Just yesterday I was making a short trip into the country and searching around the radio dial.  Without exaggeration I probably heard more than 20 doom and gloom radio commercials.

You know what I mean, the commercials that prey upon your fears of anxiety. Bankruptcy attorney’s, debt relief agencies, foreclosure opportunties, etc. Never forget- the strongest weapon that any marketer has is the weapon of emotion.

People evaluate their purchasing decisions intellectually, but they buy emotionally. Never forget that.

Good marketers understand this. I understand this, I even fall victim to it.

Ever buy a new car?

What you don’t understand is that dealerships exist for one reason- to make a profit. And most of them make a lot of profit. Their dealership is set up just like a casino…for the purpose of extracting as much cash from you in as short a time as possible.

Here’s a typical scenario- being the ultra-intelligent consumer, you search online for 4 hours about  your particular vehicle of choice…

You examine all the options…

You find a website that will give you the actual invoice amount that your dealer paid for that car within 50 bucks or so…

You send an email to your dealer, telling him you will be in to pick out your car…

After all, you’re too smart to fall for any cheap car salesman gimmicks. So the following week you take your wife and two kids to the dealer to wrap up the purchase…

On the way over, your kids are fighting and as you walk into the dealership, the battle continues unabated. Your friendly salesman notices the kids battling and comes over to rescue the day for you. He mentions they have a new game room with X-Box and free soft drinks and snacks. WOW! This guy is great! Now you and your wife can calmly pick out your new car, sign some papers and drive away…

Not so fast.  When you show your salesman your BLUEBOOK online printout with pricing, he says his dealership may be out of that particular model, but he’ll make some calls and get one over here from another dealer.  He invites you and your wife to have a seat, get comfortable and he’ll be back in just a couple of minutes…

And the quick visit turns into hours. Your wife doesn’t agree with your choice of color. They don’t have the vehicle without leather, but your wife wants the leather anyway, the car on the showroom floor has leather seats and she fell in love with it. The leather smells great (strongest emotion). After all, her best friend just bought a new car with leather seats. She can’t be embarrassed…

At this point you are ready to sign on the dotted line and spend 7,000 more dollars than you originally planned- just so you can make the pressure STOP.

You want off the emotional roller coaster, so you write the check.

Is it bad that marketers exploit our vulnerable emotional states in the name of revenue? I’m not sure how to answer that and its certainly not my style to get on soapboxes.

Speaking for myself, I would rather opt for creating a business model that generates true value for all parties involved. I believe that model lasts much longer and tends to be easier to sell in the long run.

But that’s just me.