[Bbang Gubneun Tajagi] Consumption Is Not a Necessity but a Fantasy

1. Customers buy products and services only when they really need them. 2. Customers purchase products and services that satisfy their needs. 3. Customers make rational choices if they have sufficient information. If you nodded along to these three propositions, you are destined to fail in the market.

Entrepreneurs, planners, and marketers launching new products and services always start with dreams of a big hit. And they soon become frustrated. "I put out such a perfect product, so why on earth aren’t people buying our products and services?"

Customer interviews, research, and development are essential for the success of products and services, but they do not guarantee success. The betrayal of customer interviews and research is a frequent unwelcome guest in the marketing industry. The biggest bias entrepreneurs, marketers, and planners have when thinking about customers is the assumption that "customers are wise, rational, and self-directed."

Customers talk about eco-friendliness while looking for the lowest-priced products. The source of the lowest price is labor squeezed in the Third World and raw materials obtained by destroying the environment. Someone who claims to be vegan orders delivery food.

The author’s definition of today’s "customer" is this: "Customers are beings who do not buy what they need but think that what they want is what they need." Products and services targeting customer needs may be effective enough to attract customers’ attention, but the factor that makes customers open their wallets is different. It is the "fantasy" customers have. What customers want is to receive a fantasy that solves the needs hidden in their subconscious.

Even a "towel" that is used moderately and thrown away can be sold as a "premium towel" if a fantasy is added. An ordinary show host says, "The towel is pretty and matches well with the bathroom interior." A veteran says, "You invest tens of thousands of won in cosmetics to improve your skin, so why don’t you use good towels? Using cheap towels causes many tiny scratches on your skin due to the rough surface. You use good cosmetics, right? Then you should also use good towels."

By making customers who already have enough towels recognize that the product being sold now is not an ordinary towel, the price comparison target for the premium towel was changed from ordinary towels to high-end cosmetics, lowering price sensitivity. It is also marketing that fully stimulates the universal psychology, needs, and fantasy of wanting to become prettier. Naturally, the quantity sold out completely.

Macroeconomic variables such as demographic and economic changes should not be overlooked. Although business trends are focused on the "MZ" generation, from a business perspective, companies should pay attention to the new middle-aged and older generation. This is because they currently have the largest population size, the highest income, and the strongest purchasing power among all ages and generations. Considering that the economy is expected to be in recession for at least the next 4 to 5 years, the current middle-aged and older generation has accumulated the most assets and also has the largest population.

Why Your Products and Services Don’t Sell | Written by Kang Jaesang | SAYKOREA | 240 pages | 18,500 KRW

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.