Tuesday in India: It's a Winning Game for Amazon

Flattery will get you everywhere.

Amazon India explored well the essential nature of Indian shopper and rolled out a multi-film campaign, riding on some typical Indian traits.

Check out how enjoyably Indians and Amazon connects through "asli", "jaldi" and "friendly" characteristics.

P.S. When you’re done reading and watching, I’d love for you to share your favourite campaign this year? Leave a comment or Tweet me, let's chat!>

Friday Research: Pick Customer's Brains in Your Ads But Thoughtfully

You thought:   

The question in an ad ("This car is for you?") influences your customer more than a statement ("This car is for you.") because it invites him to think about something and reach his own conclusion, hence, he gets more involved in the whole "process" and perhaps more likely to buy.
Remember the success of "Got Milk?", "Did somebody say McDonald’s?“ or "Where’s the beef?”? It’s a question, again.

New facts:  

If the stimuli around the consumer are dreary and dull (ordinary visuals, boring music, etc.), they stimulate low arousal, and unaroused consumers respond favorably to questions.
If stimuli around the consumer are exciting and flashy (thrilling visuals, dramatic music, etc), they stimulate high arousal and aroused consumers respond more favorably to statements.

What Marketing Doctor ordered:

Use your logic for when to ask questions and when to give statements. Aroused consumers want clarity, they want simple information so they can act on it. Calm, relaxed consumers want stimuli that peak their curiosity.

Simple statement will probably be more persuasive in your ad if it is demonstrated in an exciting event, during energetic speeches, during an intermission of an action movie, in some stimulating, visually attractive website, near a thrilling story in the magazine, during supermarket‘s holiday sale and so on. As the author of the research says, "If the ad itself or the material in which it is embedded involves topics of a sexual, competitive, dangerous, or thrilling nature, the current research suggests that a statement style is likely to be more effective, even if a question style could appeal to consumers' curiosity under other circumstances..".

Under normal circumstances your promotional phrase might be more persuasive as a question, especially during slow-moving speeches, relaxing TV programmes, typical shopping days..well, you get the idea.


Source: Henrik Hagtvedt. Promotional phrases as questions versus statements: An influence of phrase style on product evaluation.Journal of Consumer Psychology, 2015.

P.S. When you’re done reading, I’d love for you to share your experience with promotional phrases in your marketing? Leave a comment or Tweet me, let's chat!

Friday Research: Holymackerel, Don't Let Your Customer Buy and Avoid Buyer’s Remorse

When Will You Use This?  

Developing tactics in order to increase customer satisfaction.

What’s The Red-Letter Bite Today? 

We all know this feeling: it’s the last day of the month, your wallet is light as a feather.. Suddenly, you get seduced by a very attractive ad and buy a new pair of beautiful pumps. Just like that. They are really beautiful but you suddenly get mixed feelings: satisfied and guilty.

Current studies* measured satisfaction from purchases made with the last of participants’ financial resources. Results revealed less satisfaction with a purchase if someone thinks it will be difficult or take a long time to replenish their budget.

On the other hand, if someone comes into money without any effort—like winning cash from a contest or a lottery—they are more satisfied with their purchases if funds were running low compared to if they already had plenty of financial resources.

So Happy, So Broke!

Addition To Your Bag of Tricks    

As authors suggest, "brands looking to increase customer satisfaction can run product promotions during times of the month when they believe consumers have more money in their budgets. Additionally, to reduce the pain of spending one’s last dollar and increase product satisfaction, brands can use coupons and special pricing incentives at times of the month when they believe consumers have exhausted their budgets."

*Soster R.L., Gershoff A.D., and Bearden W.O. “The Bottom Dollar Effect: The Influence of Spending to Zero on Pain of Payment and Satisfaction.” Journal of Consumer Research: October 2014 {Thanks for the material}

P.S. When you’re done reading, I’d love for you to share your experience with increasing customer satisfaction? Leave a comment or Tweet me, let's chat!

P.P.S. Need some help on crafting your marketing message? Let's do this together.

Friday Research: Months to Find New Customer, Seconds to Lose Existing One

When Will You Use This?  

Planning and developing acquisition campaigns.

What’s The Red-Letter Bite Today? 

Customer acquisition marketing campaigns can be your landslide victory if executed well.

Current research* examines the effect of attractively priced acquisition campaigns on existing customers' retention intention, retention and customer lifetime value (CLV).

The study reveals that customers who are aware of the acquisition campaigns (they know about the process of bringing new customers to the brand that they use) both have a significantly higher intention to stay and do actually stay longer with the brand than do customers who are unaware of these campaigns.

Moreover, there is a positive effect of campaign attractiveness on retention intention, which means that if the customer thinks the acquisition campaign is pleasing, appeals to the senses, has qualities which arouse interest, the retention intention will be higher.

What Are The Ways of Gaining New Customers Without Losing Existing Ones? There Are Many Answers..

  

*Lhoest-Snoeck, S., van Nierop, E., Verhoef, P.C., ‘For New Customers Only: A Study on the Effect of Acquisition Campaigns on a Service Company's Existing Customers' CLV' Journal of Interactive Marketing, Vol 28 (08/2014) {Thanks for the material}

P.S. When you’re done reading, I’d love for you to share your experience with customer acquisition campaigns? Leave a comment or Tweet me, let's chat!

P.P.S. Need some help on crafting your marketing message? Let's do this together.

Friday Research: Why Your Shoppers Want to Consult Salesperson?

When Will You Use This?  

To improve your understanding of shoppers behavior, training your salespeople.

What’s The Red-Letter Bite Today? 

Most retailers believe in the value of salesperson consultation. But does it really increase store performance and, if so, what could motivate shoppers to seek salesperson's help?

Current research* investigates 425 shoppers and develops a model of four utilitarian and hedonic motivators of shopper consultation with salespeople. The results demonstrate that situational and individual influences, both utilitarian (i.e., shoppers’ purchase uncertainty and efficiency orientation) and hedonic (i.e., shoppers’ situation-related affect toward salespeople and shopping enjoyment) motivate retail shoppers to consult with salespeople. Moreover, salesperson consultation is found to be positively related to the amount of money spent by shoppers.

Don't Be Fooled: Purchase Uncertainty is Only One Possible Motivator Of Seeking A Salesperson

*Haas A., Kenning P. "Utilitarian and Hedonic Motivators of Shoppers’ Decision to Consult with Salespeople", Journal of Retailing (June, 2014) {Thanks for the material}

P.S. When you’re done reading, I’d love for you to share your experience with motivating shoppers for salespeople consultation? Leave a comment or Tweet me, let's chat!

P.P.S. Need some help on crafting your marketing message? Let's do this together.

Friday Research: She Touches Me - She Touches Me Not

When Will You Use This?  

Training your sales staff, engaging in direct communication with customers and clients.

What’s The Red-Letter Bite Today? 

Every individual has a different comfort level when it comes to interpersonal touch. Some people like to be touched, some - not so much… What about your customers?

Current research* investigates individuals’ comfort with interpersonal touch and aims to understand how people are different with respect to their preference and use of touch with strangers. Authors of this study developed a scale, called Comfort with Interpersonal Touch (CIT), measuring both dimensions of touch – initiating and receiving touch.

Do Not Touch: Some Customers Might Be Highly Disturbed By Touch in Shopping Environment

Addition To Your Bag of Tricks    

This research brings some insight for the marketers directly dealing with the customers. It's important to note that when touched, an individual’s comfort with interpersonal touch will influence their evaluation of their surroundings. For example, in retail environment, if Kate, a salesperson, touches John, her customer, and John is uncomfortable with touch, then it's very believable that John will evaluate the brand, its products and his shopping experience less positively after being touched.

As authors say, "these results are really interesting because we are able to demonstrate that comfort with interpersonal touch can influence what a consumer thinks about a service provider and how that consumer perceives an experience. Whether it be tour guides on a campus tour, wait staff in a restaurant, or a retail employee, the way a service provider interacts with customers affects the customer’s experience."

  

*Webb A., Peck J., ‘Individual Differences in Interpersonal Touch: On the Development, Validation, and Use of the 'Comfort with Interpersonal Touch' (CIT) Scale. Journal of Consumer Psychology (2014 Forthcoming) {Thanks for the material}

P.S. When you’re done reading, I’d love for you to share your experience with touching your customers? Leave a comment or Tweet me, let's chat!

P.P.S. Need some help on crafting your marketing message? Let's do this together.

Friday Research: When Customers Get Interuppted..

When Will You Use This?  

Researching your customer's decision process.

What’s The Red-Letter Bite Today? 

Today we get interrupted by calls, messages, emails, notifications and everything else every other minute. How does that affect us?

Current research* examines how interuptions affect the following decisions, more precisely, whether an individual’s desire to finish an interrupted activity depends on the timing of the interruption (specifically, whether an individual’s desire to finish an interrupted activity is heightened when an interruption disrupts the most intense, important ("climatic") moments of an activity or task).

This study found that people who were interrupted during a climactic moment of a television clip, and who were prevented from watching the end of it, were more likely to make unrelated purchase decisions than their uninterrupted counterparts.

It's observed that when a climactic interruption prevents individuals from achieving closure in the interrupted domain, the resulting unsatisfied need for psychological closure can cause individuals to seek closure in totally unrelated domains. That need for closure motivates individuals to make a decision rather than remain in a state of ambiguity. Research shows that climactic interruptions could increase the likelihood that individuals would make unrelated purchase decisions rather than continue examining product alternatives.

Hi, We Are Here So You Wouldn't Finish What You Started!

Addition To Your Bag of Tricks    

This research brings some insight for the marketers, as authors say,“ ..because our findings suggest that climactic interruptions can increase the likelihood of choosing to purchase a product rather than continuing to examine alternatives, it is possible that these closure-motivated choices may increase post-purchase regret. In fact, research indicates that insufficient thinking about decision alternatives in and of itself can increase post-decision regret, even when decision outcomes are held constant. To the extent that the current research suggests that need for psychological closure may increase hasty purchase decisions, it is possible that these decisions may increase post-decision regret.”.

  

*D. Kupor, T. Reich, and B. Shiv,"Can't Finish What You Started? The Effect of Climactic Interruption on Behavior", Journal of Consumer Psychology, Upcoming 2014 {Thanks for the material}

P.S. When you’re done reading, I’d love for you to share your experience with unrelated purchase decisions and post-purchase regret? Leave a comment or Tweet me, let's chat!

P.P.S. Need some help on crafting your marketing message? Let's do this together.

Friday Research: Your Experience With Identity Marketing Could Flop

When Will You Use This?  

Creating marketing messages that target consumers on the basis of their identity.

What’s The Red-Letter Bite Today? 

Marketing messages often appeal to consumers because of their targeted identities, for example, Crisco targets culinarians by noting that "Cooks who know, trust Crisco" and Jell-O asserts that all real Americans eat their desserts.

However, could identity marketing flop?

Current research* demonstrates that explicit identity-marketing messages can backfire. As authors note, "identity marketing messages that explicitly connect consumer identity expression to a particular brand may highlight the role of external forces in determining consumers’ purchase behavior. In doing so, explicit identity marketing may inadvertently reduce consumers’ perceptions of personal agency in identity expression, undermining the value of brand purchase as a meaningful expression of identity. Five studies support this theorizing and demonstrate that explicit identity-marketing messages may reduce purchase likelihood. Consumers perceive such explicit identity marketing as a threat to free identity expression and avoid brands they would otherwise prefer..".

Xbox One Invitation for Real Gamers: Is This a Meaningful Expression of Their Identity?

* Bhattacharjee, A., Berger J., Menon G., “When Identity Marketing Backfires: Consumer Agency in Identity Expression". Journal of Consumer Psychology: August, 2014. {Thanks for the material}

P.S. When you’re done reading, I’d love for you to share your experience with identity marketing? Leave a comment or Tweet me, let's chat!

P.P.S. Need some help on crafting your marketing message? Let's do this together.

Friday Research: Early Adopters Might Lead Your Customers To Smoke And Mirrors

When Will You Use This?  

Planning and developing product and services launches, innovation projects.

What’s The Red-Letter Bite Today? 

Early adopters, who live, eat, and breathe everything fresh and new, can be invaluable for your brand. They can start a great sales rollercoaster with spreading the word and encouraging others to try the product.

However, early adopters with a high need for uniqueness may experience a communication dilemma: should I or should I not tell other about this cool new product? As once others adopt the same product, the level of differentness will radically decrease.

Current research* examines early adopters’ communication dilemma and how it leads to the “share and scare” strategy. The research reveals that sometimes early adopters use “share and scare” strategy and share information about their adoption with others, yet scare them out of adopting it, e.g. by focusing on features that diminish the innovation’s appeal for later adopters, such as its complexity, high price, or radicalness.

Limited Edition beats the Fear of Imitation?

Addition To Your Bag of Tricks    

This research shares a few tips to help you accomplish successful innovation launches. As authors suggest, "first, by launching a limited edition of an innovation, or premium versus common editions of the product, managers may diminish early adopters’ fear of imitation, because imitating them will be impossible. Second, managers can adjust the content of marketing campaigns to fit the needs of different adopters over time. For example, at launch, managers may appeal to early adopters with a high need for uniqueness by highlighting the product’s uniqueness and scarcity, and in subsequent stages, appeal to later adopters by emphasizing the product’s commonness and popularity. Third, managers can completely prevent the communication dilemma and the consequent “share and scare” strategy by appealing to early adopters with a low (rather than high) need for uniqueness. By focusing on benefits of the innovation separate from its uniqueness—such as functionality, hedonic value, or cognitive challenge—managers will appeal to early adopters who have a strong need to recommend the innovation but not to scare others."

*Moldovan, Sarit, Yael Steinhart, and Shlomit Ofen. "Share and Scare": Solving the Communication Dilemma of Early Adopters with a High Need for Uniqueness, Journal of Consumer Psychology: July, 2014. {Thanks for the material}

P.S. When you’re done reading, I’d love for you to share your experience with early adopters? Leave a comment or Tweet me, let's chat!

P.P.S. Need some help on crafting your marketing message? Let's do this together.

Friday Research: Could "Out-Of-Stock" Be Another Trick In Your Marketing Book?

When Will You Use This?  

Planning and developing marketing strategy for your products.

What’s The Red-Letter Bite Today? 

Smart companies might have noticed that sometimes consumers more desire those products that are "currently unavailable".

Imagine a man called Peter who goes into a store to buy an iPhone. He comes directly to a salesperson and asks for the specific model of iPhone. Unfortunately, a salesperson informs that the desired model is out of stock. Now, there are a few possible ways Peter might react to this information: he might desire that iPhone model even more (increased product desirability) or he might feel frustrated with the store (increased source negativity).

Current research* examines how consumers respond when formerly unavailable products become available after being out-of-stock. To qoute the authors, "we examine what happens when consumers’ freedom of choice is restricted and subsequently restored." Before we go deeper into the studies, it's important to note what authors describe as high and low reactance individuals, that is "individuals who are high in reactance (e.g., young adult males) respond very strongly restrictions of their freedom of choice, and experience strong product desirability in response to stockouts. Individuals who are low in reactance do not experience product desirability in response to stockouts. However, both high and low reactance individuals respond to stockouts with source negativity toward the store."

It is interesting to go through all the studies in this research, designed to investigate the restoration of freedom.

"Study 1 used a shopping scenario. Individuals imagined going to purchase their favorite snack food at a local grocery store. In the control scenario, they purchased the item and left the store. In the stockout scenario, the item was unavailable and they left the store. In the restoration scenario, the item was initially out-of-stock, but had been restocked when they walked back through that aisle on the way out of the store. After these scenarios, we measured individuals’ satisfaction with the store and the snack food item, and measured their individual levels of reactance. As anticipated, compared to the control scenario, in the stockout scenario, all individuals were dissatisfied with the store, but high reactance individuals also felt more positive toward the unavailable (desirable) snack food item."

"In studies 2 and 3, individuals went on multiple shopping trips using a computer-based shopping interface, and chose jellybean flavors from different stores. To make the study realistic, they received their chosen jellybeans. On the restoration shopping trip, individuals were told that the store was out of their favorite flavor, and they would not receive that flavor on the current trip. They were told they would have to make a second choice, but at the last minute, the shopkeeper discovered some additional stock of their preferred flavor. We compared individuals’ satisfaction after this restoration shopping trip to a control shopping trip where they received their favorite jelly beans immediately, and to a stockout shopping trip where they did not receive any jellybeans. We again measured individual levels of reactance. As before, high reactance individuals were more satisfied with the store after the restoration shopping trip than they were after the control shopping trip; they were also more likely to return to the store on a subsequent shopping trip for jellybeans. Low reactance individuals showed the opposite results."

"Study 4 examined how individuals high and low in reactance respond to restoration of freedom when they receive different reasons for the initial stockout. Individuals imagined shopping for jellybeans. In the restoration conditions, they told that their chosen jellybeans were out-of-stock either because the store failed to order jellybeans last week, or because the jellybeans were popular. In both cases, as in the prior studies, their chosen jellybeans were later discovered, and they received these. Compared to a control shopping trip, as before, low reactance individuals responded negatively to the restoration shopping trip—regardless of why a stockout happens, low reactance individuals dislike stores and products after having their freedom restricted and then restored. As before, high reactance individuals responded positively to restoration of freedom in the product popularity condition. In contrast, however, they responded negatively in the store failure condition—this condition strengthened their negativity toward the store, overwhelming their positive desire for the jellybeans."

Passing by and thinking, is this really out of stock or they need to push other products too?

Addition To Your Bag of Tricks    

"Only a few left", "Disappearing fast", "Stock for 1 day only" and similar selling slogans have been used as a strategic tool in many companies' marketing. This research confirms that "some individuals (those who are high in reactance) are happier to experience a temporary stockout than to have an uneventful service encounter. In short, high reactance individuals reward firms, but low reactance individuals punish firms, for restricting and restoring their freedom."

Carefully used (not over used) scarcity marketing can be great. Creating campaigns for a limited amount of customers or valid only for a limited amount of time can beautifully boost the sales of your products. Be creative!

*Moore, Sarah G. and Gavan J. Fitzsimons, "Yes, We Have No Bananas: Consumer Responses to Restoration of Freedom.” Journal of Consumer Psychology: April, 2014. {Thanks for the material}

P.S. When you’re done reading, I’d love for you to share your experience with customers' reactions to "out-of-stock"? Leave a comment or Tweet me, let's chat!

P.P.S. Need some help on crafting your marketing message? Let's do this together.

Friday Research: What's The Real McCoy Behind Luxury Shopping?

When Will You Use This?  

Developing promotional campaigns for your luxury brand or products.

What’s The Red-Letter Bite Today? 

The luxury goods market has been increasing for many years.

There are many reasons why consumers purchase luxury goods - a sense of status, wealth, and exclusivity being a few of them.

Current research* investigates psychology of pride in luxury goods shoppers and shows that there are two ways pride operates: there is Authentic Pride (feeling which motivates a desire for luxury purchases as a signal of accomplishment) and there is Hubristic Pride ("feeling that one derives from displaying those same products" or snobbery).

This study reveals that consumers purchase luxury brands' products in search of heightened feelings of accomplishment, however, other people perceive it as a signal of arrogance (rather than accomplishment).

Luxury Goods: Sign Of Arrogance or Accomplishment?

Addition To Your Bag of Tricks    

 

If you're selling luxury goods, there are a few tricks to add to your bag. As authors note, "luxury brands are sometimes positioned in a manner associating them with snobbery, for instance contrasting their wearers with laborers of lower status professions. Others, such as Rolex’s “A crown for every achievement”, suggests its product is a marker of accomplishment. Our research shows that although consumers indeed associate luxury goods with both accomplishment and snobbery, the former is more motivating in creating consumer desire. Beyond purveyors of luxury goods, the growing obsession among some consumers to acquire luxury brands, particularly when they cannot reasonably afford them, is also a concern. For those interested in helping consumers better regulate their expenditures and avoid additional debt, our results speak to the psychological factors that motivate consumers to buy products that may make their lives economically precarious."

*McFerran, Brent, Karl Aquino, and Jessica L. Tracy. Evidence For Two Facets of Pride In Consumption: Findings From Luxury Brands, Journal of Consumer Psychology: April, 2014. {Thanks for the material}

P.S. When you’re done reading, I’d love for you to share your experience with marketing luxury goods? Leave a comment or Tweet me, let's chat!

P.P.S. Need some help on crafting your marketing message? Let's do this together.

Friday Research: The Big Marketing Fight - Time Vs Money

When Will You Use This?  

Developing promotional campaigns.

What’s The Red-Letter Bite Today? 

Time and money, the concepts deeply integrated in majority of today's ads, can affect consumer’s product evaluation strategy and lead to a specific product choice.

Current research* investigates time and money concepts and their importance to the consumer.

Authors show the difference between two concepts, stating: "as an important tool to gauge personal success and the ultimate media of exchange of goods and services, money is a tangible resource with its value being precise and relatively consistent across transactions. As a result, people are highly motivated and able to process money-related information in an analytical manner. By contrast, everyone receives relatively fair treatment in terms of time as we are all granted 24 hours per day no matter how we spend that time. Hence, compared to money, people are less motivated to process time-related information."

In life consumers are often required to choose between spending time to save money (e.g., buying separate products to prepare the dish) or spending money to save time (e.g., paying more for express delivery). This study reveals that increasing the salience of customers' time or money expenditure may change not only their distribution of resources, but also the products chosen.

Time is Money? Your Customers Don't Think So.

Addition To Your Bag of Tricks    

 

Current research might help you identify the evaluation strategies most likely to be adopted by consumers, and to highlight the aspects of an offer that will positively influence your consumer choice. As authors suggest, "for instance, the concept of money may be central to industries such as banking and luxury goods, whereas time may be more salient to educational institutions and delivery-services. Similarly, certain promotional programs put more emphasis on time investment (e.g., loyalty programs) while others focus on cost saving (e.g., coupons; see Lee & Ariely, 2006). Our research suggests that when time is made salient, it might be a good strategy to emphasize non-alignable differences, a unique verbal feature, or the overall attractiveness of an option. In contrast, when money is made salient, focusing on attribute-level advantages is crucial to marketing success."

*Lei Su, Leilei Gao.Strategy Compatibility: The Time versus Money Effect on Product Evaluation Strategies, Journal of Consumer Psychology: April, 2014. {Thanks for the material}

P.S. When you’re done reading, I’d love for you to share your experience with integrating time and money in the promotional material? Leave a comment or Tweet me, let's chat!

P.P.S. Need some help on crafting your marketing message? Let's do this together.

Sunday Video: Tell People They Want Your Hedonic Products

I am in India and every corner here shakes my mind.

Inspiring way, I mean.

Watch the video below to find out what memories one street vendor brought forth and how it could help you craft more persuasive messages.

Go on, take the red pill.

P.S. When you’re done watching, leave a comment or Tweet me how did you like it. Can't wait to hear from you!

Friday Research: Is Divide and Conquer a Better Pricing Strategy?

When Will You Use This?  

Developing and designing your promotional materials that include price information.

What’s The Red-Letter Bite Today? 

Whether making purchases online or in person, people often come across prices that are split into two or more quantities. For example, an online fashion retailer offers you a dress with a base price of just £15, but with a shipping fee of £4.95. This company could charge a single combined price of £19.95, respectively, but instead choose to display arguably more complicated partitioned price instead.

Partitioned pricing is a widely used pricing strategy and current research* investigates the impact of regulatory focus on the perceived attractiveness of partitioned and combined pricing.

The study reveals that promotion focused individuals perceive partitioned prices to be more attractive than combined prices, while prevention focused individuals rated the two types of pricing similarly attractive.

Unite or Divide: Is "All Included" Better?

Addition To Your Bag of Tricks    

 

Following the results of current research, ads designed with higher levels of ambiguity would benefit from the addition of partitioned pricing information.

Earlier authors define promotion focused individuals as the ones who "place more importance on what they “want” to do" and prevention focused individuals as the ones who "place more emphasis on what they should, or “ought” to do." Having that in mind, current study suggests the importance of partitioned pricing for companies selling the products which are associated with promotion concerns.

Moreover, authors highlight that "companies must always balance the costs and benefits of adopting different pricing strategies, and the current research suggests using combined pricing for products with prevention concerns may be the better choice in the long run.<..>We suggest that low seller reputation turn on a red light, which leads consumers to become prevention focused and pay."

*Kay Lee, Choi, Jungsil, & Yexin Jessica Li. Regulatory Focus as a Predictor of Attitudes Toward Partitioned and Combined Pricing.Journal of Consumer Psychology: April (2014) {Thanks for the material}

P.S. When you’re done reading, I’d love for you to share your experience with pricing strategies? Leave a comment or Tweet me, let's chat!

P.P.S. Need some help on crafting your marketing message? Let's do this together.

Sunday Video: Warm Your Customers' Hands and You'll Have Their Warm Hearts

All the self-respecting Marketer needs to know this.

Temperature shapes your consumers' purchase decisions and affect their spending.

Get ready for the sunny summer and plan your warth-filled winter.

Watch the video below and take a leaf out of my book.


 
P.S. When you’re done watching, leave a comment or Tweet me how did you like it. Can't wait to hear from you!

Friday Research: Make The Most Of Your Customer's Touch

When Will You Use This?  

Developing your online and offline marketing and sales strategies for tablets, touchscreens and touchpads.

What’s The Red-Letter Bite Today? 

The role of touch is increasing: touchpad laptops and touchscreen tablets continue to spread among consumers. Earlier it has been observed that touching something creates a perception of psychological ownership and ownership creates a perception of increased value (it’s called endowment effect).

Current research* aims to explore the effects of varying touch-based interfaces on consumers. The study reveals that touchscreens create stronger psychological ownership over chosen products in online shopping scenarios (when compared to touchpads or mice).

Researchers highlight that touch-based devices like tablets can lead to higher product valuations when compared to traditional computers.

Welcome to The New World: Touchscreen Wending Machine

Addition To Your Bag of Tricks    

 

Touch-based interfaces are not newbies in the market: restaurants are testing tablets as ordering systems, tablets are becoming common in product showrooms. As this research notes, consumer interactions on tablets are quite different from the interactions on a traditional computer and you might want to include it into your marketing too:

 - Create special interactive space in your store or venue and allow customers to use their own personal touchscreen devices to connect with your brand, to browse the products, to get some special momentary offers

 - High resolution photos, bright colours, product from different angles, presentation videos, etc – use vivid stimulus to enhance your customers experience with their touchscreen devices.

*Brasel, S.A. & Gips, J., Tablets, Touchscreens, and Touchpads: How Varying Touch Interfaces Trigger Psychological Ownership and Endowment, Journal of Consumer Psychology: April (2014) {Thanks for the material}

P.S. When you’re done reading, I’d love for you to share your experience with marketing on touchscreen devices? Leave a comment or Tweet me, let's chat!

P.P.S. Need some help on crafting your marketing message? Let's do this together.

Friday Research: Gloss And Glimmer Makes The Winner?

When Will You Use This?  

“Human beings are attracted to glossy objects. Shimmering lipsticks, gleaming cars, dazzling diamonds and sequined gowns conjure up images of the good life. This attraction to glossy can also be observed in everyday objects. “

Current series of experiments* focus on an evolutionary psychology framework and test the hypothesis that the preference for glossy comes from an innate preference for fresh water as a valuable resource. Specifically, since fresh water has a shiny surface, being drawn to glossy surfaces may have increased the likelihood of finding fresh water sources and surviving.

The results support this idea and find a continuous fundamental preference for glossy images. It is confirmed that many consumers prefer glossy to matte. Furthermore, being thirsty (as well as recently having been thirsty) seem to increase preferences for glossy.

Addition To Your Bag of Tricks    

 

As consumers have a significant liking for glossy and relate it to higher perceived quality, it might be useful to review and modify your branding campaigns and the look/packaging of the product to increase its attractiveness and sales.

Water is valued as a necessary resource to survive, therefore, its presence might generate positive feelings and affect one's choices. However, it’s important to note that preference for glossy might change conditional on the circumstance. Authors suggest a few examples: “glossy wrapping for unhealthy food products (e.g., oven baked potato chips) might raise connotations of greasiness as a result of which such products might choose to use matte packaging. In a similar vein, an intellectual magazine printed on glossy (versus non-glossy) might weaken perceptions of its credibility, and clothes made out of patent leather or shiny fabrics might raise perceptions of commonness as a result of which their matte counterpart is most likely to be preferred."

* Taking a shine to it: How the preference for glossy stems from an innate need for water. Katrien Meert, Mario Pandelaere, Vanessa M. Patrick. Journal of Consumer Research (Volume 24, Issue 2), April 2014 {Thanks for the material}

P.S. When you’re done reading, I’d love for you to share your experience with glossy and matte branding? Leave a comment or Tweet me, let's chat!

P.P.S. Need some help on crafting your marketing message? Let's do this together.

Sunday Video: Take The Bull Of Luxury Marketing By The Horns

The future is very bright for luxury goods market.

And I want to see you setting the Thames on fire with your luxury brand. 

Here is my second video in the series of Luxury Marketing which will teach you a few tips and tricks.

Writing is cheap, watch the video.

P.S. When you’re done watching, leave a comment or Tweet me how did you like it. Can't wait to hear from you!

P.P.S. If you missed the first video on Luxury Marketing, no worries - you can find it here.

Sunday Video: You Need To Know This When Marketing To Women

Women are wonderful.

They are also very active online: shopping, chatting, sharing.

Watch this light video and get to know some recent statistics on women shoppers and a few valuable insights on what women want (when you're marketing to them).

P.S. When you’re done watching, leave a comment or Tweet me how did you like it. Can't wait to hear from you!

Friday Research: Oh Yes, Sex Actually Sells To Women As Well

When Will You Use This?  

Planning and developing your marketing messages for women.

What’s The Red-Letter Bite Today? 

Previous literature have established that women’s economic decision making, contrary to men’s, is virtually insensitive to the presence of sexual cues.

Wrong!

The current research* investigates female economic decision making after having touched sexually laden stimuli. Researchers found that after touching boxers, women expressed a higher preference for a smaller immediate reward rather than a larger delayed monetary reward; the same treatment led female consumers to be less loss averse for money and food and to be willing to pay more for the rewards. The authors explain these findings by showing that the closeness of an appetitive (or sexually energizing) item activates Pavlovian consummatory responses.  Remember good old Pavlov's experiments with dogs? We are actually so similar in our primary responses.

Addition To Your Bag of Tricks  

  

While marketing for females customers, keep in mind that tactile sexual stimuli enhance women’s reward seeking decisions, and exposure to sexually rewarding cues can lead to a non-specific craving for all sorts of rewards like money, food or drinks.

*What a feeling! Touching sexually laden stimuli makes women seek rewards.Anouk Festjens, Sabrina Bruyneel, and Siegfried Dewitte, Journal of Consumer Psychology, forthcoming.{Thanks for the material}
 
P.S. When you’re done reading, I’d love for you to share your experience with "sex sells" type of marketing? Leave a comment or Tweet me, let's chat!

P.P.S. Need some help on crafting your marketing message? Let's do this together.