Psychology of Brand Identity

The “Ways of Seeing” the psychological aspects of brand identity, with one of the more prominent terminologies being “spectator-buyer” and “spectator-owner”. These are the terms used to discuss the imagery of the product, beyond the capabilities of the product.

Spectator-Buyer

The spectator-buyer is a term used to describe how a potential customer before they buy a product of desire. They are seen to envy their future self who has that product, and gain excitement from the thought of others jealousy towards them. This gives the impression, that by having this object, the customer will be seen as greater then they were before. This is seen in branding such as Jeep’s famous “Don’t Hold Back” slogan. This feeds the spectator-buyer ideas looking more adventurous if they drive this off-road vehicle, along with a feeling of indestructibility.

Spectator-Owner

The spectator owner is the role of the person trying to sell the product to the buyer. This terminology works better in the case of selling things that change the appearance of the customer. The most common example of this would be jewellery shop staff complementing on how somebody looks with their product on. This use of encouragement is the fake envy that they desire from those around them. Obviously, the owner is not truly envious of the jewellery, otherwise they would not be selling it in the first place. This can be in the form of faltering ones prestige of appearance and trying to seem separated from those around them.