Offer Aspirational Shoppers Subtle Signals

In Retailer’s Edge, I describe The Brick as an example of conspicuous consumption. This old Nokia model, nicknamed The Brick because of it heft and size, was being used by Indonesian businessmen in their efforts to establish an image of substance. My recommendation to retailers: Find out what product characteristics ease consumers’ insecurities and then carry items having those product characteristics. In Indonesia, it was the highly visible heft of The Brick.
     A course-correction update to my recommendation comes from findings scheduled to be published in next December’s Journal of Consumer Research. Researchers at University of Pennsylvania and Southern Methodist University note how consumers of very high-end products often prefer subtle, not obvious, signals in their purchases. Consider sunglasses. The researcher’s tally found that about 20% of sunglasses selling for under $50 included a brand name or logo easily visible to others. That increased to about 85% when the retail price was between $100 and $300, but for sunglasses selling above the $500 mark, the percentage dropped dramatically. It was only about 30%.
     Consumers who sense themselves coming closer to desired membership in a group, but who are insecure about their membership, tend to purchase products that loudly project the signals of membership. But when the consumer already belongs to an exclusive group or is confidently aspiring to belong, they’ll be looking for more subtle cues—what corresponds to the secret handshake that allows members to recognize each other while not tipping off the outsiders. This was a lesson learned some years back by Lacoste, which discovered that their crocodile logo stopped portraying as much status if it was displayed too prominently.
     When appealing to these sorts of aspirational shoppers, carry merchandise with subtle signals. And on the bags and packages they’ll use to carry home their purchases, consider having plenty of empty space to catch the eye of prospective customers. Researchers at University of Alberta and University of Wisconsin-Madison find that white space used this way associates your store brand with refined taste and upscale qualities.

Click below for more:
Notice Customers’ Cultural Aspirations
Stay Ready to Sell Luxury
Use Customer Life Changes to Switch Brands