If you’re planning a start-up in Singapore, you need to come up with ways to attract more customers. Even companies that have already been established for a long time still need certain psychological tricks to influence customer behavior.

Using the power of anecdote

Simply put, people look at stories first instead of statistics. This is because stories tell of individual experiences and it’s easier for people to relate to them than looking at numbers. This is why you always see businesses feature customer reviews and testimonials. If you have a website, for example, you can share your comments of customer’s that have been satisfied with your service. This is sure to invite more potential customers since they’ve already read positive things about you. 

Social proof or the bandwagon effect

This basically means a person is more likely to go with what other people are doing or in this case, buying. Today, this is easier to do because of the internet. Some businesses even use bots, for example, to gain followers in social media. Or maybe you’re an influencer and your planning to start your business. You can easily sell your products because a lot of people know you already.

Scarcity Illusion

This psychological trick takes advantage of the fact that people are more likely to buy things if they are limited. If you notice, a lot of Singaporeans line up for a product knowing that it’s limited edition no matter how long they have to wait. Airlines also use this trick when selling tickets by saying that there’s only a few left for that price. It’s quite effective especially if the products are mainly used for convenience.

Frequency illusion

Do you remember that time when you see a certain product just once, and then suddenly you’re seeing it all the time? This is called the frequency illusion or the Baader-Meinhof Phenomenon. More than anything, it’s not the business that does this but the customer’s mind itself. Once you see something, you’re twice as likely to notice it again. That’s called the mind’s selective attention. Once a company introduces a product, they just leave it at that and let your mind do all the noticing.

Loss Aversion

Loss aversion is basically centered around a consumer feeling good about gaining something while also feeling bad about losing it. This is exactly why companies do free trials! Because you get a taste of their service or product, it will be harder for you to let it go once the free trial ends. That’s why you’ll be tempted to just go for the purchase. This is actually one of the most effective and widely-used tricks to influence customer behavior.