Consumers as Goal Seekers and Persuasion Sentries

Traditionally marketing persuasion has been viewed from the perspective of the company, i.e., how marketers can best convince consumers to buy their products and services. The assumption has been that consumers behave largely as recipients of influence rather than as active participants. Research by authors Amna Kirmani of SMUCox and Margaret Campbell of the University of Colorado turns this perspective upside down and offers insights into how consumers view and form strategies to cope with marketing persuasion. As Kirmani expressed, “Believe it or not, customers do come into a persuasion situation thinking ‘I know he is going to try and persuade me.’ They are cognizant of the potential tactics and many come mentally prepared to achieve their own goals.” 

This perspective is particularly relevant in today’s sales and marketing climate whereby the consumer is well-armed with information, goals, and expectations that firms are just beginning to understand. The paper “Goal Seeker and Persuasion Sentry: How Consumers Targets Respond to Interpersonal Marketing Persuasion” will be published in the Journal of Consumer Research, December 2004. It identifies how the consumer manages persuasion attempts from salespeople or service personnel such as real estate agents, financial brokers, even the services of plumbers and dry cleaners.

Key Findings

The researchers conducted in depth interviews to identify strategies by which consumers respond to persuasion. The interviews indicated that consumers had two broad ways of responding to marketing persuasion. In a given situation, the consumer may be a goal seeker or persuasion sentry. A consumer who is a goal seeker attempts to utilize the agent to achieve his/her own goals; for example, the seeker may ask assistance from a salesperson or tell the salesperson her own needs. A consumer who is a persuasion sentry guards against unwanted marketing persuasion. For example, a tactic might involve hiding behind a rack when  a salesperson is approaching or withdrawing when a salesperson becomes too pushy. Consumers appear to move fluidly between the roles of goal seeker and persuasion sentry within a single interaction as well as across interactions. (Table 1 in the paper lists fifteen response strategies of consumers in the role of seeker and sentry.)

The data reveal that the consumer’s relationship with the agent and experience with persuasion affect how consumers respond to interpersonal marketing efforts. The most important dimension of the relationship is whether it is cooperative or competitive. Relationships are cooperative when agents are perceived as friendly or attentive to targets’ needs, i.e., when agents behave as helpers rather than persuaders. Relationships are competitive when the agent is perceived largely as a persuader by applying pressure, being manipulative, failing to take them seriously, or failing to satisfy their needs. Interviewees in the study described agents in cooperative relationships as “helpful” and competitive relationships as “pushy.” Cooperative relationships led targets to assume a goal seeker role and use “seeker strategies," while competitive relationships led them to become persuasion sentries and use “sentry strategies”. (Table 2 in paper depicts response strategies of consumers under cooperative and competitive scenarios.)

Relationships also differed in terms of their length and familiarity. As relationships went beyond one-time-only marketing interactions to recurring encounters, they tended to move from a task to a more emotional orientation. Familiar agents often transformed the buying experience from a utilitarian, task-oriented one to an experiential, socio-emotional one, with an emphasis on relationship goals, commitment, and trust.

Finally, relationships varied in terms of power or the target’s (consumer’s) felt dependency on the agent. A purchaser might feel dependent because the agent possesses valued product knowledge; because the agent acts as a gatekeeper to the desired product; or because the target needs to make an immediate purchase perhaps due to time pressure or lack of alternatives. In line with this, dependency was generally higher with service agents, who often are gatekeepers and experts, than with sales agents. Dependency increased the likelihood that targets would work with the agent to achieve their goals.

In terms of experience with persuasion, consumers’ strategies for dealing with marketing agents evolve over time. Younger interviewees (18-23 year olds), who have less experience with marketing persuasion, appeared to be less knowledgeable about dealing with competitive agents. For example, younger interviewees tended to forestall, confront, or withdraw from competitive agents; these strategies did not help attain the intended goals. Middle-aged interviewees (30–60 years old) also used withdraw and forestall, but often resisted assertively or punished competitive agents, which might help them attain goals. Thus, middle-aged interviewees were most effective in attaining their purchase goals.  Interestingly, older interviewees (60–75 years old) seemed to use fewer strategies overall than middle-aged ones, suggesting that they may be more vulnerable to persuasion.

Conclusion

Times have changed. “In marketing we’re always focusing on the company,” Kirmani commented. “And we’re supposed to be doing consumer research but we’re not focusing on the consumer. This research is trying to address the realization that for both sales people and companies, consumers are not just people we do things to.” Consumers are everyday people who have different strategies for virtually everything, and companies are becoming more aware that things are indeed changing with the consumer.

The research has important implications for sales and services personnel. “The best salespeople understand the mindset of the consumer,” Kirmani explained. “One of the most important keys in marketing is to know your customer and their needs. Don’t just make assumptions about your customer. They come in with a lot of knowledge about persuading and being persuaded themselves.” Good salespeople know that and take it into account in dealing with consumers.