Marketing's Role: Simplifying Decisions

What should marketing be focused on?

A recent series in HBR begins to explore why consumers stay with a brand or product.   The authors conclude that it comes down to the way in which they make their choices.

The single biggest driver of stickiness, by far, was “decision simplicity”.

Product proliferation, media fragmentation, and continuous partial attention lead us to find short cuts to decisions.   Chris Anderson, editor of wired, once described a brand as a proxy for information.  And it is this message that resonates in the article.  The three key consumer needs are:

• Trust the information they receive – providing recommendations by consumer advisors, ratings and reviews.
• Learn effectively without distraction – simplifying the research process by offering clear and streamlined brand-specific product information targeted to each decision stage.
• Weigh options confidently – making transparent buying guides and brand differentiated information easily available.

To be clear, this isn't just about producing feeds and speeds or feature checklists.  One must recognize that aspirations, risks, and needs sit behind every simple choice.