Cross Time Markers for Positive Experiences

When do your customers expect ninety minutes of a pleasant activity to be more enjoyable than ninety minutes of a pleasant activity? No, I didn’t make an error there. I intended to pose that riddle with repetition.
     The answer, according to a set of studies at University of California Berkeley and University of Chicago, is, for example, if the interval is 1:45 PM to 3:15 PM instead of 1:15 PM to 2:45 PM. When more time markers are crossed—in this case two markers of hours from 1 to 3 instead of one from 1 to 2—the consumer’s prediction of pleasure is greater. Similarly, an indulgent vacation scheduled for March 31 through April 6 would be expected to deliver higher pampering than if the same duration was for April 2 through April 8.
     The parallel effect applies to negative experiences. Expectations are of greater discomfort when more time markers are crossed. We’d expect the dental patient to be less concerned about a procedure scheduled for 10:00 AM to 10:45 AM than if scheduled for 10:30 AM to 11:15 AM. A delayed delivery of a special order from a retailer will probably seem less pleasant if the promised arrival is some date next month rather than a date this month which is the same number of days away. Another facet of the effect is that people predicted they’d accomplish more tasks in a given interval when the start and end times covered hour labels further apart.
     The researchers acknowledge that services marketers often have limited control over how many time marker boundaries are crossed. They recommend exploring the use of different temporal systems. Although an air flight arrival must be at 11:02 AM rather than 10:58 AM, a description of “take off in the morning, be in your hotel before lunch” could be persuasive.
     Time markers also influence whether a consumer will use an item if time is involved in acquisition. University of South Carolina researchers provided summer theatre patrons a movie ticket. Some tickets were for use later that summer, the rest for use that coming fall. Summer tickets were more likely to be redeemed than were fall tickets. But only for those who’d earned the ticket by having taken about seven minutes to complete a survey. For those getting the ticket by paying a discounted $3.00, there was no difference between summer and fall ticket use.

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Time Out for Number-Free Descriptions 

Motivate Shoppers Using Their Time Benchmarks 

Mix or Match to Affect Perceived Duration

Cross to Cross-Selling with Collecting Urges

We’ve an urge to complete the whole set. Researchers at Simon-Kucher & Partners, Seattle University, University of California Irvine, and University of St. Gallen see a potential for increasing cross-selling by using incompleteness cues to active the urge. When items are presented as interrelated components rather than individual alternatives, shoppers become more likely to purchase a greater number, or even all the items.
     This incompleteness effect is at its best when the set is presented visually, not just in text descriptions. In one of their studies, banking services were depicted as pieces in a jigsaw puzzle.
     The drive for completion is related to the Zeigarnik Effect. More than ninety years ago, a Russian psychologist named Bluma Zeigarnik explored the reasons that waiters had a better memory for orders placed which had not been served or had not been paid for than for those for which all the steps had been completed. Psychologists since then have used the term Zeigarnik Effect to refer to the mental itch we feel when a task is in limbo.
     This recall for unfinished tasks is substantially greater when the person has goals requiring the various components. The incompleteness effect comes from the shopper feeling a need for the chosen items beyond simply wanting them all. This doesn’t mean that the urge to collect operates only with absolute necessities. In my email exchange about the study with Prof. Eric Spangenberg, one of the researchers, he wrote, “I see presentation of items as a set as establishing an intrinsic goal.”
     Other research and retail anecdotal evidence indicate shoppers are attracted to items presented as a set because it stimulates imagining about how the items can be used and it eases selection of a group of items which will fit together well.
     The researchers caution that the incompleteness effect depends on the shopper believing it is feasible for them to acquire the additional items. That could mean encouraging the consumer to spread purchases over time. This is, in fact, a cardinal characteristic of the collector.
     For merchandise and service offerings beyond those consumers consider to be sets, think about giving the items the appeal of collectibles. Take special orders and publicize alternative markets. When your customers are having trouble getting that special item to fill in the missing spot in the collection, help them get it from you or from a collectors' group. Keep the collectors involved.

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Give Customers a Clear Sense of Progress 

Sell Exclusive Offerings by Combining 

Partition Premium Pricing for Busy Shoppers 

Set Customers to Collect Items 

Prune Out Cross-Buyers Who Aren’t Plums

Lay Out Your Politically Liberal Stances

Consumers who are political liberals are more likely than consumers who are political conservatives to want companies with which they do business to publicly declare a stance on political issues with which the consumer agrees. The University of North Texas and Virginia Tech researchers who demonstrated this found that the difference influences patronage intentions and willingness to pay.
     The researchers also use prior study results to characterize conservative and liberal political stands and to explain the degree of attention to corporate political stance-taking. Conservatives place relatively high importance on order and structure. Their focus on free market principles results in them attending less to social stands a company takes. Liberals place relatively high importance on caring and equity. Because these ideologies affect how consumers view company's roles in society, company stances influence liberals' responses to a greater extent than conservatives' responses.
     A New York University summary provides other insights about relationships between political affiliation and consumer behavior: 

• Liberals pay more attention than do conservatives to the logical and emotional quality of a sales argument, while conservatives pay relatively more attention to the reputation of the argument source. 
• Conservatives are sensitive to statements of stability, like “We’ve been here for 100 years,” while liberals are sensitive to statements of growth, like “We’ve been changing for 100 years.” 
• In marketing to conservatives, highlight the concepts of tradition, conformity, security, power, and materialism. With liberals, highlight harmony, benevolence, universalism, and egalitarianism.

     The examples of political stance-taking given by the University of Texas and Virginia Tech researchers are all of large corporations such as Chick-Fil-A and Nike. Studies at California Polytechnic State University and Georgetown University make a case for small companies loudly taking a stand on controversial political issues.
     You might think a major risk is that your strong stand will alienate those in your target markets who disagree with you. Pipsqueak-size enterprises can’t afford to lose bunches of customers. They lack the revenue cushion and market momentum enjoyed by major players. So pick your argument topic from those where people could recognize legitimate points on both sides. Then, the research indicates, the chief benefit becomes the attention to your business your strong advocacy garners. The net effect proves to be an influx of potential customers which more than compensates for the exit of angry current customers.
     If the position the small company proclaims aligns with political liberalism, there should be an extra margin of safety.

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Market by Political Propensity 

Pick an Argument, Pipsqueak

Down or Right Lines for Limitation Effects

On websites or store signage, retailers may use horizontal and/or vertical lines to divide offerings into categories. Shoppers appreciate categorization. It heads off being mentally overloaded by all the alternatives.
     But researchers at Minnan Normal University and Xiamen University discovered a downside of the dividing lines: Their use can cause shoppers to perceive a lower quantity of total alternatives available. This, in turn, can lower satisfaction with the purchase. A related effect is that, when there is a dividing line on the page, viewers devote outsized attention to what is delineated as the topmost or leftmost category. The shopper might miss out on spotting the available alternative which would best satisfy their needs.
     These effects were seen in studies of verbal listings—food items on a menu—and pictorial images—profile photos on a dating website—and with Chinese consumers as well as consumers from an American culture.
     One of the studies also demonstrated a way to minimize the downsides when using lines: A color block highlighting the area below a horizontal dividing line reduced the tendency to underestimate the total number of running shoe items in a catalog.
     Another of the studies showed an upside of the downside when using dividing lines: People perceiving a lower quantity of flower bouquet alternatives because of use of a dividing line were more interested in purchasing a bouquet than were those people viewing the assortment without a dividing line. The researchers attribute this to consumers associating limited quantity with higher quality.
     Other research results recommend consideration of how categories are defined by the dividing lines. Most shoppers appreciate categorization by price, and some appreciate categorization by brand name. However, beyond that, novices and experts have different preferences for how you set up the categories. Novices—people less familiar with the product category—prefer the items to be categorized by what the alternatives can do for them. Experts—people who consider themselves to be highly knowledgeable about the product category—prefer items to be categorized by technical specifications.
     Research at University of Pittsburgh and University of South Carolina finds that experts also are attracted to novel categorization. Sporting equipment might be categorized by the sizes of the items. Power tools might be categorized by the type of job they could be used to complete. Clothing might be categorized by color. Foods might be categorized by country of origin.

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Give Experts Novel Product Categories 

Smooth It with Females, Angle for Males

Insulate Perfectionists from Unwise Risk

Ethical marketers protect people against vulnerabilities: Retailers pull back any sales pressure when dealing with shoppers showing signs of a compulsive buying disorder. Food manufacturers design labels to highlight nutritional information on items tempting to adolescents.
     It’s equally valuable to recognize when it would seem we should protect shoppers from themselves, but the effort is unnecessary. Retail therapy—the intentional use of shopping by sad people in order to improve their mood—generally doesn’t cause practitioners to go overboard making purchases they’ll later regret. People seeking retail therapy are fully capable of exercising self-control. Their shopping is mindful, not mindless. They restrain themselves because the restraint itself helps lift their spirits.
     A set of warnings and reassurances from University of Southern California and Queen's University at Kingston studies is in this spirit. They explored the vulnerabilities of consumers who aim for perfection. What their studies find is that shoppers who strive to avoid imperfection are at elevated risk of taking on elevated risk. They’ll tolerate relatively high levels of physical, functional, and financial danger. Regarding a decision to use a nutritional supplement claimed to improve memory, the physical risk was presented to study participants as a probability of side effects (headaches and blurred vision), functional risk as incomplete FDA approval, and financial risk as exorbitant cost ($39.99 for a 30-day supply).
     The researchers recommend that marketers clearly describe risks to consumers who fear imperfection when these consumers are considering purchase. In the studies, these consumers were distinguished by agreement with statements like, “If I fail partly, it is as bad as being a complete failure” and “I hate being less than the best at things.” The researchers also present evidence that today’s consumers are moving overall toward embracing this form of perfectionism, which they call “perfectionistic concerns.”
     The researchers go on to detail how there is no evidence that another form of perfectionism, which they call “perfectionistic strivings,” results in a tendency to take on excessive risk. Perfectionistic striving consumers agree with statements like, “I set higher goals than most people do” and “I am very good at focusing my efforts on attaining a goal.” While perfectionistic concerns result in anxiously avoiding the losses of imperfection, perfectionistic strivings result in enjoying the gains in approaching perfection.
     Further, compared to people motivated by perfectionistic strivings, those motivated by perfectionistic concerns feel they’re more dependent on acquired items. Those with perfectionistic strivings feel more self-sufficient.

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Compulsive Buying Disorder. Okay, Laugh 

Guide Adolescent Eyes to Nutrition Information 

Couch Retail Therapy for Chronic Conditions 

Reduce Risk Fears by Introducing Choices 

Split Perfectionists’ Dichotomous Thinking

Develop Morality Impressions Using Diversity

You’ve heard the argument: Racial and gender diversity on the management team increases an organization’s skills when responding strategically to competitive challenges.
     But that’s false advertising unless certain conditions are met, conclude researchers at University of Massachusetts–Amherst, Queen’s University in Ontario, Western University, and Rowan University. To fully realize the competitive gains in ways which increase financial performance, you must incorporate certain diversity management programs and diversity cognition policies.
     The diversity management programs include mentoring, succession planning, and formalized minority networking groups. The diversity cognition policies include making diversity management a performance appraisal dimension, awarding bonuses for achieving diversity objectives, and attending to diversity management in all or most employee training.
     Study results from University of Miami and Rice University suggest that an important reason for the gains from diversity among organizational managers is that consumers will consider the organization’s offerings to incorporate higher morality. The consequence is more positive attitudes toward the organization. Consumers perceive that having a variety of racial and gender viewpoints encourages consideration of the greater societal good.
     The effect was seen in experiments like these: 

• A team responsible for writing and broadcasting local news was assessed to be more moral when the team was composed of four men of different races than when the four men were all white. Those considering the diverse team also expressed greater interest in watching the news. 
• A fictitious Walmart ethics and compliance team composed of two African-American males and two African-American females was predicted to respond to suspected corporate malfeasance better than was the team composed of four African-American men.

     Other of the experiments ruled out alternative explanations for the presence of diversity leading to perceptions of greater morality.
     The researchers report that their study design placed high importance on “ecological validity,” which refers to the likelihood that experimental results obtained in a university laboratory will hold up broadly in real-world settings. Ecological validity came to my mind when thinking about the finding that television news teams with a diversity in membership are viewed more favorably by viewers. The researchers’ explanation is that consumers like morality in their TV news. But the polarization in American society is evidence to me that many consumers place a higher importance on support of their preexisting opinions than on morality. In this case, the receptivity to news which was seen in the lab might not be operative in today’s real world.

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Diversify Job Duties in Diversity Management 

Prime for Good Behavior with Family Cues 

Say, Are You Being Ethical?