Look Lively!

Shoppers like stimulation. We know this. So what's the added value from the research finding that video portrayals of items in retail ads sell better than still photos? Well, the Babson College and University of Miami study increased the usefulness by saying the dynamic portrayal advantage works most strongly with hedonic—pleasure-oriented—products and services. Product preferences and willingness to pay a higher price both go up.
     The research also found how the increment has a shelf life. That is, if the consumer sees a video presentation for one item, the bigger interest level carries over to the next item advertised, whether or not it’s presented with a video or a still picture. Therefore, you don’t need to spring for videos throughout. A combination of video and still can work fine.
     In fact, it probably works better. Overstimulation distracts people from making purchases. Loud sounds, such as might be found in video ads, cause us to tighten our muscles, and as research from National University of Singapore and University of Chicago confirms, tense muscles keep people from being sold what they’re not fully convinced they want.
     Findings from State University of New York-Buffalo indicate that as a video ad progresses, you can safely introduce greater levels of movement. Viewers adapt to the energy. This set of studies also adds to the advice about the ads: The benefits of liveliness are greatest for items that are extensions of what’s already familiar to the viewer. If the stretch is too great, such as introducing a radically innovative product, there’s the risk of the kinetic energy in the ad distracting from what’s needed to understand the novel item.
     For face-to-face selling, dynamism helps, too. After making the same sales presentation hundreds of times, you and your staff may start sounding as if you’re delivering a news report devoid of passion. Remember to keep it exciting.
     You also can improve sales by having the shopper move. In an International University Bremen study, consumers who were induced to nod their head up and down then afterwards thought more positively about purchase alternatives than those who hadn’t nodded.
     Stanford University researchers point out successes in getting customers to make purchases by having text—such as on signage and packaging—set in narrow adjacent columns. The reason this works: In order to read the text, a shopper needs to slowly nod their head up and down.

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

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