Lifestyle assimilation helps sell products

The use of lifestyle graphics on point of purchase allows consumers to identify a mood or feeling with products that can effectively drive sales.

The retail environment is full of point of purchase displays designed to capture the attention of the consumer. Because many settings are saturated with these promotional materials it is incumbent on the graphic artist to develop a design that will attract the consumer’s attention enough so that they take the time to read the message and understand the offer. The use of lifestyle graphics is one tool in a designer’s bag of tricks that can facilitate this goal.

Lifestyle graphics incorporate the use of people performing everyday activities or displaying everyday emotion as an element of the design. These images are intended to evoke a feeling of familiarity, and in some cases envy, on the part of the consumer allowing them to more easily identify with the product being promoted. By doing this the point of purchase is able to stimulate a visceral response in the person reading the ad and that in a sense can compel them to purchase the product being advertised.

We have all heard the term "sex sells". The psychology behind that is fairly obvious. Lifestyle graphics can create the same response to a product or service but on a more mundane and less overt level. Making the proper use of them more appropriate for all product categories and environments and generating universal appeal for a wider variety of consumer’s depending on your target demographic.

Take for instance a display that GSP did for a foodservice rebranding effort that was executed for a client that manages restaurants and commissary operations for large institutions. In this case we incorporated the use of a lifestyle graphic as a watermark to subtly instill a sense of happiness and excitement in an otherwise routine image display. For this application, which was on a college campus, the use of this contemporary image can work to grab the attention of the consumer and hopefully make them feel at home in the environment which studies have shown dramatically improves their likelihood to purchase products and services.

The use of lifestyle graphics is not a panacea and in and of themselves will not salvage an unappealing offer or environment, but they are an excellent way to establish a connection with the consumer that when done properly works very well