Football and the Science of Persuasion
One of marketer’s biggest tasks is to persuade consumers, especially, those who are not regular customers, to buy their products. We are going to be looking at two main points in the article for this week:
1. How brands are using individual players to persuade fans.
2. How football uses persuasion to maintain consumers.
"Often we don’t realize that our attitude toward something has been influenced by the number of times we have been exposed to it in the past.” - Robert B. Cialdini
Persuasion Through Brands
Lionel Messi
Brands tend to pick athletes who are sympathetic or have a likable personality. Cialdini said, “We’re more likely to be influenced by the people who we like.” Messi currently has over 300 million Instagram followers and he is considered one of the most down-to-earth and likable athletes. Therefore, brands like Adidas begin to form alliances with him to push their products.
Of course, his stature as one of the best football players ever plays a big role in it, however, the big question for marketers working for Adidas is, how do we sell our products to people who don’t know Messi and want to know more about him and the brand? An athlete who doesn’t cause drama is great for the brand sponsoring because people are not going to buy from the brand if they cannot relate to the theme.
A sympathetic and likable image benefits both the player and the brand. Messi's stature and his likeability attracts millions of young teens to buy his shoes, increasing the product sale percentage of Adidas for that item.
Persuasion Through Brands
Nike & CR7
Scarcity is another way to persuade consumers to purchase the product. People want more of a product the scarcer it is. Cristiano Ronaldo and Nike signed off on a golden patchwork Air Force 1. Designed by Ronaldo himself, Nike put out only a limited number of them. They sold out within a few minutes.
This plays in with the law of supply and demand. As stated by Haider, in his article of Science of Persuasion, “if the customer perceives a low supply or high demand for a good, they’ll show that they’re immediately interested.
Football & Persuasion
Football is the most popular sport in the world, with over 4 billion people tuning in to watch different competitions. Marketers must persuade fans to keep watching matches, that might even be boring. They do this by posting on social media with captions such as, “We feel sorry for whoever missed this match.” This creates a sense of FOMO (fear of missing out). True fans won’t miss any of their teams’ games, however, regular fans will tune in more often if they take notice of these posts. Every year teams come out with new kits, and fans keep buying them. They persuade these fans to wear the team's color and show their continuous support no matter the price. With extravagant commercials depicting these kits, fans cannot resist.
Looking Ahead
Marketers have the most exciting and tough task of persuading consumers to keep trusting and buying from the teams and brands that they love. Creating a sense of community, need, and relatability allows marketers to reach fans who are cautious about purchasing a product. Playing and targeting emotions is essential. Tune in next week to find out more exciting subjects!
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