Use Value Added by Third-Party Certifications

QSR reports that selected items sold by quick service restaurant chain Subway have been approved by the American Heart Association to display a mark which reads “American Heart Association Certified. Meets Criteria For Heart-Healthy Meal.”
     In addition to assisting Subway customers to avoid fatal heart attacks so they can patronize the shop in the future, displaying this sort of certificate adds comfort value to consumers for the items approved. When you have such a third-party certification, set higher profit margins on the items.
     The positive effect of a certification in the shopper’s mind spreads further than the items displaying the award. Your other items and your store itself gain prestige. People will be impressed even when selecting different products and services.
     It’s another example of the power of contagious magic in shopper psychology. Contagious magic refers to the belief—commonly encountered in consumers and usually subconscious—that two adjacent inanimate objects will exert an influence on each other. Being around the healthy items makes it seem like everything else in proximity is more healthy.
     Actually, in a reverse twist, this can increase the chances shoppers will select less healthy items.

• A research team from City University of New York, Loyola College, and Duke University found that when a healthy salad was added to a list of side dish choices, diners separately identified as high in self-control became more likely to order the French fries. 
• Researchers from New York University and University of Pennsylvania found that when people put into their grocery shopping cart an item touted as healthy, the people became much more likely to select an unhealthy food item next. 
• Children 8 to 12 years old who read on-package nutritional information which positioned the product as healthy demonstrated what Boston College researchers called a “backlash effect.” The kids went on to make unhealthier choices. This was especially true when the on-package nutritional claims were general instead of specific. The type of general claim you’d find on the American Heart Association’s Heart-Check Meal Certification! 

     In other circumstances, the third-party certification does distinguish the product from others, resulting in increased consumer interest. For a period of time, Ace Hardware dealers were being advised to set higher prices on spray paints carrying an Environmental Protection Agency certification on the label, even though the supplier cost for the product was the same as the cost for spray paint not carrying the certification.

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

Click below for more: 
Catch the Power of Contagion 
Ease the Guilt for Adult Unhealthy Eaters