The product

Gift wrap

Wrapping increase quality of product

However, expectation disconfirmation. Badly wrapped present lower expectation, so the present may exceed the low expectation => good

Acquaintance should wrap gift neatly, cause it reflect the importance of relationship

Shelf positioning and attention

Product in horizontal center receive more visual attention => more likely to get pick

Central fixation bias: Tendency to look at central products

Gaze cascade: Increase eye visual on the product we will buy

Central gaze cascade effect: Increase attention for horizontal central product prior to purchase

Atalay

Prove effect of central fixation bias

on choice likelihood

67 PPT look and chose product on computer with eye tracker

Product in middle are looked at more and choose more

Measured eye movement with eye-tracker => objective and reliable data

Too deterministic, buying a product depends on other factors (money)

Key study: Food package design and taste perception. Becket et al

Customer choose new product based on packaging, or when they have to make quick decision

Cross-modal correspondence: Great intensity in one sensory will affect the other senses (Taste perception influenced by food look, 7UP is sweeter with green bottle)

Bright color make food flavor more intense

Shape affects perception, sharp edges means strength, round edges mean friendliness

Processing fluency and congruence: We like things that are easy to understand. 2 aspect of design should fit in well to increase liking. => How well 2 aspect of packaging go together. Bold color (strength) and round edges (relaxing) confuse customer, make it harder to understand product

Aim

See if color and shape of yogurt packaging affect taste

Hypothesis:

1. Yogurt in sharp edges container + bold color will have stronger flavor

2. Attitudes towards yogurt will be better if shape+color go well together

3. Customer with more design sensitive will be affected more

Method

Field experiment, told this is taste test for new yogurt

Large German supermarket

Sample

Opportunity, approached and asked if they can take part in study

151 German, mostly male

Procedure

Pre-test: There were many container design and color combination, ppt chose the 2 pairs that differ from each other the most

PPT watched 20 second movie of one of 4 variants spinning 360 degree (square/circle with bold or light color)

Taste lemon yogurt

Completed computer questions (all scale 1-7)

1. About the product: taste intensity, and estimated selling price

2. Design sensitivity: “packaging is important to me”

3. Manipulation check: test to see if design has effect on ppt, “This product looks potent to me”

Results

Angular packaging perceived more potent, only design sensitive ppt see high color saturation as potent

Only shape design affect taste intensity for design sensitive ppt

Sharp design rated more positively and suggested a higher selling price (cause sharp = more impressive = more expensive). Surprisingly, same for low color (cause high saturation seem as cheap)

Conclusion

Angular product more intense taste but only for who pays attention to packaging

Color saturation doesn’t contribute to taste intensity, too bright color seems cheap and taste worse

Pretest to select packaging variants so potent rating is different, to measure IV change to potent ratings

Good reductionist: Break color into small details like saturation, study them individually => more detailed than just different colors

Color saturation was not noticeable, can’t measure its effect

Only measure sour, lack sweet or salty.

Only Germans

Deception: False aim of study + sensitivity questionnaire was to measure lifestyle. But reduce demand characteristics

3 Sales techniques (DelVecchio)

• • Customer-focused

    • View each buyer has unique problem

    • Sales person active engage to solve the problem ⇒ ask questions like consultant to understand needs

    • Corporation increase sales and avoid conflict

    Competitor-focused

    • Less collaboration to find solutions to individual customers, but convince how you are similar to other customer groups and why their product is better than other options

    • See buyer's problem as similar to other buyers

    • Group customers together

    • "Salesperson tell you your neighbors have all buy a product, you think they are the same like you so you trust the product"

    • Promote Unique Selling Point / FAB model

  • Product focused

    • Convince buyer they need the product

    • Convince how product fit their life

    • Focus on product features and advantages

  • • Salesperson need to be seen knowledgeable in order to gain respect

    • If ask too many questions, or compare product with competitor too much, then not respected

    • Ignore customer preferences and needs

• 

Focus on buyer response rather than salesperson, salesperson might overestimate their ability

Most ppt were old experienced male 10+ years experience in B2B, not generalizable for young women

Lack culture differences: Japanese has high intolerance of uncertainty, want to know everything before buying, so product focused is better for them

Interpersonal influence techniques

Disrupt-then-reframe

Seller make disrupting message to increase ambiguity. We are ambiguity averse, we want answer to confusing statements. High “NFCC” people seek for answer more, after NFCC is satisfied, we are more relaxed and easier to persuade.

E.g: Instead of “That’s 3 euro”, say “membership is 300 cents, that’s 3 euro.”

Mini study: Kardes

See if DTR determined by NFCC

Researcher act as student council member, ask for 3 Euros membership with disrupting message: 300 cents, that’s 3 euros.

Do questionnaires to measure NFCC

High NFCC and DTR group buy more membership

Real world setting

If student is in a hurry, their NFCC is low cause they don’t care

Foot in door: Offer small request, then bigger request (consistency)

Door in face: Offer expensive request, then offer cheaper one (anchor bias).

Cialdini’s 6 ways to close a sale (L SCARS)

Reciprocation: Salesperson give gift for customer so they feel entitled to buy

(e.g: waiter are tipped higher when give guest candy)

Scarcity

Liking: Salesperson should build relationship before sell something (find common interest, compliment)

Authority: Salesperson should be dominant. (Dress professional, charisma, good reputation)

Social proof: We look at others action to know what to do, salesperson should convince customer that other customers are using that product. Especially if it’s their first time buying it.

-Proof that social (others) are doing something-

Consistency: People stay consistent to something they commit

Use foot in door, one small request and customer will follow up to bigger ones

Buying the product

EKB model

Information processing steps. 5 stages:

1. Identifying needs

2. Search for info

3. Consider different alternative

4. Purchase decision

5. Outcome (the customer satisfaction with the purchase after some time)

Input of product (price,…)

Consider internal factor (belief, past experience with product) and external factor (friends and family, culture)

Recall competitor products for comparison

Customer must pay attention to information or it will get lost

Holistic: Consider interaction from multiple factors, suggest customer is unique
Only consider product we buy cause we need them. What about impulse purchase?

Choosing a store

Mini study: Sinha

247 rich Indian shoppers in one city as they left a store do survey and interview why they choose that store

1. Convenience

2. Service, ambience

3. Wide range of product

Male prefer convenience and “go and grab” style more, female prefer wide range of product more

Idiographic: Both questionnaire and open interview, categorize interview answer in groups

Post-purchase cognitive dissonance

Conflict between belief and behavior

Higher effort to search for right product, more likely to experience dissonance

Spontaneous purchase also cause dissonance, customer realize why they buy product without consideration

Customer should change their way of thinking to reduce dissonance : adaptive preference formation

Read positive reviews online => social proof that this product is good

Mini study: Nordvall

100 Swedish do virtual shopping trip online

Given pairs of organic and non-organic product, choose one

Dissonance do occur even for low-involvement product, ppt feel bad for rejecting a product

Not realistic, customers wouldn’t be asked to rate items