GIVE CUSTOMERS RATIONAL JUSTIFIERS SO THEY WILL HAVE PERMISSION TO BUY

Emotions may lead, but justifiers close the deal in the subtle commercial seduction between a product and a consumer.

Emotions may lead, but justifiers close the deal in the subtle commercial seduction between a product and a consumer. Some products need few justifiers to get the consumer to buy. Products that give immediate emotional gratification and do not require the consumer to make any kind of sacrifice are indulgences that demand few justifiers. On the other hand, a purchase that is more costly, more utilitarian, or more luxurious and extravagant, requires elaborate justifiers to encourage the consumer to complete the sale. Marketers need to do the hard work of creating the justifiers for the customer. Far more than just presenting product benefits and features, marketers need to understand why people buy to provide meaningful, wide-ranging justifiers that support consumers in their purchase decisions.

Marketers need to explore deeply and completely how their products improve the quality of their customers' lives.

As discussed in Chapter 4, our research reveals that improving the quality of life is the top justifier that consumers use and the one that truly resonates at an emotional level with most of them. Marketers need to explore deeply and completely how their products improve the quality of their customers' lives, then make sure all marketing communications—advertising, packaging, and point-of-purchase—communicate the quality-of-life-enhancing values back to them.