A new television, a laptop or a vacuum cleaner’ Many people go bargain hunting on Black Friday. HSLU economist Thomas Wozniak knows which psychological tricks retailers use and how we can recognize them.
Thomas Wozniak, Black Friday is just around the corner. How do retailers ensure that we buy as much as possible on November 29?
Initially, retailers use eye-catching advertising such as large posters, large banners in their online stores and social media campaigns to publicize Black Friday offers. In online stores or on special Black Friday websites, you can also see countdowns that count down in days, hours, minutes and seconds until the offers start. The time limit creates a sense of urgency, which is intended to encourage people to buy quickly.
Why do such measures have such a strong impact on our purchasing behavior’
Especially when we make decisions quickly, i.e. without much analysis and thought, we can make mistakes. These errors are also known as cognitive biases and can be used to guide decisions and trigger impulse purchases - as is the case with the numerous Black Friday offers. The concept behind this is called "nudging".
Where do we encounter nudging in everyday life’
In the "Oase" canteen of the HSLU’s Department of Business, for example, the vegetarian menu is deliberately placed in such a way that it is the first thing that catches the eye of guests and is therefore chosen more frequently. But nudging also influences the way we move. For example, when you step onto an escalator in a train station, footprint markings on the floor often indicate that you should use the left-hand side if you are in a hurry or the right-hand side if you are simply going along for the ride. The decision to go left or right is usually made quickly and unconsciously.
Where do you see the risks and limits of nudging?
Nudging can have unintended or opposite effects, and there may be ethical concerns if consumers are unwittingly influenced in a direction that is contrary to their own interests. In addition, the effect of nudges can be different for different people. For example, a recently published study showed that a nudge to reduce returns in online retail had the desired effect on 60% of shoppers, but led to more returns for 40%. It was the nudge that gave them the idea to return goods more frequently. Nudging must therefore be used in a differentiated manner in order to have an optimal effect.
Can nudging and manipulation be clearly distinguished from each other?
If nudging techniques are used to guide decisions that are not in line with the values and interests of the individual and do not serve the common good, the use is more likely to be perceived as manipulation. This demarcation therefore depends on who is nudging whom, with what goal and what result. If sugary sweets are placed at children’s eye level at the checkout in supermarkets, this does not serve the welfare of children.
Always recognize nudges yourself immediately’
Nudges are often subtly designed so that they are not always immediately recognizable. But if you spend a lot of time on the subject, you tend to notice it. Sometimes I only realize that I’ve been nudged after I’ve made a decision. But when I then realize that the choice was good for me, I think: "Yes, it worked - just as the inventors intended."
The upcoming Black Friday is likely to generate a lot of packaging material. In a recent ’What did you find out’
We found that consumers with less interest in sustainability were more likely to choose sustainable reusable packaging due to certain nudges. Specifically, a combination of different nudges worked best. In addition, references to no additional costs of reusable packaging, for example, worked better than references to CO2 savings. Consumers for whom sustainability is more important already opted for the environmentally friendly option without a nudge.
Research on nudging, e-commerce and sustainability
In the Innosuisse-funded innovation project "Algorithmic Nudging for Sustainability in E-Commerce", researchers from the Institute of Communication and Marketing at HSLU and FHNW, together with industry partners, are investigating the effectiveness of different types of nudges in various decision-making situations in online stores on the basis of online and field experiments. The aim is to steer consumer decisions towards more sustainable options. Various machine learning methods are used for this purpose.
Interview: Andreas Bättig
Picture: Getty Images
Published: November 21, 2024
