How Brands Can Leverage Behavioural Insights

Why do people buy what they buy? The answer isn’t just about price or features. Consumer psychology explores the underlying motivations, needs and emotional drivers that govern purchase decisions. Smart brands use this information to gain a better understanding of their customers.

The Power of Psychology in Marketing 

Understanding human behaviour helps brands:

• 📢 Create more effective messaging

• 🫶🏼 Build emotional connections with customers

• 👉🏼 Nudge consumers toward desired actions

Morphological Psychology

Morphological psychology is the most modern, full psychology theory. It was developed by Professor Wilhelm Salber at the University of Cologne.

Morphology comes from the Greek word ‘morphos’ – transformation. Contrary to many other psychological approaches, morphology does not see any action, decision or behaviour as an isolated event. Instead, it is considered in context: an event within a chain of events.

Everything we do involves weighing up our options and motivations. Deciding what we want to achieve and what action or choice will best fulfil what we desire – even if it is a compromise.

Morphological psychology helps understand these ‘weighing up’ and development processes, leading to an understanding of ‘why we do what we do’, and ‘how we come to make decisions’.

Professor Salber identified six fundamental kinds of motivations at play and how they interrelate. They do so in 3 pairs which are connected.

These are displayed in a hexagon shape to visualise what happens.

Primary Tension

Acquisition: The drive to acquire, cocoon and regress.

vs.

Transformation: The drive to move on, to reach for new experiences.

Secondary Tension

Impact: The drive for control by having or receiving an effect.

vs.

Structure: Loss of control through environment, process or structure.

Tertiary Tension

Expansion: The drive to achieve ideals, dreams and freedom.

vs.

Resources: Need to have the right tools, backup or service.

How do the tensions work?

Motivational tensions pull us in different directions like ‘force fields’.

Within this framework we weigh up options and literally ‘make up our mind’.

Understanding the motivations and tensions at play is immensely powerful if we want to influence decisions, change behaviours or add value to a conclusion.

Morphology recognises that we are constantly changing. From situation to situation, from thought to thought, from action to action.

It reveals our underlying psychological needs and motivations within any category, product or brand choice.

Morphology is therefore particularly suited to understand the “why” and “how” that drives consumer behaviour.

Applying Morphological Insights to a Brand

Morphology provides a strategic psychological platform that enables us to:

• 🍕 create behavioral segmentation: we can group consumers based on their underlying psychological needs and decision-making

• 🗣️ tailor messaging: based on emotional motivators, not just rational benefits.

• 🧪 test and learn: apply A/B testing to reveal which psychological triggers resonate most.

The Psychological Advantage 

Adding psychological insights to advanced data analytics and actual behavioral data can allow brands to move beyond simple segmentation and truly understand their customers.

The result? More relevant, persuasive, and profitable marketing.

Consumer psychology is a vital part of how modern brands connect with real people—and win their loyalty.

Duxton Consulting Group

Duxton Consulting are experts in the field of morphological psychology. We use techniques based on morphology to gain deeper insights from in-depth interviews and focus group discussions.

We structure quantitative research studies so that they provide an actionable psychology-based strategic platform.

We apply psychological insights to segmentation to add an understanding of ‘why’ to the ‘who’, ‘what’ and ‘when’. This sharpens segment profiles and enables much more effective communications.