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Sales & Marketing

Marketing 101: The Powerful Psychology of Couponing

Article Contributed by Guy Ascher

Searching, clipping and saving coupons is becoming a national pastime. It’s even becoming an activity parents share with children. According to the Promotional Marketing Association (PMA), more than 90 percent of all consumers use coupons, no matter what their financial situation is. Saving money is a meaningful activity for people from all walks of life and all salary levels. The PMA even suggests that teenagers between the ages of 13 and 17 are now becoming coupon addicted. They use coupon codes too. This indicates that we are raising a new generation of smart, savvy and cost-conscious shoppers. To better understand the popularity and psychology of coupon use, let’s delve into the mindset of the different types of coupon users: The Coupon Addicts, Savvy Shoppers, Suggestible Consumers and the Brand Loyal Buyers.

1 – The Coupon Addict

This is the consumer that is in the habit of using coupons for everything. He cuts coupons from the newspaper, magazines, advertisement papers and looks for online coupon codes for any and every item he buys. He uses coupons when buying groceries, clothes, appliances and even luxury items. For this shopper, using coupons is a way of life, a fun activity and offers a significant way to save money on everything.

Most coupon addicts will attest to the fact that they have to search through lots of different coupons to find the perfect option. This coupon user also realizes that he can’t just wait for the best coupon to arrive in the mail or in a free publication; the best place to find the right coupon is online, because all he has to do is search for coupons on Google to get the product coupon he needs.

2 – The Savvy Shopper

The savvy shopper may not be as devoted to coupon cutting as the coupon addict, but he realizes that he could save as much as 50% to 80% on the average retail price of a product if he performs a quick coupon search. This could mean a substantial savings, especially on high ticket items. This shopper watches for upcoming sales and browses through online coupons, to see if there are any special deals on the products he want.

3 – Suggestible Consumers

This is the consumer that is influenced by innovation. He wants to purchase state-of-the-art services and products. Once influenced (through media, advertising or word of mouth), he has a clearly defined need. Still, his sense of urgency is short term.

Even so, the smart suggestible consumer will first look for coupons offering a discount on the product he needs. This consumer is not patient enough to wait out and find the perfect coupon for the product he wants, but often, won’t purchase the product either, if he doesn’t find some type of discount to make him feel better about the purchase. This is where the online coupon system comes in very handy, as most retailers offer some type of discount on the required product. In this case, even a 10% discount offers that “feel-good” aspect to this consumer’s final purchase. 

4 – The Brand Loyal Buyer

This buyer is focused only on a particular brand because he understands the brand competency. He is usually motivated by a particular buying need and wants a particular product made from a certain manufacturer to fulfill that need. Still, in the current economic environment, the buyer is not about to pay full price for a product. He will shop and search consistently until he finds some type of discount coupon on the brand he wants. This buyer will probably forgo looking for newspaper and advertisement coupons, knowing that the coupon he needs rarely shows up here. Under most circumstances this buyer will turn to the search engines and look for coupons for the brand he wants.

Conclusion

The coupon culture has reached the mainstream consumer, from the everyday savvy shopper to those searching for that specific niche product or service. For every consumer shopper there is a discount available, it just needs to be looked for online. The easiest way to do this is by searching for the brand or provider name plus the added term “coupon codes;” This offers great purchasing options. The coupon culture is here to stay, and most businesses are embracing it to promote their products and services to the online and offline consumer world.

About the Author

Guy Ascher contributed this guest post for www.CouponCodes4u.com. Guy is an avid researcher and freelance marketing writer. He’s recently been researching how companies can use couponing as a powerful marketing tool and publishing his findings on various business oriented sites.