We buy things we want and we buy things we need.
We tend to buy the things we need in the forms that we find most
appealing when and if we can. (I need a car to commute/I want a
mustang convertible or I need a toaster/I want all my kichen
appliances to be cherry red)
Wanting is an emotional ‘thang’. Ultimately, it boils down to this:
purchases are primarily based on emotions and are then justifed for
non-emotional reasons, after the fact. (I need a car to commute/ I
bought a cherry-red, limited edition, standard shift, mustang
convertible. I saw it and my heart stopped. I drove it and I knew I
had to have it. I found mine at the third dealer I tried, who was
offering $1500 cash-back and upgraded the rims and upholstery no
charge. It was more than I planned to spend but I got a lot of extras
for less than the first one I saw. I love this baby!!
This dynamic is pretty much true for most purchases and with most
people there are always exceptions. As someone who has spent her
life selling things, this is one of those 'basic rules of sales’
that I have seen proven over and over.
My experience with selling jewelry has been that this arena rarely
requires a need - or even an excuse, like an engagement or
anniversary - to produce a sale. It’s all about the emotions. My
opinion is that COLOR will trigger a strong emotional response
quicker than any other visual cue. Like scents, colors seem to
trigger hidden, subconscious connections with emotions and, when the
right piece of jewelry strikes someone’s eye, the emotional response
can be very powerful. If that emotional response is a pleasant
experience, owning the piece that engenders the pleasure ensures that
the purchaser can repeat the experience as often as they wish. The
more intense the pleasant response, the more urgently the person will
wish to repeat the experience. (No doubt, the person commuting in the
cherry red Mustand convertible is enjoying the experience a great
deal more than the person who fell in love with the same car but
ended up with a '69 VW thatwill just do the job. And that’s not only
because the Mustang-owner has a brand-new car, but because they are
enjoying the same emotions that stimulated the desire.)
In the end, emotions define our personal experience of the world
around us, reinforcing or adding to those subconscious associations -
and this is the definition of our ‘inner world’. In other words,
fantasy. There is a huge element of fantasy in how each of us
experiences life. Successful sales can tap into that fantasy
experience. I think this is most especially true of the adornments in
life - like jewelry.
BTW, I don’t own anything that’s cherry red except some lab-grown
ruby!
D’Ann Smith