The Influence of Merchant’s Marketing Strategies on Consumers’ Decision

Abstract

In today’s consumer market, advertisements have become increasingly pervasive, serving as a crucial bridge between merchants and consumers. However, many of these advertisements are designed not merely to inform but to persuade—often in ways that may mislead individuals into making purchases they might otherwise avoid. Consumer purchasing decisions are highly susceptible to external influences, with advertising being one of the most powerful. Among the psychological mechanisms leveraged by marketers, the framing effect stands out due to its close connection with loss aversion—a cognitive bias in which potential losses exert a stronger emotional impact than equivalent gains. The findings reviewed in this study suggest that the framing effect can significantly distort consumer judgment, reinforcing the asymmetry between risk aversion and risk seeking. The conclusion emphasizes that while framing is an effective marketing strategy, consumers must adopt critical awareness and decision-making strategies—such as evaluating numerical information independently of its wording—to mitigate undue influence and make more rational purchasing decisions.