Toss Rotten Tomatoes

How might it be that a few negative reviews of a movie on Rotten Tomatoes can hurt ticket sales, but a whole bunch of negative reviews could help?
     Researchers at The University of Adelaide and Edith Cowan University verified this effect via their analysis of 23,046 reviews of and sales revenues for 80 Hollywood movies which the researchers selected for having emotional scenes and memorable characters.
     The researchers’ explanation of this effect starts with acknowledging how past studies find that consumers are more likely to express positive than negative emotions in item reviews they post, but negative emotions expressed in reviews have a greater influence than positive emotions on the purchase decisions of review readers. Negative reviews tend to be more interesting to readers.
     When there’s a higher number of negative reviews, the review reader becomes more likely to carefully analyze the arguments of the reviews and therefore spot any flaws in the arguments. Further, any reader who has seen the movie and identifies with it will feel threatened by a large number of critical comments, leading to that reader wanting to post a positive review. Related to these explanations, bad publicity attracts attention, which can stimulate consumers’ interest in checking the movie for themselves.
     To make positives about a movie more interesting, researchers suggest that promotions incorporate emotional wording such as lovely story, beautiful scenery, and nonstop action. Emotion does sell, although I do predict that with the burgeoning use of AI shopping agents—in which the consumer delegates item choice to a set of algorithms—emotional appeals will be less successful in marketing.
     Another takeaway from this study is that you can safely toss away any overconcern about negative reviews on Rotten Tomatoes and other movie review sites when you’re marketing a flick, TripAdvisor and other lodging review sites when you’re marketing your hotel, and Yelp and other general review sites whatever you’re marketing. Beyond a certain quantity, negative reviews set off a balancing loop which ironically increases positive attitudes toward an offering. Along with this, respond selectively to negative reviews, attending just to those containing exclamation points, emoticons, or all caps.
     Actually, you might want to toss out into your audience of prospective purchasers a few rotten tomatoes of negative reviews, with your objective being to stimulate that audience to counter the negative via their own positive reviews or to try a sample for themselves.

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Respond Selectively to Negative Reviews 

Invite People to Ridicule for Themselves 

Convert Controversy to Retail Sales

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Stifle the Smile When Selling Status

Luxury appeal operates more through the exclusivity of item competence than through the approachability of interpersonal warmth. This leads to a hypothesis that the broad smile on faces of ad models which can help sell mass-market items would hurt sales of high-fashion apparel and accessories. In status-oriented or competitive situations centered around dominance, you do best to chill out your emotions.
     Researchers at Manchester Metropolitan University, University of Sussex, and Central European University Vienna tested this hypothesis with ads for Louis Vuitton, Gucci, Prada, and two fictitious brand names developed for the studies and referred to in the ads as exclusive collections. Study participants included consumers in the U.S. and China.
     Overall, a neutral facial expression on the ad model produced higher levels of ad engagement, positive attitudes, and shopper purchase intentions. The researchers’ explanation is that in luxury contexts, a neutral expression, as contrasted to a smile, portrays pride in one’s self and in the luxury quality of the item being advertised.
     The researchers found that the effect did not hold with a mass-market cosmetic brand—Covergirl, but did with a luxury brand—Prada, for the same product category—a two-foundation makeup. With consumers who looked at the Covergirl ads, there were no significant differences between measures for those who saw the model with a smile and those who saw the model with a neutral expression. This supports the explanation that the smile-versus-neutral effect has to do with the nature of luxury contexts.
     The effect was stronger when in the ad, the model is looking directly at the viewer rather than averting a direct gaze. This suggests that a neutral look is particularly useful in luxury ads when the model’s gaze is directly toward the viewer.
     A direct gaze by a model enhances the credibility which luxury represents. Researchers at University of Houston found that an ad for a product or service appealing to positive emotions works best when the model’s eyes are averted rather than looking straight at the shopper. In one of the experiments—using a Facebook ad for a woman’s sun hat—people were 30% more likely to buy when the model had an averted compared to a direct gaze.
     But there was a downside to the averted gaze. It lessened model credibility. When credibility is essential, as with ads dependent on a luxury appeal, use a direct gaze by the model, advise the Houston researchers.

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Saturate Your Store with Sweet Smiles 

Chill Out Emotions to Look Cool 

Look Out for Where They’re Gazing

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Go for Oh’s to Reduce Restaurant No-Shows

OpenTable data show that in the U.S., about one out of every four restaurant reservations is not kept by the prospective diner. After citing that statistic, a team of Montclair State University, Mount Royal University, and Sejong University researchers detail the costs of no-shows, describe reasons for this behavior, and, through studies, develop suggestions for reducing the rate.
     The costs to restaurants include not only the lost revenue from those diners who didn’t appear, but also suboptimal inventory management of supplies and missed opportunities to seat walk-in guests at tables being held for those with reservations. The reasons for no-show behavior, as seen in prior studies, include some we might not expect, such as a customer booking at a number of restaurants and then forgetting to cancel the unwanted bookings.
     The chief strategy developed by the researchers for reducing no-show rates is to activate social pressure for reliability and punctuality by reminding consumers of the detrimental social effects of no-show behavior. Let’s get frequent diners in the habit of saying to themselves, “Oh, that’s why I should make only restaurant reservations I’m comfortable I can keep and conscientiously cancel any reservations I realize I won’t keep.”
     Based on results from their studies, the researchers conclude that this strategy works best when the cancellation policy is lenient. This is consistent with the idea that an optimal technique for reducing no-show rates won’t irritate prospective customers. Any penalties for cancellation should be perceived as fair and the cancellation procedure should not be perceived as burdensome.
     The researchers point out these techniques for curbing restaurant reservation no-shows might not work in other booking situations, such as with hotels. The average transaction amounts, length of advance planning, and visit frequencies are different. Still, I believe the strategy of increasing awareness among consumers about the costs of no-shows holds promise.
     Moreover, arousing a sense of obligation can nudge behavior toward the socially responsible in areas well beyond the no-show. The effects depend on you making the consumer’s behavior visible, or at least giving the impression of visibility. Although you can influence shopper behavior in the short-term by arousing shame, you’ll have better long-term results by aiming for a sense of obligation.
     With restaurants, feeling obligation should lead to higher diner tip amounts than would a feeling of shame, and in the areas well beyond, feeling obligation leads to more repeat business than does shame.

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Peer into Pressure from Obligation 

Prefer Obligation to Shame 

Tip Yourself Off with Tipping Tracking

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Use Color Codes Which Catch Shoppers’ Eyes

My thanks to Ernesto Cardamone, Gaetano “Nino” Miceli, and Maria Antonietta Raimondo from University of Calabria for this guest post.

Why do some products jump off the shelf while others blend into the background? The answer might be as simple—and complex—as color.
     We researchers identified what we call category color codes: the color patterns consumers associate with specific product categories. These codes shape what we expect to see in each aisle of the supermarket, and they influence how quickly we recognize and trust a product. For instance, in Italy, olive oil is often associated with yellow and green.
     But what happens when a brand wants to both fit in and stand out? This tension—between conformity and distinctiveness—is central to how products succeed or fail on the shelf. If a package looks too different, shoppers may not recognize it as belonging to the intended category. But if it looks too similar, it may never get noticed.
     In our study, we focused on the two most dominant colors on product packaging. Prior studies and an image mining analysis that we conducted on 10 product categories had shown that packages typically use two main colors—one covering around 49% of the surface, the other around 19%—with additional colors covering limited areas. So, we concentrated on how this main + secondary color combo affects shopper attention.
     We conducted a lab study, using mock two-colored packages in a controlled setting, and a field study in a supermarket. Using eye-tracking technology, we monitored how long shoppers looked at different product packages, as longer eye contact is a reliable indicator of attention.
     The most effective strategy we found? Choose one dominant color that aligns with category norms, and pair it with a second color that breaks those norms. Blend in just enough to be trusted, but stand out enough to be noticed.
     For manufacturers, these findings are important for setting the most effective color combination in packages. Moreover, for brands looking to piggyback on a category leader, the advice is clear: mimic the leader’s primary color, but use a contrasting secondary color to set yourself apart. For retailers, this insight can inform how products should be arranged on shelves to maximize attention.
     So next time you're walking the aisles, take a closer look—you might notice that what grabs your attention isn’t just a bright color, but a smart one.

© 2025 Ernesto Cardamone, Gaetano “Nino” Miceli, and Maria Antonietta Raimondo

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Saturate Hungry Shoppers with Vibrant Colors 

Go Bold or Au Naturel for Packaging Healthy 

Copycat Based on Leader Brand Proximity

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