Label Why They Don’t Read the Labels

Shoppers make better decisions when they read item labels. Plus it saves you time answering questions which the label text could do. If the label contains usage information or other cautions, reading the label is a safety matter. Considering all this, it’s in your interest to figure out why customers so often fail to do the recommended reading.
     Studies at University of Budapest find that issues of trust explain much. Label reading is less likely when the shopper has high trust in the quality of products in the item category, high trust in you as a source of recommendations and instructions, or low trust in their own ability to make sense of what the text on the label says. For instance, when they expect the label to be written in a language largely foreign to them or to use many unfamiliar terms, the shopper is much less likely to read it, the research finds.
     If the lack of label perusal is due to the shopper’s lack of trust in their ability to understand, help out the shopper. One alternative is for you to post translations and simplified versions of the label text for your items likely to be most popular with these shoppers. A less cumbersome solution is to coach yourself and your staff to stay alert to shoppers who struggle to read a label before turning away. The Budapest studies indicate you’re most likely to see this happening with items having consequences for health or items purchased for use by others than the purchaser. People are more likely to seek item labels when there are children or illness in their household.
     This does assume that your salesperson can make sense of the labels. In my tale to illustrate this point, a manager was pleased at his decision to hire Marie as a salesclerk in the pharmacy. Older customers seemed much more comfortable asking Marie questions than asking the teenage salesclerks in the store. However, the manager noted that Marie might be having some difficulties from being an older person herself: When a shopper would ask Marie for help in reading a package label, Marie often squinted and appeared to lack confidence.
     “Marie,” he asked her one day, “sometimes I’ll assign an employee to pick up pharmaceuticals. Do you need to wear glasses to drive your car?”
     “Boss,” replied Marie, “I need to wear glasses to find my car.”

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