Accept Shopper Concerns About Acceptance

People want to belong. Research from San Francisco State University indicates that in store settings, this influences whether they buy items similar to what others with them are buying. If a shopper feels accepted by people in the group, they’re more likely to aim for distinctiveness. Shoppers who are unsure of their status with the group tend to choose what leaders in the group are selecting.
     Also, whether a shopper is a variety seeker or conformist is determined by the degree of conformity of the group members. In an observational study conducted with diners at Flam's in Paris by researchers from Sorbonne-Assas in France and University of Adelaide in Australia, when about 30% to 80% of a group had ordered the same choice, people placing their orders next tended to go along with ordering this choice for themselves. But once the conformity exceeded 80%, subsequent orders were much more likely to show variety seeking.
     If you're selling socks or socket wrenches instead of steaks, doing business in Paris, Texas, not Paris, France, and accounting for shoppers’ worries about group acceptance, the percentages will probably be different. But in any case, do your merchandising with the expectation you'll be having both conformists and variety seekers as shoppers.
     You’ll increase sales when you help your shoppers reach their favorite spot on the conformity-distinctiveness scale. Research findings from University of South Carolina, Loyola University, and Baruch College suggest that one tool you have for doing this is the phrasing of a certain preferences question:

• If you ask your customer, “What about this product do you like that your friends would also like?,” this prompts individual distinctiveness, since it puts your customer in the role of advisor and perhaps opinion leader. 
• However, if you ask your customer, “What about this product do your friends like and you also like?,” this prompts the customer to think about the comfort of adhering to group preferences. 
• In general, middle-aged shoppers are more likely to seek distinctiveness than conformity. Teenagers tend to opt for conformity with groups they aspire to belong to. 

     Overall, consumers are more interested in conformity when it comes to fashion items, such as clothing and entertainment products. They’re relatively less interested in conformity with functional items, like appliances and foods. With functional items, shoppers are more interested in what others think of a product than what others think of people choosing that product.

Click below for more: 
Expect Shopper Conformity & Variety Seeking 
Navigate Shoppers Toward Distinctiveness