Weather Changes in Weather-Based Buying

Consumer research has repeatedly found that weather conditions such as temperature influence purchasing behavior. For instance, during cold spells, people become more willing to take on complex risks and more interested in watching feel-good romance movies while eating fattening snacks.
     Studies at Rice University and University of South Wales show how the second of those is particularly true among women. The reason is that women are more sensitive than men to their negative emotional states. The researchers found plenty of evidence for this. Adults in New York State spent more money on entertainment and tobacco during cold months than warm months. The difference was most pronounced in census tracts having greater percentages of women. In a sample of adult non-dieters from across the U.S., there was higher reported consumption of chocolates and cookies when the temperature was colder and the rainfall greater. These changes in consumption habits tracked self-reported changes in mood. For both genders together, the effect was stronger for those who reported having spent more time outside. Between genders, the effect was stronger for the women than for the men.
     Services like Weather Unlocked, Weatherfx, and WeatherBug allow marketers to knowledgably develop campaigns, including promotional discounts, based on weather forecasts. The research indicates the return on investment for doing this will be greater for product classes of interest to female consumers. The projects are also likely to be more profitable when recognizing how it is not only the current weather, but also the anticipated weather which influences purchasing behavior. Women often choose their swimwear as the temperatures start to rise, and all that could be well after they’d joined the gym or purchased exercise equipment. The Rice/South Wales researchers recount that Pantene shampoo once used WeatherFX to spot upcoming humid days and then issued “frizzy haircasts.” Sales of Pantene increased 28%.
     As a rule, when the weather is warm, people become more comfortable paying higher prices for products and services. Yet if the product is a snow shovel and the service is repair of the furnace, a willingness to pay more is likely to come into action during the cold months instead of during hot ones. And studies at Clicksuasion Labs in North Carolina, University of Auckland, and Western Sydney University find that the effect of warm temperature reports on price anchors operates most clearly when consumers are making their purchase decisions without complete amounts of information.

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