Give Coupons Early and Proudly

According to a March 31 press release from Valassis, the use of discount coupons by shoppers is climbing significantly. Because a major revenue source for Valassis is managing coupon distribution and redemption for their retailing and manufacturing clients—including through the Valassis RedPlum Network—you might choose to discount the press release’s enthusiasm a little. Still, the evidence from other sources is that your potential customers love their coupons. Valassis says that more than three out of four of the consumers they surveyed report using coupons regularly.

      Here are a few shopper psychology tips to get the most from your coupon programs:

• Distribute coupons as early in the shopping process as possible. Researchers at MIT found that coupons presented at the store entrance drive up sales much more than do coupons available in the aisles of stores. RedPlum.com distributes coupons online before the customer even leaves home for the store.
• Use conditions on coupons to influence the size of the entire store purchase. Those MIT researchers also found that when coupon redemption required the customer to spend more on an item than they’d planned to, the customer tends to increase the total shopping trip amount.
• Help people be proud to use their coupons. Being thrifty has gotten more stylish. Still, a psychological stigma is associated with coupon use. Researchers at University of Colorado-Boulder, University of Virginia, Duke University, and University of Bologna described associations between coupon use and being a tightwad. Researchers at University of Alberta and University of Manitoba found that when people in a store saw someone using a coupon, judgments of the coupon-users were tugged in a negative direction. One way to add status is to hook a noble cause to coupon use. RedPlum brags about their sponsorship of a missing children location program.