Consumer Behavior

I find the psychology of consumer behavior fascinating, and I think this is partially because libraries are one of the few places in modern American society that don't promote individual buying.
Where else do you share materials with strangers?
Whenever I'm browsing the shelves, I think about the individual histories of the books, the hands that have searched them, and the designs that prompt people to open the cover.
Anyway...

These two studies interested me, and I think they're telling examples of the ways that humans experience the world around them. First, we're a lot more likely to buy things if we touch them. In the days of online shopping, that's good to know. One study specifically examined the difference between having a clerk hand over a copy of a requested book instead of simply pointing to it. This also explains why we develop more of an emotional attachment to print greeting cards compared with their electronic equivalents.

We feel something akin to a sense of ownership when we hold things in our hand. That’s why we establish or reestablish connection by greeting strangers and friends with a handshake. In this case, having to then let go of the book after holding it might generate a subtle sense of loss, and motivate us to make the purchase even more.

Read more at http://ideas.time.com/2012/01/10/the-secret-cause-of-buyers-remorse/

This one's more of a stretch, but it's relevant to libraries for two reasons. First, we know that people often choose books based on the title. Second, there are larger implications for intellectual property now that companies are able to patent the rights to their research. (Did you know that the University of Minnesota earned over 8 million dollars as a result of its patent of the Honeycrisp apple variety?). This particular study looked at how consumers price and select apples in the grocery store.

Consumers were willing to pay more for NY1, and they were willing to pay still more when it had an "exciting, sensory" name. Apple names generally fall into three categories, Rickard said: sincere names based on a breeder or location, such as Cortland or Granny Smith; sophisticated names, which usually highlight the fruit's appearance, such as Red or Golden Delicious; and exciting names that evoke the taste or texture of the apple, such as Honeycrisp. In the experimental auction, the researchers tested the new Cornell apple under three names: sincere "Williams," sophisticated "Burgundy Beauty" and exciting "Flavor Haven."

In all cases, the average bid for the new apple was 12 percent higher than the average for four other apples (Empire, Fuji, Honeycrisp, and Piñata). With the Flavor Haven name, the average bid jumped to 27 percent over the other varieties.

Read more at http://www.news.cornell.edu/stories/Nov11/CALSAppleNames.html

The sense of touch. The power of a name. Two things to keep in mind next time you're out shopping.