Chapter 4: The 14 Justifiers that Give Consumers Permission to Buy

OVERVIEW

Consumers need a reason to buy things they don't need. For products deemed necessities, like milk, coffee, bread, and meat, the need itself provides permission. For things consumers don't need (i.e., discretionary purchases), they give themselves "permission" to buy by stacking various rationally based justifiers in favor of the purchase. It is the justifiers that give consumers the illusion that they are acting rationally in purchasing, but in reality, they remain driven by personal desires and emotions.

The perceived extravagance of a particular purchase usually determines how many justifiers are needed and to what extent. For example, a homeowner who wants to replace a 15-year-old sofa that is musty smelling and stained needs fewer justifiers than does one who wants to replace a 2-year-old sofa.

Justifiers are the tools that marketers use to overcome objections in the store, at the mall, at the point of sale.

In the battle for consumers' wallets, marketers need to understand how to engage them on an emotional level. They need to give customers sufficient justifiers to overcome purchase barriers. The best salespeople understand how to overcome objections to reach a sale. Unfortunately, many marketers have distanced themselves too far from the sales process. They have forgotten, or don't understand, the critical role that overcoming objections plays in the sales process.

When marketers really understand how their products play into the hearts and emotions of their customers, the judicious use of justifiers in marketing communications stacks the deck in the marketers' favor and gives consumers permission to buy.

Salespeople overcome objections interactively and in real time. Marketers must do it indirectly through marketing communications, advertisements, point-of-purchase, and the purchase offer. They must anticipate the range of objections customers may present to keep from buying. Justifiers are the tools that marketers use to overcome objections in the store, at the mall, at the point of sale. When marketers really understand how their products play into the hearts and emotions of their customers, the judicious use of justifiers in marketing communications stacks the deck in the marketers' favor and gives consumers permission to buy.