(Press-News.org) Tel Aviv — Most marketing departments work hard to establish a flawless reputation for their product or service. But new research from Tel Aviv University is showing that perfection is not all it's cracked up to be.
Dr. Danit Ein-Gar of Tel Aviv University's Faculty of Management at the Leon Recanati Graduate School of Business Administration, working in collaboration with Baba Shiv and Zakary Tormala from Stanford University, has uncovered the "blemishing effect," a counterintuitive benefit of negative information. When utilized in the right way, she says, a small flaw can actually improve consumer opinion of your product — and make people more likely to purchase it.
"Intuition tells me that if I have a small flaw in my product — nothing harmful, just a minor imperfection — I should hide it," explains Dr. Ein-Gar. "But providing consumers with information about both strong benefits and a small shortcoming may improve their overall evaluation." The surprising study will be published in the Journal of Consumer Research.
Think fast
According to Dr. Ein-Gar, three variables are involved in activating a positive response to negative information: the order in which the information appears; the magnitude of the negative information; and the effort the consumer is investing in processing the information.
To produce this effect, a consumer must first encounter positive information about the product and start leaning towards it. Only then can the introduction of a small piece of negative information, such as slightly torn packaging or limited color selection, be effective. Finally, the consumer must process the information quickly, making an effortless and fast purchasing decision without employing much cognitive effort.
From ads on buses to pop-up banners on Web sites, consumers quickly process advertising and marketing information to ease their cognitive burden, Dr. Ein-Gar says. This is the key to the "blemishing effect." If a consumer is already leaning towards a product based on the initial positive information they received, a small and seemingly insignificant piece of negative information causes the consumer to refocus on the positive appeal rather than put in the cognitive effort to re-evaluate their first impression.
Dr. Ein-Gar and her fellow researchers tested this theory in several ways. In one study, they invited two groups to evaluate a pair of hiking boots for purchase online. One group was allowed to go through the product information at their leisure. The others were interrupted by an additional task which created a distraction impeding their cognitive processing abilities. In addition, the hiking boots were presented in two different ways. Some participants were presented with positive written descriptions of the boots' positive qualities, followed by a picture with the boots and a damaged box. Others were shown the photograph with the damaged box first, and then given the positive description of the product. Given the right set of circumstances, says Dr. Ein-Gar, the first group had higher positive evaluations of the product.
Moving at the speed of modern life
If people have time to consider, think rationally and invest effort in the process, negative information can impair positive judgement, Dr. Ein-Gar says. Marketers can best put the "blemishing effect" to use when consumers are in a situation where they must process information with little effort, such as in impulse buying. Put a product with a small flaw near the cashier, such as chocolate with an impending expiration date, and buyers will compensate for the small downside with a more positive attitude toward the product.
INFORMATION:
American Friends of Tel Aviv University (www.aftau.org) supports Israel's leading, most comprehensive and most sought-after center of higher learning. Independently ranked 94th among the world's top universities for the impact of its research, TAU's innovations and discoveries are cited more often by the global scientific community than all but 10 other universities.
Internationally recognized for the scope and groundbreaking nature of its research and scholarship, Tel Aviv University consistently produces work with profound implications for the future.
Is a little negativity the best marketing policy?
Honesty about 'blemishes' can attract consumers to your product, says Tel Aviv University researcher
2011-07-12
ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:
New study highlights what works in osteoporosis treatment
2011-07-12
TORONTO, Ont., July 11, 2011—More patients are tested and treated for osteoporosis when fracture clinics have someone dedicated to screening for the bone disease, a new study has found.
Those patients also do better when the clinic actually provides bone mineral density (BMD) testing or prescription drug treatment as part of its program rather than just referring fracture patients elsewhere.
Researchers at St. Michael's Hospital led by Joanna Sale, a clinical epidemiologist, reviewed osteoporosis screening and management programs involving patients treated for fragility ...
Data Match Solutions Releases DataMatch Tool 2.0 - An Essential Software for Linking Databases
2011-07-12
Data Match Solutions today released DataMatch Tool 2.0, a very powerful software to match and merge databases. This software helps researchers, faculty and students to save valuable time and effort to collect and analyse data for their projects.
Academics can now take their research to a higher level
With DataMatch Tool 2.0 (DMT 2.0), researchers can link data from different sources easily and quickly and take their research to a higher level.
Based on their experience in academic research and their knowledge in data collection and analysis, researchers from Data ...
Natural pain relief from poisonous shrub
2011-07-12
An extract of the poisonous shrub Jatropha curcas acts as a strong painkiller and may have a mode of action different from conventional analgesics, such as morphine and other pharmaceuticals. Details of tests are reported in the current issue of the International Journal of Biomedical Engineering and Technology.
Omeh Yusuf and Ezeja Maxwell of the Micheal Okpara University of Agriculture in Umudike, Nigeria, explain how J. curcas, also known as the "physic nut" is a perennial shrub that grows to 5 meters in height and belongs to the Euphobiaceace family. It is native ...
Online consumers willing to pay premium for Net privacy, says study in INFORMS Journal
2011-07-12
Online consumers thought to be motivated primarily by savings are, in fact, often willing to pay a premium for purchases from online vendors with clear, protective privacy policies, according to a new study in the current issue of a journal of the Institute for Operations Research and the Management Sciences (INFORMS®).
"The Effect of Online Privacy Information on Purchasing Behavior: An Experimental Study" is by Janice Y. Tsai, Serge Egelman, Lorrie Cranor, and Alessandro Acquisti of Carnegie Mellon University. The study appears in the current issue of the INFORMS journal ...
All-cause mortality rates are lower among moderate drinkers than among abstainers
2011-07-12
The author of this paper set out to determine the extent to which potential "errors" in many early epidemiologic studies led to erroneous conclusions about an inverse association between moderate drinking and coronary heart disease (CHD). His analysis is based on prospective data for more than 124,000 persons interviewed in the U.S. National Health Interview Surveys of 1997 through 2000 and avoids the pitfalls of some earlier studies. He concludes that the so-called "errors" have not led to erroneous results, and that there is a strong protective effect of moderate drinking ...
Paddington Brands Launches 90+ Rated Agoston Spanish Red Wines Nationally Through Walgreens
2011-07-12
Paddington Brands announced today that it has launched its Agoston wine brand through Walgreens, the nation's largest drugstore chain. Bodegas Virgen del Aguila, the Spanish wine cooperative, confirmed Paddington Brands as the exclusive U.S. importer of Agoston wines.
"When we first tasted Agoston, we knew this was a wine that would appeal to American consumers," said J. Smoke Wallin, chairman and CEO of Paddington Brands. "Year after year Agoston has been receiving 90+ points in the Penin Wine Rating Guide, which is Spain's equivalent to Robert Parker ...
MU psychology study finds key early skills for later math learning
2011-07-12
COLUMBIA, Mo. – Psychologists at the University of Missouri have identified the beginning of first grade math skills that teachers and parents should target to effectively improve children's later math learning.
A long-term psychology study indicates that beginning first graders that understand numbers, the quantities those numbers represent, and low-level arithmetic will have better success in learning mathematics through the end of fifth grade, and other studies suggest throughout the rest of their lives.
"Math is critical for success in many fields, and the United ...
Research shows 'BPA-free' bottles live up to manufacturers' claims
2011-07-12
CINCINNATI—The alarm caused by bisphenol A (BPA) presence in reusable plastic bottles resulted in a recent industry change, producing products made with supposed BPA-free materials.
Prompted by requests and concern from consumers, University of Cincinnati (UC) researchers wanted to see if these alternatives—including products made with stainless steel and coated aluminum—were truly giving the consumer an option free of BPA.
In a study reported in the July 8, 2011 advance online edition of the journal Chemosphere, Scott Belcher, PhD, associate professor in the pharmacology ...
Drinking until you forget leads to injuries for college kids
2011-07-12
CHICAGO --- "I don't remember how I got home from the party." This could be a text from last night to one hard-partying college student from another.
New research from Northwestern Medicine shows that 50 percent of college drinkers report at least one alcohol-induced memory blackout -- a period of amnesia -- in the past year during a drinking binge. Despite being fully conscious during such blackouts, students could not recall specific events, such as how they got to a bar, party or their own front door.
Published in Injury Prevention, May 2011, the study found college ...
'Healthy' habits linked to childhood obesity in China
2011-07-12
Teenaged boys from well-off Chinese families who say they are physically active and eat plenty of vegetables but few sweets are more likely to be overweight, according to a study led by researchers at the Keck School of Medicine of the University of Southern California (USC).
The study, published in the July 2011 issue of the American Journal of Health Behavior, is one of the first to examine how weight among Chinese adolescents relates to factors like sleep duration, physical activity, diet and general demographics. Most of what the research team found runs counter to ...
LAST 30 PRESS RELEASES:
Program takes aim at drinking, unsafe sex, and sexual assault on college campuses
Inability to pay for healthcare reaches record high in U.S.
Science ‘storytelling’ urgently needed amid climate and biodiversity crisis
KAIST Develops Retinal Therapy to Restore Lost Vision
Adipocyte-hepatocyte signaling mechanism uncovered in endoplasmic reticulum stress response
Mammals were adapting from life in the trees to living on the ground before dinosaur-killing asteroid
Low LDL cholesterol levels linked to reduced risk of dementia
Thickening of the eye’s retina associated with greater risk and severity of postoperative delirium in older patients
Almost one in ten people surveyed report having been harmed by the NHS in the last three years
Enhancing light control with complex frequency excitations
New research finds novel drug target for acute myeloid leukemia, bringing hope for cancer patients
New insight into factors associated with a common disease among dogs and humans
Illuminating single atoms for sustainable propylene production
New study finds Rocky Mountain snow contamination
Study examines lactation in critically ill patients
UVA Engineering Dean Jennifer West earns AIMBE’s 2025 Pierre Galletti Award
Doubling down on metasurfaces
New Cedars-Sinai study shows how specialized diet can improve gut disorders
Making moves and hitting the breaks: Owl journeys surprise researchers in western Montana
PKU Scientists simulate the origin and evolution of the North Atlantic Oscillation
ICRAFT breakthrough: Unlocking A20’s dual role in cancer immunotherapy
How VR technology is changing the game for Alzheimer’s disease
A borrowed bacterial gene allowed some marine diatoms to live on a seaweed diet
Balance between two competing nerve proteins deters symptoms of autism in mice
Use of antifungals in agriculture may increase resistance in an infectious yeast
Awareness grows of cancer risk from alcohol consumption, survey finds
The experts that can outsmart optical illusions
Pregnancy may reduce long COVID risk
Scientists uncover novel immune mechanism in wheat tandem kinase
Three University of Virginia Engineering faculty elected as AAAS Fellows
[Press-News.org] Is a little negativity the best marketing policy?Honesty about 'blemishes' can attract consumers to your product, says Tel Aviv University researcher