The Influence of Advertising on Consumer Behavior: What to Know

Advertisements can significantly influence consumer buying behavior. Some external factors play a role in how a consumer reacts to an ad, but the three biggest things that help advertising influence consumer behavior are if the ad reaches:

• The right audience 

• In the right place 

• At the right time

Learn more about how geofencing can impact and change consumers’ buying habits by hitting those three criteria. 

HOW CAN ADVERTISEMENTS INFLUENCE CONSUMER BEHAVIOR?

Advertisements on their own do not influence consumer behavior. For example, it doesn’t matter how many times a consumer sees an ad about the newest car on the market if they aren’t currently shopping for a car. This creates advertising waste when companies spend their advertising budget without seeing any return on investment. An advertising campaign needs to get its message to the right audience in the right place at the right time to be most effective. When an advertisement campaign hits all three targets, that’s when it’s able to: 

• Forge bonds.

• Shape perceptions.

• Create value.

• Transform meaning into actions. 

A FOOD AD BECOMES SOMETHING MORE

Here’s an example: An advertisement shows people eating food. Fine—we’ve all seen ads like that. But when placed in front of the right audience, the consumer fills in the gaps to take that commonplace imagery and view it as: 

Cool, stylish, and trendy people . . . who have a strong social group . . . eating a specific type of food. 

These elements combine to make the product much more desirable for that target audience. 

DIFFERENT ADS FOR DIFFERENT FOLKS

One way you can see this in effect is with TV advertisements that consist of toys, sugary cereals, and the latest animated movie targeting children during Saturday morning cartoons. 

Meanwhile, during the middle of a Sunday afternoon golf tournament, the advertisements will be about the newest hair loss treatment, this year’s high-end vehicle, and a testosterone cream that will help you look and feel 20 years younger. 

While these campaigns do their best to target the right audience, there is still wasted ad spend because not everyone watching a morning cartoon eats cereal for breakfast, and not all the people watching a golf tournament are balding middle-aged men. 

Digital marketing tools, like geofencing, help companies reduce ad waste by using big data to make sure advertisements are strategically placed, helping clients get the most for their ad spend. 

HOW CAN GEOFENCING CAPTURE CONSUMERS AT THE RIGHT MOMENT? 

Geofencing gives businesses the tools needed to pinpoint decisions about their target audience, with the ultimate goal of changing consumer behavior.

TARGETING THE RIGHT AUDIENCE

Geofencing allows companies to target consumers based on who they are (their age, gender, job, socioeconomic status, etc.) and their internet and social media history, including likes and other content interactions, by using big data. This helps companies target the right consumer with the right advertisement. 

TARGETING IN THE RIGHT PLACE

Getting an ad to the consumer in the right place is all about putting it in a location where the consumer will see it. For example, targeting a younger audience with an ad placed in a traditional print newspaper won’t be that successful because that’s not where the target audience gets their news. Geofencing is a digital advertising technique, which reaches the target audience directly on their devices. 

TARGETING AT THE RIGHT TIME

Geofencing goes beyond the time of day an ad runs and can include the location a customer is currently at or has recently been. This allows companies to have hyper-specific campaigns, like targeting only consumers who have visited their storefront or even their competitor’s storefront. 

CREATE AND MANAGE A GEOFENCING CAMPAIGN WITH AGILITY

At Agility, we understand how advertisements can influence consumer behavior. We can help you deliver relevant and personalized ad experiences to the right people in the right place and at the right time.

Schedule your demo today to find out how Agility can help your business better reach your target audience.