How Marketers Influence Your Money Habits & Overspending
Free Psychology of Spending Webinar
Presented by the Education Team
Retail marketers know a lot about logical and emotional spending psychology. They use it to influence people into buying a particular item or choosing their brand over others. When it comes to getting consumers to make purchases, they pour big money and time into understanding human spending and saving habits – including how the use of credit affects our behaviours, factors that cause us to spend impulsively, and the psychological reasons for overspending. With all that’s being used against us, knowing some of the most common marketing techniques will help you even the playing field and develop strategies to resist temptation.
The Emotional Spending Psychology of FOMO
The Fear of Missing Out
The psychological fear of missing out (FOMO) is one of marketing’s best tools for getting people to spend money. Feeling like they missed out or need to catch up has negative effects on people’s decision-making: rather than make logical spending choices, they may overspend just to get rid of this uncomfortable feeling. Marketers for all kinds of products know this and use tactics like time-limited sales to take advantage. While FOMO can be hard to avoid, the best way to fight it is to identify what you missed out on, figure out how it can fit into your budget, and then buy only what you can afford. Here are a few other practical tips:
How to Combat FOMO
- Make a Shopping List – Shop with a list that includes what you need, some of what you want, and nothing else
- Limit Your Shopping – Only go shopping once a week or even once every 2 weeks.
- Delay Your Decision – Insert a time delay into your spending decisions: wait 1-2 days between seeing an item and actually buying it.
- Check Before Buying – Before buying an item, ask yourself why you need it. Then check if you already have an item that can meet the same need.
- Plan Your Meals – Meal plan with what you’ve already got and what you can add from sale items at your favourite store.
- Do You Need It? – Don’t pay to store the stuff you don’t need or want. A bigger house comes with a bigger mortgage. A storage locker means monthly rent. Unless an item is seasonal or of true sentimental value, chances are you’d never miss it.
- Organize Your House – Organize your household to use what you have more effectively and avoid buying extras. For example, try doing laundry every week to save on buying new clothes.
- Stick to Your Budget – Keep financial decisions about the numbers and avoid shopping when your emotions are getting in the way of sticking to your budget.
Finally, ask yourself the ultimate question: what will happen if you don’t buy a certain item? Figure out the difference between what you need and what you want. While waiting for a great deal on what you do need saves you money (because you would’ve bought it anyway), pouncing on a “great” deal for what you don’t need loses you money (because you wouldn’t have bought it otherwise).
Avoid Overspending and Build Stronger Saving Habits by Learning About Spending Psychology
The more you know about the psychology of spending, the better equipped you’ll be to avoid overspending and build stronger saving habits. FOMO is just one of many strategies that companies use to get into your wallet. Through our Mind Your Money – The Psychology of Spending live webinar, you’ll learn more valuable information about various marketing techniques and how to beat them. Examples of what you’ll learn include:
- How marketers influence our emotions to encourage buying
- How technology leads us to overspend
- Different sales methods retailers use with in person and virtual stores
- How pricing impacts our likelihood to purchase an item
- Ways our friends and family can influence our spending
- Strategies to become self-aware protect ourselves from marketing tactics
A newfound sense of awareness into the psychology of why people spend money will help you become an informed consumer. As a result, you’ll be less likely to shop impulsively or to spend more money than you realize.
Sign Up for a Webinar & Learn the Psychology of Spending
Next Steps
This interactive and fun webinar seminar on spending psychology will last about 55 minutes. We take a “grab and go” approach – grab an idea or two and go try it. All participants will walk away with actionable ideas, resources, and a copy of everything we covered if you’d like it. And if you need more individualized help, we’re happy to provide that too. Look over our free public webinar calendar and register for a session today!
Last Updated on July 10, 2024
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