Sunday, July 3, 2011

Describe Products to Fit Shopper Objectives

Want to sell one of the 350 variants of toothpaste to a shopper looking for teeth whitening? Well, find a formula that does whiten teeth and say to the shopper, “This toothpaste could be nicknamed White Right Now.”
     Want to sell some exercise equipment to an aspiring Iron Man? Then call the item a muscle builder. Want to sell the same exercise equipment to a shopper who says they’re on a weight loss diet? Instead of calling it a muscle builder, call it a fat burner.
     The name does the trick. Researchers at University of South Carolina and Loyola University offered study participants a mix of vegetables, pasta, salami, and cheese, all arranged on a bed of fresh romaine lettuce. Some of the participants identified themselves as dieters, and some said they were not on a weight loss diet. To some of each of these groups, the concoction was described as a salad, and to the rest, it was described as pasta.
     Not surprisingly, the dieters who heard the name “pasta” rated the offering as less healthy than the dieters who heard the name “salad.” But the name made no real difference in ratings of healthfulness to the non-dieters.
     In another study by the same researchers, some participants were presented an item described as fruit chews, while others were presented the same item, but it was described as candy chews. Among this latter group, the dieters rated the treat as less healthful than did the non-dieters.
     In the marketplace, colored potato chips might be called veggie chips, milkshakes might masquerade as smoothies, and sugar water is called flavored water. The research indicates this strategy works significantly better with dieters than with non-dieters. In fact, there are consumers not on a diet who would consider veggie chips to be less tasty than the identical item referred to as potato chips.
     Describe products in ways that fit what you’ve identified as the shopper’s objectives. Be truthful, of course. Don’t describe a toothpaste as whitening if that isn’t included in its skill set, and think about the negative impressions the shopper will build if they discover the only veggie in the veggie chips is potatoes.
     But also realize that every shopper is seeking excitement, so the right change of name can improve sales. When “beans and rice” got a description upgrade to “Cajun red beans with rice,” it suddenly became a best-seller.

For your profitability: Sell Well: What Really Moves Your Shoppers

Click below for more:
Overcome Weaknesses in Business Name
Make Your Business Name Easy to Say

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