The YouTube Ads course
Module 9 - Know why they wouldn't buy
Understanding the reasons someone wouldn't buy your product, price, confusion between options, an unknown brand, competitors with more benefits, or a past bad experience, gives you a different, useful kind of insight into your real pain points and barriers to purchase than only knowing why people would buy.
Last updated 31 August 2026
Running time 2:35Watch it
What does this video cover?
- 01Knowing why people wouldn't buy gives a different level of understanding than only knowing why they would, and it feeds directly into identifying pain points and barriers to purchase.
- 02Using the walking boots example, price cuts both ways: some people think a product is too expensive, in this case ranging from around £30 for a cheaper pair up to £500 for a really good one, while others think it's too cheap to trust.
- 03A product can also be seen as too robust or heavy for the wrong context, for example a winter boot being wrong for a summer walk, or vice versa, when the aim is a good all-rounder.
- 04Competitors, too much choice, confusion over options, and an unknown brand people aren't sure they can trust are all common reasons people don't buy.
- 05Others simply appearing to offer more, a different waterproofing system or a different type of sole, can be enough to lose a sale, as can a past bad experience with the brand itself.
Full transcript
Working through why people wouldn't buy your product or service gives a different kind of insight than working through why they would, and it feeds directly into understanding pain points and the real barriers to purchase.
Using the good, all-round walking boots example again, on the "wouldn't buy" side of the sheet, some people will think it's too expensive, prices here can range anywhere from around £30 for a cheaper pair up to £500 for a really good one, while others might think it's too cheap to trust. Some may see it as too robust or heavy, which comes back to an earlier point about whether it's meant for a winter walk, a summer walk, or a genuine all-rounder. Other common reasons include competitors and too much other choice, confusion over the options available, and an unknown brand where people aren't sure of your credentials. It might also be that others appear to offer more, a different waterproofing system, a different type of sole, or that someone has simply had a bad experience with the brand before, which is always a real challenge to overcome. When it comes to your own products or services, it's worth thinking hard about why people don't buy, using customer profiling work already done, talking to customers who have lapsed, or talking to colleagues internally, because these sheets tend to come together quickly and all of it feeds nicely into the script that follows.
Where next?
The library holds every video we have published. The AEO pages explain the method behind them, what it costs and what the evidence actually supports.