How the Psychology of Liking Can Increase Sales
Understanding the principle of liking and knowing how to use it in your marketing and on your website can give you an unfair advantage over the competition.
Commitment and Consistency Principles
The best way to earn the loyalty of customers and prospects is to make them commit to something. That’s because people prefer to be loyal and consistent with a choice they previously made. These are the principles of commitment and consistency.
Here’s everything you need to know about the principles of commitment and consistency, plus all other important principles and theories that can supercharge your marketing and influence people to buy your products or services.
What are the principles of commitment and consistency?
As a psychological principle, commitment and consistency refer to the choices people make to believe more strongly in the decisions we’ve already made in order to avoid cognitive dissonance (a situation where you have conflicting beliefs or behaviors).
How can you use commitment and consistency to drive sales?
The best way to earn the loyalty of customers and prospects is to make them commit to something. That’s because people prefer to be loyal and consistent with a choice they previously made. This is known as the principle of commitment and consistency. This happens because we use mental shortcuts to simplify the way we make decisions. And because we make so many decisions every day, we subconsciously (and sometimes, consciously) look for ways to reduce the number of decisions we have to make.
The foot-in-the-door technique...
One way to accomplish this is called 'foot in the door.' The premise is simple: someone will agree to a larger request after they have first agreed to a smaller request.
Cross-selling...
Another way to accomplish this is cross-selling. Often incorrectly confused with the term up-selling (selling of a different, high-end product), cross-selling is selling items in addition to the item already in hand.
Cross-selling has a greater chance of follow-through because the consumer has already purchased or committed to one product in their shopping cart.
Let’’s say a customer has decided to purchase a new iPhone. After selecting which iPhone is right for them (with some shiny up-selling techniques), they are greeted with AppleCare warranty options, accessories that are designed for the chosen iPhone, and lastly other products Apple offers that integrate seamlessly with iPhones.
Wishlists...
Yet another effective way to use commitment and consistency in your business is wishlists, similar to what Amazon does. With more than 12 million products available, Amazon wish lists allow customers to create and organize lists of products they desire and/or intend to buy.Amazon allows customers to create multiple lists and share them with others and on social media. Price drop alerts sent to customers are also integrated into this well-oiled machine.
When a customer puts an item in a wish list — psychologically they are committing to purchase it at a later time. Wish lists serve as a midpoint between forgetting about an item in a shopping cart and completing a purchase. The reach they provide goes beyond just improving the customer experience. Wishlists provide an inside look into consumer preferences, drive customer engagement and reduce shopping cart abandonment. And here’s another benefit: wish lists require a customer account or profile to be set up, which in turn adds their e-mail (assuming they opt-in) to future marketing drip campaigns.
Can marketing psychology help create stronger brands?
Yes. Building a strong brand identity involves a combination of research, understanding, and important branding elements. These brand identity building blocks include typography, color palette, forms and shapes, and composition. Many principles of marketing psychology influence the choices you should make when building your brand identity.
Read our comprehensive Brand Identity guide 
What are the core principles of marketing psychology?
There are many important principles, theories, and concepts used in marketing psychology. These include:
- the principle of reciprocity
- information-gap theory
- scarcity
- social proof theory
- and loss aversion marketing
You can research each of these principles, plus dozens of other key principles of marketing psychology, via the links below.
Marketing Psychology Principles and Theories
- Action Paralysis Principle
- Anchoring Effect Principle
- Calls to Action
- Color Psychology
- Commitment and Consistency Principle
- Decoy Effect
- Emotional Marketing
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Frequently Asked Questions About Marketing Psychology
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