Imagine this…

This was the year that you found a seemingly endless amount of motivation to become the healthiest version of yourself.

You’ve spent the last 10 months lifting weights, running, and doing yoga.

More impressively, you’ve created a regimented diet that has you feeling on top of the world.

But, like most health enthusiasts, you’re always on the lookout for the latest and greatest.

You’re keeping an eye out for something that will continue your commitment and consistency to this new healthy you as the year comes to a close.

You’re scrolling Instagram when an ad keeps catching your eye – it’s for a healthy green drink that can replace the handful of vitamins you’re taking each day.

And it’s approved by some of your favorite health-focused creators.

You click the ad and scroll through the homepage.

They’re definitely speaking your language.

One line of copy makes you pause. It says “Health starts with the gut.”

As a newly minted “healthy person”, you hadn’t really given much thought to your gut. (Aside from trying to cover it up when your shirt unintentionally rides up.)

Why are you suddenly feeling motivated to take your gut health more seriously?

In today’s edition of Why We Buy, we’re taking a look at Commitments and Consistency – how our identity feeds into our actions, goals, and how we spend our time.

Let’s get into it…

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🧠 The Psychology of Commitment and Consistency

According to professor and researcher Barry M. Staw, commitment and consistency are highly motivating factors for the human mind.

Inconsistency is uncomfortable. We like to avoid it at all costs.

It doesn’t make us feel good to say we’ll do one thing and then do the opposite. This yucky feeling resides in our relationship with ourselves and others.

If you tell your friends that you’re waking up at 5 AM to jog for the next 5 days and you sleep in instead…

• Internally, you feel crappy about yourself because you didn’t stay consistent with your commitment.
• Externally, you feel embarrassed that your friends know you’re not consistent with your commitments.

The feeling of discomfort that comes with breaking our commitment and our desire to remain consistent is so strong that we’ll escalate our commitment even when things aren’t going to plan.

Think of the Wall Street banker who told everybody they knew about a stock destined to triple in the next few months.

Even when the stock plummets to half its valuation…the Wall Street banker still holds their stock because selling their position creates the discomfort of inconsistency and lack of commitment.

Humans desire to stay consistent with our commitments is a mega-driver for buying decisions.
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🧐 Inside Your Buyer’s Mind

Your buyers have an identity aligned with how they perceive themselves currently and who they want to grow into in the future.

Buyers are committed to their current identity and take actions that are consistent with maintaining it.

If buyers are committed to their health, they’ll consistently take supplements that align with acting as the healthiest version of themselves.

Buyers also want to make commitments that align with their future desired identity and want to make consistent habits that bring it to fruition.

Creating consistency behind these commitments tells their mind they’re likely to reach that identity, despite distractions along the way.

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Aligning the messaging for your products with buyers’ current identity and desired future identity activates commitment and consistency in their minds.
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🤑 How To Apply This

Alright, so how can we apply this right now to sell more?
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Tie your products into your buyers’ identity

Do your clients resonate with being the hacker-style entrepreneur that wears sweatpants and flip-flops to VC meetings? Or do they relate to the go-getters running at 5 am before their all-hands meeting?

Get to know your customers through research and then tie your products or services to their personal identity.

You can speak to who they are today and illustrate how you can help them to remain consistent with their commitments or highlight your product as a stepping stone to they kind of person they wish to become.