When shoppers are evaluating an item for sale, they associate ease of understanding with familiarity, and familiarity stimulates liking. Therefore, it would seem we’d always want our advertisements and sales presentations to be easy to understand. In ads, use high contrast. In sales presentations, make your points succinctly.
However, maintaining a retailer’s edge requires mastery of the exceptions to the general rules. Regarding easy understanding, researchers at University of Maryland, University of Chicago, and Yale University make a case for processing difficulty sometimes implying that an item is exclusive, and therefore of higher quality. This is most likely, the researchers say, with special occasion gifts which the consumer doesn’t purchase regularly.
Consumer behavior findings about gifts do often differ from findings about other purchases. For example, findings from Stanford University, University of California-Berkeley, and University of Chicago suggest that when a gift is expected, the givers who wait until the last minute get increasingly interested in avoiding pain. The result is that they’re willing to pay more for a gift and often more willing to upgrade to a fancier gift.
And packaging counts with gifts, including a bit of difficulty in opening the present. Anthropologists at University of Florida observed how important admiring the gift wrapping and the unwrapping of the gift are as cultural rituals. Consider offering gift wrapping as a value-added service.
The notion that processing difficulty can draw special attention is not new. Classic research by psychologist Edward Wheeler Scripture found that a bit of puzzlement in a headline—whether for a newspaper article or newspaper ad—increases interest in reading what follows. In an 1895 book, Dr. Scripture used his studies’ findings to suggest putting commercial notices upside down in order to attract the consumer’s close attention to the content, thereby increasing the likelihood of purchase.
Still, it would be a cruel trick—and thoroughly bad business—to intentionally confuse that up-and-growing target market—elderly consumers. Safety might be at stake here. So to the degree that you have time, deliver the message in different ways. Tell the elderly customer the product usage instructions. Demonstrate your points with gestures or even a sample of usage. Then check for understanding by encouraging the customer to ask you questions. In doing this, be sure to respect the dignity of the customers. If they seem confused, let them know you and others in the store are available later.
Click below for more:
Transform Necessary Difficulty into Value
Limn Words Shoppers Won’t Understand
Clear Search Paths for Shoppers
Update Valentine’s Day Pricing Plans
Analyze Gifting to Develop Opportunities
Check Instructions with Elderly Customers
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