Operate Purchase Liking via Opportunity Cost

When a prospective customer is debating whether to buy a particular shirt, let’s say, a salesperson who is anxious to make a sale might very well show the person some alternative shirts. “If you’re having doubts about this one being just right for you, here are a few other choices I recommend you consider.”
     Researchers at Yale University and University of Arizona explore a quite different response the salesperson might make, probably while walking the shopper from one section of the store to another: “I realize you’re having doubts about purchasing that $29 shirt. I know you enjoy cooking, so I’d like you to consider spending the $29 instead on this food blender.”
     This second gambit touches on “opportunity cost,” a term consumer researchers use to refer to the circumstance where a shopper forgoes the chance to purchase an item because of a decision to purchase another item. The second gambit is most appropriate for the shopper on a controlled budget. In other circumstances, you’d prefer the person to buy both the shirt and the blender.
     The researchers found that when a salesperson introduces options from a wholly different category, a shopper’s interest in purchasing the target item decreases. The reason is that the goal of spending the money changes when the appeal is in terms of opportunity cost. The result is that if the shopper does purchase the blender, they are unlikely to feel sorry they didn’t purchase the shirt. Discussing the decision in terms of opportunity cost helps the shopper come away feeling pleased they made use of an opportunity.
     This general finding holds true for both hedonic items, purchased for the pleasure usage brings, and for utilitarian items, purchased for the outcomes they produce. It holds true whether the marketer presents the alternatives which are dissimilar to the target item or whether the shopper is encouraged to generate the dissimilar alternatives. “You’ve doubts about the shirt. Please think about ways you could spend that $29 on a completely different sort of item we carry in the store here.”
    Spendthrifts—consumers who are uncomfortable with how much money they spend—respond best to opportunity cost appeals. Counter to what you might expect, tightwads—consumers uncomfortable with how restrained they are in spending—are much less responsive. They’ve already figured out the opportunity cost angles.

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

Click below for more: 
Know How Shopper Fungibility Functions
Decoy the Indecisive Without Getting Decoyed
Control Out-of-Stock Irritation
Promise Tightwads Responsibility