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.

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Collapse to Soles When Asking for Money 

Let Go of Grudges

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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.

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Attend to Genetic Influences in Selling 

Open Up Shoppers So You Can Personalize 

Drive Personalization by Fostering Narcissism

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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.

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Conserve Tradition If Serving Conservatives 

Market to Seniors, not to Elderly 

Step Away from Calling Stephen Stephen 

Accommodate Culture with Low-Involvement

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Spin Away Service Failure Disappointment

When a retailer fails to meet a customer’s service expectations, the customer is likely to feel disappointed or even betrayed. There are circumstances in which these negative feelings can be eased by a positive experience subsequently provided by the retailer. Taking account of this finding from past studies, researchers at University of Birmingham, Aalborg University, University of Edinburgh, and University of Lille explored what some of those circumstances are.
     The follow-on experience designed by the researchers to be positive was a game of chance in which the customer spun a wheel to determine an amount of monetary compensation they’d receive. The researchers hypothesized this would work well because financial compensation for a service failure often eases the customer’s negative feelings and playing a game is in itself a positive experience for most people.
     The researchers presented to sets of study participants scenarios which included service failures in retail store, restaurant, hotel, and gym settings. Some from each group were then offered an opportunity to spin the wheel, while others received just a preset compensation amount. The results supported the hypothesized effectiveness of gamification in easing dissatisfaction. The playfulness of the game appeared to be principally responsible.
     Data analyses also suggested some conditions for this technique to be effective: 

• Participation in the game is presented as an option, not as required to receive compensation. 
• The service failure was mild. The game technique didn’t reduce dissatisfaction following a severe service failure. 
• The amount of money received in the game is considered by the customer to be at least adequate compensation for the emotional cost of the service failure. 
• The situation in which the service failure occurred had only limited time pressure. When there was high time pressure, the game technique proved useless.

     By experimenting with the spin-the-wheel technique, you could determine what qualifies as a mild versus severe service failure, adequate compensation, and limited time pressure for your situations.
     Another consideration is that inviting the dismayed customer to play a game might lead them to conclude you’re not taking the service failure seriously. Here, an apology for the shortfall and a promise it won’t happen again have proven effective in recovering trust. The apology, which can be seen by the victim as demonstrating integrity, best comes promptly. A promise, which can be seen as a sign of competence, best comes a few weeks after the incident.

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Cure Feelings of Retailer Betrayal 

Compensate Group Service Failure Collectively 

Assure Consistency By Using Uncertainty 

Multiply Recovery from Double Deviation

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Orient Causation Consistently

Suppose you operate a store which offers two nutritional supplements to shoppers, with each supplement claiming on the label to amp up a sense of calmness. The Emonox label explains that it accomplishes this by blocking reabsorption of a hormone in the nervous system. The Tymonox label explains that this supplement amps up a sense of calmness by boosting levels of a hormone in the nervous system. Which of the two supplements are your shoppers likely to consider to be more effective?
     Please stop reading for a minute now to consider not only your answer, but also why you’ve concluded that’s the right answer.
     The University of Chicago researchers whose study design I used to develop that scenario introduced their report by noting how marketers sometimes explain to consumers a products’ effectiveness with a description of decreases and increases. An example they provide is a Thesis ad stating that the supplement blocks adenosine receptors, which causes more norepinephrine release, which increases alertness.
     The researchers hypothesized that such inconsistency in an explanation between downs and ups disrupts perceptions of effectiveness. Consistency from a marketer is more compelling than is inconsistency. The study results supported their hypothesis and so indicate that in the scenario, shoppers would consider Tymonox to be more effective in amping up calmness: This is because Tymonox boosts, but Emonox blocks. And in the study, when a product claimed to “tone down panic attacks” rather than “amp up a sense of calmness,” Emonox was judged to be more effective than Tymonox. Down matches better with blocking.
     The researchers found the impact of this causation consistency with effectiveness explanations for a range of products and claims. A face cream to prevent acne got better ratings when paired with an explanation that it counteracts blocked pores rather than an explanation that it boosts turnover of skin cells. A serum to increase hair growth was rated better when the effectiveness explanation was that it adds blood supply to the scalp compared to an explanation that it suppresses the shrinking of hair follicles. The impact was also seen with claims for energy drinks, sound systems, and more.
     The care with which the researchers explored combinations of claims and explanations strengthens the case that even if this inconsistency penalty turns out to be small, it is widespread. In your marketing, match the directional orientation of the claimed effect with the direction of causation.

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Cause Trust with First-Things-First Effects 

Scotch Faux Explanations to Explanation Foes 

Construct Shopper Certainty Using Consistency

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Appropriate Shame as a Fake Review Response

When consumers describe on social media the flaws in your business or your items, you can correct the problems and announce your actions in replies. After you decisively resolve a complaint, customer loyalty to you gets greater than it was before the complaint.
     But what if the flaw is a fiction in a post by an angry customer seeking revenge? A trio of researchers at University of Richmond, West Virginia University, and University of Texas at San Antonio address that situation in a research article aptly titled, “That’s Not What Happened: Dealing with Consumer-Generated Fake Retaliatory Reviews”.
     When faced with fabricated claims and exaggerated information, your first impulse may be to reply in a way designed to arouse guilt or shame in the poster. But you might then get concerned how such a sharp retort would alienate your social media audience by coming across as mean-spirited.
     Based on their data analyses, the researchers say you can avoid the downsides. The worst alternative is not correcting the record. Your failure to respond risks lowering purchase intentions among prospects who have read the fake review. This was found to be especially so for newer businesses and businesses with less positive reputations.
     Between arousing guilt or shame, arousing guilt is preferable. As used in consumer research, the emotion of guilt is specific to the situation—“I did something wrong”—while the emotion of shame is global—“I am a bad person.” Efforts to elicit shame are more likely to come across as mean-spirited.
     A shame-arousing message used in the studies read in part, “You should be ashamed of yourself for writing such a dishonest review…. Being untruthful reflects who you truly are.” A guilt-arousing message read in part, “You should feel guilty about writing such a dishonest review…. Your actions have a real impact on our business.”
     With all of this, a finding from a study at University of Western Ontario and Queens University in Kingston, Ontario provides additional perspectives on the posting of fake reviews motivated by revenge. People who feel they have been betrayed by a retailer or a product often experience shame. It might be shame about having allowed themselves to be persuaded. It might be shame at even considering posting what consists of lies. Whatever the source of shame, though, this indicates that a retailer’s shame-oriented response would feel quite appropriate to the poster of the fake review.

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Aim Away from Shame 

Prevent Store Brand Sabotage 

Select True Online Reviews for Trust 

Mobilize Cause & Guilt Against Fake News

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