Please Fondle the Merchandise

     According to new studies, when we touch something while shopping it affects what we buy. The authors suggest that tactile exposure to the object activated the conceptual representation of that object, which then facilitated subsequent mental processing of the given object.  The things we touch while shopping can affect what we buy according to studies by Bocconi Department of Marketing's Zachary Estes and University of Innsbruck's Mathias Streicher. See Youtube video HERE
     In an article published in Applied Cognitive Psychology they conducted a series of experiments and showed that blindfolded people induced to hold familiar products (a bottle of Coke, for example) under the guise of estimating its weight were quicker in recognizing the brand name of the product when it slowly appeared on a screen, included the product more frequently in a list of brands of the same category and chose that product more often among others as a reward for having participated in the experiment. 
     The authors suggest that tactile exposure to the object "activated the conceptual representation of that object, which then facilitated subsequent processing of the given object." 
     In another article published in the Journal of Consumer Psychology, in another series of experiments it was demonstrated that grasping an object can facilitate visual processing and choice of other seen products of the same shape and size. For instance, when you're holding your mobile phone in your hand, you may be more likely to choose a KitKat candy bar than a Snickers, because the KitKat is shaped more like your phone. 

     Consumers are significantly more likely to choose the product that is similar to the shape of whatever is in their hand. For instance, when given a choice between a bottle of Coke and a can of Red Bull, participants who held a bottle of Fanta were more likely to choose a bottle of Coke, but those who held a can of Fanta more often chose the can of Red Bull. 
     These studies show that our hands can lead us to choose certain products. However, there are two caveats to this, one situational and one personal. 
     The situational constraint has to do with visual density. That is, some product arrays are very sparse with plenty of space between them, whereas others are very dense with many products placed right next to one another. It turns out that when the visual array is overcrowded the hands have an even larger influence on product choice. "As visual perception becomes less reliable," the authors write, "tactile perception assumes a greater role in the recognition of object shape." 
     The second constraint is more personal: it depends on one's "need for touch," or how much people like to touch products while shopping. Some people really like to pick products up and feel them and others don't. As expected, the hands have much more influence on product choice among consumers who like to handle products. 
     These results have direct implications for product and package designers and marketing managers.  For one thing, distinctive product shapes like Coca-Cola's iconic bottle design can provide a powerful source of brand identity and recognition. Second, consumers tend to choose products that are shaped like the things they often hold, a mobile phone, a wallet or a computer mouse, when shopping online. Product designers could create packages that mimic those commonly held forms and marketing managers can accentuate this effect of product touch by placing several products near one another and by encouraging consumers to touch the products on display.