Buyer’s remorse normally occurs after a sizeable purchase has been made. These purchases include expensive items such as cars, homes, shoes, electronics, and exercise equipment. However, the phenomenon can also be observed after smaller purchases involving supermarket groceries, cosmetic items, and kitchen gadgets. Buyer’s remorse, therefore, is a feeling of regret or anxiety that occurs after a purchase is made.
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Understanding buyer’s remorse
The negative feelings that arise after such a purchase are caused by cognitive dissonance. This is a form of mental discomfort that arises when the individual holds beliefs, values, or attitudes that conflict with one another.
In the context of consumer psychology, dissonance occurs when the individual wants to do whatever makes them happy in the moment while simultaneously understanding that the purchase comes with inherent risks and consequences. After a purchase is made, a feeling of regret can then take hold as the individual considers alternate courses of action.
The severity of regret – and by extension, buyer’s remorse – is caused by three core factors:
Responsibility – regret may intensify when the individual realizes there is no one to blame but themselves.
Effort – or the amount of time or money used in the purchase decision, and
Commitment – whether real or imagined, the individual can feel remorse if they believe they must live with the product or service for a long time.
What causes buyer’s remorse?
According to business information company The Hustle, the five most prevalent reasons (with multiple answers accepted) for buyer’s remorse across more than 2,000 study participants included:
A product that didn’t meet expectations (58%), perhaps in terms of quality or performance.
A product the consumer didn’t ultimately use (30%).
A product the consumer felt they spend too much money on (20%).
The subsequent discovery of a product that represented a better deal (15%), and
A product the consumer didn’t ultimately need (15%).
How to avoid buyer’s remorse
To avoid buyer’s remorse, there are multiple strategies:
Purchase experiences over material products – experiences such as vacations, concerts, and skydiving tend to result in less buyer’s remorse. This is because it is more difficult to compare one experience to another, reducing the likelihood that an individual will feel regret over a course of action not taken. Research has also shown that experiences create sustainable memories that eclipse the short-term boost in happiness that a material item tends to produce.
Err on the side of caution – if there is even the slightest hint of doubt in a purchasing decision, then it is better not to purchase. Why? Because the regret associated with not purchasing a product tends to be less severe than the regret that occurs after a purchase has been made.
Avoid sales – sales often cause impulse buying which then leads to regret. Promotional events make it easy to justify a purchase at the time, but no amount of discount can compensate for a product that is unwanted or unneeded.
Give to others – for individuals who consider themselves shopaholics, a good way to avoid buyer’s remorse is to simply purchase gifts for others.
Focus on personal development – in one study of millennial consumers and financial regret, researchers found that participants were most satisfied with purchases that enriched their own lives, whether that be related to community, arts, healthcare, or education.
Key takeaways:
Buyer’s remorse is a feeling of regret or anxiety that occurs after a purchase is made. The feeling itself arises due to cognitive dissonance.
Buyer’s remorse is caused by a product that didn’t meet expectations or by one that was deemed too expensive or not ultimately used or needed. The presence of a more suitable alternative is also a contributor.
Buyer’s remorse can be avoided by purchasing experiences over material items, ignoring sales promotions, buying gifts for others, and focusing on personal development.
Key Highlights:
Buyer’s Remorse:
Buyer’s remorse is a feeling of regret or anxiety that occurs after making a purchase.
It is often associated with purchases of items ranging from expensive items like cars and electronics to smaller items like groceries and cosmetics.
Causes of Buyer’s Remorse:
Cognitive Dissonance: Buyer’s remorse arises from cognitive dissonance, where conflicting beliefs, values, or attitudes create mental discomfort.
Core Factors: The severity of buyer’s remorse is influenced by factors like the sense of responsibility, effort invested, and commitment to the purchase.
Common Reasons for Buyer’s Remorse:
Product not meeting expectations (58%).
Consumer not using the product (30%).
Feeling of overspending (20%).
Discovery of a better deal (15%).
Product not needed (15%).
Strategies to Avoid Buyer’s Remorse:
Choose experiences over material products, as experiences create lasting memories.
If in doubt, refrain from making the purchase to avoid regret.
Be cautious of impulse buying during sales events.
Purchase gifts for others instead of indulging in personal shopping.
Focus on personal development and enriching one’s own life through purchases.
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Funnel marketing is modeled after the marketing funnel, a concept that tells the company how it should market to consumers based on their position in the funnel itself. The notion of a customer embarking on a journey when interacting with a brand was first proposed by Elias St. Elmo Lewis in 1898.
Funnel marketing typically considers three stages of a non-linear marketing funnel. These are top of the funnel (TOFU), middle of the funnel (MOFU), and bottom of the funnel (BOFU). Particular marketing strategies at each stage are adapted to the level of familiarity the consumer has with a brand.
A go-to-market strategy represents how companies market their new products to reach target customers in a scalable and repeatable way. It starts with how new products/services get developed to how these organizations target potential customers (via sales and marketing models) to enable their value proposition to be delivered to create a competitive advantage.
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Growth marketing is a process of rapid experimentation, which in a way has to be “scientific” by keeping in mind that it is used by startups to grow, quickly. Thus, the “scientific” here is not meant in the academic sense. Growth marketing is expected to unlock growth, quickly and with an often limited budget.
Guerrilla marketing is an advertising strategy that seeks to utilize low-cost and sometimes unconventional tactics that are high impact. First coined by Jay Conrad Levinson in his 1984 book of the same title, guerrilla marketing works best on existing customers who are familiar with a brand or product and its particular characteristics.
Hunger marketing is a marketing strategy focused on manipulating consumer emotions. By bringing products to market with an attractive price point and restricted supply, consumers have a stronger desire to make a purchase.
Integrated marketing communication (IMC) is an approach used by businesses to coordinate and brand their communication strategies. Integrated marketing communication takes separate marketing functions and combines them into one, interconnected approach with a core brand message that is consistent across various channels. These encompass owned, earned, and paid media. Integrated marketing communication has been used to great effect by companies such as Snapchat, Snickers, and Domino’s.
Inbound marketing is a marketing strategy designed to attract customers to a brand with content and experiences that they derive value from. Inbound marketing utilizes blogs, events, SEO, and social media to create brand awareness and attract targeted consumers. By attracting or “drawing in” a targeted audience, inbound marketing differs from outbound marketing which actively pushes a brand onto consumers who may have no interest in what is being offered.
Integrated marketing describes the process of delivering consistent and relevant content to a target audience across all marketing channels. It is a cohesive, unified, and immersive marketing strategy that is cost-effective and relies on brand identity and storytelling to amplify the brand to a wider and wider audience.
The marketing mix is a term to describe the multi-faceted approach to a complete and effective marketing plan. Traditionally, this plan included the four Ps of marketing: price, product, promotion, and place. But the exact makeup of a marketing mix has undergone various changes in response to new technologies and ways of thinking. Additions to the four Ps include physical evidence, people, process, and even politics.
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Real-time marketing is as exactly as it sounds. It involves in-the-moment marketing to customers across any channel based on how that customer is interacting with the brand.
Relationship marketing involves businesses and their brands forming long-term relationships with customers. The focus of relationship marketing is to increase customer loyalty and engagement through high-quality products and services. It differs from short-term processes focused solely on customer acquisition and individual sales.
Reverse marketing describes any marketing strategy that encourages consumers to seek out a product or company on their own. This approach differs from a traditional marketing strategy where marketers seek out the consumer.
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Services marketing originated as a separate field of study during the 1980s. Researchers realized that the unique characteristics of services required different marketing strategies to those used in the promotion of physical goods. Services marketing is a specialized branch of marketing that promotes the intangible benefits delivered by a company to create customer value.
Sustainable marketing describes how a business will invest in social and environmental initiatives as part of its marketing strategy. Also known as green marketing, it is often used to counteract public criticism around wastage, misleading advertising, and poor quality or unsafe products.
Word-of-mouth marketing is a marketing strategy skewed toward offering a great experience to existing customers and incentivizing them to share it with other potential customers. That is one of the most effective forms of marketing as it enables a company to gain traction based on existing customers’ referrals. When repeat customers become a key enabler for the brand this is one of the best organic and sustainable growth marketing strategies.
360 marketing is a marketing campaign that utilizes all available mediums, channels, and consumer touchpoints. 360 marketing requires the business to maintain a consistent presence across multiple online and offline channels. This ensures it does not miss potentially lucrative customer segments. By its very nature, 360 marketing describes any number of different marketing strategies. However, a broad and holistic marketing strategy should incorporate a website, SEO, PPC, email marketing, social media, public relations, in-store relations, and traditional forms of advertising such as television.
Gennaro is the creator of FourWeekMBA, which reached about four million business people, comprising C-level executives, investors, analysts, product managers, and aspiring digital entrepreneurs in 2022 alone | He is also Director of Sales for a high-tech scaleup in the AI Industry | In 2012, Gennaro earned an International MBA with emphasis on Corporate Finance and Business Strategy.
