17 Reasons Why People Buy In order to have any success with your Marketing & Sales efforts you must know the primary reasons people buy. Below I have listed some of the main reasons: 1. Fear People buy because they fear getting old, fear going broke, fear being left behind. They fear being left out. They fear death. They fear getting sick, fear going to Hell, fear being alone. They fear Republicans gaining power, or they fear Democrats gaining power. They fear the Nazis or Communists gaining power. They fear life is meaningless. They fear failure. They fear their kids won’t amount to anything. They fear being insignificant, not leaving a mark. Fear comes in all shapes, sizes, and forms. Fear is a powerful motive causing people to buy. 2. Recognition People buy because they want honor and prestige. They want recognition. They want to be set apart from the crowd. They want to be part of an exclusive, prestigious club. They want fame. 3. Greed Just about everyone wants more money. No matter how rich someone is, they always want more. Even billionaires want more, not because they need it, just because they want it. They want more than the other billionaire has. Warren Buffet has not stopped trying to make more money even though he’s the second richest man in the world. Bill Gates still wants more because he wants to stay the richest. Ten thousand pairs of shoes were not enough for Imelda Marcos. She always wanted more shoes. 4. Love Love is a powerful motivator to buy. What other motive can there be for buying life insurance? People want to make sure their children have the best and that their loved ones are taken care of. 5. Self-improvement People always want to improve themselves. They join a gym to get in shape. They sign up for a seminar to learn something that will help them get ahead. “How To” manuals are some of the best selling books on Amazon. 6. Desire to win There’s a strong competitive instinct in most people. People just flat out want to win at games, sports, business, love, and in life. No one wants to be called a “Loser.” People want to be the best. They want the recognition that goes with winning, or they just want the satisfaction of knowing they are the best at something. It’s not enough for Tiger Woods to be the best golfer in the world. He now wants to be the best golfer of all time. Does he want to win because he wants more fame or more money? Does winning make him feel superior to other people? I don’t think so. I think he is someone who sets a goal and then just wants to achieve it. He’s a perfectionist. He feels he can always do better. The desire to win will cause people to buy the best equipment, get the best teacher, buy the best books and videos on the subject. We want our kids to win. We want our teams to win. The innate desire most of us have to win fuels the sports industry and much of our economy. 7. Comfort People want comfort. They want a comfortable bed, a comfortable chair, a comfortable car, comfortable shoes, comfortable clothes. People want a Jacuzzi. We want pain relievers even for the most minor pains, just to make ourselves more comfortable. We want larger and more comfortable rooms. Americans, especially, seem to be on a never-ending quest for more and more comfort. 8. Laziness Sure people want to improve themselves, and they want to win, and they want to make more money . . . but only if it’s easy. People are lazy. That’s why you don’t see many sales pitches that highlight how hard you must work to achieve the results promised. You will see beautiful people sitting on the exercise equipment and talking more often than we see them actually using it. People want the results without the work. “Lose 10 pounds in 30 days with no dieting or exercise. Just take this pill.” That’s the basic pitch. 9. Quest for a great experience People want great experiences they will remember for the rest of their lives. They want travel experiences, educational experiences, family outings, parties, vacations, barbecues, great food at great restaurants, and good movies to watch. They want exciting experiences, relaxing experiences, social experiences, and entertainment experiences. People want shared experiences with loved ones. The travel and entertainment industry is all about creating and selling memorable experiences. 10. Sex People want more sex and better sex. People want sex, period. People want to be more attractive and sexier. Sex is everywhere in advertising, movies, and entertainment. Sometimes it’s out in the open, sometimes implied. The mere mention of the word “sex” draws immediate and riveted attention. 11. The desire for relationships People want friends. People want dates. People want romance. People want to get married. People want to be connected to other people. People want to be part of a community. Dating sites are among the most popular on the Internet. People want to improve their relationships with their children and with their spouse. When a relationship breaks up, it’s very painful. When a relationship starts, it’s exciting. Most people do not want to be alone in the world. 12. Anger Anger can be a very strong motivator. People send money to the Republican Party because they are angry at the Democrats. People send money to the Democratic Party because they are angry at the Republicans. People hire a lawyer to sue someone because they are angry. Following the 9/11 terrorist attack on America, people bought flags and decals not just out of patriotism, but also to show their anger at the terrorists. That was certainly righteous anger. Anger makes people want to strike back and fight, even go to war. 13. Desire to make a difference People want their lives to count for something, to make a difference. People run for President and public office to make a difference, hopefully not just for recognition. People contribute to charities, political causes, and religious organizations to make a difference. People become teachers and religious leaders to make a difference. People write books and articles to make a difference. People volunteer to make a difference. Very few people want their life to count for absolutely nothing, to have made no positive impact in the world. Most people want to leave a legacy of some kind. The desire to have an impact, to leave a mark, to make the world a better place can be a powerful motivator to buy or contribute. 14. Desire for meaning in life People want life to mean something. Religious organizations rely on this motive to prosper. Most people believe in God. Most people do not want to believe their life is an accident. People buy Bibles, religious tracts, and philosophical discourses to find meaning in life. They join a church and attend seminars for the same reason. Billions of dollars are spent every year by people wanting to find meaning in life. 15. Desire for power People want to tell others what to do. They want to be in charge. They want power. They want to be like God. Sometimes they want power to do good things, sometimes evil things. Elections are about deciding who will be in charge. Billions of dollars are spent to win elections, win power. People start their own businesses and organizations in part because they want to be the boss. People want to be in charge of their own lives, and in charge of other people’s lives as well. Serial killers are the way they are because they want power over others, their victims. The desire for power over others is at the root of every war. The obsession for power has caused enormous human misery: Hitler, Stalin, Mao Tse Tung, Pol Pot and countless dictators throughout history. Thank heavens, in America we have found a way to prevent anyone from getting too much power. The desire for power is one of the most powerful human motives. 16. Necessity of life People need food, water, soap, clothes, electricity, gas, transportation, haircuts, and phones. Maybe computers and Internet connections now fall under the category of a necessity of modern life. Businesses need paper, copiers, desks, chairs, fax machines, phones, and computers. “Can’t do without it” is certainly a powerful reason to buy. 17. Addiction People become addicted to drugs, alcohol, tobacco, caffeine, gambling, pornography, sex, and fast food. Some addictions are physical, others psychological. But the effect is the same, an ever-present compulsion to get more. Marketers of these products see their job as feeding the addiction and creating more addicts to the substance, product, or activity. This is how the drug dealers, the tobacco and alcohol companies, the porn industry, sex traffickers, the casinos, and the fast food and junk food companies are raking in billions of dollars. The #1 reason people buy... Above is a list of 17 motives fueling the desire of people to buy something. But almost all of these can be recast and placed under one motive. The most powerful motive of all is fear. People are very insecure about their place in life. Are people searching for love, or are they more afraid of ending up alone? Stopping something bad from happening is always a more powerful motivator than causing something good to happen. I exercise not so I can look like Mr. Universe, but because I fear looking like Jabba the Hut. I want to make more money not so I can buy more things, but mostly to guard against going broke. I use Rogaine because I fear losing all my hair. I’ve lost most of my hair anyway, and I don’t think the stuff works. But I fear what might happen if I stop using it, so I keep buying the junk. I think I’ll just shave my head and rid myself of that concern once and for all. Desire for power is a subset of fear. So is anger. People are angry because they are not in control. Short people (i.e. Hitler, Stalin, Napoleon, Mao Tse Tung, Pol Pot) seem more interested in power than tall people (Thomas Jefferson, George Washington). People want power and get angry mostly because they are insecure—which is a variation of the fear motive. Your sales letters will perform far better if you talk about, or imply, all the bad things that will happen to your reader if he fails to answer your letter. If you receive a letter from the IRS or an attorney, you are very likely to open it far more likely than a letter from Bloomingdales. People fear the IRS, fear lawsuits, fear getting older, fear dying, fear failing, fear loneliness, fear nature, fear getting sick, fear God, fear going to Hell, fear being left behind or left out, and fear being fired. They fear not keeping up with the Joneses, fear not amounting to anything in life, fear for their kids, fear not being understood, fear other people, fear walking down the street, and just generally fear life. Woody Allen built a career on making movies about people’s fears, insecurities, and neuroses. The news media sells almost nothing but fear, because news organizations know that fear sells. Rarely do we hear a positive news story. Mostly we hear stories about disasters, crimes, wars, typhoons, disease. People contribute to causes mostly because they want to stop something bad from happening. How does the car salesman stop you from walking out of the showroom? “Another guy also loved this car and says he’ll be back later today with his down payment. If you don’t buy it now, this car will be gone this evening.” Or... “This deal I’m offering you expires at the end of the month, which is today. We’re actually losing money on this price. We’re only offering this price today so we can meet our sales quota for the month because if we meet our quota, we get a bonus from GM.” I’m sure you’ve heard these or similar pitches before. The salesman is using fear (your fear of losing out) as a way to persuade you to make an immediate decision. People buy not so much to gain something, but because they fear losing something important if they don’t buy. Gerald