Hover Within the Shopper’s Power Level

International cultures differ on something named Power Distance Belief (PDB) by researchers at University of Texas-San Antonio, Pennsylvania State University, and Rice University. The “power” refers to the degree of influence people have over others. The “distance belief” refers to the degree to which a consumer accepts that there are wide differences in the amount of power possessed by people.
     North American and European residents have low PDB scores, believing that in retail transactions, for example, the salesperson and the shopper deserve to have about an equal amount of influence. Still, the level of power your shopper feels can differ depending on personality factors like a desire for domination and situational factors like high or low expertise about a product or service category. Researchers at INSEAD-France, Northwestern University, and Columbia University find that, at least in France and the U.S., you’re more likely to make a sale when you position yourself at a point within the range of the power shown by the shopper. [In August 2024, the researchers announced they’d made some errors in reporting and analyzing their data. After reviewing their corrections, my opinion is that the errors were unintentional and the conclusions I report in this paragraph are still valid. However, in view of the researchers’ past carelessness, you might choose to place less certainty on the conclusions.]
     High-power persuasion transactions emphasize shows of competence, so when your shopper flashes competence, flash it back. Low-power persuasion transactions emphasize warmth, so when your shopper exudes warmth, generate it back. Other research finds that you can navigate toward the right power zone by phrasing you use. “At our store, you’re the boss” moves you toward lower power, while “At our store, we take care of you” moves you higher. To manipulate a sense of power for a sequence of consumer behavior experiments, researchers at Stanford University and Tilburg University had people sit on either a tall chair or a low ottoman.
     Researchers at Cornell University and University of Michigan showed some study participants pictures of SUVs facing directly toward the viewer, while others were shown side views of the vehicles. The consumers seeing the head-on perspective gave higher average ratings of the SUV on words like “dominant” and “powerful.” Then another set of study participants, asked to assess the status and power of the SUV’s owner, were more likely to say “high status, high power” if shown the head-on view of the vehicle than if shown the side view.
     When the same experiments were done with pictures of family sedans, there were no differences in the degree of rated power for the car or for the owners. The conclusion: People seeking the product associated with power will get more interested if the view is head-on.

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

Click below for more: 
Yield to Power Distance Belief
Embrace Shopper Expertise
Add to Global Warming in Your Store
Hang ’Em High for Power Deposits
Head On In To Portray Power Products
Power Tools to Empower Women