We celebrate when click-through rates improve by a fraction of a percent. We speak in what must seem like tongues—KPIs! ROI!—to those who don’t comprehend how such sacred acronyms summon forth the profit deities. Beneath all of our spreadsheets, though, lies something embarrassingly human.
Exploring what it means to be human is a multidisciplinary pursuit, combining psychology, philosophy, anthropology, neuroscience, literature, and several other fields of study. Each discipline offers unique insights into our thoughts, emotions, behaviors, and identities. And all of them confirm one truth: humans are nothing if not complicated.
For all our talk of rationality, our decision-making remains stubbornly, irrationally human. The evidence is everywhere, but consider just three examples:
- A CMO who preaches “data-driven decisions” hires an agency whose creative director subconsciously reminds her of a former classmate.
- The company with “a strict vetting process” eventually says yes to the sales rep who wished every member of the team a happy birthday during the 18-month sales cycle.
- A startup founder buys enterprise software priced for Fortune 500 companies because—heaven forbid—someone might think his company is small.
These are just a few examples of the messy business of being human leaking all over our professional pretenses.
The human brain is far more chaotic than traditional marketing theories would have us believe. We all acknowledge this when it comes to consumer-facing marketing (B2C). No rational person sees Paris Hilton in a Hardee’s commercial and decides, finally, to start eating at Hardee’s. And yet, when they put her in a commercial…sales went up, and not by a little. Yet traditional views of B2B marketing assume organizational purchasing follows a purely logical path, too: identify needs, evaluate options, select the most cost-effective solution. But research consistently reveals a more complex reality.
A single Gartner article shares three statistics that might make you sit up and take notice.
- Companies that focus on the buyer’s psychology and emotions grow twice as fast as their competitors,
- 90% of buyers are influenced by positive reviews, and
- 70% of the B2B buying process is done before a buyer engages with sales.
There’s also this simple truth: creating demand is not the same as cultivating desire.
Beyond Need: The Psychology of Desire
Demand emerges from recognized needs—the gaps a business consciously identifies in its operations. Desire, however, operates on a deeper level. Psychologist Abraham Maslow’s hierarchy of needs comes to mind. Even in the most sterile corporate environments, these deeply human yearnings persist and quietly influence decisions that appear, on paper, to be entirely pragmatic.
Neuroscientists whose work focuses on the role of emotions in decision-making have discovered that patients with damage to the emotional centers of their brains struggle tremendously with decisions. Without emotional input, decision-making becomes virtually impossible. When we present solutions to would-be customers as purely rational choices, we ignore the emotional context in which decisions actually occur.
Marketers need to remember that connecting with the human element in business is an essential skill. “People don’t buy products; they buy better versions of themselves,” says UX designer Samuel Hulick.
Creating Desire Through Narrative and Meaning
In “Storytelling That Moves People,” an article published in Harvard Business Review, screenwriting coach Robert McKee argues that the power of narrative transcends mere information delivery. “In a story,” McKee explains, “you not only weave a lot of information into the telling but you also arouse your listener’s emotions and energy.” (You might recognize McKee; a fictionalized version of him appears in Adaptation, the 2002 film directed by Spike Jonze and written by Charlie Kaufman.)
This perspective challenges conventional business communication, which often relies on PowerPoint presentations and statistical data rather than emotional engagement. McKee emphasizes that effective storytelling creates a profound connection between speaker and audience by balancing intellectual content with emotional resonance.
Unlike traditional rhetoric that may persuade on an intellectual level alone, stories tap into the fundamental human desire to experience the struggle between expectation and reality. This approach, McKee contends, transforms otherwise dry corporate communications into compelling narratives that inspire action and help to create genuine engagement, ultimately moving people to become enthusiastic participants in a shared vision.
Effective marketing—to individuals or organizations—should do more than just communicate value propositions. Crafting compelling narratives can help decision makers envision a better future for themselves and their organizations. The best marketing, like the best writing, doesn’t just inform. It changes the audience. But before you can change someone, they must trust you.
In business relationships, trust emerges from consistent demonstrations of competence (showing genuine expertise), integrity (maintaining ethical standards and behavior), and benevolence (demonstrating genuine concern for the other party’s interests). When marketing strategists understand the psychology of trust, they can build authentic relationships and avoid manipulative sales tactics.
You could spend enormous resources trying to appear trustworthy, I suppose. But real trust is earned over time, through a constellation of small actions. Perhaps this is why so many enduring business relationships begin over meals or coffee, in conversations that wander from the professional to the personal and back again.
We test each other, human to human, before committing our time, effort, and money to a shared endeavor.
The Future of Psychologically-Informed Marketing
Before AI chatbots came along, one study showed that the average person has about 12 social interactions per day. As we move further into the digital age, that number may significantly decrease—which could mean that the businesses that thrive will be those that recognize the full humanity of their customers. In this and likely many other ways, marketing in the future may become even more informed by our understanding of human needs and behavior.
“Social psychologists argue that who we are at any one time depends mostly on the context in which we find ourselves,” observes Harvard psychologist Ellen J. Langer. “But who creates the context? The more mindful we are, the more we can create the contexts we are in. When we create the context, we are more likely to be authentic. Mindfulness lets us see things in a new light and believe in the possibility of change.”
This capacity to consciously shape our environment and responses relates directly to how businesses engage with their customers—even when their customers are other businesses. The difference between creating demand and cultivating desire ultimately comes down to psychological depth. Demand speaks to recognized needs; desire speaks to aspirations, identity, and meaning.
When we understand the psychology behind business purchasing decisions, we can move beyond highlighting features and benefits to engage with the full complexity of human decision-making—and maybe create connections that resonate on both rational and emotional levels.
All organizations are selling something, whether products, services, or missions. The challenge is not simply to demonstrate value, but to become part of the audience’s story in some way—to help them become the better versions of themselves to which they aspire.
Nonprofits understand this principle deeply. It’s one thing to accept the help of volunteers, and quite another thing to invite people to be part of an organization’s story. When organizations such as the Special Olympics ask for support, they’re offering individuals the chance to contribute to a narrative of inclusion, dignity, and human potential. People volunteer precisely because it allows them to express their values and embody the compassionate, community-minded individuals they strive to be.
In the end, perhaps the most valuable lesson psychology offers us about business and organizational success is something quite simple: behind every corporate or nonprofit decision are people hoping to get it right—and behind every consumer or supporter choice is someone trying to align their actions with their ideal self.
For more than two decades, we’ve helped businesses across nearly every industry drive results.
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