The Power of Consumer Identity in Marketing

The power of consumer identity in marketing is undeniable. People's decisions on what to buy are heavily influenced by the image they have of themselves. Even small changes in context can cause customers to alter their social identities, resulting in drastically different responses. To protect the integrity of their offers and prevent discount abuse, companies can use SheerID's identity marketing platform. This implies that identity cues make consumers more likely to think of themselves in terms of the identity that triggered the signal.

Studies have shown that exposure to signs related to identity, such as “son” and “daughter”, make people more likely to use words or family relationships in their writing. According to Reed, a consumer is more likely to think of themselves in terms of a particular identity if it is very important to them. Social identities are important to marketers because they guide people's behavior at any given time. For example, during the 1950s, many women felt pressured to be perfect housewives for working husbands. This made them less likely to save time and effort by using products like washing machines, even though it would have been beneficial.

This highlights the value of customer identity and how a Customer Data Platform (CDP) can empower marketers by providing a more comprehensive view of the customer. Research has shown that those exposed to the most prominent family “identity signs” (son and daughter) were more likely to have a positive opinion about the PDA product, and these participants indicated a greater probability of buying the main product related to their identity than those who did not have an “identity sign” linked to a product. This shows that marketers should not ignore key lessons from social psychology research on identity outside the commercial sphere. Marketers can also work on adding desired behaviors associated with an identity, creating different customer identities, and even creating new identities that deepen relationships with existing customers and attract new ones. For instance, answering questions as part of a consumer study could create an identity of a “market research” respondent in people, making them judge the proposed service objectively and with an open mind.

Lisa

, Associate Director of Culture & Identity for the US team at Mintel Reports, is responsible for creating reports focusing on psychographic factors that influence how consumers identify and express themselves, as well as their buying behaviors across all categories. Learn how customer identity allows companies to build stronger relationships with customers using their own data.