Variety & Consumers:
Read and Reflect
Preview the vocabulary before reading. Then read, and answer the comprehension questions. Be prepared to give examples of how variety could help your chosen brand and its product (s). For example, if I'd like to buy some perfume and could then use the bottle in a different way after all the perfume is gone, would it increase sales?
Vocabulary:
1. forces beyond our control : we cannot control exactly how products get marketed to us
2. chose : past tense of the verb to choose, chose, chosen
3. assortment : the range of choices in a product line offered to customers
4. applied : simple past tense of 'to apply, applied, applied'
5. to purchase : to buy
6. to lay in: exist in
7. provided: if
Variety Is the Spice of Life
The Journal of Consumer Research is about to publish a study that challenges our beliefs that we are our own masters and commanders. The study by Sela and colleagues is titled "Variety, Vice, and Virtue: How Assortment Size Influences Option Choice." We would like to believe that we guide our own choices. But, the reality is that choice is often influenced by external forces beyond our control.
Marketing resechers found that having options is one of those factors influencing our decisions. In fact, the researchers conducted several experiments in which they tested the hypothesis that people would make a more virtuous choice given a larger sample from which to choose. With just a few options the choices would be less so.
In the case of low-fat ice cream, researchers found that people chose that over regular ice cream when offered five potential flavours rather than just one. Similarly, when offered free samples of fruit and desserts, people chose the healthier fruit if there was a greater variety from which to choose. The same applied to choosing a printer over a music player. The secret may lay in comparing 'vice products to virtuous ones, provided there is a large assortment from which to shop, compare, and purchase.
Comprehension Questions: Mark if the statements are True (T) or False (F)
1. ___In the world of market research, consumers are vulnerable to external factors.
2. ___Consumers cannot always control how they make choices.
3. ___Deciding what to buy depends only on consumers.
4. ___The researchers wanted to find out if a large variety of products would lead consumers to choose better, more useful items.
5. ___The experiments confirmed the researchers' belief.
For Discussion:
How could a larger assortment of product types help your brand's products? Give specific examples. Use the first conditional:
"If our holiday perfume is marketed in a bottle that can be used as a decorative piece later, consumers may buy more."
