Construe to Fit Comparative Price

A chocolate candy might be thought of concretely in terms of the appeal of its particular ingredients or abstractly in terms of how good eating it leads one to feel. An ad for a diamond pendant could use the tag line, “Flawless quality and pure color,” in order to appeal to concrete thinkers, or “Make it unforgettable,” to appeal to abstract thinkers.
     Researchers at University of British Columbia and Nanyang Technological University find that the comparative price of the item often influences whether you’re better off using concrete or abstract benefits statements. If the price is comparatively low for that product category, shoppers show greater preference for the item when hearing or seeing concrete statements. If the price is comparatively high, use abstract statements.
     To demonstrate this had to do more with the comparative price than with the price itself, the researchers placed one-dollar chocolates next to ten- dollar slabs of artisanal chocolate during certain hours at a candy store. During other hours, the one-dollar chocolates were placed next to a group of twenty-five cent Tootsie Rolls.
     Shoppers during the first set of hours were more likely to purchaser the one-dollar chocolates when a low-construal, concrete, message was used. The other shoppers showed greater purchase frequencies of the same style of chocolates when a high-construal, abstract, message had been used. Similar results were found in studies involving expressed preferences for energy drinks, electric toothbrushes, and diamond pendants.
     There are other considerations in whether to use concrete or abstract statements. With unfamiliar items, consumers are more likely to believe concrete than abstract benefits statements. Touching products stimulates sales more strongly with low construal levels.
     And there are methods other than benefits statements to mesh with the shopper’s construal level. Researchers at Ghent University discovered that shoppers are relatively more interested in concrete features when gazing down at the merchandise and relatively more interested in abstract claims when peering up.
     Consumers had been asked to state which of two printers they preferred. One printer was described as reliable and the other as being of high quality. Those consumers who needed to look down to see the printers favored the “reliable” printer on average. Those consumers who needed to look up tended to prefer the “high quality” printer.

For your success: Retailer’s Edge: Boost Profits Using Shopper Psychology

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Look It Up: Abstract Benefits Above Shoppers