Cognitive psychologists at Ohio State University have found that consumers who hold an object for 30 seconds or more are far more likely to buy it — and will pay more to do so. The researchers split people into groups and auctioned coffee mugs off to them. Within each group, some bidders got to hold the coffee cup for 10 seconds beforehand, others for 30 seconds. On average, subjects who’d been allowed to handle the mugs for 30 seconds bid 37 percent more than subjects who had handled the mugs for only 10 seconds. The researchers speculated that holding the mug allowed participants to form an attachment that made them not want to give it up. Read more here: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/01/090107134535.htm
This finding has implications not only for the Oral Health America Gala auction (do you have your tickets yet?) but for dental product sales as well.
With the Chicago meeting nearly upon us, encourage the reps manning your booth to get customers to handle products–try on gloves, get a feel for a handpiece, hold the intraoral camera, even touch the finish on a piece of equipment–anything that helps them form an attachment. If you hold a press conference, have product samples for media folks to handle. In the field, make sure your reps have products for dentists and staff members to touch and hold. Don’t forget to make sure dealer reps have experienced the product–it’s essential that they have an attachment to your product as well.