I recently read an interesting article from SmartMoney that reminded me of how much I like the people side of marketing. I wrote a brief post awhile back simply pushing us all to remember that we market to people. Now that the holiday shopping season is in full swing, I think its a good idea to take a minute to understand how we shop. The article explains a few interesting research findings that I'll summarize here.
Basically, when we try something on or test it out, the "endowment affect" sets in. If we own something, we perceive it has a higher value than before. Furthermore, ownership can begin even when we are only trying something on. Think about how seeing detailed images, videos, and consumer ratings of products online can help you imagine the product as your own.
Also beware of shopping near attractive people. Our evolutionary need to reproduce plays a role in how we communicate the right attributes as we shop. And, whatever you do, don't let anyone touch you while you're shopping.
Lastly, we all know the 99 cent trick where retailers price items at $1.99 rather than $2. I guess our minds are so damn good at simplifying life for us that it's really hard to not pay attention to the leftmost digit.
For more detail about the studies that give light to our shopping minds, check out the article. Knowing these techniques can help persuade you to buy something does not make them all bad. Trying on a pair of shoes or touching a sweater to see if its as soft as it looks can be very beneficial to both the interested and the brand. And if pricing something at 1¢ below the next dollar amount, even if we know it clearly makes us more likely to buy, its better than being priced at 1¢ above. ;)
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