How to Understand Customers Preference

Have you ever noticed how some people put a lot of letters after their names in their signatures and bylines? Some of them go on for quite a while, like a second surname. It annoys me sometimes.

Then, I remember that when I introduce myself, I often refer to my status on LinkedIn as one of the top 150 Business Influencers. I do it because I am proud of it. I presume that people with the degrees are feeling proud of their hard work and accomplishment earning that degree and qualification, too.

However, there is another reason people list their degrees and qualifications with their signatures, and I let everyone know about my LinkedIn achievement. We talk about it in this episode of The Intuitive Customer podcast.

 

We all maintain a self-perception of ourselves. We use the items around us to serve as evidence that we are whom we think (hope) we are. What surrounds us becomes symbolic of who we are, where we are in life, and what we have accomplished or hope to achieve.

Sometimes, we use the things around us to help reassure ourselves that we are whom we think we are. This concept is called symbolic self-completion. 

Symbolic self-completion describes how we surround ourselves with evidence that we are what we hope we are. The evidence serves to help us overcome our insecurities. Our external collection offsets our internal doubts.

Both of these concepts surrounding the self can affect customers behavior in your experience. Not all the time, of course, because with psychology, there are always a few things at work at once. However, on the margins and with certain groups for specific items, self-perception and self-completion could work in your favor, if you understand your customers, of course.

Take a closer look at your customers’ behavior. Whether it is to satisfy a self-perception or to help facilitate self-completion, understanding your customers’ preferences can help you provide an experience that helps your customers feel the way they need to come back to you again. 

Listen to the podcast in its entirety to learn more about How to Understand Your Customers Preference for your Customer Experience.

 

The Intuitive Customer podcasts are designed to explain the psychological concepts behind customer behavior.  

If you would like to find out from one of our CX consultants how you can implement the concepts we discussed in your organization’s marketing to improve customer loyalty and retention, contact us at www.beyondphilosophy.com.

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