Enhance Your Marketing Research: The Behavioral Economics Toolkit

By Jesse Epstein, and Rob Duboff

Whether trying to convince consumers to switch banks, buy a new sports drink or take their diabetes medication on time, marketers are constantly seeking to influence consumer behaviors. In support of these endeavors, marketing researchers often ask people to share what they do and why they do it to better understand their behavior. However, cognitive research has shown that asking consumers these questions directly is usually not enough! HawkPartners helps clients gain a more useful understanding of their target audiences by integrating behavioral economics principles into our research.

Pictured: a mindmap overlaid onto of a silhouette of a human head. The image symbolizes gaining a more useful understanding of target audiences by integrating behavioral economics principles into market research.

Behavioral economics is the discipline of interacting with the non-rational effects of psychological, cognitive, cultural, emotional and social factors on economic (or purchase) decisions. It is now a well-established perspective to help understand, and in some cases influence, consumer behavior. Despite behavioral economics’ practitioners winning 2 Nobel Prizes, most marketers and marketing researchers are still figuring out how to incorporate it into their portfolio of methods and tactics.

Want to better understand emotional and non-conscious drivers of customer decision making? Download our Behavioral Economics Toolkit.

Reach out to Rob Duboff and Jesse Epstein to learn more about behavioral economics.