Consumer Purchase Decisions Driven By 8 Emotions

Have you ever thought about what motivates a consumer to buy a certain brand product? Quality? Price? Well, it turns out that purchase decisions are driven by… emotions. This is what a new survey on brand purchasing choices in the UK reveals.

The poll, which was carried out as a joint effort by branding consultancy Creston Unlimited and research firm ICM, interviewed more than 3,500 UK adults and shows that various emotions like pleasure and confidence are the primary motivators for consumers to buy a brand product.

“Pleasure” proves to be the most influential emotion when defining the purchasing decision, scoring an overall of 23%. However, it turns out that men value this feeling more than women do, as pleasure is cited by 26% of the male and 19% of the female respondents. The biggest gender gap was found in “confidence”, to which 11% of men and precisely twice as many women related. Still, “confidence” was the second most influential emotion, with an overall score of 17%.

“Status” and “responsibility” come next in line, with an equal total score of 14%, with men slightly more influenced by these than women. They are followed by “effectiveness” with 11%, “individuality” with 9%, making a “saving” on 7% and creating a feeling of “belonging” scoring 5%. Together, these eight factors account for more than four in five purchasing decisions, the poll suggests.

These findings might be worth a thought or two by UK brands, when it comes to brand values.