Marketers have the idea that they can sit back and flip media levers which in turn will send hordes of carbon based bipeds marching through the “Consumer Purchase Funnel” – a rather convenient abstraction which brings order to the otherwise disorderly nature of consumer behavior and world at large. It goes something like this:
Use Mass Media to make the previously unknown, known, with a memorable story or specific reason to satisfy a need. Classic Marketing Theory refers to these 2 types of introducing a product or service as Showmanship or Salesmanship. Because people live hectic lives with distractions at every turn, they require more and more messaging (a nice way of saying advertising) to be churned out to keep their attention. Some may begin to devote a fraction of their consciousness toward the thing it is they are receiving messages from. Then, more personalized digital advertising “pulls” the consumer down the funnel by fostering their intention to make a purchase, perhaps even facilitate the purchase itself and then keep them engaged so they can tell their friends and buy more stuff later.
As Such,
Awareness – Interest – Consideration – Intent – Purchase – Advocacy
is a very nice model but leaves out one little thing; people are strange. Our mood, circumstance, culture, upbringing, birth order, education, character, town, state, county, language, customs, friends, attitudes, and disposition make us all unpredictable at best, incomprehensible at worst.
For the Purchase Funnel to be the factory of consumers it purports to be, every person would have to be a clone in a constant state of searching for the next thing to buy and have the following internal dialogue, in reaction to every advertisement they ever saw, either consciously or subconsciously:
“I had the most amazing experience transpire over the past few months. I don’t’ know when it happened exactly or where I was for that matter, but I became Aware of a product I have now come to adore. I can’t recall the first time I heard of it, but in the aggregate of ads over time I grew Interested. After receiving email and display ads with more information that just so happened to coincide with my newfound interest, I entered a phase of Consideration as I learned more and more about the product. I then had Intent to purchase. I began to see ads for it pop up on my phone, on every website I visited and with every audio channel I streamed. Quite obviously this was a date with destiny. Then it happened…. I made the Purchase! I pledge my ever-ending loyalty. My Brand and I share a beautiful, harmonious, and mutually beneficial relationship. My journey through the purchase funnel was nearly complete, but I needed to take that final crucial step and close the loop to ensure an enduring pact. That real moment of truth has come in the form of Advocacy. I was merely a consumer but now I am that which other consumers turn to for information prior to any purchase consideration (92% of people trust brand advocates, according to a recent Nielsen report). Having traversed my way through the purchase funnel my journey is complete…
…until next time!”
