Divert Multitaskers from Why to How

Multitasking is a common consumer behavior, often out of necessity but especially with younger consumers, from a preference for packing the maximum amount of enrichment into precious time. When selling to multitaskers, retailers do best to command attention quickly and dramatically. Use colorful, stimulating content.
     You’ll also want to attend to a fork in the road of consumer decision making which directs shoppers toward asking either why they’re considering the purchase or how they’ll complete the purchase. Researchers at Frankfurt School of Finance and Management, Concordia University in Montreal, and BVA Group found that multitaskers who take the “why” prong have a harder time coming to a satisfactory decision. Their deliberations about motivations cause them more stress than happens with the “how” multitaskers, who are closer to achieving implementation, such as the actual purchase.
     The researchers suggest that you guide multitaskers toward considerations of how they’ll complete the purchase and best integrate the product or service into their life. Or in circumstances where the multitasking shopper seems stuck in considerations of why, ease the stress. Encourage the shopper to go on to another item to be purchased and come back later to the previously stressful decision. Guide the shopper toward a less crowded area, perhaps one with live foliage—an environmental feature documented to ease stress by studies at Vrije Universiteit Brussel and University of Leuven. When the “how” concerns the mechanics of completing the purchase, you could turn the talk to credit terms or layaway.
     When the “how” concerns the mechanics of integrating the item into the purchaser’s life, think about product training. People often buy more features in a product than they know how to use and then become more likely to return the product when they’re unable to master the features.
     This bifurcation into how and why is also seen in other consumer psychology areas:

• A financial planner client with a short-term savings objective will reach that objective more quickly if asking “how” more often than “why.” With longer-range objectives, spending time navigating the “why” path is more motivational. 
• In encouraging recycling, loss-framed arguments (“If you don’t recycle, we could run out of places to put our piles of trash.”) are most effective paired with “how to” instructions while gain-framed arguments (“If you recycle, we’ll be better able to save trees and reduce pollution from manufacturing.”) are most effective paired with “why we’re telling you” arguments. 

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

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