7 Ways Coupons to Influence Consumer Behavior
COUPON - CONSUMER - BEHAVIOR
Published On: January 30, 2023
Everyone loves a chance to get a discount on their purchase. Companies rely on premium pricing to convert their audience in this age of consumer branding. However, the effects of coupons on consumer purchase behavior are much more profound. Over the years, coupons have become powerful tools in a marketer’s arsenal.
Consumers are extremely careful when it comes to product pricing. They want to get the cheapest option without having to compromise on quality. Many of them don’t even consider pricey products as an option. Marketers today have to overcome complicated challenges.
- Getting customer’s attention in a competitive environment
- Winning consumer loyalty to establish long-term relations
Among the tools marketers can deploy to overcome these hurdles, coupons are extremely effective.
Leveraging Discounts to Influence Consumer Behavior
Coupons and discounts are much more than the incentives companies offer their customers to save money. They have an immense impact on the way consumers interact with their products and the company as a whole. Strategic
coupon marketing has the potential to boost your marketing efforts.
To succeed in the era of consumerism, brands need to understand the effect of discounts on consumer buying behavior.
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Here are six ways in which coupons influence customer behavior.
1. Strategic Offers Create New Customers
Coupon marketing is a powerful strategy for businesses looking to attract new customers. According to research, 93% of consumers use coupons or discounts when shopping, and 60% of shoppers state that coupons influence their purchasing decisions.
Additionally, 48% of consumers report that they would try a new brand if they were offered a coupon. By offering discounts and promotions to new customers, businesses can incentivize them to make their first purchase and potentially convert them into loyal, repeat customers.
A timely and effective discount can convert customers who are on the edge about purchasing your products.
2. Coupons Create a Sense of Happiness
The psychology behind discounts is quite simple. There is nothing that makes people happier than a chance to save money. According to research, every time consumers find a product for less than its perceived worth, their level of blood oxytocin rises.
This behavior has been found to improve the consumer’s perception of a brand. The rise in oxytocin levels gets associated with the brand that provided them with the discount. Customers begin associating a positive feeling with your business and as a result, they become loyal.
3. Customers Appreciate Brands That Offer Discounts
Offering
discount coupons makes people trust you. Customers appreciate you compromising on a chunk of their profit for their happiness. This strengthens the bond between the buyer and the seller. It’s also imperative for brands to make good on their promise and offer authentic discounts. If you increase the price by 10% and then offer a 10% discount, the customers will quickly catch on. This would only damage your relationship with the customer.
Every time you offer a discount through coupons, your consumers will be enthralled to utilize your offer. However, offering shady or unrealistic discounts may lead to the exploitation of the trust developed. Therefore, do your research before offering discount coupons to your customers.
4. Coupons Stop Consumers From Exploring Alternatives
Research has revealed, discount coupons reduce the tendency of consumers to shop around in search of the product you are offering. The reason is the sense of urgency discount offers and coupons create. People don’t want to miss the opportunity to save money. This opportunity distracts consumers from going for another option to purchase the product you are offering for a discount. This makes your brand their first choice when it comes to buying a specific consumer good.
There is a lot of competition in the eCommerce business industry these days. Every brand needs to put its best foot forward to keep its customers hooked and satisfied. One of the biggest factors consumers consider while making a buying decision is the price of the product. This is why different businesses are teaming up with dedicated coupon sites like EMUCoupon. To effectively deal with the competition in the digital space, companies need to offer incentives such as discount coupons.
5. Discounts Induce A Sense Of Urgency
An important effect of price discounts on consumer buying behaviour is that it creates a sense of urgency among customers. Businesses by offering incentives such as discount coupons to their customers can get them to act quickly. Buyers realize their desired products will not be available at a discounted price forever. Therefore, to save money, they try to buy as much as their pocket allows them.
According to Psychology Today, consumers also feel anticipatory regret associated with missing out on a good deal. To create this pressure, the brand needs to use specific words in its copy to move past customers from buying threshold.
6. Digital Coupons Can Attract Lethargic Customers
With the advent of the internet, people have better and easier access to coupons. Digital coupon usage in the US is on the rise with an estimated 145.3 million adults redeeming digital coupons by the end of 2023. The pandemic has further accelerated the shift towards digital coupons, with
digital coupon redemptions increasing by 26.7% in 2020.
Popular coupon websites like ClothingRIC.com are helping hundreds of thousands of consumers save money every month. All this happening in part because digital coupons and promo codes can be used by the laziest of customers.
So if you’re looking to pull in customers that want discounts but don’t want to go through the hassle of finding coupons in magazines and newspapers, digital coupons are your way out.
7. Recession And Bad Economy Make Coupons More Effective
Both brands and consumers are suffering because of the economic recession. During these times, coupons seem to be the only hope. Looking at history, we realize brands use
promotional strategies to increase their sales during difficult times.
A rise in coupon consumption was observed during the Great Recession between 2008 and 2009 in the US. The figures rose to 27% with 3.3 billion
coupon users. During the Great Recession, people were aggressively and extensively using discount coupons.
When applied correctly, money-saving tactics serve as the best promotional tool for brands. They can use discount promotions to attract new customers, reduce cart abandonment, boost
brand loyalty, promote positive feelings about the brand, spur trials, and more.
During economically difficult times, consumers choose brands that provide them with the best value for their hard-earned money. They evaluate every product in terms of affordability and savings. According to Mark Dolliver, the Principal Analyst for eMarketer, if the Coronavirus kept sweeping across the world, Economizing will become the primary procedure for the selection of the right goods.
Can There Be Negative Effects of Discounts?
Just like any other thing in life, there is a downside to
coupon marketing strategy. Discounts become expected of your company if you keep offering them from time to time. Consumers get trained about what to expect from you when making a purchase. As a consequence, consumers stop buying items from your brand at regular prices and keep looking for discounts.
In the online business industry, it is extremely common for consumers to expect free-shipping promotions on items they purchase online. To prevent that from happening, marketers are encouraged to be extremely strategic in the timing and
type of discount coupons they offer their consumers.
How To Make Coupon Marketing More Effective
Once you have identified your target market, it gets easier to create a voucher marketing strategy that works. You need to understand the psychology of your consumers to decide the type of coupons you will be offering your clientele. You can launch the best coupon promotion strategy by following the below-mentioned steps:
You need to be clear about your goals before creating a plan. If you don’t know what you are working towards, you are destined to fail. There could be any goal behind launching a coupon marketing strategy such as increasing your sales, promoting a new product or service, creating hype around a lesser-known category, and more. The more clear you are about your goal, the more focused your coupon marketing strategy is going to be.
While creating a coupon marketing strategy, make sure your discounts are not eating your profit margins. To prevent this from happening, you need to take your time calculating the numbers before you eventually launch your coupon marketing strategy. Make sure you are comfortable with what you are offering your customers.
- Decide Necessary Restrictions
Decide the necessary restrictions you are going to put on coupon usage such as thresholds, the expiration date, excluded items, and more. This step will help you avoid a possible conflict in the future.
- Compare Your Offer With Your Competitor
Consumers will be inclined to go with a brand that offers them better value for money. Before launching your discount coupon campaign, you need to compare your offerings with the rest of your competitors. However, do what suits your finances better.
Survey to see what your consumers are looking for in terms of discounts. Create a strategy keeping their preferences in mind. Sometimes, consumers don’t expect what you think they do from your brand.
Conclusion
We all love saving money and would never let a chance go. Coupon marketing and consumerism have a complex relationship. The effectiveness of coupons as a sales promotion tool cannot be questioned but it isn’t always right to distribute
discount coupons. It does work as an effective promotional tool but if your consumers get used to discounts, they may never buy your products at a regular price. Therefore, be very careful while creating a coupon marketing strategy for your business.