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Don't touch when you are shopping, or the new endowment effect
Be careful how you reach out:
A new study suggests that just fingering an item on a store shelf can create an attachment that makes you willing to pay more for it.
Previous studies have shown that many people begin to feel ownership of an item - that it "is theirs" - before they even buy it. But this study, conducted by researchers at Ohio State University, is the first to show "mine, mine, mine" feelings can begin in as little as 30 seconds after first touching an object.
Here is the full story. I thank Deron Bauman for the pointer.
Posted by Tyler Cowen on January 21, 2009 at 07:43 AM in Science | Permalink
Comments
Useful reading. I personally have noticed that if i force myself to pass by a shelf with something i don't actually need, but don't mind looking - i manage to do the reasonable shopping. but when i indulge in touching/trying on/smelling - i just must buy it. Moreover, i feel kind of obliged (especially when it costs the vendor some time to serve me).
Posted by: Mobile Games Addict at Jan 21, 2009 7:57:14 AM
I thought the "endowment effect" had been shown to be attributable to the trivial value of the stuff used in the earliest experiments and to inertia due to ignorance. Have I missed something? This one doesn't sound all that plausible either; a few more studies may be in order.
Posted by: Alan Gunn at Jan 21, 2009 7:59:47 AM
HAPPY BIRTHDAY from Paris, TYLER !
Posted by: alexko at Jan 21, 2009 8:24:52 AM
on many occasions, i have shopped for something i need, selected the item, entered the queue to pay, only to back out of line, drop the item and sheepishly walk out of the store. though this probably indicates the item was of marginal necessity, i have found that touching/testing/tasting the item is a MUST before purchase, but does not guarantee a transaction.
Posted by: bouhan at Jan 21, 2009 8:55:42 AM
This is something that has been known for a long time in retail. I won't mention the name of the store, but employees where I work have been, for at least the past three years, encouraged to put products in customers' hands to create that feeling of "ownership".
Posted by: TimP at Jan 21, 2009 9:29:16 AM
this effect certainly doesn't work with money. seems like i almost always spend it after i touch it.
Posted by: babar at Jan 21, 2009 9:43:14 AM
But here in India, rational behaviour of the consumers is on the rise in these days of recession.Vegetable vendors say that house wives now purchase quarter Kg of beans,cabbage,carrot,etc instead of the usual one Kg.They now purchase fish only once in a week and meat consumption has declined drastically.But the surprising thing is that while this is applicable to only daily necessities, they exhibit high consumerism in the matter of purchasing cell phones,bikes,cars,jewellery etc.
Posted by: GVV at Jan 21, 2009 10:28:10 AM
But here in India, rational behaviour of the consumers is on the rise in these days of recession.Vegetable vendors say that house wives now purchase quarter Kg of beans,cabbage,carrot,etc instead of the usual one Kg.They now purchase fish only once in a week and meat consumption has declined drastically.But the surprising thing is that while this is applicable to only daily necessities, they exhibit high consumerism in the matter of purchasing cell phones,bikes,cars,jewellery etc.
Posted by: GVV at Jan 21, 2009 10:29:25 AM
The article and the study leader both attribute the post-touching higher price to "attachment":
"The amazing part of this study is that people can become almost immediately attached to something as insignificant as a mug," said study leader James Wolf, who began the work while he was a graduate student at Ohio State. "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."
The study design seems to offer no support to this conclusion. The only thing the study shows is that people will pay more for something after touching it. The study doesn't shed any light as to *why* they do so; calling this effect "attachment" and saying that the touchers "feel like the mug is, in fact, their mug" is sheer speculation.
Posted by: eddie at Jan 21, 2009 11:07:20 AM
Endowment effect or "this doesn't feel as shoddy as it looks-effect"?
Posted by: Scott Wentland at Jan 21, 2009 12:31:31 PM
As a small child, I would touch and rub the picture of my most desired toy in the Sears Wish Book.
With MY FINGER!
(I know what you were thinking.)
Posted by: SkitzoLeezra at Jan 21, 2009 2:11:53 PM
Do people get attached to the product or the specific item they touched? Once I decide to buy something, instead of buying the front-of-the-shelf product I and a dozen other people have manhandled, I usually reach into the back of a shelf for something that hopefully nobody but the stock boy has touched.
Posted by: RotBot at Jan 21, 2009 3:36:56 PM
I was in an Apple store today and I was thinking about their focus on letting you play with all their gadgets. Suddenly, that iPod nano I just used feels like its MINE MINE MINE
Posted by: Michael at Jan 21, 2009 11:31:36 PM
Anyone with a toddler knows that "Mine, mine, mine!" sets in a lot quicker than 30 seconds after touching it... and sometimes doesn't even require touching it.
Posted by: JP at Jan 22, 2009 2:29:02 PM
Mine, mine, mine. My daughter has the gene.
Posted by: john at Jan 22, 2009 4:35:45 PM
The effect can only go so far. Didn't the Sharper Image go out of business with a "please touch museum" kinda store?
I coach door-to-door salesmen all the time. Good job on handing me the coupon book, nice job on telling me how much I'll save. And then I ask them what their cut is and send them on their way (many deny they get a cut!).
Posted by: Jack Diederich at Jan 23, 2009 1:35:21 AM
i think that it is common,and
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