Argue with Me, Convinced

A sale is easier when the shopper agrees with the salesperson. But researchers at Virginia Tech documented a circumstance where it pays off to have the shopper briefly argue with us. This is when the person comes to us with a preference firmly set and we want to change that preference. Maybe a brand different from the customer’s habitual choice would both serve the customer better and increase store profitability. In the political arena, it could be that a citizen consistently votes for a certain political party and we’d like to have the citizen fairly consider an alternative.
     The challenge is that when a consumer makes the same choice many times, their mind closes against objectively evaluating alternatives. In fact, they’ll distort new information in ways that support their decisions. You could present compelling arguments for changing their reasoning, but the thrust of those arguments won’t pierce the closed mind.
     This selective perception doesn’t occur when the shopper or voter has made the choice once or only a few times in the past. Right after a consumer chooses one among options, post-decision doubt commonly causes the consumer to closely attend to the benefits that would be offered by what’s been rejected. At the other extreme, after the same choice has been made a great number of times, variety-seeking arises, at least among younger consumers, so there’s interest in considering alternatives.
     It’s between these two circumstances where we might want to disrupt the thinking. The Virginia Tech studies suggest that if the salesperson or political campaigner presents a statement which stimulates a brief debate about an issue not directly related to the purchase decision, this opens up the thinking to afterwards assessing alternatives in product, brand, or candidate.
     You don’t want to make a debatable statement that destroys your credibility as an influence agent. In the studies, statements like, “Reading is bad for the mind” and “Only people who earn a lot of money are successful” were used. I recommend against those. Instead, to apply the principle of a helpful argument, ask the shopper to defend a decision they made prior to the one where you want to change their mind. “For what reasons did you select that option?” you’ll ask, and then say, “Others might disagree with your decision.”
     Let them win the argument. Finish off by saying, “I see your point,” before moving back to the sale you’re wanting to make.

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

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Meddle with the Shopping Trip Middle

The price sensitivity of a shopper changes over the course of the shopping trip. Researchers at University of Kentucky and University of Groningen report that the nature of the change depends on whether the individual wants to keep to a tight budget. Budget-focused shoppers are more willing to buy higher priced options in the middle of their trip than at the beginning or as they are finishing up. On the other hand, shoppers not focused on a strict budget become relatively more price sensitive in the middle of the trip than at either end. The difference shows itself most clearly when there are a number of items being purchased and when the person is aware or made aware of the cumulative total of their expenditures as they shop.
     This phenomenon is useful to retailers who can assess whether the shopper is a budget or non-budget shopper and then track the shopper during the trip. As to the shopping trip trajectory, the salesperson asking the shopper, “What will you be looking for today?” allows that salesperson to determine what is the middle of the sequence. As to judging whether this is a budget or non-budget shopper, the choice among alternatives early in the purchase sequence is the evidence. For the budget shopper, suggest upgrades, add-ons like extended service contracts, and partner items toward the middle of the shopping trip. With the non-budget shopper, make those suggestions toward the end.
     In circumstances where a shopper intends to purchase one item on the trip, not a bunch, you might think the shopper with the budget would usually spend less money with you than the one without a budget. Surprise! Researchers at Brigham Young University and Emory University find that making a purchase with a budget in mind can lead the shopper to spend more if the budget is for one item.
     Say your customer has decided to spend no more than $150 on a mobile device. He sees price points at $80, $120, and $160. Sticking to the budget, the customer eliminates from consideration the $160 alternative. Because of how a consumer’s brain works, the result is that product quality and the inclusion of extra features become relatively more important and item price relatively less important. The customer is now more likely to select the $120 model, if it’s higher quality, than if budget wasn’t in mind at the time of choice.

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

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Toy Around with Impacts of Toilet Training

Psychoanalytic theory has fruitfully impacted marketing by bringing attention to subconscious motivations and merchandise symbolism. In 1956, psychologist Ernest Dichter, called by AdAge “the father of motivational research,” developed the highly successful “Put a tiger in your tank” slogan for gasoline company Esso/Exxon on the basis that people associate cars with power. The attractiveness to women of high heel shoes in spite of the shoes’ physical discomfort has been attributed to women’s subconscious drive to conquer penis envy. Hey, there are two of those phallic-shaped heels rather than the man’s one true phallus. Psychoanalysts might refer to this as women’s overcompensation.
     Now add to those impacts a research study about constipation, of all things. Researchers at University of Salento and York University based their studies on Sigmund Freud’s conceptualization of young children’s toilet training. This founder of psychoanalytic thinking described harsh or especially early toilet training as resulting in what some call an anal-retentive personality
     Study participants would be expected to hesitate candidly discussing their early childhood toilet training and their current position on a constipation-diarrhea self-rating scale. Therefore, the researchers used projective stimuli to make indirect qualitative inquiries. The outcome was that those who gave evidence of harsh toilet training were substantially more likely than the others to also show tightwad habits, discomfort with disorder, and stubbornness in consumer transactions, along with bowel constipation.
     The most compelling implications of these findings would be for medical professionals, such as physicians and pharmacists, when responding to symptoms of digestive disorders. Patients who report chronic constipation are especially likely to adhere to treatment regimens which emphasize neatness and, if financial expenditures are involved, to buy-in when money-off discounts are prominently featured.
Regarding other marketers, the researchers suggest that when you see tightwad tendencies, you expect to also see a high interest in cleaning products and a persistence in expressing complaints. The more general implication, though, is an appreciation for the influence of early childhood experiences on current consumer behavior.
     Still, beware of excessive application of psychoanalytic theory. As a prime example, though psychoanalytic interpretations emphasize the symbolism of phallic objects such as high heels, a quote often attributed to Dr. Freud himself is, “Sometimes a cigar is just a cigar.” Actually, the evidence is that the doctor never actually said or wrote this. But the existence of the quote does illustrate concerns about overdoing the interpretations. Concerns residing subconsciously, most likely.

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

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Back Up Shoppers at the Front of the Line

Retailers’ concerns about shopper queues generally center on those last few at the back of the line and on the experience of those last few as they’re waiting. Now researchers at RWTH Aachen University and WHU, both in Germany, urge retailers to also take into account the experiences of those in front of a long line once they get the service of a salesperson or cashier. The finding is that these consumers feel pressured to transact their business promptly because of a sense of others breathing down their neck, and this results in less satisfying impressions of the store, the staff, and the merchandise. When this happens at the store checkout, the dangers are particularly great, since this becomes the customer’s last memory of the retailer.
     The researchers went on to determine that two techniques ease these negative effects:

• Have the salesperson or cashier encourage the consumer not to feel at all rushed in getting the help they want. This works because it places the responsibility for the extra time on the salesperson, removing the social pressure on the consumer. 
• Maintain distance between the waiting line and the location where service is being delivered. In the studies, this was accomplished by keeping the line out of sight of the service location. My store experience indicates to me that greater distance, even when sight lines are maintained, can work well. 

     Additional research-based tips for easing the irritation of all those in the queue:

• If you can see the end of the line, greet each person as they join, even if only with a brief smile and a nod. 
• Periodically say to those in line, “I apologize for the delay. I’ll be with you soon.” 
• As you welcome each new person coming to you, acknowledge that they’ve been waiting. 
• If the lines are unusually long, remark about a possible reason, saying, for example, “My goodness, people seem to really like today’s sale.” 
• Maintain quality internet access so people can pass the time with mobile devices. 

     When in a store queue, shoppers become highly vigilant. One reason is the extra stress caused by being in close physical proximity to people we don’t know. Another reason is to be sure social norms are respected, such as nobody butting into line and each person waiting about an equal amount of time. So the best way to handle queues is to keep those lines moving.

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

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Observe Risks of Your Obsolescence

Satisfy your customers, but not completely, some might say. Consider the retail services category of matchmaking. Researchers at University of Pittsburgh, Carnegie Mellon University, and INSEAD claim there’s a fundamental conflict of interest between businesses like eHarmony and their clients: If the matchmaking is too good, members will cement a relationship and discontinue their paid subscriptions. A parallel conflict would be suspected in job-hunting sites. As soon as you find the perfect fit between you and an employer, you terminate use of the service.
     Another INSEAD research collaboration, this one with Boston Consulting Group, explores other examples of a product, service, or provider becoming obsolescent for a customer. Appliance retailers and residential real estate agents are no longer needed for an extended time once the purchase of the refrigerator or the home is completed. Customers for smoking cessation aids stop being customers if the product is sufficiently effective. Purchases of pureed baby food stop when the ultimate consumer gets older, regardless of how well the product fulfilled its objectives.
     The advice is to recognize the risks and plan to avoid the obsolescence.

• Broaden the range of interest in your services. Job search customers could be encouraged to continue their subscriptions in order to stay current on what’s available in order to plan their next career move. Matchmaking services can appeal to shoppers looking for a succession of dating companions rather than settling into a search for a marriage partner. Consumers from cultures accustomed to arranged marriages might be most comfortable with meeting a range of promising prospects from which a choice can be made. The Ashley Madison tag line—Having An Affair Made Easy—indicates there is even a market for matchmaking among those who are already married, although you might choose not to exploit that one. 
• Provide a progression path. Gerber welcomes its eaters who have outgrown pureed to move on to a line which encourages the use of utensils. Appliance retailers can offer bargain models. Misrepresenting the durability of items you sell is bad business. But offering low-priced versions which are not designed to last as long as the traditional models provides a path for economically challenged consumers to get started and then upgrade as their financial situation improves. 
• Encourage satisfied customers to recommend their friends to you and to recommend those friends recommend you to their friends. Weak links in referrals nicely augment the strong links. 

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

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Cap Off Profits with Endcap Impetus

Few among successful retailers ignore the selling appeal of endcaps—displays of products at the end of an aisle on a shelf or rack perpendicular to the aisle. In studies at University of South Australia, endcaps at the front of a store, facing the entrance or the checkout counters, uplifted sales by an average of 346%. Endcaps at the back of the store, facing the storage area or the building’s rear wall, uplifted sales by 416% on average. One explanation is that it’s easier to see products on endcaps than on aisle shelving.
     Tripling or quadrupling sales certainly enhances profitability, even considering that retailers commonly feature discounts on end-capped items. Actually, another explanation for the sales lift achieved from endcaps is that shoppers come to associate endcaps with good discounts and so pick out end-capped products because of subconscious habit. In other studies, the sales lift ranged from 23% to 1200%. Further, because only a small percentage of items can be displayed on endcaps in a typical store layout, a retailer can negotiate with suppliers to get slotting fee payments for endcap placement of products. This adds to the profitability.
     But those University of South Australia researchers were interested in the substantial difference between 346% and 416%. Why did rear endcaps lift sales more than did front endcaps? One reason is that the rear of a store is generally less crowded than is the front, so shoppers are more likely to linger at the back. But a more intriguing reason revealed itself when the researchers tracked down what led to the sales lift. For the front endcaps, it came mostly from increased purchases of the specific items that were on the endcaps. But for the rear endcaps, the sales uplift came largely from increased purchases of items on the aisle shelves adjacent to the endcaps. The rear endcaps were attention magnets, drawing people into the aisles.
     University of Minnesota studies indicate that you can increase this sales lift by featuring in the adjacent aisles items which are companions to those on the endcap and carry the same brand name. When a customer purchases an item carrying a specific brand name, the customer becomes more likely to prefer the same brand name when going on to select an accompanying item. Matching brand labels suggest to shoppers that the two products were specifically designed and tested to work well together.

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

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