Why Playing Hard-to-Get is a Good Selling Trick

Dates who are hard-to-get or products that are stuck on the back of a shelf are more attractive to consumers than those that are easily attainable, according to a new study including an Indian-origin researcher. "To get the best outcomes or products, people usually have to expend effort," write authors Sarah Kim and Aparna A. Labroo (both University of Chicago).

"This relationship between effort and value is so closely associated in a consumer's mind that wanting the best outcomes automatically results in increased preference for any outcome associated with effort, even pointless effort."

In one study, the authors had heterosexual males classify themselves as either "shy gawkers" or "smooth talkers."

Participants were presented with a picture of a potential date that was either clear or blurred slightly (by 15 percent).

"The shy gawkers behaved as one might expect, evaluating the date more favorably when they viewed the clear rather than the blurry picture," the authors write. "Quite surprisingly, however, the smooth talkers found the date more attractive when the picture was slightly blurry rather than clear."

The authors found similar results with participants who classified themselves as "smart shoppers." They indicated higher preferences for products when they had to travel across town to get them, even when they were available in a nearby store. They also preferred products that appeared to be pushed back on the shelves.

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However, when the researchers directed people's attention to the pointless nature of their efforts, they no longer valued the outcomes associated with the pointless effort.

The study has been published in the Journal of Consumer Research.

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Source-ANI