![Customers Buy Things That Tell The World What Kind Of Person They Are](https://cdn.prod.website-files.com/63924096a9b09037d66f6ecc/63a0f47cd84ece3486e951e7_63a0dbfa0bea3353098f850d_purchase-decision.png)
Amateur ad writers assume everyone makes decisions based upon the same criteria they use. This causes them to unconsciously frame their messages to reach people exactly like themselves.
Professional ad writers frame their messages to speak to the felt needs of a specific consumer. People are multi-dimensional. We make decisions to purchase based on a variety of criteria, but two of the big ones are Time and Money.
“Time and Money are interchangeable. You can always save one by spending more of the other.”– Pennie Williams
- A person who feels they have no money and no time is buried in financial and relational obligations.
- A person who believes they have more time than money is a bargain hunter.
- A person who has more money than time is overworked and highly paid.
- A person with lots of money and time is looking for something to do.
Consciously or unconsciously, every ad is framed to speak to one of those four perspectives. It isn’t really about whether we can afford to spend the money. It’s about whether we FEEL we can afford to spend it. A person may feel they have the time, but not the money, to purchase a product in one category, but later that day feel they have the money, but not the time, to purchase a different product in a different category.
We evaluate messages – news, information, and advertising – based on Relevance and Credibility:
- Relevance: “Does it matter to me? Do I care about this?”
- Credibility: “Do I believe it?”