Whenever I complete an important purchase in your store, I'd like to walk out the door confident I made the right decision. I don't think much about it with the automatic purchases, the ones I make week after week from habit. But especially if it's a big-ticket item or one where I think other people will be judging me, I want to win the bet that I got it right.
I want it so much that I'll put energy into convincing myself and others what a smart shopper I was. Let's say my purchase decision was a ticket at a horse track betting window. In a classic consumer behavior study done at a race track, the researchers found that after somebody bet on a horse, they became even more confident the horse would win.
If we're uncertain about the bet, we get downright worried. Researchers at Arizona State University noticed how powerful this is while themselves participating in an office betting pool about the outcome of the TV show "Survivor." People predicted that their bets would boost their pleasure in watching the show, since they'd get more involved. But the outcome was the opposite. Betting made watching the show less pleasant.
We don't want our customers leaving our store or our website worried they might have bet wrong. Follow up with purchasers by telling them specific reasons you think they made a good decision. Have product literature available to your shoppers to take away with them not just before they complete the purchase, but also afterwards. Invite them to come back to tell you how the purchase worked out, and when they come back with a happy story, admire their skills in making the right bet.
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