Well, as with most psychological constructs the behaviour we exhibit can usually apply to a variety of contexts. Take relationship building for instance, this is the key skill in promoting both successful work and personal endeavours, vital in encouraging long lasting relationships. Upon breaking this ability down, research has suggested that it is “closeness” and “intimacy” that are among the two most important elements.
The reason for this is simple; closeness promotes emotional intensity, while intimacy, the romantic touchy feely “stuff”, intensifies our feelings and leaves a lasting impression of our partner. All of this is being built on the ideal that we can frequently interact with our partner, thus making distance a destructive “baddie”. After all, if we can’t see our partner and physically interact with them, how can we get to know and love them
While this was indeed a problem three decades ago the social, technological and economic advancement of our society has given couples the flexibility to interact remotely. More specifically, cheaper flights, longer working hours and increases in connectivity, promote not only the engagement of such relationships but also their social acceptance. Recent consensus for instance, has estimated that in the US alone a whopping 3.5m Americans are thought to engage in long distance relationships, the number ever increasing. But surely this can’t be a good thing
Researchers Crystal Jiang and Jeffrey Hancock have shed light on this by suggesting that although interactions may decrease with distance, those that do occur are considerably more intense, memorable and influential. Such couples keep their love “alive”, they suggest, by engaging with each other at a highly personal level, discussing deeper issues, such as love, trust and future plans. It was therefore suggested that it is these elements that develop the psychological part of the relationship, which in turn, has implications to the relationships between retailers and their consumers.
Indeed, similar to human relationships, brand relationships have many of the same components. For instance, accessibility to products plays a key role in increasing familiarity and convenience to the brand, akin to the effects of closeness. Similarly, building brand identity can increase purchasing even when uneconomical and, like intimacy, is emotionally driven. Such effects, otherwise known as brand affinity, encourage “targeted marketing,” which directs itself toward consumers personality, preferences and desires.
The aim of this Simple: to develop an intimate relationship with the consumer so that the brand is repurchased without forethought. But how does this brand affinity interact with distance and are the effects like with humans According to Klaus Fiedler, the effect of distance on purchase decisions depends primarily on whether we consider the feasibility or the desirability of the product as most important.
Doctors John Lynch and Gal Zauberman illustrate this by showing that although consumers like to choose deals where they get “money-back,” they never actually redeem them. They suggest that because the redemption is generally in the distant future, consumers would be better off considering a cheaper option with no rebate, but alas dont. Distance can also be increased to encourage the amount spent a definite win if your offerings include rebates such as in banking or telecoms.
The benefits of distance do not stop there, Torsten Bornemann and Christian Homburg show that these effects can actually allow you to raise your prices. Having found that distance increases product desirability relative to feasibility, high prices are more favourable when paid at a later date. As a result it seems key for marketers to drive home the products quality, perceived and/or real, so prevents attenuation to the monetary sacrifice needed.
Read on to find out why advertising and offering future promotions are critical to success.
While it may be then that distance does have a series of positive effects, these benefits can only really be realised “in-store” where physical distance is minimal. And it is here, in advertising and offering future promotions, that distance plays its biggest effect.
Consider this; you are offered an exclusive reservation at a top restaurant in London. You have two choices, go to a restaurant with a 14-item menu opening in a week or go to a restaurant with a seven-item menu opening in five months. Which would you choose Naturally the first option is preferable, you get to go sooner and have a bigger menu. But, Joseph Goodman and Selin Malkoc noted that too much choice actually makes our decisions harder.
Instead, it is the communication channel which will trigger different responses and interactions between consumers and brands. These determine not only how brand messages are processed, but how distance is perceived. Here is the breakdown of common communication channels you might use and their influence on distance perception.
Radio: Relying heavily on our sense of sound, radio has consistently been shown to invoke the greatest distance. It relies on our own ability to form mental representations of the product, its geography and its value and is doing require cognitive thought above what is usually required. As a result, this method benefits app and online business the most.
Solution: Provide “nearest-store” locations in advertisements or promote perceptually closer locations such as your website. After all, your website is only a click away.
Newspaper: Having the ability to communicate information via sight (the most relied on sense) the geography, characteristics and USPs of your product are all distinctly visible, allowing for easy processing. This invokes moderate distance given that we have to form our relationship with a product/service based on branding and packaging.
Solution: Use interpersonal language to communicate with the customer at a personal level, thus encouraging search behaviours.
TV: Perhaps the best method to decrease distance, one communicates to consumers at a personal level. Involving the use of sound, sight and emotion, TV is akin to putting a face to the name. Providing the ability to communicate and illustrate locations, features and the brand in one go, consumers get all the information they need in a short blast.
Solution: Make it clear how you can access the product easily and efficiently while using language and voice tones appropriate to the product and consumer.
While it may seem that distance can increase your love life, dont be too sure it does the same for your brand. While it has the power to allow for increases in price, “buy now pay later” schemes can be both risky and unsuitable for smaller products. Remember, consumers like convenience, and so the more accessible you make your product the better. This can be done at a psychological level and so you should develop a strategy that targets people at an emotionally intimate level.
The best way to do this is via communication and promoting your brands value. Value, a driver of purchasing, extends far beyond the USPs of your products. Make these value drivers applicable to as many consumer groups as possible, indicate how it can improve their lives and you may find consumer ditch distance and feasibility all together. Make your relationship a good one, offer rewards and decrease the costs associated with buying your product! After all, there is nothing worse than a break up!
Steen Tjarks is a lecturer and doctoral candidate at University College London specialising in the psychology behind price promotions and consumer behaviour. Also a director at Steen Tjarks Consultancy, he helps organisations understand their consumers through detailed research initiatives, leveraging each businesss consumers to drive insights and change.
