Vend Health with Proper Item Placement

When looking at store shelves, shoppers are more likely to select healthy rather than unhealthy food alternatives if the healthy items are positioned to the left rather than to the right of the unhealthy ones. But when the purchase is from a vending machine, it’s the opposite: Researchers at University of Macerata, Università Politecnica delle Marche, and University of Bologna find that placing the healthy alternatives to the right of the row increases the frequency of their selection.
     That’s useful for those promoting healthy food consumption to have in mind since vending machines are highly popular for selling snacks. The researchers attribute the popularity to, among other factors, our current convenience-oriented culture, demand for 24/7 accessibility, and frequency of on-the-go consumption. Compared to when selecting snacks at a store, a vending machine purchase is usually made with less deliberation or interpersonal interaction. Both these factors can nudge choice toward a high-sugar, ultra-processed alternative.
     The argument for placing healthy items on the left of store shelves relates to perceived cost: Consumers tend to assume that higher-priced items are positioned to the right of lower-priced items. For a cost-conscious consumer, reactions to an alternative being seen on the left counterbalance another common assumption—that healthy food items are less tasty than unhealthy ones. But because of the impulsive nature of vending machine purchases, the consumer is likely to be less price-sensitive, so the influence of cost perception is less.
     Beyond this, the researchers’ argument for placing healthy items on the right of the vending machine row has to do with product familiarity: With vending machine purchases, people are more likely to select items which are familiar to them. However, this effect operates differently with vice than with virtue products. As product placement on the vending machine row moves from right to left, the negative impact of familiarity on virtue choice becomes weaker. Virtue products are advantaged by being placed on the right, while the left-hand side favors vice products.
     The studies also found that placement of healthy items on a higher row in the machine enhanced their frequency of choice.
     Please recognize that this doesn’t necessarily mean people will select and consume healthy items to a greater extent than unhealthy ones. Instead, the finding is that relative preferences shift toward healthier items with proper item placement. People might still prefer unhealthy items, but the choice will be noticeably less than otherwise.

Successfully influence the most prosperous & most loyal consumer age group. For the specific strategies & tactics you need, click here.

Click for more…

Help Shoppers Leave with Health Left 

Sense the Pleasure from Tactile Ordering

Image at top of post based on photo by Kuan-yu Huang from Pexels

Fill Coffers Using Retributive Philanthropy

“Donate money to our charity today so we can inflict greater destruction tomorrow.”
     What a strange solicitation I just created! Now suppose the target is cancer. Contributing toward destruction of a disease could bring warm glow feelings we associate with love. I think the pitch makes sense.
     Researchers at Western University in Canada explore other solicitations where the promised payoff is harm, but the motivation is revenge against those who outraged the contributor. Examples cited by the researchers include a Planned Parenthood fundraiser using the tag line, “There’s one person who has a special place in our hearts: Mike Pence. Today, break his heart and make a donation in his name,” in response to Mr. Pence opposing abortion rights and a viral YouTube campaign urging donations of Abercrombie & Fitch clothes to homeless people, so A&F sales are hit, in response to past fatphobic statements made by A&F’s CEO.
     The researchers call such campaigns retributive philanthropy.
     To help your charity best increase overall donations and attract new donors by using retributive philanthropy, understand what the researchers concluded. Results from their studies indicate: 

• For the harm to others to be accepted as morally acceptable, it must be with the contributor’s prosocial intent. Therefore, highlight in your solicitation the social benefit consequence of the damage. 
• Point out how the bad actions of the offender are a clearly intentional, not accidental, violation of what the contributor considers to be moral. 
• To the degree possible, send retributive philanthropy solicitations to prospects who have demonstrated an authoritarian propensity for punishing norm violators.

     Regarding this third one, the researchers note how authoritarianism is a trait associated with disagreeableness and antagonism. These are unlike traits like agreeableness, benevolence, and empathy which we’ve generally associated with charitable behavior. This hints to me that by attending to retributive philanthropy, we can expand the pool of likely donors.
     Mobilize emotions when asking for contributions, whether those emotions arise from authoritarianism or empathy. It can make a difference if we present offenders or beneficiaries as a set of individuals rather than as an organized group of individuals.
     Researchers at University of Michigan and London Business School found that charitable donations to help poor children were higher when the children were described as belonging to the same family than when not. The emotional pull was stronger when the prospective donor had been shown a single entity than when shown isolated individuals.

Successfully influence the most prosperous & most loyal consumer age group. For the specific strategies & tactics you need, click here.

Click for more…

Collapse to Soles When Asking for Money 

Let Go of Grudges

Image at top of post based on photo by Sora Shimazaki from Pexels

Consider Consumer Confidentiality Concerns

People are happier with items which are personalized. Personalization goes beyond customization in that personalization takes into account distinctive individual characteristics of the particular consumer.
     What better way to know about such characteristics than by analyzing each of your shoppers’ DNA? Many consumer tendencies, such as selecting a compromise rather than going for the extremes, have a strong genetic component. So do preferences for specific products, such as chocolate, mustard, hybrid cars, science fiction movies, and jazz. Expert analysis of the adenine, guanine, cytosine, and thymine bases in the DNA strand could end up saving time and energy for both the shopper and the marketer by allowing pinpoint identification of best fits.
     DNA analysis also could be helpful when selling to family members. We might not even need to meet those others when our shopper says, “Can you help me select holiday gifts my children would enjoy?”
     So how interested would your shoppers be in having their genetic testing information used by you?
     The answer to that question, indicates a University of Gothenburg study is, “Not very.”
     The researchers surveyed a sample of Swedish genealogy enthusiasts who had participated in DNA testing. Among the items on the survey were, “I am interested in having my personal information used by the genetic testing company for hyper-personalization of products and services,” and, “I am likely to provide my personal information to the genetic testing company to receive hyper-personalized recommendations of products and services.” On the five-point degree-of-agreement scale where a higher number indicates greater agreement, the mean average responses for the items were 1.75 and 1.67 respectively.
     The researchers note that their sample was not selected randomly and consisted of people who had already shared their genetic information with the testing company. It would seem that among the general population, interest in sharing a DNA profile with a marketer would be even less.
     Analysis of responses to other items on the survey indicated the reason for the reluctance is, not surprisingly, a concern about misuse of the information. This might refer to worries about data disclosure to others. It also might refer to fears the marketer would use the information to exploit a consumer’s weaknesses.
     All this serves to remind us of the concerns our shoppers have about protection of their confidentiality. When it comes to personalizing, let’s gather the necessary information in ways which don’t jeopardize a relationship of trust.

Successfully influence the most prosperous & most loyal consumer age group. For the specific strategies & tactics you need, click here.

Click for more…

Attend to Genetic Influences in Selling 

Open Up Shoppers So You Can Personalize 

Drive Personalization by Fostering Narcissism

Image at top of post based on photo by Google DeepMind from Unsplash

Lay Off Latinx with Latinos

What do Latinos think of “Latinx”? That’s the term devised as a gender-neutral way to refer to people with Latin American roots. The term has found its way into advertising directed toward this population.
     The answer, according to a study at Washington State University, depends on political orientation. Their surveys conclude that politically liberal Hispanic/Latino consumers don’t care whether a marketer uses Latino or Latinx. Politically conservative Hispanic/Latino consumers, however, were found to generally consider use of the term Latinx to be offensive, and these conservative consumers expressed a lowered willingness to purchase items advertised using the term.
     The greater resistance among political conservatives to Latinx is consistent with other research and anecdotal evidence that conservatives prefer social tradition to social change. At the same time, there was no evidence Hispanic/Latino consumers, regardless of political orientation, clearly prefer use of Latinx to Latino for gender-neutral designation.
     Further, the researchers point to prior studies which indicate Hispanics and Latinos consider the development and use of the term as an insulting imposition of Anglo norms on Latinos and as a tone-deaf failure to recognize differences among the numerous Hispanic and Latino cultures.
     I recommend you lay off Latinx in advertising. There seems to be little upside and the clear potential of downsides in use of the term.
     Competent marketers who use Latinx don’t intend to offend Latinos. The motivation is proper, but let’s not assume we always know what our audience segments want to be called. The older adult demographic prefers “seniors” over “elderly.” Lesbians and gay males consider use of the label “homosexual” as demonstrating cultural incompetence.
     Consumer reaction to use of an identifying term also depends on who is doing the calling. In my email exchange about her study with Anabella Donnadieu Bórquez, now an assistant professor at The University of Texas at El Paso, she wrote, “Regardless of political orientation, Hispanic/Latino consumers are most receptive to this term when used by members of their own community (their Latin American friends and family). A possible implication of this research is that companies/brands recognized as part of the Hispanic/Latino community may have more success using Latinx in their advertising.”
     Add to all this the individual differences within any demographic group and how people’s preferences change over time. Monitor the reactions of your customers and clients to how you refer to them and ask them what they prefer to be called.

Successfully influence the most prosperous & most loyal consumer age group. For the specific strategies & tactics you need, click here.

Click for more…

Conserve Tradition If Serving Conservatives 

Market to Seniors, not to Elderly 

Step Away from Calling Stephen Stephen 

Accommodate Culture with Low-Involvement

Image at top of post based on photo by Jhovani Morales from Pexels