What is PSYCHO Marketing?

Since the introduction of man upon this earth, there has been marketing.

Think of the first documented example: the serpent offered Eve the forbidden fruit from the Tree of Knowledge. His value proposition was simple: “and ye shall be as God, knowing good and evil.” Quite an offering, while downplaying the negative.

Another Perspective: John Milton’s Paradise Lost Satan, in the form of a serpent, searches for the couple. He is delighted to find Eve alone. Coiling up, he gets her attention and begins flattering her beauty, grace, and godliness. Eve is amazed to see a creature of the Garden speak. He tells her in enticing language that he has gained the gifts of speech and intellect by eating the savory fruit of one of the trees in the Garden. He flatters Eve by telling her that eating the apple also made him seek her out to worship her beauty.

Eve is amazed by the power this fruit supposedly gives the snake. Curious to know which tree holds such a fruit, she follows Satan until he brings her to the Tree of Knowledge. She recoils, telling him God has forbidden them to eat from this tree, but Satan persists, arguing that God actually wants them to eat from the tree. Satan says God forbids it only because he wants them to show their independence.

Eve is now seriously tempted. The flattery has raised her desire; she longs to know more. She reasons that God claimed eating from this tree meant death, but the serpent ate (or so he claims), and not only does he still live, he can speak and think. God would have no reason to forbid the fruit unless it were powerful, Eve thinks, and seeing it right before her eyes makes all the warnings seem exaggerated. It looks so perfect to her. She reaches for an apple, plucks it from the tree, and takes a bite. The Earth then feels wounded, and nature sighs in woe, for with this act, humankind has fallen.

Eve’s first thought after her fall is to find Adam and have him eat of the forbidden fruit, too, so that they will remain equal. Eve does not want Adam to remain and have another woman; she wants him to suffer the same fate she did. She finds him nearby, and in hurried words she tells him she has eaten the fruit, and her eyes have been opened. Adam is horrified because he knows they are now doomed, but he also immediately decides he cannot possibly live without Eve. Adam realizes that, if she is to be doomed, then he must follow. He eats the fruit. He, too, feels invigorated at first.

Adam and Eve both believe they will gain glorious amounts of knowledge, but the knowledge they gain by eating the apple is only of the good they have lost

and the evil they have brought upon themselves. They blame each other for committing the sin, while neither will admit any fault. Their shameful and tearful argument continues for hours.

The serpent had been able to counter Eve’s argument that God claimed eating from this tree meant death. Eve now saw she had been misled by deception. Of course, she hadn’t known any better. So, can we truly say she exercised her free will?

In the interest of disclosure, I am certainly not saying marketing is evil, but the more important question remains unanswered, still to this day: Does free will exist? There are those who maintain that external and internal forces affect how we behave and, as such, that we do not have free will.

Whether you believe we have free will or not, there are valid points for both sides of this argument that cannot be overlooked. Studying these points, it appears that ALL the scholars agree that external factors can influence individuals’ decisions in the marketplace and elsewhere. It is this very knowledge that marketers explore in order to influence human behavior, prompting us to make more sales in their favor.

The psychology of marketing is the use of psychological principles in the creation, communication, and delivery of goods and services that are valuable to people. You may have experienced it several times when you went shopping and ended up buying more than you intended, or when you outright purchased something you didn’t have the budget for. You would say the offer was so compelling that you had to buy it! Indeed, studies have been conducted to show that up to 90% of your decisions have been made before you are even consciously aware of them.

So powerful are these marketing effects. This psychology of marketing has inspired me to write this book and to coin the term “PsychoMarketing.”

In these pages, I shall address several profound psychological principles that marketers use to influence you, the prospective customer, using your very own innate human behavior against you. I will attempt to highlight their tactics and, hopefully, with this knowledge, give you the insight to reduce their influence on you.