Marketing and decision-making go hand in hand. Marketing campaigns are, in fact, created based on knowledge related to how humans behave, what they react to, what makes them happy, etc. Choosing the right message for a campaign or simply a sign can have a larger impact on people's decision-making process as they have a tendency to base their decisions on what other people typically do as well. This includes not only the way people behave but also the products they choose to purchase and usually go with the easiest choice available, even if they partially disagree with it (Andriendko, 2015).

Marketing has a huge role in my life. Starting with the fact that social media has become probably the number one method for marketing campaigns to affect our decision-making process. The way products are marketed online, showing people's reviews, when they are on sale, discounts, etc. has become a big part of our daily lives and many times we are drawn to products or services without full awareness of their quality or their impact on their environment. Awareness, for those who are interested in developing, can have a large impact on people's buying habits. One of the main marketing techniques I have seen in the US, which is not permitted in other countries, is for campaigns to mention and talk about the flaws of the products offered by competitors.

A great example is mobile carriers' marketing, which typically includes the name of one of their competitors and they mention how the other carrier does not provide the same level of coverage or offer higher pricing plans. This kind of technique creates a certain level of doubt and intrigue to know more about how the two companies differ. The more a person reads, the more one can become familiar not only with the service or product but also with the kind of company it is, what it stands for, feedback provided by customers, etc. Awareness is power and it sometimes turns around the customer's perspective about the product/service.

Another great example is content marketing, which "is a strategic marketing approach focused on creating and distributing valuable, relevant, and consistent content to attract and retain a clearly defined audience and, ultimately, to drive profitable customer action" (What is Content Marketing, n.d.). A quite popular content marketing example nowadays is blogs, where the writer shares information, research, or opinions about a product or a service. This is a great way to develop awareness, however, sometimes the writers get certain compensation for writing about the item so it is important to base decision-making on information from different sources.

References

Andriendko, O. (2015, November 11). Psychology and #marketing: What influences our decisions. SEJ. https://www.searchenginejournal.com/psychology-marketing-influences-decisions/142368/

Links to an external site.

What is content marketing? Content Marketing Institute. (n.d.). https://contentmarketinginstitute.com/what-is-content-marketing/

QUESTIONS:

• Offer an insight you gained from your colleague's analysis above of how marketing affects decisions consumers make.
• Relate something your colleague above said about the role of marketing in their life to your own experience.
• Provide an additional perspective for your colleague's analysis of how awareness can change consumers' minds, or an additional way in which marketing is used to condition consumers and/or affect their cultural mindsets.