The other day, I posted about research that showed how offering consumers a small but 'indulgent' freebie like a chocolate truffle is a way to get them to open up their wallets. In a similar spirit, Kelly Tall sent me a link via del.icio.us that calls into question the retailer's usual instruction to the consumer of 'look but don't touch.'
Actually, if a study by Ohio State and Illinois State University is to be believed, consumers should be actively encouraged to handle the goods. Please, pick that item up, see how it feels in your hands. Because if they do, even for a few seconds, they are more likely to buy.
The research, published in Judgement and Decision Making journal (one that's going straight onto my reading list!), showed that simply handling a coffee cup for 30 seconds was enough for test subjects to feel a sense of 'attachment' to it. And once they held a simple coffee cup for a few seconds, they would not only out bid the non touchers in an auction, they would be willing to pay more than the suggested retail price.
"The amazing part of this study is that people can become almost immediately attached to something as insignificant as a mug," said James Wolf of Ohio State University. "By simply touching the mug and feeling it in their hands, many people begin to feel like the mug is, in fact, their mug. Once they begin to feel it is theirs, they are willing to go to greater lengths to keep it."
So the key to retail success: Offer shoppers a tasty treat when they arrive and get them to put their mitts on the merchandise.
As an aside, I was wondering how this research could have online relevance and was reminded of the many ill fated brand ventures in the virtual world Second Life.
A virtual environment does give you the chance to handle or test drive goods, and so efforts where consumers got to try out virtual versions of (say) cars made a certain amount of sense. Though most Second Life brand investments turned out to be failures, it could well be a case of right place, wrong time.
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