Vibrate Shoppers into Purchase Excitement

When seeking desire fulfillment, a gently vibrating massage often brings bonus pleasure.
     A set of University of St. Gallen studies applies that truth to ecommerce. A medium-duration vibration on a shopper’s mobile phone while the shopper is looking at attractive alternatives leads to more item purchases and higher shopping basket totals. In the studies, addition of a vibration signal increased item adds by 3% to 18%. The researchers explain this effect as the result of a learned association between vibrations on a mobile phone and a rewarding event, such as arrival of a message or completion of a step count goal.
     In one of the studies, the impact of vibration on positive consumer response was stronger than the impact of a visual signal or a sound. Regarding this finding, the researchers note that shoppers usually receive a multitude of sights and sounds moment-to-moment, while the haptic stimulation of vibration is distinctive.
     Because the mobile phone vibrations signaling positive events are generally of medium duration, the best purchase motivation vibration might be of medium duration. Indeed, a vibration of about 400 milliseconds produced a greater reward response among study participants than did a notably shorter or notably longer duration.
     The researchers caution that the effect they’ve described could be put to unethical use. They recommend that marketers inform consumers about the effect and limit use of vibration signals in marketing of potentially addictive behaviors—such as online gambling—and with especially persuadable audiences—such as children.
     These studies fit with other research showing how sensory stimulation of a consumer in association with a product leads to positive results. Researchers at University of Texas Rio Grande Valley, Université Laval, and University of Massachusetts find sensations experienced on or in the body can convince the consumer of product effectiveness.
     In one of their studies, participants read an ad which stated, “Introducing HerbLife Balm. Our yellow balm is made from herbs such as turmeric and prai. To use the product, rub and massage a small amount on the affected area. This balm improves your physical performance.”
     The participants were then instructed to apply the balm to their arm. For some of the participants, the balm had been formulated to produce a tingling sensation shortly after application. For the other participants, the balm formulation was identical except that the ingredient producing tingling was omitted.
     Those experiencing tingles were more likely to buy the balm.

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Reach Out for What Will Touch Your Shoppers 

Rough Up Customers a Bit 

Fizz Fizz to Generate Effectiveness Perception

Dig Into Best Digital Display Practices

Digital signage—electronic screens showing video ads to shoppers in a retail store—increased likelihood of purchasing the advertised items by an average of about 8% in a study by researchers at Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam and Babson College.
     The study covered 237 advertising campaigns and 30 million shoppers. Because of the size of the sample and use of techniques to separate the effects of digital signage from the effects of other influences on purchasing, the researchers were able to specify circumstances in which digital signage was most effective. The researchers cite prior study findings in explaining why each of these matters.
     Among the best circumstances for use of digital signage are: 

• Display close to the shelved product. When the digital signage is placed close to the product being advertised, the impact on the shopper is at a crucial moment in the purchase decision process, with an increased probability of a motivating impulse. 
• For hedonic products with emotional appeal. Impulse buying is more likely with products purchased for the joy during use than for products purchased for the outcome after use. 
• For popular brands and low-priced items. Shoppers are more comfortable assuming the risk of buying on impulse when the item carries a well-recognized brand name or is offered at an especially low price. 
• For store visits later in the day. Another shopping motivation is variety seeking, and variety seeking increases when the shopper is fatigued, as happens later in the day.

     The researchers also point to characteristics of the specific use of digital signage in their field studies which might be expected to enhance the effectiveness: The display screens were in highly-frequented aisles, the video began playing as a shopper approached the screen, and the screens emitted sound to accompany the elements moving on the screen.
     Relevant to this last characteristic, researchers at King's College London, University of Bath, and Babson College explored the usefulness of stimulating multiple senses with digital displays, including an example of McCain Foods arranging for the display device to emit a baked potatoes odor. The study results indicated moderate stimulation works best. We don’t want to overwhelm the shopper to the point of disrupting the item selection process.
     Other research also points to the value of attending to characteristics of item movement in the display. For example, it’s best to show luxury products by zooming out and to show any product as being rotated.

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Display Interpersonal Warmth Above Digital Ads 

Reduce Risk Fears by Introducing Choices 

Slip Variety into Sleepy Shopper Selling 

Zoom In on Using Zoom Out for Luxury 

Turn It Around for the Sale

Femvertise for Brand Empowerment

Femvertising is advertising perceived as promoting gender equality and as challenging stereotypical portrayals of women as primarily caregivers, decorative objects, or passive observers. According to researchers at Macquarie University and The University of Newcastle, femvertising helps a brand build stronger loyalty and advocacy among female consumers. When reinforcing the power a woman has or wants to have, femvertising messages evoke positive responses.
     Examples of femvertising include the Dove “Real Beauty”, Under Armour “I Will What I Want”, Pantene “Not Sorry”, and Nike “Inner Thoughts” campaigns.
     The researchers developed and statistically validated a scale which they propose marketers use to assess the quality of a brand’s femvertising. Items on the brief version of the scale, along with the themes being measured, are: 

• [Brand name]’s ads present women as empowered in their choices (Empowerment: Portrays women as confident, ambitious, and self-reliant) 
• [Brand name]’s ads feature diverse women from different backgrounds (Representation: Portrays women of diverse identities, backgrounds, and appearances in meaningful roles) 
• [Brand name]’s ads challenge traditional views on women’s roles (Transformation: Challenges outdated gender norms and promotes long-term social change) 
• [Brand name]’s ads highlight real actions for women’s rights (Commitment: Actively engages in advocacy and activism to promote women’s rights, roles, progress, and inclusion) 
• [Brand name]’s ads portray women in an honest way (Authenticity: Portrays women and girls as authentic, believable, and credible) 
• I feel [Brand name]’s ads reflect fair gender standards in advertising (Compliance: Complies with advertising rules, industry guidelines, policies, and ethical standards to promote gender equity)

     The degree to which a brand’s advertising exhibits these characteristics is the degree to which ad audiences will conclude, “This is a brand that supports women.” Using an online survey of women who had recently purchased a sportswear brand, the researchers demonstrated how such a conclusion enhances brand loyalty and brand advocacy.
     Attending to women’s empowerment also assists in public health and in the workplace. Campaigns to increase breast cancer screening rates work best when accompanying messages point out competencies of women. When job supervisors water down negative feedback to female employees, assuming women aren’t powerful enough to handle the truth, the employees are cheated of the constructive criticism they need to most quickly become superb performers.
     Do stay aware that strategies to empower women can face headwinds. For example, the Donald Trump presidential administration’s battle against DEI resulted in organizations hiding their woman-empowerment programs.
     Skilled femvertising holds strong against headwinds.

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Cancel Out Implications of Female Inferiority 

Criticize Women Strongly

Image at top of post based on photo by Donald Giannatti from Unsplash

Engineer Employee & Customer Satisfaction

Employee satisfaction (ES) and customer satisfaction (CS) levels have long been considered valuable indicators of—as well as analogous to a two-cylinder engine powering—the future financial health of a business. ES and CS measures are therefore of interest to prospective investors in the business.
     Now researchers at Virginia Commonwealth University, Singapore Management University, and University of Pittsburgh say that increases in social media usage and in ease of both publicly-held company stock purchasing and private-market investing by individual consumers are changing how businesses should optimally conduct their ES and CS initiatives and announce the results of those initiatives. The objective should be to demonstrate results which stimulate promise of greater shareholder wealth. Among the researchers’ observations is that firms with low CS ratings could accomplish this objective by increasing ES alongside broad social media visibility.
     The researchers propose, based on their inquiries, that individual investors are attracted to firms showing imbalance between ES and CS. The explanation is that the investors are particularly attracted by business prospects for explosive growth. Although high levels in ES and CS indicate healthy business operations, an imbalance signals prospects for improvement under skilled management. “Buy low, sell high” is the smart investor’s mantra.
     The researchers’ attention to social media visibility derives from how individual investors would assess a firm’s CS and ES levels. For CS, the individual could analyze product or service reviews. Those are abundantly available on social media sites. ES levels are more difficult to find in abundance, so it benefits the firm to post them prominently on their own.
     A team of researchers at Aston University, Technical University Munich, and University of Paderborn view the two cylinders—ES and CS—as firing off interdependently. The team’s model, resulting from a large-scale longitudinal study set in a multi-outlet retail chain, incorporates operational investments and operating profits as components.
     The model shows a lagged effect between operational investments and ES: It takes some time for the additional resources to produce an outcome. The researchers advise managers to exercise patience. There is also a lagged effect between CS and operating profits. A third lagged effect is in a reinforcing loop. That is, as operating profits change, operational investments are likely to change in the same direction in the future.
     Business firms can attract investors by properly managing the interdependencies, the prompt and lagged effects of the components, and the postings about CS and especially ES on social media.

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Serve People Just What They Expect 

Build Profits by Training to Serve 

Manage Employee & Customer Turnover

Cook Up Recipes for Reducing Food Waste

A recipe for meal preparation can reduce food waste.
     Reasons include what you might suspect, such as the cook being able to determine from the recipe the sufficient amount of each ingredient to purchase and prepare without excess. However, the waste reduction is also for a reason you might not suspect—cutting time and bother.
     My evidence comes from a series of University of Groningen studies primarily designed to explore the effects not of recipes, but rather of minimally processed ingredients such as washed and chopped vegetables versus vegetables requiring purchasers to wash and chop them. Note that in the studies, the researchers used semi-prepared ingredients, not fully prepared meals. If too much convenience is provided, the consumer might devalue the meal and show less hesitation in wasting some of the food.
     In one of the studies, consumers were asked to imagine they had in their refrigerator a set of items—pasta, parmesan cheese, olive oil, a leek, and so on. One group of participants were shown photos of the ingredients in a semi-prepared form. The rest were shown the ingredients in an unprepared form. Half the number of participants in each group were also given a recipe which listed steps for incorporating all the ingredients into a pasta entrée. Each participant was asked to indicate “How likely are you to not prepare the meal and therefore throw all products away?”
     For the participants who had not been provided a recipe, those considering the semi-prepared ingredients were less likely to say they’d waste the foods. But for those who had been provided the recipe, there was little difference between the two groups. Analyses of other data collected in this study and from other studies in the series indicated the explanation was degree of convenience.
     Either semi-preparation of the ingredients or availability of a recipe increased consumer convenience in a way which reduced the probability of food waste. Parallel findings came from another study of the set in which households collected their actual waste of edible food from packages the researchers had provided.
     Two implications for grocers are to post recipes for use of foods you’re selling and to offer semi-prepared ingredients. Along with reducing waste, these tactics might improve profitability: In one of their studies, the researchers concluded shoppers would be willing to pay a 13% price premium for semi-prepared foods when the waste reduction benefits are featured.

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Limit Healthy Food Purchases 

Hand Off Intended Hands-Off Items 

Cook Up Recipes for Patrons

Ascertain Certainty to Assess Offer Variety

The ways in which you best present purchase alternatives to a shopper are determined in part by the degree of confidence the shopper has in choosing among those alternatives. This conclusion from a team of Northeastern University, University of Pennsylvania, and Arizona State University researchers follows their study of item reviews from almost 100,000 consumers spanning nearly 30 years. Product categories used in the studies included wines, beers, and cosmetics.
     Based on their findings, the researchers suggest that for shoppers who express notable uncertainty, frame your subsequent purchase suggestions as quite different from what they just tried, such as by highlighting distinguishing item characteristics. Correspondingly, if you’ve evidence that the shopper has high confidence, frame your next best offer as similar to what the shopper just selected.
     A challenge with taking this advice is correctly detecting the shopper’s degree of confidence. If you’ve access to a history of item reviews from the shopper, use the same method the researchers did: Analyze recent reviews with attention to tones of certainty and doubt. You could also do the same sort of thing by conversing with the shopper. For the researchers, phrasing such as “Beyond any doubt” indicated high confidence and “I really don’t know” indicated low confidence.
     The researchers’ findings highlight the value of an additional tool: Consider the degree of experience of the particular shopper with the particular item category. This can work because, in general, as a consumer gains more experience, their confidence regarding decisions for that item category will initially decrease as the consumer becomes acutely aware there’s much more to learn than they initially assumed. But as the consumer masters this learning and accumulates their own direct experience, confidence rebounds and grows.
     I’ll add my thought that if you can observe the shopper, maybe you should also notice how tightly they’re crossing their fingers while making the choice, signaling degree of hope good luck shines down to supplement low confidence.
     Research at University of Cincinnati, University of Florida, and University of Mississippi provides another perspective on the interplay of expertise with novelty. When the researchers offered choices of music samples to study participants, those who considered themselves music novices accepted a few new songs in a multitude of genres. The experts accepted a greater number of songs solely from one or a limited number of genres in which they considered themselves to have expertise. Certainty builds selectivity.

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Make Your Next Best Offer 

Present High-Level Benefits to the Confident 

Scope New Horizons as Expanding Expertise