Buy the Power of Bye-Bye

You’ve read the last word of an article about European travel. That last word is “Bye.” Next, you immediately turn your attention to an ad for skydiving lessons. Would that last word from the article make you more likely to buy a series of the lessons?
     Maybe so, since the article on travel could prime in you a spirit of adventure. Still, research from University of Miami and Virginia Tech indicates the effect of reading that last word in the article wouldn’t be strong. It might bring to mind images of moving vans, long-lost friends, and because of the theme of the article, maybe farewells as an airplane prepares to head for the wild blue yonder.
     However, none of those images has to do with the homophone of “bye,” the word “buy.”
     But, asked the researchers, what if the word “bye” is said to a consumer, rather than being read by the consumer? And let’s say the consumer’s mind is busy at the time, as may easily happen on a shopping trip. Then all of the tangential associations to the sound of the word could flood in. The probability of completing a purchase increases. “Bye-bye!” primes a “Buy, buy!”
     Of course, one of the other associations to “bye-bye” is an expectation to head for the exit. We’ll need to suppress that one in the shopper. Maybe say, “Before I say bye-bye to you, may I show you another item?”
     Words have the power to direct and to clarify. Researchers at State University of New York-Stony Brook, University of Minnesota, and Vanderbilt University asked people to remember sentences which at first hearing seemed to be nonsense. Example: The notes were sour because the seam was split.
     Adding only one word to the presentation resulted in dramatic improvements in memorization. The clarifying word was “bagpipe,” and now the sentence made sense.
     Here’s another example: The haystack was important because the cloth would rip.
     Can you figure out what that sentence means?
     My guess is that you can. I primed you, not with a homophone, but rather with the picture in this post and my mention of the wild blue yonder.
      Without those prompts, you’d find it much more difficult to make sense of the words.
     Profitable selling mobilizes associations made by the shopper. Recognize how the words and images you use can generate, for good or bad, associations you didn’t intend.

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