Accent the Emotions when Imminent Usage

Ask shoppers how soon they plan to start using what they’re considering. Knowing this allows you to present the most compelling balance between desirability and feasibility benefits, between the emotional appeal and the objective assessment. Whether in advertising, signage, or talk, you don't have time to tell the prospect everything. Home in on what makes a sale which will benefit both the purchaser and your bottom line.
     About one month prior to the graduation ceremony at a college, researchers at Columbia University and Singapore Management University described to groups of juniors and seniors at the college two sorts of apartments, then asked each of the students to say which apartment they’d prefer if actually renting it upon graduation.

• A small apartment attractively decorated, with pretty views out the windows 
• A large apartment located close to activities the graduate enjoys 

     The college seniors were more likely to select the first alternative than were the college juniors, whose graduation was further in the future. The researchers suspected this is because decisions on purchases consumers plan to use soon are based on emotional assessments. On the other hand, the research evidence suggested, if the consumers won’t be using the purchase for some time, they’ll place more importance on an objective, non-emotional assessment.
     Other research indicates that ease of use is an important component in the emotional appeal. When customers shop for a product or service for future use, they'll pay special attention to the distinctive features. But when they plan to put the item to work soon, they're especially interested in ease of use. That's true across cultures. When, for instance, people are looking at word processing software they'll start using in a few months, they give great weight to the range of capabilities of the software. However, if they plan to start using the software within a few days, their primary criterion is ease of learning the software.
     In some cases, you can guess how soon the shopper plans to start using the purchase. Certain items are likely to be last-minute searches. Floral bouquets and hot water heaters come to mind. With these, you don't need to depend on sales staff contact to get the message across. In your advertising and signage, feature ease of delivery, ease of installation, ease of learning, and other angles on ease of use.

Click below for more: 
Sell Ease of Use to Last-Minute Shoppers 
Emphasize Emotions with Older Consumers 
Appeal to the Heart 
Satisfy Sad Shoppers with Prompt Rewards