Guide Choice by Sequence of Presentation

The order in which you present purchase alternatives can influence what the consumer ends up selecting and how much they’ll be willing to pay. By staying aware of how this works, guide the shopper toward what benefits both them and your profitability.
     Before talking about sequence, let’s talk about number of alternatives:

• In habitual, repeat purchases, the shopper often has little interest in considering alternatives. To open up their mind to changing brands, upgrading, or trying out a new way to address their desires, propose one compelling alternative. “Here’s a brand you might not have considered before, and here’s why I suggest it to you.”
• Some shoppers make it a habit to know, before they enter a store or ecommerce site, precisely what they’ll purchase, but they want to reassure themselves they’re making the right decision by being told about alternatives. It’s a shopping ritual for them. The precise number of alternatives and the order in which they’re presented are not really important.
• In most other circumstances, consumers like to have three alternatives presented.

     As to presentation sequence, here are some tips:

• Research findings from University of Hong Kong and National University of Singapore indicate that when a customer appears to be in an upbeat mood, they’re more likely to select either the first or the last alternative you propose than to select a middle alternative.
• When the customer is sad, worried, or angry, but is determined to make the purchase rather than defer the decision, they seek the compromise alternative and will look for it as the middle alternative in the presentation order. Not the highest-priced or lowest priced, but the middle-priced. Not the highest quality or lowest quality, but the medium quality. Keep it brief, though. Findings from research at University of Maryland and Yale University indicate that too much talking will lock into the shopper's mind the bad feelings they're experiencing, and those negative memories make it less likely they'll buy from you in the future.
• According to researchers from Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, if your shopper is considering a lot of information when making a purchase decision, they become willing to buy the higher-priced alternative when the alternatives are presented in order from most expensive to least expensive. The price of the first item becomes an anchor for what your shopper will expect to pay.

For your profitability: Sell Well: What Really Moves Your Shoppers

Click below for more:
Profit from Shoppers’ Positive Moods
Shoo Away Negative Customer Feelings
Expect Shopper Conformity & Variety Seeking