Promise Tightwads Responsibility

I’m yelling it out: JEFF YEAGER IS A TIGHTWAD. HE’S A CHEAPSKATE. A MISER.
     Now, don’t worry about me, retailer. Mr. Yeager’s not likely to sue for defamation of character. You see, Jeff Yeager himself brags about being cheap. In an article about him, North Carolina’s Salisbury Post says he calls himself “the ultimate cheapskate.”
     As it turns out, cheapskates—also known as tightwads—are an underappreciated market for retailers. An international survey of 13,000 shoppers finds that annual income is similar for tightwads compared to the spendthrifts who feel they spend more than they should. Tightwads have the money to spend. In addition, the survey found that tightwads generally believe they should be willing to spend more money. They don’t feel poor, and this is not the same motivation as with those who fret about the future because of the worldwide economic difficulties.
     Research indicates that the key to having tightwads spend their money with you is to reinforce their sense of responsibility. Here are a few tactics and why they work with tightwads:

• Congratulate tightwads on how they shop carefully. Tightwads take pride in limiting their spending. Jeff Yeager brags that to save energy costs, he soft-boils his eggs in the dishwasher during the wash cycle. In his new book, he reports finding a sense of social responsibility and even religious convictions tied to being extraordinarily thrifty.
• Remind tightwads that you’ll be responsible in what you sell them. Then keep your promise by being able to explain how the products and services you sell give full value. Researchers at University of Pennsylvania and Carnegie Mellon University—the researchers who conducted that international survey—say tightwads suffer emotional pain when spending. Dealing with a responsible retailer eases the pain.
• Don’t tell tightwads about opportunity costs. In advertising and selling, opportunity cost appeals take the form, “By paying less for this item, you’ll have more money available to buy other items.” Spendthrifts respond to opportunity cost appeals, but tightwads are much less responsive. The researchers speculate that this is because tightwads have already figured out the opportunity cost angles for themselves. They’d consider a retailer telling them about it to be a waste of time.

Click below for more:
Profit by Showing Social Responsibility
Feature Socially Responsible Trade-Ins
Maintain Customer Faith
Give Low-Income Customers Dignity
Sell Spendthrifts with Opportunity Costs