Arouse Brand Sensitivity with Vanity Appeals

Selling private label goods—house or store brands—will often give you advantages over selling nationally advertised brands. Retail profit margins are usually higher even when you’re offering a better price to the customer. Still, there are circumstances in which both you and the consumer benefit from a sale of the nationally advertised alternative.
     Research findings from Southern Illinois University suggest your chances are best when the shopper is vain.
     What are signs you can spot of vanity? The shopper…

• …expresses high interest in how good a product will make them look. 
• …indicates they think they are highly attractive to others. 
• …brags about their achievements 

     Because each of us yearns for self-esteem, even the smallest things can give you a retailer’s edge. Every time you personalize the selling message by referring to a characteristic of the shopper, you’re delivering a compliment. And researchers at Universiteit Leuven in Belgium find that across languages and cultures, people’s self-esteem is heightened at least a bit not only when their name is used, but also when they are shown or given products with brand names starting with the first letter in their own names.
     In a study at Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, prospective clothing shoppers were given a flyer advertising a department store. The flyer read, “We’re contacting you because you’re fashionable and stylish,” and then asked the shopper to come visit the store.
     It would seem that such obviously insincere flattery would amuse or irritate the shopper. But the flattered shoppers who were asked for snap judgments rated the store more highly.
     In a second experiment, participants were offered a discount coupon from the store that gave the flattery or from a store whose flyer offered no flattery. If asked three days later, 80% chose the coupon from the phony flattery store.
     In the third experiment, flattered participants were told that the store charged especially high prices and had a restricted range of clothing. Even when confronted with these negatives, participants held onto their positive views. The exception was if the consumers were first made to feel good about themselves by writing about a positive trait.
     With customers hungry for self-esteem, phony flattery can influence brand and store awareness. This works best if the customer is distracted from thinking about the flattery having been phony, such as by being rushed or making a selection after some time has passed.

Click below for more: 
Allow Prestige for Store Brands 
Praise Your Customers 
Flatter Shoppers with Care and Caring