In Supermarket retail one can learn a lot about the thinking of the people who set up the store by looking at the products on the shelves. Walk through the cereal aisle and you'll see kid-friendly products on the bottom shelf, or, right at the eye level of little kids. Other products are sorted in a manner bottom to top with less expensive versions giving way to the most expensive at the top. The middle level items are right at eye level of adults.
This is modeled after "the compromise effect" where people are more likely to choose the middle product when offered 3 versions: less expensive, middle, and more expensive. This mechanism of human behavior has been used with tremendous potency for decades.
New research suggests the power of this tool for marketers may be lessening in the face of digital information.
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/12/08/business/theres-power-in-all-those-user-reviews
Here is a snippet from that piece. When provided with access to user comments on Amazon.com...
That made a huge difference. When given three camera options, consumers didn’t gravitate en masse to the midprice version. Rather, the least expensive one kept its share and the middle one lost more to the most expensive one.
I only found this research because of the excellent writing of Karen Webster. Her piece can be found here:
http://www.pymnts.com/briefing-room/consumer-engagement/Loyalty/2013/The-Unexpected-Power-Shift-In-Payments/
The ramifications of this finding are enormous. Digital marketing is showing to be more powerful than any other form, a true industry disruptor. Next generation loyalty is the solution.
Happy reading,
J.W. Gant
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