Business: Part Two

4. Follow The Crowd

Most of our preferences are learned and formed by social norms and expectations.

Using the example of clam chowder, decades ago, it used to be thin, but now it’s almost uniformly super thick. What happened? At some point, restaurateurs got in the habit of adding flour to make chowder thicker and thicker. Now this is what consumers have come to consider a bowl of “authentic” clam chowder. Now is what the consumer prefers.

These learned preferences can just as easily involve characteristics that, from an objective standpoint, do not make a product any better and might even make them worse when it relates to texture.

Ravi Dhar, a marketing professor at the Yale School of Management, notes that although Heinz ketchup does not reliably win in blind taste tests, it has established itself as the gold standard in its category because it is thicker. In the marketing world, Dhar says, “meaningless attributes often lead to meaningful differentiation”.

Ever wonder why so many products on the store shelves are so much the same? Wouldn’t it be better to make them different? Not!

There are huge incentives in consumer markets, even for competing companies, to make everything the same.

Our preferences evolve as society evolves. A “family car” used to mean a station wagon. Then it was the family van. And, so on....Essentially, the more we’re exposed to something, the more likely it is that we’ll develop a preference for it.

5. Simplicity Usually Wins.

Simple is better. If you are a marketer, this means that the easier to understand the offer is, the more likely people are to buy it. People want everything easy to understand; thus easy to pronounce names.

Unlimited Plans Work.

Due to the hassle of comparing plans, and taking the time necessary to do it, , they just go with the unlimited because it's easier to understand.

Previous Positive Experience.

This is easy. You used it before. It's familiar to you and it worked. Why change it? Think about how many times you ordered the same thing from a menu. My husband always orders a hamburger and fries. It's become a habit!

No One Want to Risk Making a Bad Experience.

Make your first offer filled with value and easy to buy. Repeat Purchases usually lead to repeat business.

Make Your Website Easy to Read.

I have found that the way products are described matters. The format of text descriptions influences how people perceive the products themselves.

6. For Retail stores, everything, even ceiling matters.

Research suggests that the way people judge products may be influenced by the ground beneath them.

Keeping the emotional component in mind, you need to be aware of how you are feeling about a product or service and manage them. Soft carpet is fine, but keep hard floors next to where the products are.

Watch for the next Article - Part Three

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