy branded items - this way you significantly overpay. You can buy inexpensive things, and this is financially more profitable: the difference in quality and service life is much less than the difference in cost.

Which of these opinions is correct? There is no definite answer here: the question requires analysis and comparison in each specific case. In one situation, it may be financially more profitable to buy branded items, in another it may not. To make it clearer, let's look at examples.

Example 1. Choosing a TV. A product of a well-known brand costs 25 thousand rubles, a product of a little-known brand with the same functions - 20 thousand rubles. We know that a well-known brand has proven itself well, it works properly, it serves for a long time, has its own service centers, where it can be qualitatively repaired if necessary. A little-known brand, a dark horse that has recently appeared on the market, does not have its own service centers. The price difference is 25% of the cost. In this case, in order not to risk it, you can buy a branded product, slightly overpaying for the brand and the confidence that the thing will last a long time.

Example 2. Choosing jeans. A branded item costs 10,000 rubles, and a product of a little-known brand costs 1,000 rubles. Branded jeans will not last 10 times longer than regular jeans, and hardly anyone will be interested in wearing the same thing for a long time. The difference in quality is not so great, but in price - 10 times. Therefore, in this case, it will be more profitable to buy an ordinary product, rather than a branded one.

There are also completely financially disadvantageous situations in which people buy branded items just to emphasize their high status. I discussed such cases in more detail in the article. Think for yourself: spending money to appear rich ... For me personally, this is nonsense, but observations show that it is very important to many. The main reasons, in my opinion, are the philosophy in which we all live, and a strong dependence on.

All these are very serious problems that you must definitely get rid of, because they will always have a negative effect on your life, and in particular, its financial component.

Typical example: A person buys a branded mobile gadget that costs three of his monthly income. Moreover, often also on credit. In such situations, in my opinion, it is necessary to definitely refuse to buy branded goods, it is necessary.

Thus, I can describe an approximate algorithm of actions that will help you decide whether to buy branded items.

1. Assess your real need for this thing. For example, choose from three options: Essential, Desirable, and Luxury.
2. Estimate the difference in price. Compare an ordinary thing and a branded one in a price ratio.
3. Check out the difference in quality. Compare the quality (convenience, appearance, service life, etc.) of ordinary and branded items.
4. Estimate the ratio of the two previous values. That is, compare how the ratio in price differs from the ratio in quality.
5. Make a choice in favor of a more profitable and acceptable option. Based on previous comparisons. For example, if a branded item is 2 times better in quality and 10 times more expensive, then it hardly makes sense to buy it, but if it is the other way around, then of course it makes sense.

This is my opinion on whether to buy branded items. I would be glad to hear your opinions in the comments, I think everyone will be interested to know what readers think on this issue.

On this I say goodbye to you. Study correctly, and your financial condition will grow even with constant income. Join the number of regular readers of the site, get free advice and recommendations and improve your financial literacy. Until next time!