The Holidays Are a Great Time to Embrace the 'Nonrational' Side of Consumers

Editor’s note: This piece is part of our Columnist Network series, which explores the tactical thoughts and actions from Adweek’s community of high-level experts. Today, Intermark's Jake McKenzie discusses the psychology of holiday shopping. Below, in his own words, he lists the factors and perceptions that influence consumer behavior during this hectic month. The December holiday shopping season is in full swing. The competition for increased consumer spending will be fierce. After all, the extra spending during this time period is intense—the average American will spend just under $1,000 on holiday shopping this year. But these purchase decisions aren’t made in the same way they are the rest of the year. Consumers face a number of psychological inputs that change the way they will spend their money. Brands shouldn’t be afraid of leaning into "nonrational drivers" to appeal to consumers during the holidays in lieu of rational, analytical product claims. It’s important for marketers to understand the major differences affecting consumers during this time to be intentional with adapting their messaging. Stress Aside from what the holiday clichés may be, this is a very stressful period of time for most people, particularly in regards to shopping. Consumers, already struggling financially, face not just the pressure to buy gifts for their loved ones but doing so in a time crunch. Most marketers understand that many purchase decisions aren’t typically made using consumers' typical decision-making system (what psychologists refer to as System 2), and this shift toward "nonrational decision-making" accelerates even more when under stress and time pressure. This means rationale goes completely out the window during the holidays, and "nonrational appeals" take full command. It’s why every toy is desperate to be seen as the holiday must-have. Ingratiating behavior The holidays are also unique in that people are buying more for others than they are for themselves. When we shop for other people, particularly those we care about, our decision criteria for purchases also shift. For instance, we become less price sensitive and focus more on perceived quality. Consumers are willing to sacrifice more financially for those they love than they will on themselves to give gifts others want. Brands can reframe their messaging during the holidays as to why their products are a great gift—it’s what consumers are attuned to hearing. Public prestige Some holiday purchasing criteria are less obvious. For instance, consumers are affected much more by the public perception of a brand. Specifically, for gifts, consumers are worried about what other people think of a brand. We tend to believe that if a brand is well regarded or in-demand, then the receiver of our gift will value the gift even more. This indirect form of social proof perception is shaped largely by media coverage—both earned and paid. However, not all paid media is equal. Behavioral scientist Richard Shotton illustrated in 2020 that people tend to overestimate the reach of broadcast media and underestimate digital media’s reach. If we saw something on TV, we think everyone saw it. So, if we are buying something for another person that we want them to like, consumers will give additional weight to products seen in broadcast media (including PR), as they perceive them to be more well known. The inverse is true as well—if they’ve only seen it in digital ads, consumers may assume that no one else has seen it and value it less as a gift. Adding some high social awareness media to your mix and not relying on digital marketing can go a long way. It can be as simple as local TV buys or a great PR effort. Scarcity Wanting things we can’t have is a well-known driver of consumer behavior. Closely related is the effect of scarcity on gift giving. The perceived value of a gift goes up substantially if an item is perceived to be hard to get. From Tickle Me Elmo to PlayStation and Xbox, these hard-to-get items will be perceived as "better" gifts and artificially spur demand for those products. While this is well understood during the holiday season, most people don’t realize that this artificial demand will continue even after the holiday shopping season has ended and carry over well into the new year. In a year of unintentional scarcity for manufacturing, it’s more than OK to let consumers know that your product or service is hard to get. It’s a simple, cheap and wildly effective way to spur longer-term demand for your brand. As with all marketing, human psychology is not rational. Understanding the unique psychological trigger points should help marketers remember that consumers change their behaviors across circumstances and time, including the holidays. To be successful, marketing must change along with them.

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The Holidays Are a Great Time to Embrace the 'Nonrational' Side of Consumers

When we shop for people we care about, our decision criterion shift

Jake McKenzie

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Jake McKenzie