Apple And Psychological Marketing Strategies

A Brief Introduction Into Apple

Apple is more than a technology company; it is a leading company psychological branding. By showing minimalist design and advanced interfaces, they have created a brand ecosystem that has become a part of everyone's daily life. Behavioral economics is the study of how psychological, emotional ,social and cognitive factors influence the economic decisions that people make. Apple utilized this to create brilliant advertising and a reputable brand image.

Framing Effect

The framing effect is when information is presented in a certain way to make the quality, feel or even the product feel way better than it actually is. Apple does not market their products simply as an expensive device. Instead they frame it as a premium piece of technology when it comes in terms of their camera quality, design, ios feature etc. “people feel like they are paying for a premium piece of technology”.

Social Proof

Social proof is the tendency to follow the choices or behavior of others, especially when they are unsure of what to choose. Apple benefits from its huge customer base and specific design models. Seeing friends, celebrities, influencers and businesses using iPhones and MacBooks can make potential customers believe that Apple products are reliable, desirable and better than other products. Apple has an enormous amount of users and seeing the large section of the population use their products leads to one to also prefer buying their products.

Confirmation Bias

Confirmation bias occurs when people tend to look for or pay more attention to information that supports what they already believe or have noticed elsewhere. Apple has built a strong brand identity around innovation, premium design, simplicity and quality. Once a customer believes Apple produces high-quality products, they may be more likely to notice Apple's positive features while paying less attention to criticisms such as high prices. for example “ when apple launches a new product with a new camera or a new ios feature while it may not be too different but you as regular consumer of their product feel like they are always innovating and don't look at the price tag that it comes with”

Loss Aversion

It is the tendency of people to feel more strongly about losing something than about gaining something of equal value. Because the feeling of loss is stronger , people may change their decisions to avoid losing money, benefits, discounts or opportunities. Apple, when introducing new products, does not only use advertising to show their new product and the new benefits that come with it, but it also shows the features that people may be missing out on. This leads to people getting the fear of missing out on the latest technology, further leading them to try and avoid the loss by buying the new product.

How Did It Work?

All these psychological techniques and strategies were used to create their extensive brand image leading to people believing in their product quality and their brand's innovative nature. Their products are framed as “pro” and “plus” to show higher quality leading to more sales. With the already existing customer base and other brand ambassadors, people see them use the products leading them to buy the technology. After a while, Apple proved their brand image to show their innovative nature leading to customers believing in the quality of the product hence customers regularly come back to purchase their product. Lastly, the brand played on the customers fear of missing out to people to constantly buy the new apple product that came out.

By: Hridaan Shah