Support Service Robots Showing Social Support

This post is about robots serving restaurant diners. I realize few of you are currently running that kind of restaurant or are dining these days in restaurants where you’re served by a robot. So at the end of this post, I’ll present a tip for the many intending to provide services to consumers using digital agents and for any consumer who recognizes the inevitability of dealing with digital agents.
     Research conducted by a team at the University of Augsburg examined a situation in which the robot server delivered the wrong food to the diner. The researchers asked whether characteristics of the robot could lessen the diner’s dissatisfaction when the robot apologized. The study results showed that a more human-like voice helped, compared with a more mechanical-sounding voice, but primarily when no monetary compensation was offered.
     The explanation is rooted in perceived social support: Consumers may respond more positively when the robot’s voice conveys warmth, care, and understanding. Voice plays a central role in communicating these social cues. In the studies, voice characteristics mattered more than the robot’s physical appearance: A human-like voice improved consumer responses, whereas a more human-like appearance did not produce the same effect.
     The University of Augsburg researchers also found that when diners were offered monetary compensation, such as a discount on the cost of the meal, the robot’s voice mattered much less. In this case, compensation already addressed the service failure, reducing the need for social cues conveyed through the robot’s voice.
     Researchers at TBS Business School, University of Agder, and University Toulouse Capitole concluded that when interacting with any voice-assisted artificial intelligence device, users prefer hearing a female over a male voice. Here the explanation is that people perceive women as more likely than men to experience emotions and consider our unique needs. Those assumptions subconsciously generalize to influence impressions of an automated voice such that female chatbots are perceived to have more positive qualities than male chatbots.
     One implication of all this is to offer monetary compensation for a service failure by a robot or digital agent when it’s financially prudent for the business.
     My tip to apply to circumstances where a robot, digital agent, or chatbot communicates via voice and might make mistakes for which monetary compensation won’t be offered: Have the voice sound like an empathic woman. Bonus tip: Decide whether to check the consumer realizes they’re talking with a robot.

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Program Service Robots to Socialize 

Ally with Alexa Over Alex for Chatbot 

Remind Consumers of Robots’ Competence 

Compensate Group Service Failure Collectively

Craft DIY for Romance

Increase your sales of do-it-yourself (DIY) products and services by getting your prospects to think about romantic relationships, a La Trobe University and Toronto Metropolitan University study suggests. Results indicate this works better for DIY projects which participants find to be mostly practical than for projects they consider to be mostly thrilling.
     The study results also indicate it works differently depending on gender. For men, the DIY motivation arises relatively more from a desire to form a new relationship, while for both men and women, the DIY motivation arises from a desire to maintain an existing relationship. The study considers do-it-yourself as do-it-with-a-romance-partner.
     For their studies, the researchers defined DIY as consumers’ active participation in the creation, transformation, personalization, or maintenance of a product or service that would otherwise be performed by a professional. Examples include making your clothing, assembling your furniture, maintaining your car, and investing without financial advisor guidance.
     Among the benefits of DIY you could advertise are saving money, customizing to fit individual needs, accruing the pleasure of creativity, and expressing individual identity. Adding a relationship motivation increases the effectiveness of that advertising. The researchers suggest that for heterosexual men, you use cues associated with relationship formation: Romantic words in the text. Attractive women as models. Advertising on dating websites and in association with romantic movies. At the same time, both heterosexual men and women will respond to an ad describing partner collaboration in DIY as an opportunity to strengthen a romantic relationship.
     Underpinning the researchers’ explanation for their findings and suggestions is the role of risk taking in mating. This leads them to another insight: Minimizing the potential risk of a DIY project might actually result in lower sales.
     The researchers cite prior research about DIY motivation which concludes that men are frequently driven by enjoyment of craftsmanship and women frequently find in DIY participation feelings of empowerment. A set of researchers at University of Southern Mississippi and Appalachian State University suggest you improve DIY sales to women by appealing to and cultivating empowerment. Keep your salesperson role one of coach, who reassures the woman of availability until the project is completed and encourages the woman to buy what’s needed. Stay away from seeming like a superhero who aims to rescue the damsel in distress.
     Another study concludes that with women under financial strain, you point out the economic empowerment from completion of their projects.

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Power Tools to Empower Women 

Ask “Whither Art Thou Helping?” 

Effect Endowment via Customer Coproduction 

Gimme Some Lovin’ Handmade 

Note Influence in Nontraditional Couples

Justify Your Targeted Marketing

Targeted marketing by a company—for instance, sending advertising to a preselected segment of the possible audience—can benefit a consumer by reducing their handling of ads which hold little interest to them and can benefit a company by optimizing the marketing budget. Moreover, most consumers like to be acknowledged as individuals, and marketers can leverage increasingly sophisticated methods to individualize their interactions with prospects.
     Would it not be smart then for organizations to target sales promotions to specific demographic groups, such as a custom ad campaign for Blacks or for women?
     Yes, but only under certain conditions. Otherwise, say a trio of researchers at UCLA and Columbia University, stakeholders who find out about the targeting, including those receiving the special attention, are likely to consider the targeting to be unfair. This lowers engagement with the sponsor, intentions to purchase from the sponsor, and willingness to recommend the sponsor to others.
     Because the same explosion in available information and search which fuels the potential for targeting also fuels ease in discovering the targeting, consumers have at least a fair likelihood of learning about it and so sensing unfairness. As an example, the researchers cite the public outrage when journalists discovered and then reported features in Facebook which enabled ad targeting by race or gender.
     Results from the set of studies indicated that these negative consequences are less likely when the marketer explains how the targeting is relevant to a product or service characteristic. Phrasing of this sort included: 

• “The Band-Aids are available in a variety of darker shades that were tested to match the skin tones of their Black customers.” 
• “Initial testing showed that, due to the vitamin and nutrient profile of the snacks, the snacks are better suited to the biological needs of their female customers.” 
• “Specifically, testing shows that approximately 80% of women like the taste and texture, compared with only 30% of men.”

     Notice that each of these three refers to testing. This gives the statement greater credibility.
     Another method the studies indicated will ease the potential negative consequences of marketing by demographics is to explain that the organization’s budget is necessarily limited. The phrasing used here was, “A small mom-and-pop local business has developed a new product, which they believe will appeal to their female customers. This local business has very limited resources, so it must spend its modest advertising budget as carefully as possible.”

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Consider Consumer Confidentiality Concerns 

Discount Discounting for Stigmatized 

Discount Doubts About Veterans’ Discounts

Charge for Virtual Goods Interoperability

If your customer has paid for their outfit, they’ll enjoy experiences in those duds more than if they’d gotten the identical outfit for free. Researchers at Western University in Ontario, University of Edinburgh, and University of St. Thomas in Minnesota found this to be true when the purchaser would be using the outfit on an avatar in onscreen video game action.
     The explanation, supported by the set of studies, is that paying for the item builds a sense of ownership, and people have more positive feelings toward experiences using items they own.
     In the studies, the purchased outfit was non-functional since the provider did not claim the item by itself would improve the player’s performance on the video game. The purchasers’ perceptions tended to be that game play was more enjoyable, but the evidence is that this was due to feelings of item ownership, not objectively better game scores.
     Although enjoying an item more because we’ve paid for it seems to go against good economic sense, not all the rules of ownership were violated. In the studies, the effect held better when there was interoperability—the purchased outfit could be used across online games. We want to be able to employ what we own in a number of different situations.
     Together, these findings have implications for marketers who want to improve the attractiveness of their virtual goods, whether for use in video games or other online activities. Offer distinguishing alternatives for a fee rather than giving them away at no cost, and, to the maximum degree possible, provide interoperability across virtual worlds, social media sites, and system platforms.
     The researchers did not assess whether the amount of item cost made a difference. But another set of studies suggests that even a nominal fee can have advantages and for reasons other than a sense of ownership: Consumers were more likely to upgrade from an 8-inch cake to a 10-inch cake when they had been told the upgrade cost 1¢ compared to when they had been told the upgrade was free. Parallel findings held for other types of merchandise as well.
     After analyzing the shoppers’ reasoning, the researchers concluded that the token cost made it easier for shoppers to appreciate the value of the deal when compared to the price of the regular version. Zero doesn’t serve well as a shopper’s anchor for analyzing the magnitude of a difference.

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Downgrade Free Upgrades 

Head Off Rejection of the Handmade

Unconditionally Gift Arriving Consumers

As a retailer, you could present a surprise gift to a customer after they’ve completed a purchase. You could present a surprise gift for participation in your store loyalty program. On the other hand, you could offer a gift when a shopper enters your store, with no consumer action required. Such a tactic of unconditional gifts can nicely complement your existing programs of promotional rewards, according to a team of researchers at Northeastern University, University of Alabama, Karlstad University, Linköping University, and Norwegian School of Management.
     The studies demonstrate that an unconditional gift creates in both new and existing customers the often unpleasant feeling of obligation, which can be relieved by store spending during the current visit, and the often pleasant feeling of gratitude, which strengthens loyalty for future patronage.
     In the study conducted at a general merchandise store, shoppers receiving an unconditional gift spent about 32% more during that visit than did an equivalent group of shoppers not receiving the gift. This should be evaluated in terms of the cost to the retailer of the gift. Fortunately, the researchers determined that the unconditional gift does not need to be expensive to be effective.
     However, in another study, Northwestern University researchers found that gift recipients do tend to compare the value of what they receive with the value of gifts they see others receiving. The researchers’ suggested solution is intriguing, even if odd. They rewarded some consumers with cash and others with a slice of cake. As you’d expect, those who received more cash expressed greater joy than did those who received less cash. Yet the size of the cake slice didn’t matter, perhaps because it’s harder to calibrate slice size than monetary amount.
     Still, there was evaluation. In the studies, gift recipient joy was influenced by the flavor of the cake.
     Limiting gift value eases another problem: A risk with unconditional gifting is that customers expect ongoing gifts. An unmet expectation has a more negative influence on a customer than a satisfied expectation has a positive effect. Researchers at Macquarie University and Universidad Torcuato Di Tella found that while a bonus reward delivered regularly by a marketer can delight a customer who feels they’re receiving the reward because they’re valuable to the business, the marketer discontinuing the reward in that situation risks revenge against the business.
     Their study results indicated that revenge intentions are less pronounced when the monetary value of the treat is small.

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Change Up with Entitled Customers 

Be Careful What You Have Customers Wish For 

Dazzle Customers with Surprise Gifts 

Request Reciprocity

Age Offerings Properly

How marketers frame a time span will influence how consumers respond to what’s offered. A research team at The University of British Columbia, Tilburg University, and Cornell University explored a specific example of this regarding the age of whiskey.
     A whiskey distilled for longer time is considered better. But what difference does it make if the marketer says “Distilled in 2005 and bottled in 2025,” which is a year-boundary format, or “20-year-old whiskey,” which is a length format? The researchers point out that these are equivalent in terms of whiskey quality, since, unlike with wines, whiskey which is stored properly after bottling does not improve or degrade with age.
     By analyzing a dataset of online whiskey auction listings, the researchers found that whiskeys described using primarily a length format sold for about 9% more than those using primarily a year-boundary format.
     The researchers’ explanation for the difference is that length framing elongates time perception compared with year-boundary framing, perhaps because year-boundary framing requires the consumer to compute the time duration.
     So when marketing whiskey, use length framing. Yet also recognize circumstances where the shopper considers a longer time as a sign of inferior quality. In their own companion studies and with reference to studies conducted by others, the researchers explore these circumstances. The results taken together lead to the following recommendations: 

• Use length framing in descriptions when age enhances value. For fine art and antiques, this might be, “Created 135 years ago.” For an organization wanting to convey a sense of enduring presence, this might be “In business for more than 25 years.” 
• Use year framing when greater age implies lesser value. Willingness to pay for secondhand goods should be higher with, “2015 model,” than, “11 years old.” 
• With products, such as wines, where quality could continue to improve through aging after bottling, but updating a length description on the individual bottle is impractical, post length framing on a shelf tag: “Bottled in 2021. Five years old.” Similarly, when a year is an important component of the item description, length framing could be added: “For Sale. Indian Banks 1699 Colonial-style house. Solidly built 327 years ago.” 
• Year framing tends to make financial payoffs seem closer. “Profitable by 2029” is better than “Profitable in three years.” When loan repayment completion is stated as length—“Paid off in ten years”—consumers place greater weight on time and less on interest rates.

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Use Familiar Measurement Units 

Cross Time Markers for Positive Experiences

Image at top of post based on photo by Poul Hoang from Unsplash