Condition Your Customers

I admit it sidesteps the dignity of your customers to consider them as experimental animals like Pavlov’s dog. You do remember Ivan Pavlov and how when he paired the sound of a bell with feeding a dog, pretty soon the bell caused the dog to salivate? It’s called classical conditioning.
     Still, your shoppers make many purchase decisions without much thought, and in these low-involvement decisions, they are influenced by principles of classical conditioning.
     Researchers at University of British Columbia presented study participants with a picture of a pen at the same time music was played. Some people were shown a blue pen, while the others were shown a beige pen. Some of each of those two groups heard music previously qualified as pleasant to listen to, while the others listened to certifiably unpleasant music. The participants were then asked to select the blue or the beige pen.
     Those who had heard the pleasant music selected the color pen they’d seen about 80% of the time. Those who had heard the unpleasant music selected the pen they’d seen about 30% of the time.
     Here are some research-based tips for profiting from classical conditioning:

• It works best when the shopper is not already familiar with the items, so it could be especially helpful when introducing new brands in habitually-purchased product categories.
• You’ll pair pleasant sensations with the brand or item you want the shopper to prefer. The sensations could come from music, colors, sounds, and/or fragrances you’ve reason to believe the shopper will find to be highly pleasant. With certain sensations, you can do the pairing in your advertising, and with certain sensations, you can do it in-store.
• The effect is strongest when you show the package or a picture of the item and then immediately follow it with the pleasant sensation. It also works to present the two at the same time or to present the pleasant sensation first, but the effect is not at strong. You’ve more control over the sequence in advertising than in the store.
• Classical conditioning nudges the shopper rather than controls the shopper. Pavlov’s dogs almost always salivated at the sound of the bell. But remember that about 30% of the people in the pen study did select the option paired with the unpleasant music. This is compelling proof that our customers can easily be distinguished from experimental animals after all.

Click below for more:
Let Your Shoppers Enjoy Being Influenced
Use Fragrances to Pace Shoppers