Understanding human psychology is fundamental to effective marketing because it profoundly influences purchasing decisions. Recognizing these influences enables business leaders to develop messaging that resonates with their specific customers. This leads to more successful marketing and business outcomes.
A study by Nobel Prize-winning psychologist Daniel Kahneman found that emotions drive about 90% of our decisions. Logic accounts for only 10%. Further studies show that purely emotional marketing campaigns were 31% more profitable than campaigns with more rational content.
For businesses that cater to business customers (B2B), marketing messaging is often focused on rational decision-making. However, keep in mind that B2B buyers aren’t just rational entities; they’re human. They make human decisions—based on needs, values, emotions, and experiences. This human aspect shouldn’t be overlooked in your B2B marketing strategies.
This article explores the differences between B2B and B2C customers. It covers the need for precise audience segmentation in B2B marketing. It also explains why B2B marketing must focus on relationship building by addressing diverse stakeholders' needs. If you’re a B2B marketing leader, understanding your customers' psychology enables you to tailor your messaging for maximum impact.
Before diving into the psychology of B2B buyers, let's review the differences in their behaviors and expectations, compared to B2C customers.
B2C: When you buy sneakers, it's typically your own money and your own choice—sometimes influenced by family or friends--but essentially an individual decision.
B2B: Business purchases often involve multiple stakeholders (end users, project managers, finance teams, the C-suite, and more), each with their own priorities and expectations. B2B marketers must appeal to each decision-maker individually.
Consensus by committee can be challenging. According to Gartner's CSO Update: The New B2B Buying Journey and It's Implication for Sales report, the typical buying group for a B2B product could include six to 10 decision-makers. Each person will come to the table armed with four or five pieces of information they researched independently. Without cohesive marketing and sales collateral, inconsistent messaging can create conflict, slowing decision-making.
B2C: Consumers make quick decisions based on immediate needs, desires, or impulses. The time between a call-to-action and a purchase is short. People can see an ad and make a purchase almost instantaneously.
B2B: Sales can take months—or even years. A B2B marketing strategy needs to nurture leads over time. You may need to share product specs, hold demos, or answer questions multiple times. A response to an ad or call-to-action is just the start of a conversation.
The length of the B2B sales cycle can vary by industry. For example, in the software industry, the average sales cycle is approximately 90 days, while manufacturing can take 130 days or more. B2B marketing should emphasize relationship building, providing detailed information, and offering personalized solutions to guide prospects through the extended decision-making process.
B2C: Consumers need the basics—features, benefits, or emotional appeal. They don’t typically require hyper-technical details to click “Buy.”
B2B: Buyers expect detailed specs and product details, expert reviews, and ROI projections. They want to know precisely how a solution will integrate with existing systems or solve a specific business problem.
The higher price point of most B2B purchases drives this need for more complete and cohesive product information. Gartner's research found that customers who perceived the product information they received from suppliers as helpful were three times more likely to make a bigger purchase decision with less regret.
B2C: Consumers often buy something on impulse and move on. Loyal customers may return, but the relationship is more casual and without any strings attached.
B2B: The value of a single deal can be quite significant. And once the contract is signed, both sides plan for years of ongoing collaboration.
Trust, credibility, and detailed onboarding matter so much more in B2B marketing. 44% of McKinsey's B2B Pulse Survey respondents are highly relationship-oriented. While willing to try new channels, they tend to stick with vendors and partners they are familiar with.
B2C: Emotional appeal is a major influencer. Customers might be swayed by lifestyle branding, a message of scarcity or urgency (FOMO), or a favorite influencer’s recommendation.
B2B: Feelings are still important (for example, the fear of making a bad purchase or excitement about impressing the boss), but data plays a dominant role. Clear ROI, case studies, and technical specs carry a lot of weight.
77% of B2B buyers spend more on research when purchasing a product or service. 44% of business buyers look for an ROI calculator to show their return for buying a product.
B2C: Retail pricing is straightforward—often with discounts or sales.
B2B: Pricing can be negotiated, volume-based, or subscription-based. This reflects the complexity of large deals and long-term partnerships.
For these reasons, B2B purchasing is more challenging than B2C transactions. More than three-quarters of the B2B procurement leaders Gartner surveyed said their process was "very complex or difficult." So, it's safe to say the stakes are higher for both B2B marketers and customers.
Despite the additional complexity and rational data-informed decisions in B2B, there are still people on both sides of the transaction. Whether someone buys one laptop or a bulk order of 1,000 laptops, human psychology (and the triggers that drive action) still applies. B2B buyers are influenced by the same psychological factors as B2C consumers—social proof, authority, scarcity, urgency, and emotional engagement.
We often look to the actions and opinions of others to guide our decisions. Social proof can take the form of peer or influencer testimonials, user reviews and case studies. It leverages the idea that if others have had a positive experience with a product or service, we are more likely to trust and make a purchase.
A 2022 Demand Gen Report found that 89% of B2B buyers consider peer testimonials and user reviews as essential resources when researching potential solutions. In the same report, 98% of buyers said they found vendor-provided case studies “extremely helpful” or “helpful” in deciding whether to move forward with a purchase. According to a 2022 study from Gartner, B2B buyers value third-party interactions 1.4 times more than any other digital marketing. These interactions include consuming content from influencers, such as industry experts.
Social proof can significantly influence B2B purchasing decisions, as buyers look to others’ experiences to validate their choices. If you’d like to learn more, we’ve written a couple of blogs on social proof in the last year. Here’s one.
Authority in marketing means establishing your brand as an expert. Your audience should trust your opinions and insights. You can achieve this through thought leadership. Create valuable content that educates and informs your target audience about industry trends, challenges, and solutions. Positioning your company as an expert is vital to influencing B2B decision-makers.
According to the 2023 LinkedIn-Edelman B2B Thought Leadership Impact Report, 55% of B2B decision-makers say a strong presence in thought leadership content helps them discover and shortlist new vendors.
The Phase 3 team has successfully positioned manufacturing clients as thought leaders by developing content that showcases their deep industry knowledge. Read some case studies here.
Due to long sales cycles, creating a sense of urgency and scarcity in B2B marketing can be particularly challenging. B2B purchases are usually rational and involve many stakeholders. Still, we tend to act more quickly when we see limited time or availability. The key is to introduce strategic urgency without overwhelming your prospects.
For example, showing the cost of inaction can motivate hesitant prospects. Lost revenue or inefficiency are critical factors. Demonstrating the potential adverse outcomes makes the risk of delay more tangible. Similarly, creating exclusivity can make your products or services more appealing. This taps into the scarcity principle, which suggests that when something is limited, its value increases.
It's also important to understand where your customers are in their purchasing journey.
Identifying and acting on closing signals can boost closure rates significantly. So, when your customers indicate they may be ready to decide, respond with a time-bound offer to close the deal.
Incorporating urgency and scarcity can shorten the sales cycle by helping your prospects see the value in acting sooner rather than later.
Storytelling is a powerful tactic in marketing because it taps into the audience's feelings. Research consistently shows that people connect with stories and images far more easily than cold, hard facts, up to 22 times more. Emotionally resonant storytelling can break through skepticism and indecision in even the most data-driven business buyers. Read more about how important storytelling is in B2B marketing here.
Even in a data-heavy, rational B2B environment, highlighting your products or services in a human way can set you apart. As these studies illustrate, a buyer's desire for social proof, authority, and emotional resonance applies to B2B as much as B2C.
A recent study by Zoovu and Forrester found that 73% of B2B buyers expect the same convenience in buying business solutions as in personal (B2C) shopping. Yet, McKinsey's 2024 B2B Pulse Survey found that B2B customers use an average of ten channels in their buying journey, up from five in 2016. Over 50% want a true omnichannel experience. They want to buy and interact while switching seamlessly across channels.
This shift highlights two truths:
What's clear is that B2B marketers must truly understand their target customers. They must know who they are, their needs and priorities, and where they are researching their purchasing decisions. Without this knowledge, it's easy to miss the mark in marketing and sales messaging.
McKinsey tells us that at any stage of the buying journey, one-third of B2B customers expect in-person interactions, one-third want remote communications, and one-third prefer digital self-serve options. In other words, there is no such thing as a one-size-fits-all B2B customer.
Because B2B decisions often involve several stakeholders, create specific customer segments based on the following:
Industry or Vertical: A construction products provider might have different messages for residential builders vs. commercial builders.
Company Size: A startup has different needs and budgets than a Fortune 500 enterprise.
Job Role or Function: Procurement executives care about cost savings, while end-users want an intuitive interface.
Channels of Communication: As McKinsey shows us, some customers prefer in-person sales meetings or events, while others may prefer web-based communications or even their own research.
Use these segments to inform your marketing and sales collateral and channels, including product information, advertising and marketing campaigns, and sales messaging, both online and offline.
Relevance: Tailored messaging and product information resonate more strongly with specific sub-audiences, increasing your ability to make a sale.
Efficiency: Instead of using a generic, scattershot approach, you’ll invest marketing resources in messages and channels that speak directly to each group’s priorities.
If you'd like more information about segmenting your B2B target audience, read more here and here.
Even in a data-heavy, rational-thinking B2B environment, understanding your customers and engaging with them on an emotional level sets your business apart. However, your message won’t land if you don’t deliver it where your buyers are looking for it.
Today’s B2B buyers don’t rely solely on sales reps for product information or purchase decisions. In fact,Gartner research finds that when buyers are considering a purchase, they spend only 17% of that time meeting with potential suppliers. When comparing multiple suppliers, the total time spent with any single sales rep might be as low as 5% or 6%.
McKinsey says in-person sales are no longer the top revenue channel for firms with self-service digital commerce. E-commerce now leads, with over a third of revenue from online sales, even for purchases over half a million dollars.
In addition, B2B buyers rarely follow a neat, linear path any longer, from identifying a need to making a purchase decision. Instead, Gartner calls today's buyer's journey “looping," where B2B customers revisit purchasing stages multiple times before making a choice.
With only a fraction of your buyers’ time spent with your sales teams, your digital presence and educational content must do much of the "selling" for you. Your marketing efforts need to address each purchasing stage consistently and simultaneously. This could mean providing quick access to demos, webinars, product specifications, and pricing details every time buyers circle back to your digital channels. Read this recent blog for more information about the best marketing collateral for each stage of the B2B buyer's journey.
The digital-first marketing approach ensures your buyers get the information they need at any stage of their journey—even if they loop back multiple times—while still cultivating the high-value relationship critical to effective B2B marketing. Providing targeted, user-friendly digital experiences will help you meet customers where they are and differentiate your brand in a competitive market.
While B2B and B2C customers may differ in the complexities of their purchasing journeys, one thing remains constant: we are all human. Regardless of the purchasing context, emotions, values, and psychological triggers play a significant role in decision-making.
Yes, B2B transactions have longer sales cycles. They involve many decision-makers and focus on data-informed decisions. Yet, the buyers still respond to human triggers like trust, authority, and emotional resonance—just like B2C customers.
Understanding these psychological influences, including social proof, authority, scarcity, and storytelling, helps you to tailor your marketing strategies more successfully. The key lies in recognizing that B2B buyers want relevant, engaging experiences that align with their needs and emotions (just like B2C buyers). So, no matter who you're selling to, treat customers as people first and build your marketing strategy around their human needs.
The Phase 3 team are experts at human-centered digital B2B marketing and sales strategies. Whether you're selling industrial equipment, commercial real estate, or building materials, we can craft campaigns to create meaningful connections and drive engagement and conversions. Contact us today to find out more.