Several fields are seeking to understand how customers act at the point of sale. Design is an important aspect in the evolution of the content that drives customer behavior. Emotional design, or sensory design applications, may allow more authentic results that might assist impact consumer behavior. Behavior can be affected and predicted if designers develop with the intention of changing consumer behavior and if they work in parallel with emotional marketing.
Graphic design influences consumer decision-making at the point of purchase by looking at several examples of how design has evoked emotions and influenced consumer behavior. People purchase due to emotional reasons. Why do mothers choose to buy specific diapers for her newborn babies unless an emotional advertisement pushes her to do so?
Stages of consumer decision making
Some business owners believe that the most essential part of a sale is when the customer pays! When it comes to influencing consumer behavior, however, each stage in the decision-making process is critical. It’s critical for businesses to pay attention to every stage of the purchase process if they want to maximize their revenue.
Consumers don’t just go out and buy something. Several factors influence their purchasing decisions. And too many companies focus on optimizing certain phases such as attracting customers through SEO or PPC, and so on without considering what first attracts their target audience.
However, before you can begin optimizing or employing tactics such as user-generated content (UGC) to aid the customer journey, you must first comprehend each stage.
So, here’s a rundown of what happens in each buying journey steps:
1-Need recognition (awareness):
The first and most significant stage of the buying process, because every transaction begins when a buyer recognizes that they have a need for a product or service.
2-Information gathering (research):
Customers want to know what their options are at this point.
3-Alternatives evaluation (consideration):
This is the stage when a consumer is comparing his or her available options in order to make the best decision.
4-Purchasing decision (conversion):
At this point, the consumer’s buying behavior transforms into action – it’s time to buy and pay!
5-Repurchase evaluation (post-purchase evaluation):
Consumers examine if a purchase was worthwhile, whether they would suggest the product/service/brand to others, whether they would purchase again, and what feedback they would provide afterward.
How to successfully attract your target audience through design?
Your target audience is first attracted by the form of your product, design, colors, typos… But how could we know how to attract their first sight?
Here are the easy steps:
1-Identify your target audience:
Great designs begin when you really know what your target audience wants to see. Understanding your target audience is a crucial factor to choose the right design elements, such as typography, color pallets, layout and so on.
In addition to knowing your target audience’s detailed demographics like gender, location… you must know who they are, what drives them to purchase your products and services, what are their interests, and what products do they use.
Keep in mind, the more you know them, the better your design will affect them if your design includes everything that meets their needs and requirements.
2-Put aside personal preferences:
When designing a post, logo, or any branded stationery for your target audience, you must put aside the personal preferences in favor and look for what works best for the users and for your target audience especially.
This might be somehow annoying, but you must consider the market demand! The designer’s responsibility is to ensure the clients stay focused on the end users and produce visuals that really enhances the user’s experience and is a perfect fit for the target audience.
3-Use Really good fonts and typography:
Typography is the perfect way to express brand personality in front of a target audience, and there are numerous fonts to choose among. But beware of using unclear fonts that are hard to read.
For a traditional, corporate feel, serif fonts (those with little feet) are great, whereas a contemporary, modern feel can be achieved by selecting a sans-serif font, which is more streamlined. Kids will enjoy fun, cartoon-style fonts. So, it depends on your target audience and the market demand. But like many things, there are exceptions to this rule, so pay close attention to what your eyes are telling you.
Font size also matters; you must consider sight problems and the rule of eye attraction as well. Large fonts grab more attention, so you must write the most important information in large and easy to read fonts.
4-Choose appropriate colors:
When it comes to purchase and decision making, colors can influence moods and emotions, and affect their behavior. So think carefully and take into consideration the color psychology and every color’s effect because it will lead you to the tone you wish to achieve.
You should have a good idea of the type of colors that will appeal to your users from your initial research. Start by identifying two main colors to work from. This will make it easy for your customers to recognize and remember your brand, and it’ll make life simpler when you need to make a color choice.
Conclusion:
To wrap it up, design is a main condition in customer’s purchasing process. Knowing that the customer goes through several stages before taking off with decision making, design is the key in grabbing the customer to do that. Thus, make sure to successfully attract your target audience through design by following the steps mentioned above.
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