Emotional influences often outweigh logical thought with products carrying strong personalities. News events arouse emotions, so you’ll want to pay attention to what’s happening in the news as you fine-tune your merchandising.
This month, it might be the high school prom and the Master’s Golf Tournament. In what ways do these influence what your customers will be shopping for? At any time of year, news of a natural disaster near or far away can lead consumers to stock up on batteries and food.
Getting batteries makes sense, but guess what Wal-Mart reports to be among their best selling items when there’s news of natural disasters: Beer and pastries. Talk about products with strong personalities! Talk about emotion winning out over logic!
A compelling example of the influence of news events on purchase preferences comes from researchers at University of Maryland and University of Missouri-Columbia. Here the products were Coke and Pepsi. As the Coca-Cola Company learned when they tried to introduce a reformulation of Coke, the beverage has a very strong identification with being an American. Pepsi doesn’t have this strong identification.
The researchers gave thirsty people a choice between Coke and Pepsi. But before allowing them to announce their choice, participants were reminded of an actual news event. Some were reminded of the response of Americans following the September 11 World Trade Center attacks. The other participants were reminded of the anthrax scare in the U.S. Those participants reminded of 9/11 responses were much more likely to select Coke than were those who had been reminded of the anthrax news. Why? The researchers say it was because the news of the 9/11 responses aroused a pride in America that the anthrax news did not.
Smart retailers will have Coke on the shelves when news events arouse pride in America.
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