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How do we know exactly what motivates a customer to buy a product? Was it a need or was it simply impulsive?
As an ecommerce business owner, having a strong understanding of your buyer’s motivation can arm you with what you need to help your customers navigate those complex emotions and finally make a purchase.
At ePlaybooks, we’ve seen how brands that align their messaging, product positioning, and customer journey with buyer motivations are far more effective at turning browsers into buyers. After all, the goal of selling any product or service isn’t just to make a sale. It is to satisfy the underlying motivations that pushed the buyer to act in the first place.
Read on to find out what buyer motivation is and the types of buyer motivation for your ecommerce brand.
Buyer motivation or buyer motive is the psychological factor that drives a customer to purchase a product or service from an ecommerce store. These factors could be thoughts, instincts, or feelings that encourage or motivate customers to make a purchase.
As an ecommerce business owner, understanding a buyer’s motivation can help you tailor your marketing and advertising efforts to appeal to your target audience and increase your conversion rate.
For example, if a buyer is motivated by a product because it makes them feel good, you will want to tailor your advertising campaigns to address emotional or social benefits.
However, to know your customers’ buyer motivation, you first want to know who they are and what drives them to make buying decisions.
We can categorize buyer motives under these three most common categories:
Conscious buying motives are motives carefully considered by the buyer. The buyer is motivated by reasons they are conscious of. This could be buying a product because of a specific event or purpose. The customer may also buy a product after weighing potential benefits like saving money.
On the other hand, dormant buying motives are motives not known by the buyer. So, the buyer makes a buying decision subconsciously.
Emotional buying motives are based on a customer’s desire to feel sensations like feelings of respect, belonging, fascination, admiration, etc. These feelings often come from a buyer’s beliefs, values, and lifestyle.
On the other hand, rational buying motives are based on statistics and research. Their buying motives may be related to things like the quality of the product, price, customer service, etc.
Product buying motives are based on a product’s physical and psychological characteristics. These motivations could be based on the product’s performance, quality, style, etc.
Patronage buying motives are based on a buyer’s relationship with the brand. The patronage buying motive covers customers who buy from brands they are familiar with. These motivations could be based on brand loyalty, customer service, brand perception, etc.
Customers are typically mixed with emotion and rationality. To win loyal customers, you don’t want to focus on one and ignore the other. You want to identify all your customer pain points and build your marketing and sales around them. Here are types/ examples of buyer motivations to consider:
Someone may be motivated to buy a product or subscribe to a service based on a specific practical need. For example, you may get a new phone because your phone is old and doesn’t function properly. The motivation here is based on a specific need or outcome.
To appeal to this kind of buyer motivation, you want to focus on highlighting the functional benefits of a product and show potential customers exactly how your product can address that specific need.
More than just necessities, consumers may buy products or subscribe to services based on how the product makes them feel. This is especially true for luxury products or places.
For example, a consumer may buy tickets to a music concert or buy luxury bags solely because of how the bags makes them feel.
To appeal to this buyer motivation, you want to position your product or service as pleasurable or enjoyable.
Have you ever bought a product or service solely because everyone else was? Well, this was the acceptance buyer motivation at play. This is also the strong motivation behind trends and fads common in the fashion and beauty industry.
Acceptance is also hinged on the fear of missing out. So customers let the FOMO motivate them to buy the product so they don’t feel left out of the trend.
To appeal to a customer’s feeling of acceptance, you want to position your product as one that everyone owns.
Another buyer motivation that moves customers to make purchases is aspiration. A buyer may be motivated by the desire to improve themselves. This could be to become smarter or richer.
If your target audience is motivated by aspiration, you want to highlight exactly how your products can help them become a better version of themselves. You can also provide resources that help them on their journey to become better.
Influencer marketing can also be a powerful strategy here. Collaborating with someone that your customers admire can show them that your product can ultimately make them become like those they admire.
There is no doubt that fear is a big driver for many people in life. However, we don’t mean scaring your customers into buying your product or service.
You can present your product as the solution to addressing common fears that people face. For example, you can use this buyer motivation when selling products like security systems or safety products for children.
According to research, 42% of consumers see health as a top priority. Consumers will be more than willing to invest in products that boost their health and well-being.
To sell your product based on the health buying motivation, you want to convince your customers that your product will improve their physical, mental, or emotional well-being. You want to use scientific facts, evidence, customer stories, and so on in your marketing to convince customers to buy your product.
Impulse buyers decide in the heat of the moment. They don’t do much deliberation or analysis before making a purchase. To capture impulse buyers, it is important to create a sense of excitement or urgency to encourage customers to act quickly.
You can use tactics like upselling or cross-selling, flash sales, limited edition products, and so on.
So now we know the various types of buyer motivation. How do you find out the buyer motivation for your product or service? Here’s how to find out your customer’s buyer motivation:
To find out your customer’s biggest buying motivation, you can easily look at your buyer persona to find out what their interests, motivations, and pain points are. For example, a buyer on a budget will most likely be motivated by need more than pleasure.
You can take it a step further by conducting research, performing competitor analysis, and collecting feedback. You can engage customers to find out why they bought your product or products similar to yours. You can do some A/B testing using different marketing messages to find out which messaging customers engage with more.
Thanks to advanced analytics tools, you can track your customers’ activities. For example, you want to find out what kind of content they consume, where they spend most of their time online, and so on. Tools like Google Analytics, HubSpot, LiveAgent, etc, can help you track customer activities and find out what motivates them the most.
How can you use the knowledge of your customer’s buying motivation to boost sales? Let’s find out tips that can help you leverage buyer motivation to improve your ecommerce sales.
To effectively boost your ecommerce sales, you don’t just want to know your customers’ buyer motivation but understand them deeply. Find out what kind of products they buy, what kind of content they consume, what kind of offers grab their attention, and so on. The goal is to deeply understand their motives and buying behavior to create messaging that specifically addresses their needs.
After finding out who your customers are and what motivates them, you want to then put your customers into motive-driven segments. You can segment your customers based on factors like needs, demographics, psychographics, and lifestyle behaviors. By putting your customers into motive-based segments, you can communicate effectively with your customers.
After grouping your customers based on their motivations, you can now create content that appeals to each buyer motivation segment. Create personalized content that addresses their specific needs and motivations. You also want to create this personalized experience across all platforms and channels.
To make the process more seamless, you can also invest in multichannel selling tools like SellBrite, Sellware, etc.
When you truly understand who your customers are and what motivates their buying decisions, you can segment them more effectively, craft personalized messaging, and guide them toward choosing your product or service with confidence. This customer-centric approach not only improves the buying experience but also drives sustainable sales growth. At ePlaybooks, we can help you create ecommerce strategies around buyer motivation to better position your brand, build stronger connections and convert more customers.
Emotional motivations drive purchases based on how a product makes the customer feel. This could include a sense of belonging, confidence, excitement, or relief from a pain point. Strong branding, storytelling, and lifestyle imagery often appeal to emotional buyers.
Rational buyer motivation is driven by logic and facts. These buyers focus on product features, specifications, benefits, comparisons, and value for money. Clear product descriptions, comparison charts, and detailed FAQs help satisfy rational buyers.
Price-sensitive buyers are motivated by discounts, promotions, and perceived value. They are more likely to convert when they see competitive pricing, limited-time offers, bundles, or free shipping incentives.
Yes. Most customers have multiple motivations influencing their decision. For example, a buyer may be emotionally drawn to a brand but still need price validation and trust signals before completing a purchase.
Ecommerce brands can identify buyer motivations through customer surveys, reviews, analytics, heatmaps, A/B testing, and customer interviews. Observing how customers interact with product pages and checkout flows can also provide valuable insights.
By tailoring product pages, ads, emails, and landing pages to match buyer motivations, brands can create more relevant experiences. This includes using the right messaging, visuals and offers, at each stage of the buyer journey
You’ve probably already considered selling on Amazon but its way easier than you think.
Call Us Now