Stimulate Innovation via Single Units Now

Want shoppers to try out a new brand? Offer single-unit instead of multiple-unit packages of all items in that product category. For instance, the customer who buys the double-pack of their favorite mouthwash is less likely to also buy a heavily-discounted new brand than the customer who buys the single pack.
     “Well, of course,” you might say. If you’ve bought two bottles, you’ve got yourself covered—and feel less need to keep your mouth covered—for a longer time into the future. Why spend money on an additional bottle?
     But that’s not the whole explanation. Researchers at Northwestern University, INSEAD-Singapore, Universidad Torcuato Di Tella, and Fundação Getúlio Vargas offered study participants a choice of two cans of soda. For some, the participant was asked to select either a Coke or a Sprite, and then asked to choose an additional can of either Coke or Sprite. The other participants were invited to choose once from two-can packages—either a Coke/Coke, Sprite/Sprite, or Coke/Sprite. Those choosing one at a time were twice as likely to select one of each brand than those who selected the two-pack. They were more open to innovating, even among those participants who said they liked one of the two brands more than the other.
     When you base your store practices on consumer psychology findings, you’ve the advantage of knowing why it works instead of only what works. That allows you to sidestep misapplication of your successes. You see, when the choice of a set is spread over time, it’s the multiple-unit alternative which produces more variety-seeking..
     Carnegie Mellon University students were offered a bonus treat in their economics or history class: They could select snacks to be given to them at the end of three successive class sessions. The choices included Snickers bars, Oreo cookies, milk chocolate with almonds, tortilla chips, peanuts, and cheese-peanut butter crackers.
     Half the number of participants were invited to choose one item on each of the three weeks. At each session, they weren’t told if there would be additional opportunities to choose in future classes. The other participants were told that in the first class session they were to select the treat they wanted for each of three classes in advance.
     In the one-at-a-time, single-unit group, only 8% chose three different items. Among those selecting three items as a bundle, 45% went for three different items.
     These consumers feared boredom.

For your profitability: Sell Well: What Really Moves Your Shoppers

Click below for more: 
See Through Consumers’ Boredom Fears 
Bundle Expensive & Cheap Synergistically 
Increase Purchase Quantities with Discounts
Encourage Customers to Be Innovative
Limit Variety as Shoppers Approach Goals