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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