What about common e-shops' practices?
- VR
- Feb 19, 2017
- 3 min read
What the e-shops are looking for, is more sales. For accomplishing this goal, it is possible to use many different tactics in order to create needs and persuade the consumers to buy products. We live in the Age of Persuasion, where persuasion means “"A successful intentional effort at influencing another's mental state through communication in a circumstance in which the persuadee has some measure of freedom"(O'Keeffe, D.J., 2002). Have you ever thought if you really want to buy something or the e-shop “forces” you? Let’s have a look at the most common tactics.
“Cialdini says: Give something, give information, give free samples, give a positive experience to people and they will want to give you something in return” (Polanski, 2012). Tactic of reciprocity on an online shop is when they offer you a sample of a product with your purchase or a discount coupon for your next order. Hum (2014) mentions that Amazon sells a plethora of books and gives the opportunity to customers to download a free sample of the desired book which includes the first 1/10 of it. This sample is yours until you decide to buy the book. That’s a good example of reciprocation that possibly persuades the consumer to make the purchase.
The Bright Local Consumer Review Survey 2014 found that “88% have read reviews to determine the quality of a local business”. It is obvious that consumers want to be certain about the quality of the products and the credibility of the online shop. This tactic is called social proof, according to Cialdini and consists of one of six cues for persuasion. Social proof is social validation. Cialdini, R., Griskevicius, V. et al ( 2007) refer the example of Apple that their advertisements highlight the phrase “over a million sold”, an evidence that others buy the specific product. And if others do it, it must be good.
“The way to love anything is to realize that it might be lost.” said G. K. Chesterton. Cialdini (2001) supports that according to scarcity’s cue “the opportunities seem more valuable to us when they are less available”. “Airlines are selling their flight ticket together with a line “only three seats left”. Similar tricks are “discount for the first one hundred people”, promotion on a specific day, a sudden price cut down in one hour. The common feature of these techniques is the emphasis on the limitation of time, quantity or benefits that the customer may have, in order to persuade them to respond immediately.”(Khoa, 2014)
Summing up, these are the most common tactics that online shops use to increase the purchase intention of their customers.
References:
BrightLocal. (2014). Local consumer review survey 2014. Retrieved from https://www.brightlocal.com/learn/local-consumer-review-survey-2014/
Cialdini, R. (2001). Influence: Science and practice. Allyn&Bacon. Retrieved from http://www.influenceatwork.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/Influence_SP.pdf
Hum, S. (2016, November 08). Giving before you get: 10 examples of reciprocity in marketing. Retrieved from http://www.referralcandy.com/blog/10-examples-reciprocity-marketing/
Hum, S. (2016, September 07). I’ll have what she’s having: 26 examples of social proof used in Marketing. Retrieved from http://www.referralcandy.com/blog/ill-shes-15-examples-social-proof-used-marketing/
Khoa, T. (2014). Scarcity Effects on Consumer Purchase Intention in the context of E-commerce. AALTO UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF BUSINESS. doi:10.1002/mar.20560
O'Keefe, D. J. (2002). Persuasion: Theory and research (2nd ed.). CA: Thousand Oaks.
Polanski, T. (2012). Dr. Robert Cialdini and 6 principles of persuasion. EBizine. Retrieved February 1, 2017, from https://www.influenceatwork.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/E_Brand_principles.pdf
Wikipedia. (2017). The Age of Persuasion. Retrieved from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Age_of_Persuasion
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