The Blog

A couple of months ago I mentioned to someone that sales of fine wines were declining (the really expensive stuff). He wasn’t happy. In fact, he robustly disputed my interpretation of the statistic I was quoting.  He argued that since it was only the rate of growth that was slowing, fine wine sales were absolutely, well, fine. He was certain that there was no reason to read anything in to this reduced rate of growth and was sure that it was in no way a reaction of consumers to the economic situation (as I was suggesting). Knowing that consumers behave like sheep rather than independently, I suggested that if growth was declining so significantly – it was growing at 24% in March 08 and has dropped to just 1% in the same month this year – it hinted that a turning point might have been reached. If my theory was correct, […]

I watched an old episode of Friends the other day, the one where Ross and Chandler decide to try and take revenge on a hotel that won’t give them a refund when Monica can’t make the trip. From the apples on the front desk through to the remote control batteries and light bulbs, they filled their cases (only for Ross’s to break as they left). Whilst I’ve never been tempted to take things one shouldn’t from hotels, I will admit that I see the things that are consumables as part of the deal. Quite why I feel the need to sweep up all those little bottles and mini-soaps I’m not quite sure: I always prefer the products I’ve bought when I’m at home and I always forget to take them when I travel. But then the places I visit usually have them, so I didn’t really need to take them in […]

Most marketing people are aware that it’s important for all the aspects of product marketing to be consistent. If your ad is saying that your product is used by kings and queens it’s not going to feel right if it arrives in a tatty cardboard box. Similarly, if you make luxury claims and make the price cheap consumers will be put off by the incongruence. But what about sensory consistency? Do products need to be consistent in how they are perceived by each sense; is the smell and feel as important as the look? Considerable research has been conducted on how smell can change perceptions. In one study, researchers put one new pair of running shoes in a room with a light floral smell and another identical pair in an unscented room. Afterwards 84% said they were more likely to buy the pair in the room that smelled of flowers. […]

Frequently companies are concerned about customer satisfaction. Are customers satisfied with the products and services on offer? It seems a sensible enough concern. And if you want to find out it’s a good idea to ask, isn’t it? Many organisations track satisfaction measures, both for their own company’s products or services, and for their competitors. A quantitative tracking study enables satisfaction to be gauged and tracked over time providing a gauge against which company performance can be assessed. But recent research suggests that measuring satisfaction may not be as useful as you think. It turns out that asking may well be pointless. If you work for a company that uses customer satisfaction ratings to evaluate your performance you should be very concerned by now! And if your interested in product evaluation, another area consumer research frequently investigates, you should also be concerned. Researchers presented research participants with products and asked […]