Bring Value Closer

Today’s consumer thinks about today’s value. That’s why, everything else being equal, they’ll prefer products and services which give them immediate benefits over those in which the benefits are over the horizon.
     Researchers at Wayne State University and University of Arkansas saw this phenomenon when comparing messages for energy savings on light bulbs. Those like, “You can start saving a little money now on your electricity bills by using this product,” generated more purchase potential than did messages like, “Over the next three years, you’ll save a noticeable amount of money by using this product.”
     Psychological distance enters into the shopper’s preference equation in other ways, too:

• Selecting an item to be used in the future rather than starting now 
• Selecting an item for use by someone else rather than one’s own use 
• Considering an item after reading an ad rather than in the store 

     Also, a need to travel a longer way to obtain the item. But this one sometimes adds to the valuation of the item instead of subtracting. Researchers at University of Chicago found that shoppers who characterized themselves as “smart” rather than “not smart” expressed a higher preference for products they’d have to travel across town to get over equivalent products they could purchase nearby. These shoppers also evaluated products more positively when the products had been pushed back on the shelves rather than being in easy reach.
     Related to the degree of valuation are these further effects of psychological distance:

• Emotional reactions become less intense. According to studies at University of Colorado-Boulder, University of Oviedo in Spain, and Lieberman Research Worldwide, this is true for highly positive emotions—such as the thrill in having the item—and for highly negative emotions—such as anger at flawed product performance—and for all the emotions in-between. 
• There is a stronger link in the shopper’s mind between price and quality. Researchers at Hong Kong University of Science and Technology told study participants how much had been paid for a set of items—ranging from yogurt to computers—and then asked each participant to guess the quality of each item. In some cases, the study participant was to assume she herself had made the purchase. In the other cases, the participant was to assume a friend had made the purchase. With purchases made by friends, there was a more direct relationship between the price paid and the assumed quality of the item. 

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

Click below for more: 
Drive the Psychological Distance
Challenge Smart Shoppers
Commit Shoppers from a Distance for Expenses