Awe Shoppers, Then Avoid Ambiguity

Awe can advantage marketers, according to a team of researchers at Utah Valley University, Regis University, and Washington State University. Their report of studies by others indicates that for retailers, awe increases receptiveness to novel offerings; for nonprofits, awe increases a willingness to donate money and time; and for public welfare campaigners, awe increases interest in environmentally sustainable choices.
     For their own studies, the researchers defined awe as feelings of wonder, amazement, or reverence in the presence of something vast or mysterious. It’s both an awareness of being part of something far bigger than oneself and a sense of smallness in the face of the vastness. They generated awe in participants by showing them a two-minute video which created the sensation of flying through stars and nebulae, concluding with an image of earth as seen from space. The video was introduced with a message reading “ENJOY THIS AWESOME EXPERIENCE” and was accompanied by a portion of the music theme from the movie Interstellar. Results from surveys administered after the video viewing confirmed that the participants experienced feelings of self-transcendence and/or a sense of smallness.
     Then other aspects of the studies identified a potential problem with arousing awe: There are two opposite reactions to ambiguity. Participants showing evidence of high self-transcendence were open to uncertainty, while participants showing a sense of smallness avoided uncertainty. In one of the studies, this was seen when each participant was asked whether they preferred a well-known brand of computer or a little-known brand with a greater hard disk capacity.
     Because shopper reactions to ambiguity could swing toward either extreme with awe being aroused, I recommend minimizing uncertainty in product offerings when employing advantages of awe appeals. Marketers generally do best when able to accurately predict reactions to persuasion tactics.
     There are additional circumstances when you’ll want to avoid uncertainty. In times of high turmoil or if the retail transaction already involves clear risk, don’t add lots of extra ambiguity. People going to the dentist or an auto repair shop prefer to know the parameters of the pain and the gain.
     But aside from these circumstances, uncertainty can provide stimulating appeal. In a University of Chicago study, people worked harder for a bag containing either two or four chocolates than did another group told the bag had four chocolates. The researchers attribute the effect to the fun which comes from anticipation of discovering the contents.

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Leap Up Donations Using Legacy Potential 

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Tickle with Uncertainty

Benefit Non-Disabled with Accommodations

Why don’t retailers devote more resources to accommodating the special needs of shoppers with disabilities? Researchers at Dartmouth College and University of South Carolina say it’s because retailers are thinking that most shoppers aren’t thinking about those special needs, or if the retailers and shoppers are aware of the special needs, they object to the downsides for themselves of making accommodations.
     The result is that retailers believe shoppers will react negatively to disability accommodation initiatives. Based on this hypothesized explanation, the researchers tested ways to ease consumer resistances.
     In one study, participants were presented with a scenario in which the accommodations resulted in higher prices. The participants read, “Imagine you need to shop for some basic groceries, and visit a nearby grocery store. You walk through the store, and find everything you need for the week. Usually the total for this is $50, but to your surprise this time it is $58. You learn that the store has increased prices to cover the cost of ensuring that every product in the store is accessible to consumers with disabilities. For example, they have widened the aisles for wheelchair accessibility and now offer some pre-cut and pre-peeled fruits and vegetables to help those with hand dexterity issues.”
     Some of the participants also read additional text: “You realize these changes also benefit other people like yourself and people you know. For example, widened aisles will help new parents more easily navigate strollers around the store or buying the pre-cut and pre-peeled fruits and vegetables can help you eat healthier when you are busy.”
     After reading the text, each participant was asked to rate the grocery store on a scale ranging from bad to good, rate the personal costs of the shopping trip, and rate the morality of the retailer.
     Data analyses showed that on all three measures, the additional text improved the rating of the retailer and the shopping trip. None of these ratings were overall as positive as those from a group of participants who read only that the shopping trip cost $50 and read nothing about accommodations for the disabled. But for retailers who are required by law to introduce accommodations or choose to voluntarily do so in order to attract more shoppers, describing the benefits of each change for non-disabled shoppers is a promising method for easing negative reactions. For accommodation ideas, check ADA Update: A Primer for Small Business.

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Accommodate Disabled Shoppers’ Psychology 

Construe Differences in Disability Duration

Tap Seniors’ Curiosity with Prior Knowledge

When someone’s in the midst of making a consumer decision, they are likely to be motivated to gather information directly relevant to that decision. Another motivation for gathering information is curiosity. Even if separated in time and intent from a particular consumer decision, what’s learned via curiosity lingers in the background and therefore can influence choices. Knowing how curious consumers seek information helps persuasion agents be more effective.
     Researchers at University of Southampton, University of Stirling, University of Reading, Kochi University of Technology, and University of Tübingen say the how depends on age. When motivated by curiosity, younger people seek to broaden their existing knowledge, while older people seek to deepen their existing knowledge. The researchers recommend that when aiming to implant information in the brain of an older adult, we present the information as providing greater depth about topics we discover are already familiar to that older adult.
     The researchers base these conclusions on their study conducted at the London Science Museum. Visitors passing by a group of computer terminals were invited to select a theme they were interested in from a set of five—such as “Mythical Beasts” or “Lesser Explored Countries”—and learn about that theme. Once choosing the theme, the study participant was presented with a set of topics about it and asked to use the computer to display facts about one of the topics. Following this, each participant could decide to learn more about the topic, change the topic to learn about, or end the inquiry altogether.
     The participants ranged in age from 12 to 79 years. Measures of interest and curiosity were gathered, along with noting each participant’s pattern of information pursuit. Data analysis showed that interest and curiosity were closely related and that the pattern of seeking information was related to age, as predicted.
     Prior studies have provided supportive findings. Researchers at University of Cincinnati, University of Florida, and University of Mississippi offered choices of a variety of music samples to study participants. Novices accepted a few new songs in a multitude of genres. On the other hand, experts, who we’d expect to be older than the novices, accepted a greater number of songs solely from one or a limited number of genres in which they considered themselves to have some expertise. An explanation for the effect is that older consumers place greater importance on screening possibilities for consistency with their existing interests, values, and needs.

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Resolve Identity Crises for the Elderly 

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Frequent Promotional Discounts on Sin Taxes

Shoppers began upping their hunt for promotional discounts on sugary soda at the same time sellers began offering relatively fewer promotional discounts on those items. The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and University of Amsterdam researchers witnessed this as they tracked the impacts of areawide soda tax introductions at 208 retail stores located in Boulder, Oakland, Philadelphia, San Francisco, or Seattle.
     When your sales promotions fall out of synch with shopper sensitivity to the sales promotion characteristics, profitability opportunities suffer. In reporting their findings, the researchers discuss sound reasons that manufacturers, suppliers, and retailers may hesitate to offer or feature promotional discounts in response to a soda tax. By pointing out the failure to match shopper preferences, they stimulate us to reconsider our sin tax strategies.
     Other findings from the five-city study also have implications for action: With introduction of a well-publicized soda tax, shoppers become less sensitive to non-discounted pricing. Therefore, consider passing on as much as 100% of such a tax amount to the purchaser. And after introduction of the soda tax, the presence or frequency of a price discount became more relevant to purchase decisions, while the depth of discounts became less relevant. Take this finding into account when setting your promotional discount strategy.
     A rationale for soda taxes is that the increased price will curb consumption of these unhealthy beverages and perhaps shift preferences toward purchasing juices or bottled water. Research has documented mixed successes. Across studies, about 60% to 100% of the additional tax amount is passed on to consumers in item price increases, with consequent decreases in sales ranging from as high as about 50% to as low as none at all.
     Another study of the effects of the soda tax in Philadelphia found that 97% of the amount of the increase was passed on to purchasers. This resulted in a 34% increase in the total item price and a subsequent drop in sugary soda demand of 46% within the city. But this set of Imperial College London, Northwestern University, and Washington University in St. Louis researchers further explored the public policy implications by expanding their data collection to the greater Philadelphia area. This revealed that consumers shifted their soda purchases to stores outside Philadelphia, offsetting more than half of that 46% sales reduction.
     Moreover, there were only modest increases within the city of purchases of the untaxed natural juices.

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Tax Our Ingenuity to Keep Customers Healthy 

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