Be Careful What You Touch, You Might Just Buy It
Posted on January 18, 2009
If you touch an object while shopping it might make you want to purchase it. Live Science reports on a new study that found that once you pick up an item in a store, you are more likely to buy it -- and even to pay more for it. Shoppers start to feel an immediate attachment to an item as soon as they touch it.
The study was conducted by Ohio State University researchers. In the study participants grew attached to a cheap coffee mug that was being auctioned.
The study leader James Wolf says, "The amazing part of this study is that people can become almost immediately attached to something as insignificant as a mug. 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."Participants in the study were shown an inexpensive coffee mug, and were allowed to hold it either for 10 seconds or 30 seconds. They were then allowed to bid for the mug in either a closed (where bids could not be seen) or open (where they could be seen) auction. The participants were told the retail value of the mug before bidding began ($3.95 in the closed auction; $4.95 in the open auction).
The study, detailed in the August 2008 issue of the journal Judgment and Decision Making, found that on average, people who held the mug for longer bid more for it - $3.91 to $2.44 in the case of the open auction and $3.07 to $2.24 in the closed. In fact, people who held the mug for 30 seconds bid more than the retail price four out of seven times.
This tactic has been used for years: it is the reason car dealers want you to test drive cars and retailers encourage you to try on clothing or sample a makeup product. So if you're trying to stick to a budget, be very careful about the products you touch or you might find yourself overcome by waves of primitive acquisitiveness as you stake your claim cavewoman style on that new Chanel lipstick.