Shopping is easier when customers see in your store a relationship between the price of an item and the quality of the item. When comparing a set of alternatives within a product or service category, the consumer is more comfortable when there is a price-quality link.
This link is clearer for the consumer when the retailer injects psychological distance while selling:
Researchers at Hong Kong University of Science and Technology told study participants how much had been paid for a set of items—ranging from yogurt to computers—and then asked each participant to guess the quality of each item. In some cases, the study participant was to assume that she herself had made the purchase. In the other cases, the participant was to assume that a friend had made the purchase.
With the purchases made by friends, there was a more direct relationship between the price paid and the assumed quality of the item. A purchase made by someone else has more psychological distance than a purchase made by oneself.
To strengthen the price-quality link in the shopper’s mind, a retail salesperson might talk about what other people have paid for the item in the past or what other suppliers are charging. This should be done in a way that highlights the good value offered by your store, and the information should be accurate. Another technique suggested by the researchers is to ask the customer what his friends would think of the product.
The same researchers found similar results when the distance was temporal. In that study, consumers were asked to consider purchasing a computer. Some were asked to think about making the purchase the next day, while the rest were asked to think about making the purchase two months hence. Those people assigned to the “buy two months from now” group were more likely to relate price to quality.
Looking at the same issue from a different angle, research findings from University of Mannheim indicate it’s good to offer higher-ticket items to layaway shoppers. People are more willing to pay a premium price for a product they desire if the retailer obtains a commitment well in advance of the product’s availability to the consumer. The announcement in advance encourages a longer-term perspective, which in turn relaxes budget restrictions. Here, too, when acquisition will occur at a somewhat distant time, the consumer correlates price more strongly with quality.
Click below for more:
Lay Away Reservations with Layaway
Commit Shoppers from a Distance for Expenses
Give Customers Long-Range Perspectives
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